Introduction

Plus Model has recently added to their range of CS8 Morris Commercial trucks with the release of CS8 with Mk III body.

The standard Morris Commercial 15 cwt truck at the start of the war was the CS8. As well as being an infantry truck, other versions were produced, like office, water tanker, air compressor, fire engine and radio trucks. The truck was eventually superseded by the C4 with the introduction of a full window screen and metal doors. The C4 Mk II increased the wheel base from 8’ 2” to 8’ 11”.

Looking at the reference pictures I have of this vehicle, I believe it is in fact a C4 with the body No III or modeled after the same. The body No III was introduced due to a rear overhang problem on the earlier wireless trucks, the Mk II chassis was extended by nine inches between the axles and it was for this reason that the body No III was introduced. Also the C4 had the full window screen and the metal doors which were starting to appear on all vehicles, so I think this is a C4 rather than a CS8.

I have seen the photograph used on the front of the instructions before and it is a C4 Wireless truck on an Mk II chassis with a No III house body which pretty much confirms what I thought.

The Kit

The kit comes packed in a sturdy cardboard box, the individual parts are contained in 7 plastic bags, with a large PE fret, decals and an 18 page A5 set of instructions. The kit contains 122 resin parts, 2 sheets of plastic window, wire of 2 thicknesses and 2 vac-u-formed items.

The instructions are of the expanded diagram format, with arrows pointing to where things should go. They layout looks logical and on first sight they look easier to follow than previous set of Plus Model instructions.

The parts are cast in a grey resin with the canvas cover and side doors coming in vac-u-form clear plastic.

The kit looks highly detailed with basic engine, good cab interior detail and suspension units. The house body has some basic furniture, a corner locker, forward table and seat. The truck would have held a N0 19 radio set, and the rear door appears to be mountable open or closed.

There are two sets of decal markings, and a painting guide of olive drab and black.

The individual parts look cleanly and sharply cast. There is good detail on the exterior and interior of the cab. Some nice PE has been provided for the bonnet grills. There is basic furniture inside the house body, table, stool and locker and the rear door of the house can be modeled open or closed. The side doors are vac-u-formed just like the canvas hood. I haven’t used that material before and I imagine cutting out the shape could be tricky if you knife slips!

We get 2 sets of WD numbers and allied stars for the vehicle, transfers for the dashboard and a small Morris Commercial sign for the bonnet.

There are quite a number of small parts but all of them appear to be numbered and should match up with the build diagrams. Two small parts (100) were missing off their pour stub but these should be fairly easily replaced by plastic rod.

Normal safety precautions apply when working with resin.

Conclusion

This appears to be a very nice kit of a much used vehicle. You will need to source you own wireless sets but AM products exist from Resicast, Bronco and Formations. The casting looks very good with nice detail. Working with resin requires a bit more patience but with some TLC you should end up with a very fine model.

Either as a standalone vehicle or part of a larger diorama, hopefully this will make for an interesting display. Plus Model do a range of British WW2 vehicles and this looks another fine addition to their offering

I’ve built their WOT 3 and apart from getting frustrated by the instructions it was a fine kit. The instructions for this kit look to be much easier to follow, my only concern is making a mess of the vac-u-formed parts, but alternatives should be possible in styrene if I screw up.

A bit more research may need to be done to establish if this is a CS8 or C4 as it has all the features of a C4, but I'm not 100% sure when the designation changed.

Reference

British Military Trucks of WW2 - Tankograd
British Military Transport - Ryton Publications