Introduction

Wings and Wheels Publications recently announced the release of the latest in their Photo Manual range of books aimed at modellers. This one is timely with the prospect of a range of 1/35 scale Bedford’s proposed by IBG Models, at least one of which is hoped to see the light of day this year.

The book draws on references from The British QL truck family in Belgian & British Museums as well as private collections.

The Book

The book follows the standard format for Wings and Wheels ‘in detail’ books. This one consists of 96 pages of colour photographs and accompanying texts covering four of the main types of Bedford QL, namely:

The QLD – pages 6 to 19
The QLB – pages 20 to 48
The QLR – pages 46 to 59
The QLC – pages 60 to71

Pages 73 to 93 cover details of all the specific areas of interest; cab detail, spare wheel detail, excellent underneath the vehicle pictures, etc. To round off the publication three sets of colour prints are provided on pages 94 to 96.

The references are drawn from known preserved examples of the vehicle. The quality of the pictures is excellent and, although in soft cover format of slightly less than A4 size, this is a very decent publication.

What lets it down is the standard of the English text which makes for some difficult reading, although it does give an overall picture of the history and development of the truck.

Conclusion

Good quality detailed references are not always easy to find. This publication covers the main types of the Bedford QL in great detail and should be a very handy reference for modellers.

This is exactly what it says on the tin; a detailed photographic walk around of the Bedford QL, it is not a history.