Ice Cold In Alex "Katy"

My third Airfix Austin K2 Ambulance build, I just love this kit. This one is inspired by the 1950s classic book and film “Ice Cold In Alex”.

Airfix provide four decal options for this kit:

1. 30 Corps, Motor Ambulance Convoy, Royal Army Service Corps, North West Europe, 1944
2. British Army, North Africa, 1940
3. British Army, Alexandria, Egypt, 1942 (Not the one from Ice Cold in Alex)
4. Auxiliary Territorial Service, England, 1944 Driven by Princess Elizabeth. 

[1] & [4] I’ve already built and I thought I was going to have to use [3] as a best fit for this one but on second glance, I discovered Airfix actually include a couple more undocumented decals which amazingly enable the build of a fifth version. Yes, you’ve guessed it, Airfix include a set of decals for ‘Katy’, the star of the “Ice Cold” film! Although entirely fictional they are perfect for someone like myself, looking to add this iconic model to my collection. 

In addition to the 20th Century Fox inspired decals, I made a few more modifications:

I split and painted the windscreen to reflect the configuration used in the film and added a rope to front of the vehicle; the one used to pull Captain van der Poel from the bog. 

I added a spade to the front of the cab; the one van der Poel took with him on his regular excursions and I’ve added a few figures to represent the main players: Captain Anson, with his drink issues, Sister Diana Murdoch, falling for the Captain, and MSM Tom Pugh, never without his hat and, with head in hands, the world on his shoulders! 

I’ve left the roof(s) unglued to provide access to the interior detailing which has meant a little gapping is unavoidable, but it’s the only way one is going to get to see the players in the back. And, oh yes, have you spotted the bullet holes? These broke 2 drill bits to add, but it wouldn’t have been Ice Cold In Alex without them! 

I’ve had so much fun with this kit, the next one is really going to be a challenge selecting, this being such a hard act to follow.

Austin K2/Y Ambulance

Next up on the bench is an old favourite from a few years ago, with interest rekindled by Modelu’s release of the Flying Nightingale figures. 

This is the Airfix Austin K2/Y Ambulance for which Modelu printed me a special set of 1:35 figures. I’m so looking forward to seeing this completed.

Working on the wood floor and interior painting. 

I applied some chipping fluid to the cab floor  between the wood effect and top coat painting. 

Today I had a little fun chipping that top coat off to reveal a weathered bit of wood below. Probably won’t see much of this but I’ll know it’s there.

I’m loving this Airfix Austin K2Y Ambulance. 

I built one of these 2 years ago but as I completed it with the rear doors closed, I never looked to paint or fit the stretcher carriers and am now having so much fun building this bit up. I also never remember the PE around the roof vents, is this a new addition or did I skip this? 

I now have all the main bits sprayed up for the grand construction. If I can get away with a firm dry fit, I’m also thinking of leaving the roof un-glued so that I can pop it off to view the detailed interior which may just have a Flying Nightingale within.

Wheels and chassis joined with the body and I’ve lowered one of the beds as seen in photos kindly shared with me by a fellow modeller.  

Lowering that bed should allow me to install my Flying Nightingale Modelu figures which I’ve given a spot of paint to and am now trying them out for size. 

Decals on … oh my these Airfix transfers were so much more delicate than I remember they were last time.

I lost ‘Pat’ somewhere on the table, will probably find it stuck to my arm later and needed to dig into my spares for the medical badge which I somehow stuck in the wrong place and then it wouldn’t lift again.

It’s amazing how even after all these years and the thousands of decals I must have applied I can still have so many challenges.

Airfix 1:35 Austin K2/Y Ambulance finished as a vehicle from 30 Corps, Royal Army Service Corps, with a couple of Modelu British soldiers receiving treatment from the RAF Flying Nightingales following the 1944 D-Day landings. 

I’ve left the roof unglued to give better access to the inside view which I hope you agree works. Having been torn with how much weathering to do I feel I held back a bit too much and so I’m less pleased with the finish I attained than with the pure enjoyment I had in the build itself. 

Next up will be another of these Ambulances which I’m keen now to build as a North African campaign version as seen in that classic film “Ice Cold in Alex”

Two down, one to go!

Airfield Utility Vehicles

Airfix 1:72 Standard Tilly, Bedford MWC & BSA M20 from the D-Day Air Assault kit

German STAFF CAR Type 170V

 Having a break from my Seaton Scale Modellers group build, so that I don’t finish it too early! 

I thought, during this interlude, I’d revisit a WW2 Generals project that I kicked off earlier in the year by building the MiniArt Mercedes Type 170V Cabriolet B German Staff Car.

I acquired this MiniArt Mercedes Staff Car some months ago as part of a 1:35 scale WW2 Generals project. The subject for this build is none other than Erich von Manstein and having been one of the generals to launch the Barbarossa campaign, I decided on an early Eastern Front scheme of dark yellow and green, understanding the brown in the box art camouflage was a later addition. 

The Master Box Models General figure built very nicely and I think the addition of 3D-Gizmo’s seated officer adds to the scene of open door and bonnet so as to expose some of the great detailing in this kit.

Erich von Manstein was the military strategist who devised the 1940 plan to invade France through the Ardennes bypassing the Maginot Line to cut off the French and Allied armies in Belgium and Flanders. For his mastery he was promoted to the rank of general and given command of the 11th Army for the 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union. Early victories and the capture of Sevastopol in July 1942 saw him promoted to field marshal, however, although avoiding being implicated in the assassination attempt through illness, disagreements with Hitler over the conduct of the war following the disastrous battles for Leningrad, Kursk and Dnieper, he was dismissed from his command in March 1944.

Taken prisoner by the British in August 1945, he was tried for war crimes and convicted for the poor treatment of prisoners and failing to protect civilian lives. He served just four years before being released in 1953. In his 1973 obituary it was said "He assisted in the march to catastrophe—misled by a blind sense of duty."

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The Kit

Brand: MiniArt
Title: German STAFF CAR Type 170V Cabriolet B
Number: 35107
Scale: 1:35
Type: Full kit
Released: 2012 New parts

Rhubarb over Somerset

After more than 2 months in the making my “Rhubarb over Somerset” diorama is done. If it were to be displayed anywhere I’d add a frame and plaque but over time it will probably be dismantled and its parts repurposed for another creation as it is the building that I find most fun. 

The inspiration for this diorama is a mysterious incident which occurred 80 years ago in Somerset not far from where we live. It was on a summer morning of 4th June 1943 that a Czech fighter pilot of 313 Squadron stationed at RAF Church Stanton (renamed RAF Culmhead in December 1943) clipped the roof of a GWR railway carriage with the wing of his Spitfire Mk.Vc, causing him to tragically crash in a farmer’s field near Bradford on Tone. 

During this period of WW2 the squadron was engaged in ‘Operation Rhubarb’, offensive low-level sweeps over northern France harrying ground targets such as military convoys and trains. It is possible that this pilot was at the time of the incident practicing a low-level attack on a passing locomotive and approached too low to clear the carriages. 

In creating this diorama I’ve incorporated a number of images from the period which although having no historical link to the event of the 4th June could well have been seen at some time or another in the Somerset countryside during the summer of 1943. Look out for the men of the Home Guard manning a pillbox along the Stopline Way, originally built to prevent a German beach invasion getting to London.

The Tank Regiment’s 11th Armoured Division are on the move from Bovington Camp, the Armoured Fighting Vehicles School, preparing drivers, gunners and engineers for D-Day. On the railway bridge a Scammell tank transporter carries a ‘Hobart Funny’, the Churchill Bridge Layer (coincidentally Percy Hobart was the first commander of the 11th Armoured Division when it formed in 1941), while, in the absence of signposts, a group of officers are having to check their map for directions. 

Meanwhile, a farmer shares a cup of tea with a soldier from 88 Brigade Workshop (REME) while a boy watches on sat on a milk churn. 

The railway signalman chats with a fellow soldier while he waits for the train to pass so that the rest of the convoy can proceed over the Bradford level crossing. I like to imagine that the tank transporter should be part of this convoy but they got separated hence now being lost! 

The stars of the scene are the Castle Class locomotive which I’ve repainted in a drab GWR wartime livery and a couple of clipped wing Spitfire Mk.V in RAF Church Stanton markings. The wings are clipped as this configuration was found to improve manoeuvrability at low level. 

Phew!

For those interested, here’s a list  of the 20+ models and figures I’ve used in the making of this diorama:

Airfix 1:72 Spitfire Vc, 1:76 Scammell Tank Transporter, Churchill Bridge Layer, Bedford QLT & QLD Trucks & Willies Jeep. 

Modelu military, farm and railway figures 

Ratio Plastic Models 1:76 Telegraph Poles, Crossing Gates, GWR Signals & Signal Box

Metcalfe 1:76 Stone Style Railway Bridge, Manor Farm House & Pillbox. 

Peco 1:76 Lamp Hut & Wooden Sleeper Tracks. 

Ancorton Models 1:76 Anderson Shelter.

Bedford QLD and Bedford QLT

Here are my completed models of the Bedford QLD and Bedford QLT from Airfix’s 2010 tooled 1:76 kit. Many different body styles were designed for the QL chassis and it is the QLD general service truck and QLT "Trooper" troop carrying vehicle that have been provided in this kit. 

While an impressive set of decals are supplied for a variety of different regiments there is unfortunately little historical explanation as to which to use. After some research and personal choice, I have selected for both trucks the markings of 88 Brigade Workshop (REME), a regiment with whom I’m proud to say my father served. And, as I acquired these to play a key role in my “Somerset Rhubarb” diorama and with the Tank Regiment base at Bovington being a shortish drive down the road, it made sense to me to have them attached to the 11th Armoured Division, which, formed in 1941, were responsible for many victories in the Battle of Normandy through to the crossing of the Rhine in 1945.

The Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers (REME) were formed on 1 October 1942 following the observations that Rommel’s swift advance towards Egypt owed much of its success to the German maintenance crews who mended both German and British tanks on the battlefield and sent them back into action within a few hours. Prior to mechanical maintenance of the Army’s equipment being centralised under the command and control of the REME, responsibility was inefficiently being shared between the Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC), the Royal Army Service Corps (RASC), Royal Engineers (RE) and Royal Armoured Corps (RAC). Mike Sibbons, ex REME and Archivist at the REME Museum, wrote in his 1988 book on the REME ‘From the Archives’, that “Already, within a few months of formation, this new British Army organisation had triumphed in the Middle East campaign. Never before in British history has an army fought with more efficiently maintained equipment”.

A REME Brigade Workshop consisted of 272 officers and men and 97 vehicles organised into 4 echelons of repair. These were: 1st echelon Light Aid Detachment (LAD), 2nd echelon Mobile Workshops, 3rd echelon Semi-Mobile Workshops and 4th echelon Static Based Workshops. My trucks are intended to be part of the 2nd echelon Mobile Workshops Light Aid Detachment (LAD) which deployed with the tanks, artillery regiments and infantry brigades, equipped to carry out light repairs, replacements and recovery of equipment in the field. Using artistic licence rather than on this occasion any scratch building skills, it is my assumption - based on historical photographs - that the QLT is close enough to a REME workshop lorry as used by the LAD, and I need make no changes to the QLD which is perfect in its predetermined general service truck role. 

The build and detail in these kits is very presentable for their scale and price, although I did decide to not use the glazing provided due to its totally  unrealistic thickness. I could have used a piece of clear plastic sheet but thought I’d try an application of Krystal Klear which, although it was more than capable of filling the required area did, due to the size of the window frame, dry a little bit like a concave lens. I still think they look good enough though 

Scammell Tank Transporter

After two part days at the bench, my attempt at Airfix’s Vintage Classic 1:76 scale Scammell Tank Transporter is complete. Being a kit reproduced using the original 1962 moulding and instructions, it’s a far cry from the quality of today’s Airfix offerings but sometimes it’s nice to have a challenge!  

I plan to use my Scammell in a scene within my Somerset diorama together with a few other trucks yet to be built. I’m not yet decided on which tank to have on its back, but I’m tempted to have it covered in a tarpaulin for an added bit of mystery … keep tuned 

Bond Bug

My Airfix Vintage Classic 1:32 Scale 1971 Bond Bug is complete! 

This unusual scheme I’ve used was actually inspired by a recent visit to my local branch of Vision Express rather than a child’s doll! You weren’t expecting that, we you!

I hope the colour and polka dot design, with spectacled driver, will now make a little more sense. I intend this as a gift and a bit of fun for the team who, following a big mix up over scale modelling vision requirements resulted in 2 new sets of glasses having to be reworked, looked after me so well.

The Vallejo Squid Pink paint chart looked so much closer to the Vision Express corporate dark pink than the Barbie tone I’ve ended up with, but considering the current euphoria for the film of the same name, I feel this bubble gum pink works equally well should one want to ignore the original intention. 

Vespa 125 Primavera

 Against the odds, I’ve just completed Italeri’s 1:9 scale Vespa 125 Primavera. 

This was “against the odds” as not only did Italeri’s instructions assume I knew more about the Vespa’s construction than I do, I had to perform a repair to the steering column, using a thick piece of sprue, fuse wire and a bomb casing from the spares box, as a major section had failed in the moulding process. 

I’ve never had the patience of many nor probably the required dust free environment to spray a showroom gloss finish, but that aside I’m liking the way Vallejo’s metallic arctic blue has performed and how it sparkles as I remember 1980s metallic paint did, in the sunlight. 

This very different build for me is a homage to my formative years and a project which has been a perfect refresh, giving me more than a few modelling challenges to complete!

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The Kit

Brand:       Italeri

Title:         Vespa 125 "Primavera"

Number:    4633

Scale:        1:9

Type:         Full kit

Released:  2019 New parts