I was determined this lorry was going to sit flat on the deck so wanted to fit the wheels as early as possible. All model vehicles can be made to sit with four wheels touching the road, it just takes a little bit of surgery and that's easier the earlier you get started.
The rear axle had been fitted to help tie the chassis together but the front is part of a cross member that is fixed under the wheelarch moulding. I didn't realise it at the time but the U-shaped part has to be attached with the U upside down. I seem to recall it's the other way up on the AEC kit but if you don't get it right, the wheels won't fit under the arches.
As it is, they really fill these up. I have a sneaking suspicion that they are a touch on the large size although I have no measurements to back that up. I'm sure they are the same moulding as that found in the AEC kit.
Getting things flat meant sticking the back wheels in and fixed with liquid glue. The fronts were fitted to the cross member and this fixed with plastic cement. With the model sat on a CD case, this allows the front to be jiggled so both wheels touch down.
Elsewhere, there's a little bit of filling going on around the cab top. Hopefully I can sand this back so it doesn't show on the finished model.
This was certainly a very poor kit by Coopercraft's high standards - I wonder if the pink parts are a replacement for the original mouldings? - I seem to remember they were particularly bad. It's looking good though.
ReplyDeleteIf you look at this http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/bedford-lorry.htm it suggests the prototype might well have had large diameter wheels. It might help if the front wheels had a narrower track though since they seem to be set well within the wheel arches
ReplyDeleteI agree about the good work, on a kit that looks like it might not have been one manufacturer's finest hour.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I wouldn't be too worried about the mudguards, cab floor and engine being a different colour to everything else - I'm not completely convinced they would all have been the same colour on the prototype.
However, the colour difference does suggest a mix of mouldings from different sources.
I could also add that the hole through the engine block does look a bit "interesting".
Just out of interest, what did you use as a filler around the top of the windscreen?
Deluxe Perfect Plastic Putty - the only filler I really ge ton with:
ReplyDeletehttp://philsworkbench.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/tidy-corners.html
Mudgards I think should be black, not that it matters as the paintbrush is coming. I wonder if rubber ones were ever fitted as they were on some vehicles.