Friday, March 03, 2023

Vintage APOC wagon kit

APOC wagon kit

Thrust upon me at Doncaster a few weeks ago (Thanks Phil), this Anglo Persian Oil Company wagon kit is a proper period piece. Look at that vintage box!

I've actually built this kit, or at least the re-issued version from Southestern Finecast when it appeared many years ago. It wasn't the easiest build thanks to the cables retaining the tanks, and open-frame nature of the underframe. I seem to recall that I couldn't find any suitable transfers, so just heavily weathered the model. Where this is right now, I can't remember, or I'd add a photo to this blog. 

The castings in this example look pretty good and clean. It's certainly very buildable and would produce an unusual wagon that (currently) isn't available RTR. Those wheels might benefit from replacement with something that has pinpoints on the axle, along with suitable bearings in the underframe. 

I wonder where this kits has been living. And how old it is - 1950s perhaps? 

For those who fancy building one, there are some excellent photos on Paul Bartlett's website, showing those tanks need wrappers with rivets on!


3 comments:

Luke Stevens said...

POW sides do a set for APOC tank wagons.

https://www.powsides.co.uk/product.php/anglo_persian_oil_company/

Luke

Simon Hargraves said...

I guess open-framed vehicles like this are where the weight of the whitemetal castings comes in handy. I must get around to buying one or two of the re-issued Finecast kits, there are several really interesting wagons. I've got one or two similar boxes, but they contain Rex kits rather than Wills. I find this sort of stuff irresistible, especially as it's often on offer for cup of tea money.

Phil Parker said...

Luke - Thanks for the heads up.

Simon - This stuff is irresistible isn't it? I'd love to see a museum of old model kits as I find them fascinating.