Austin K2 Truck Build Review

[Ratch]

Following on from the In-Box Review, here i shall document the build.

[Ratch]

I will build the model in the Caunter scheme. The fit is positive and ingeniously designed. I anticipate that it will be best to paint most parts after assembly. It is important in step 1 to position the cross beam D13 correctly, with the square location point on the near side of the vehicle, as the exhaust pipe locates there at a later stage.

I like the location points for the leaf springs.

Equally with the front springs, technology in mould design has certainly advanced.

At step 4 we see why the positioning of the cross beam is important.

I assembled the wheels at Step 5 but put them in clearly labelled zip-lock bags for fitting later. The inner hubs and steering rack were added. The whole will be airbrushed in due course.

The fuel tanks are handed and must be cemented to the appropriate side of the chassis.

Two plates on the rear and the two boarding steps almost complete the basic chassis. 

The instructions attach part C32 (the spare wheel resting plate) at step 12, but I chose to fix it now. The whole assembly so far can be airbrushed before the additions of cab, bonnet, and load bed.

Assembly now moves on to the load bed.

The box construction is simple once the parts have been cleaned up following their detachment from the runner.

Storage lockers are then assembled and fixed to the underside of the load bed.

[Ratch]

Step 11 sees the construction of tilt rails and spare wheel rack, and step 12 assembles the spare wheel. 

Step 12 also fits the spare wheel foot plate (which I did earlier) and secures the load body to the chassis (which I will do after painting).

We then move onto the driving cab. 

My approach requires careful thought to ensure that assembly will not impair the painting process. I have now undertaken a series of subassemblies, so (in theory) I can do the airbrushing in one session. 

I had some ejector pin marks to fill in the rear wall of the cab. 

The etched parts form the Bridge Plate, which I fixed with cyanoacrylate.

All ready for airbrushing.

[Ratch]

At this stage I primed the constituent sub-assemblies and parts with Vallejo German Dark Yellow Surface Primer.

[Ratch]

The base colour.

[Ratch]

A bit more brushwork and assembly resumes.

[Ratch]

I applied the decals for the cab.

[Ratch]

Further cab assembly.

I need to airbrush the bonnet.

[Ratch]

Cab attached.

[Covered in Glue CIG]

Hi Ratch looking for my next model to build .

I have just finished the Fairey Swordfish 1/72 - looking for something different ... what do you think of this so far? (i make No apologies :) ) if you are pleased with the way this is going ....i might just follow you on your build ,

Or have you built the airfix tiger 1 ( early) for example.

what do you think

Best Regards

Adrian

[Ratch]

No, not built the Tiger. I did build the K2 Ambulance and posted that here.

The build is very good so far.

[Covered in Glue CIG]

As always thank you .....for some reason i am being drawn more and more to the Austin !

[Ratch]

I primed the bonnet that I had missed earlier. Then sprayed it and retouch the base colour.

[Ratch]

I kept the masking to a minimum and hand painted the Caunter stripes. I did not use the colours recommended on the instruction sheet, but followed Mike Starmer’s advice, using the nearest colours I have to No.61 B.S.381-1930 Light Stone Base colour. For this I use Vallejo Model Air 71027 Light Brown. I use Vallejo Model Color 70870 158 Medium Sea Grey for the No.28 B.S.381-1930 Light Grey disruptive colour, and Humbrol Acrylic 31 Matt Slate Grey as No.34 B.S.381-1930 Slate Grey disruptive colour.

[Ratch]

I brush painted the radiator grill and bridge plate.

[Ratch]

I sprayed with Klear, and then applied the decals using DecalFix.

[Ratch]

The near side wing mirror was fitted trouble free, but the off-side wing mirror split into three parts as it was removed from the runner. I tried to glue the parts back together, but they clearly were too fragile to make a firm fix on the cab. I decided to replace the arm with brass rod, bent at the cab end and fixed with superglue.

Both will need painting in Slate Grey with silver reflective faces.

[Ratch]

After completing the ex-works paint job, I sealed this under a protective coat of Klear. I then laid down an enamel wash of Mig Productions Filter 1508 - Green Filter for Grey Green with a broad, flat brush. Chipping can be made with gunmetal grey applied by brush.

Use pigments for dust effects. An airbrush can be used to spatter the pigment off the brush. This can be softened with the streaking technique. Thinning with white spirit offers a dust wash. Darker colours indicate wet areas.

Tyres can be dusted in a similar manner treads can be re-defined using a Q-tip to wipe off excess dust.

[Ratch]

I decided to try AK Interactive AK775 Matt Varnish for the first time. I could then remove the masks from the cab windows. So, here we have a supply truck from the 419th Company, Royal Army Service Corps (Divisional Supply Company), 70th Infantry Division, Tobruk, Western Desert, August 1941.

The only omission I have noticed is the starting handle. I’m also a little disappointed that there is no upper part of the engine, then the bonnet might be opened to show it. I’m sure that advanced modellers will be able to scratch such things, but it would be a delight for the less experienced to have this possibility. I realise that the omission or inclusion of such detail can be down to price point and the cost of extra design and tooling. I suppose it boils down to the perception of how much Joe Public is willing to pay.

[Ratch]

With the Austin K2 Ambulance.

[paul71]

like the paint job ratch and the weathering is good (not that i can realy say much about weathering as its something I've not done yet) been good to see the build enjoyed reading and seeing it come along.

As a side note to the black and white photographs pointing out colours to people if that's ok.

you have done a good example to how difficult it is to work out colours from b/w and people argue so much about it.

you can see the 3 colours in the colour pics but in the b/w the two lighter colours start to blend into 1 especially on the back and if you didn't have the reference of the colour pic for the lines you could mistake it as just having 2 colours and the ambulance looks a lighter colour altogether.

[Ratch]

Thanks Paul. You make a good point about the monochrome pictures. I know that folks go to great lengths trying to establish the correct colour and shade, and I admire their efforts in this field. I'm happy to get something in the ballpark. There are many things that might vary the perception of colour, so I try not to get hung up about it.

[Ratch]

Note the tilt rails. Three rails in three sections. Two short straight sections that fir on either side of the box and a hooped section which attaches to the top, bridging the box.