Don’t get the hump - The Bedford Dromedary
Here are the kit parts, most of which I won’t be using.
Bizarrely enough, the cab detail doesn’t even stretch to a steering wheel! Asking me to accept that is about likely as me building a Gundam robot thing. Unfortunately there are no photos of the inside of the cab as I wasn’t intending to do a build report.
Bizarrely enough, the cab detail doesn’t even stretch to a steering wheel! Asking me to accept that is about likely as me building a Gundam robot thing. Unfortunately there are no photos of the inside of the cab as I wasn’t intending to do a build report.
This is the bare-bones of the trailer. I did change the way the spare wheel is attached later in the build as I wasn’t happy with how it looked. As the trailer is quite delicate I made a stand to use while it’s being built.
This is the front bit.
Notice the scratch-built steering wheel.
Notice the scratch-built steering wheel.
A little more work on the trailer
I needed an additional three wheels which I copied in resin.
All the Dromedary conversions I’ve seen have the trailer completely covered over. I want mine to be open so I needed five identical hoops (probably a more technical term for them but the filing system in my brain is out of order at the moment (I say that as if it hasn’t been out of action for the last twenty years. 😳 )). I used some scrap bits to make a simple jig.
I also needed a few tie-downs, 57 of the bloody things. For each one I used 1.5mm of 0.3mm brass tube which is half squashed in a photo etch bender and bent to the precise angle of ‘that looks about right’. Obviously several pinged into orbit so a few more were required to be made.
The trailer is complete. Damnit! It wasn’t until I’d completed the model I found that the trailer had leaf spring suspension. Fortunately I won’t loose any sleep over it.
I've since added lights to the back. The photo i have isn't very clear so the lights are a guesswork.
A truck needs a load. Yes I could have reached for my wallet and bought some resin bits and pieces, I wanted to copy them and it’s morally wrong to copy someone else's work (….or it could be that the silicon I’m using to make the moulds doesn’t react well to resin 😳 ). I only had a couple of jerry cans so I spent some time making a few other items. Here they are waiting to be moulded.
Originals are top of the photo. Bottom left are the seven items which didn’t mould very well, the others worked very nicely. I did another load after this and that was much more successful.
It was easier to prime and paint them when they were double sided taped to coffee stirrers.
All ready to use and it probably cost about £1 in total (and about five hours to make the originals).
A few improvements to the front of the cab. I will be adding windscreen wipers and wing mirrors later otherwise they will just fall off if I do them too soon.
The tractor section is complete.
Now it’s primed it makes it look less of a dog’s dinner.
I have read there is a possibility that the Micky Mouse camo was usually brown and black. I go with what I like rather than what’s accurate and I wanted to use green (Tamiya XF-71). I did consider cutting many dozens of circles to mask the camo…..then chickened out. It would have been horrendous sticking little circles over those tie-downs. I brush painted it and it was a damn sight easier/quicker/more enjoyable. The originals were brush painted in a hurry and were far from prefect.
To give the impression of even more of a load I used a wooden off-cut in the trailer and in the bit behind the cab I used plastic tube with wooden dowel inside to look like the shape of oil drums. Then covered them in PVA soaked tissue paper.
Still plenty more to do, thanks for having a look.
Still plenty more to do, thanks for having a look.
To give you an idea of the size.
Everything other than the cab and the tractor chassis is scratch-built.
Everything other than the cab and the tractor chassis is scratch-built.
I did conciser having a go at hand writing the 2mm high number on the side of the cab…. took me a while to stop laughing. Guess what…. no numbers. 😳
The only way the Dromedary would be able to accelerate with a load like this is if it rolled off a cliff.
The green and black thing at the front of the trailers is supposed to be the folded up cover for the trailer.
Thanks for having a look. 👍
Opmerkingen
31 13 July, 13:59
gorbyNew photos start at number 10.
This may give the impression that I've completed this in a couple of weeks...it's been nearer two months. Although the build is complete this update doesn't take us to the end of the build process.
Thanks for having a look. 🙂
16 July, 15:40
gorbyThanks Alec. I've tried cast parts in resin before and it wasn't very successful, this time I used silicon as the mould and that made all the difference. It's really easy with silicon. 🙂
17 July, 07:06
bughunterHoly moly - what a nice little model! Great work so far 👍 Sorry, I was not in the mood to follow all the nice builds here, so I discovered it lately.
And thank you very much for mention me in the album info 😉
18 July, 06:52
gorbyNo problem mate, I have times I'm not in the mood to comment, quite often really as I'm a grumpy old git. 😄
I hope to get the final photos posted at the weekend, it's finally stopped raining here so busy doing other jobs at the moment. 🙂
18 July, 11:13
gorbyFinally got around to taking some photos of this ridiculous beast, thanks you all for following the build. 🙂
20 July, 14:57
gorbyThanks David. 👍
Thanks Neuling, although you're mistaking me for a proper modeller if you expect a dio. 😄 😄
I have to be in the right mood to to do a dio and at the moment I just feel like building models. 🙂
21 July, 06:48
Christian BruerWow, very impressive and excellent work with a lot of scratchbuilt parts - love it 👍
21 July, 13:54
gorbyThanks very much Christian. Apparently the drivers didn't love them because they were sooooo slow. 🙂
21 July, 14:00
bughunterA small piece of tarpaulin over the first bows would make it even more interesting.
No, it was a joke 🙂 Nice model of a vehicle with British style.
22 July, 17:52
Michael KohlThanks for CaptGPF for poiting out the scrstch building. I would have completely missed it and thus a very enjoyable build report.
One of those builds that would have looked really good without paint too.
I got stuck with my QLD over the humps as I did not manage to shape them identically. Your idea with the jig might breath in some life into that build again. Thanks for that too.
22 July, 18:35
gorbyThanks very much matiepoos! 🙂
Buggy, I'll let you in on a secret just as long as you don't tell aaanyone else....I just got fed up with working out how I was going to put the tarp on the back and do the lacing onto the tie-downs. Therefore I decreed that it was nice day and they wanted to have the roof down. 😄 😄
Michael: I managed to confuse some others on a different forum about how much of this was scratch-built. Confusion seems to be my natural state and maybe I'm infecting everyone else. 😄
Spanjaard: I've even surprised myself with this one. Am I finally getting the hang of this modelling lark....then I see Frank's work and think how much further I have to go. 🙂
Thanks again everyone for you nice comments and to anyone who has clicked on 'Like'. 🙂
23 July, 08:03
bughunterThank you very much for the trust you have placed in me, gorby! Of course I won't pass on this secret, but will take it to my grave.
23 July, 16:21
gorby😄 😄 I knew I could rely on you Bugs. 😉
Thanks very much Rui, glad you like it. 🙂
24 July, 06:06
Philmeidosem -1/72I look at your works Gorbi and I am impressed! O_o Bravo and thank you again for your comment on my dio… Coming from you, it gives me confidence! 🙂
25 July, 09:11
gorbyThanks Philippe! I haven't the confidence to do a diorama with water - particularly as a first dio, so you're one ahead of me. 😉
25 July, 10:00
Album info
Note for non Brits: ‘Don’t get the hump means ‘don’t get angry’.
Sometimes it’s good to do an out of the box build. It’s good for your mental well-being.
That’s probably why I’m so screwed-up because my intention to do an out of the box build usually gets….eeerrm, a tad over complicated. I try to add extras to state of the art kits, expecting me to do an out of the box build for kits which date back over fifty years to when dinosaurs wore brown flares and orange tank-tops would be torture. I’d also see it as a waste of a kit which may otherwise have potential to turn into something I can be pleased with, rather than be chucked to the back of the drawer never to be seen again. It’s what I enjoy, it’s what I find challenging and keeps my brain engaged. I know there is a conversion kit for this in 1/76 – where would be the fun in that?
The Dromedary was a cunning plan to make the Bedford QL even more unusable, as the same 72bhp engine was expected to haul about twice the usual weight. The normal version struggled with hills so god help the Dromedary drivers. Bughunter told me that ‘Bedford’ sounds like ‘Bad-ford’, probably not far wrong. 😄
I originally wasn’t in the mood to do a build progress report which is why this starts a bit late in the day.
