Leyland/BMC FG Crew Van

At last - after what seems like months I've managed to ge the mustard van out! And so I'm going to put one togeather as a display model over Easter and share the build with you.

Basically the kit is mainly resin with some 3d printed parts like the leaf springs, axles and transmission. There's a fairly well detailed cab interior and a basic crew van pack of plastic floor, bulkhead and six resin seats.

Glazing is included and is easy to fix - I'll do that specifically later.

But tonight here's the kit parts and a close up of the cab.

 

And off we go. Now I'm going to be using rejected castings here because firstly I don't want to waste them and secondly it's going to be a display item that will invariably get damaged.

Starting with the chassis you'll notice it's a little warped (ringed) because I took it out the mould too early. The one on the right is that as supplied in the kit. Much straighter and cured on a flat surface. The two sections were joined using the resin I cast the kit in but Araldite and Superglue are just as good. Again a flat surface helped locate the two parts. This chassis can model two wheelbases and can be shortened for the smallest one by simply snipping away the sides to the length stated in the instructions. The crew van uses the medium length.

The 3d printed leaf springs and transmission were then added all of which have either holes or locating slots to help position. Then the propshaft was fitted in place and finally the spare wheel carrier. Again I used rejected castings for the wheelsets cleaned up and filled. The imperfections won't be noticed. I added the fuel tank but didn't bother with the battery as It cant't be seen.

Now the assembley is ready to prime. Next, this afternoon, I'll start the Cab. Normally the fuel tank would be added after painting but as it's mostly Hidden I did it now to save time.

 

No that's the first one out of the mould and I'm happy with that casting bar a bit of a brush with fine grit...

 

Turning my attention to the cab and a very awkward casting. This is the upper cab featuring the windscreen and rear doors. I had several failures here until I finally adapted the mould to produce better castings.

I stated with the cab interior which includes the seat pedistals, handbrake and setas etc. They're a little bunched up due to the thickness of the Resin. The household pin (supplied) makes an excelent gear stick. Not in shot is the etch steering wheel which I attached to the 1mm wire (also supplied) to be fitted later.

The second pic shows the issue with the top of the cab which I have now resolved. This assembley did need a bit of fettling but I have 'mated' the kits so this should be reduced. I did decide to run some Squadren Green round to assist the join and used more than I needed as usual but when primed you'll see the effect.

For the record the whole build so far has taken me just over an hour.

 

The point is why throw away castings and create needless waste when they can be used save a bit if extra effort on my part?

 

Nothing like an HD camera to highlight areas I missed when cleaning up but over all I'm quite pleased with this. So today I'll be painting the chassis and body, then tomorrow adding the finer detail and Glazing.

 

Sum total of today's work so far now reduced to crawling pace waiting for paint to dy.

Did need to do just a bit of filling as I cleaned up the joint between canopy and van body a little too much and took some material away. Really pleased with the chassis though and the diff' came out better than anticiated. The spare wheel is a reject casting as in this model it can't be seen except from the side.

That'll be a good effect when I sort the Chassis/Cab option out hopefully next week.

 

Yellow applied and again notice areas I'd missed but thankfully these are on the inside and won't be seen! Cab interior painted and the three sub assembley's put together to check alignment etc. Looks good so far. Later I'll be adding the finishing bits and piececs.

 

And now, a trick performed without the aid of alcohol or a safety net - the Glazing!

Potentially this could be the most iritating and anoying part. It actually took me less time and effort than I thought. OK I'm an experianced scratch builder (albeit a crap one) and have been bening plastic since I was a kid but even so if the steps below are followed this is suprisingly easy.

Firstly I used a spare raw-cast cab section. The modeller will of course do this before painting the kit. I then used a piece of normal household selotape and wraped it over the front. I then traced round the outline of the appature with a black felt tip pen and simply applied the tape to the glazing. I cut round just outside the black lines.

The Glazing material is Expo 8thou' clear is very plyable and has little memory (even less than me) so will stay formed. Using a file I rolled the corners carefully so as not to crease, offered it up and simply trimmd to suite. Once I was happy I coated the inside of the appature with standard PVA wood glue and pressed the glazing in place using a scaple to push home the corners etc. PVA dries clear and finger marks can be pealled of or cleaned with water.

 

Edging ever closer to completion. The remaing glazing to one side has been completed. I'm now waiting for glue to dry before I do the other.

I sprayed up the window frames in advance and again used wood glue to seccure. You can see where it's not yet dried and where I've been a bit ham-fisted.

 

Finished. Well bar a bit of work to get the chassis to sit straight. Official pics tomorrow.

 

Just noticed I forgot the windscreen wipers and the offsite glazing has popped out . Tomorrow...

 

Official pics. - Still managed to get the wipers off centre....

 

In the back having a lie down