BAS Weldon Snow Cat

[Weaver]

Wait, so we have a 1 Week Group Build and you decide "oh, I think I'll scratchbuild a vehicle bed out of 60 pieces of Evergreen?"

Actually, I spent longer umming and ahhring over the design than I did building it....

[Weaver]

Black paint is dry, red paint is drying, some detail painting is in progress.

I'm debating whether to add weight to it to make it compress the tracks and "sit" more naturally, or just glue them to the wheels since I'm going to have to do that for the top run anyway.

[kitnut617]

Very impressive Harold    

Is it too late to move the cab forward a bit to make space for the forward jacks ?

[scooter]

Of course, once the 1WGB is done, he'll probably take it apart, figure away to put the plow on and redo the bed so the dropsides actually work...

I'm impressed.

[Captain Canada]

Beauty. Love the load bed. Very well done.

[Weaver]

Thanks folks.

Very impressive Harold    

Is it too late to move the cab forward a bit to make space for the forward jacks ?

No need: on the real thing they go on a subframe at the front of the cab, but they seem to be optional, particularly with a smaller crane like this one.

[Weaver]

Ballast weight. Go on, get all the "balls" jokes out of your system, you know you want to......

[PR19_Kit]

That's going to take SOME lifting when it's finished! 

[NARSES2]

Who said modelling's for wimps 

[Captain Canada]

Looks like an Aero chocolate bar !

[Weaver]

Okay, all done, after an epic last day of glitches, fixes and last-minute inspirations.

I'm afraid I don't have a fancy back story worked out for this one. Weldon are a fictional British company who make industrial vehicles, including snow cats, and the BAS use them. The yellow crane is based on a pic of a real BAS Nodwell 110c with one just like it. In my head, the explanation is that it was ordered in a hurry from the nearest supplier in Chile, or taken from a yellow machine at Rothera, to replace a broken one and yellow was the only option. They got the spotlight at the same time...

Regrettably, the Minitanks crane, which is a lovely bit of plastic engineering, is no longer as fully articulated as it once was, since paint has closed some of the clearances up too much. I may have a go at fixing this, but I didn't want to risk breaking it right now.

The decals were a last-minute thing: it struck me that if the black roof was to ID the vehicle in the snow, then a number would be a good idea too.

















Cab, engine bay, fuel tank, crane jacks : 1/72nd Academy M977 truck

Running gear and lower body : 1/76th Revellobox T-34/76

Tracks : 1/76th Matchbox Panther

Crane : 1/87th Roco Minitanks

Spotlight : unknown 1/35th tank kit

Chassis and load bed : scratchbuilt from Evergreen strip and textured deck plating (unknown manufacturer)

Fuel tank guard and handrail : scratchbuilt from brass rod

Transmission guard : scratchbuilt from Eduard PE mesh

Paints : Humbrol Hu.174 Satin Red, Halfords satin black, Humbrol Hu.24 Trainer Yellow

Decals : Fantasy Printshop Luftwaffe and USAF serials sheets

[kerick]

Awesome job! Looks just right!

[kitnut617]

Brilliant !!!!!!

[rickshaw]

Very nice indeed!  Well done!   

[Steel Penguin]

I wish to concur with the above Whiffers... Smashing job!