Started AFV Club 1/35 scale AEC (Associated Equipment Company) British Army Artillery Tractor. This project is part of the British Army Group Build 2020 under Martin Bishop (Bish) who is a retired British Army Artillery combat Veteran.
During the 1930’s before the outbreak of World War Two, all the major European powers were developing motorized transportation for artillery units. Associated Equipment Company who was designing double-deck buses for Great Britain was asked by the Ministry of War to develop a four-wheel drive artillery tractor to pull 5.5-inch howitzers and 3.7-inch anti-aircraft guns. There were a total of 8,612 of these vehicles produced until 1945.
I completed assembly step 1 and 2 which include the lower engine half and tow cable winch. Steps 3 through 9 will involve the frame, undercarriage, suspension, axels, and wheels.
Welcome GS from Arizona and Rob from Victoria, Australia. I completed step 3 this morning which surprised me with how much time I spent. I usually have a three-hour period each morning to work on models and thought I could finish two, or three steps today. However, this morning I started a little late and even though I underestimated how much time it would take I did not break anything, so it was a good session. Step 3 includes the frame, cross-members, lower engine half and winch assembly. Keeping it level and square was my main objective, so I do not have trouble later with the suspension and body assembly.
I find the AEC Matador one of the most interesting and iconic British military vehicle of World War II. With a low geared 7580 cc diesel engine it could pull the heaviest load through the muddiest field. It was designed for towing artillery pieces, but also served in different versions as an aircraft fuel truck, flatbed cargo truck, personnel carrier, tow truck and even a dump truck. The British really put this vehicle to good use during the war.
Rob Ferguson, I do not know much about the Australian Navy even though I served on destroyers during the Vietnam War and met a few Australian Navy seamen. Glad to have you in our Forum Mate.
Thanks Harold. Its good to be part of the forums I am enjoying the contact with other modelers and have received some great advice. I am not in a club over here as I live too far away from any large population areas. I served on destroyers, (DDG’s), as well just after the Vietnam war. Ended up with a medical discharge as a result of an accident.
I completed steps 4 through 6 and started step 7. The undercarriage of this model is much more detailed than I realized. Steps 1 through 9 is a full running gear with drive lines and transmission. If AFV Club had included the upper half of the engine it would be a complete model inside and out. There is a full interior in the cab and the bed has all the detail you would expect in a truck model. I am very pleased with the way this model was engineered.
looking good Harold. Do the parts require much clean up? It looks very clean and tidy. Thanks for the info on the Matador website, that will come in very handy when I get back to working on my ho/oo beastie.
Incidentally, I actually have an AEC nameplate that a mate of mine in 3/4 Cav. brought back from Somalia. Also the photo you posted of the Matador tanker fuelling a Lancaster intrigued me. When I had a closer look the Lancaster was S-Sugar of 467 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force. S-Sugar was a famous aircraft with a record number of missions with both RAF and RAAF squadrons. It carried a tally of its missions on the port side of its nose and a quote from Herman Goering - “No enemy plane will fly over Reich territory”, or words to that effect.
The AFV Club kits are as clean and well engineered a model as you will fine in 1/35 scale. I have six AFV Club models now and they are all the same quality, so I can recommend them with confidence. One caution is they are intended for experienced modelers which mean there is a lot of detail and some very small parts. If you use Tamiya extra thin cement and some form of magnifying glasses you should be able to build anything in AFV Club’s catalogue.
Thank you, Rob. I completed steps 1 through 9 which includes the frame, lower half of the engine, transmission, drive lines, suspension, axels, and wheels. The next phase is the truck bed, steps 10 through 19 then the cab interior steps 20 through 27. The last step is 28 which joins the bed and cab with the chassis. Like other models with an interior the exterior assembly work will be interrupted to paint the interior.
I had one minor problem with assembly today. In photograph #1 and #3 you can see a white part next to the frame. It is a transmission mount that I had to build from styrene. The instructions show installation of a transmission mount before the transmission is installed, but you cannot get the transmission in place with that mount installed. I try to plan ahead at least two steps during assembly, but sometimes I overlook this kind of problem until it is too late.
A few recent threads bring up the old problem of ‘rubber’/vynyl tyres reacting with the plastic rims.
I’ve never heard of this happening with AFV club, but a popular solution is to skin the wheel rim, where the rubber contacts the plastic, with Bare Metal Foil/thin Aluminium tape of your choice, & dip the tyres in Future/Pledge, then avoid enamels & paint/weather with Acrylics.
Well mate it happens to us all. I will not tell you about my stuff up with the StugIIIA until it’s finished. Anyway it looks like you have got it sorted nicely. Looking great.
I find that interesting. Years ago I built the Tamiya LRDG kit and won a national comp with it, so naturally I was very proud. Imagine my horror when a few years later I realised that all the tyres had developed major cracks. I’ve since purchased resin replacements, but I also dropped the bugger when moving house. So the replacement tyres and the hulk is now sitting on the shelf of shame.
Thank you, Jon, and Rob. Well you certainly got my attention. I had never heard of this issue with vinyl rubber and plastic. Probably because most of my models are track vehicles and I like to use metal tracks. However, I did have one with vinyl tires that I finished last December, please see photographs #1, #2 and #3 below. So this morning I took it off the shelf and inspected the tires and as you can see in #2 the material looks normal.
One thing I did with this model is paint the tires with Vallejo Tire Black #71.315. I do not like shinny vinyl rubber tires because they are not natural looking. This morning; however, I noticed the material was hard like plastic instead of pliable and soft when I worked on this model nine months ago. So maybe there will be a problem down the road, I will check it again in six months.
As you said Jon AFV Club does not have a history of the problem and maybe they have found the right material to represent rubber tires? I do have a concern about another model I did for a friend in March. It had vinyl rubber tracks and I recall using CA glue to connect the tracks which caused some melting of material at the connection point. This was an Academy model release about ten-years ago with the original vinyl tracks. If it fails that could be a problem because the model is in the National Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, Virginia. Please see photograph #4 and #5 below.
Rob I stuff-up every model I build in one way or another. I have become a repair aficionado out of necessity. I have a stockpile of styrene, copper wire and unused parts that I go to all to often. I try not to get upset when I make mistakes, I tell myself every mistake is an opportunity to learn something. But if I have learned anything it is not to assume the instructions are wrong. Sometimes they are, but most of the time it is me.
Harold
#1
#2
#3 Photograph below taken in December 2019
#4 The model below is on display in the National Marine Corps Museum
I hear what you’re saying about the instructions mate. As a friend once said to me - “We seek lifes problems because of the gifts they bring” If you can be practical about these things I think this is very true.
PS I dont think you should have any worries about the Ontos.
I completed steps 10 through 18 out of 28 which is the truck bed, seating, and accessories. There were a few problems in these steps starting with resin gas cans that came with the kit. Why AFV Club chose to have resin gas cans when their styrene cans are perfect, I have no idea. However, the main problem was the styrene storage rack for gas cans located under the truck bed. The storage rack was incomplete according to the number of parts in the instructions. Anyway I ended up making a storage rack out of styrene strips which is a little different than the original, but it looks similar to an actual rack I had fabricated out of angle iron, so I know it will work.
There were also a few other problems with the instructions, but I was able to work around those without too much difficulty. Step 19 is assembly of the canopy and then steps 20 through 27 is the cab interior. The cab interior will need to be hand-painted before final assembly and painting.
Thank you Bish. I completed assembly of the canopy this morning and I am ready to start assembly of the truck cab interior. The canopy will not be glued to the truck bed until the interior is painted.
I ordered Eureka XXL braider metal wire rope in .40mm diameter to replace the copper wire cables stowed on the tail gate. I have used the Eureka wire rope before and it is easy to use, realistic looking material. I also ordered AFV Club styrene British fuel cans to replace the resin ones that came in the kit.
Thank you, Rob. I completed the interior cab assembly today and tomorrow I hope to finish the exterior cab assembly. I need to paint the interior before I can put the cab, bed, canopy, and chassis together.
I made a few mistakes today, because I was rushing to finish as much as possible. I lost one of the pedals, a clutch pedal, I think but I made a new one out styrene, so it was not a major issue.
The control levelers on the floor seem to be in the way of the gas pedal, so I did a little research and found out the levelers lay over the wheel wells allowing access to the gas pedal. I am not sure what the levers do, but they are in the right place. Please see photographs #3 and #4 below. I also found pictures of a finished AFV Club Matador, #5 and #6 that confirm how the manufacture intended the levers to look.
