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More done today. It always seems to take up time but never actually gets any closer to being finished this project!😄 Various bits & bobs done on/for the chassis. Then between waiting for glue to go off etc etc I decided to swap the interior over to right hand drive. Not particularly difficult with this interior as it’s more or less symmetrical. Made up some air hoses from some old nut/bolt locking wire wrapped around a screwdriver. Once they’ve glued solid I’ll manipulate them as needed to line up with the trailer. I’ve painted the cab now too. Here it is loosely assembled back on the chassis. Ignore the yellow bit! I know it looks like Noddy’s car like this but the chassis will be in black soon. Im torn though. Do I leave it in block red or add a white (or other colour?) stripe or something. Obviously the chassis will be black with bits picked out as needed, bumper is black and grill black, which should relieve the amount of red. I think sometimes though you risk overdoing it with commercial vehicles. Not many of them were painted like cars with metallic paint, stripes, 2 tones etc. Most were treated as a tool and got a coat of paint in a solid colour, more often than not white, red, blue etc and that was that. Maybe that’s the way to go with this?

In other news, a couple of new (new to me at least!) arrivals came yesterday. Both will be going straight into a box ready to move of course but they’ll make good projects in the future. First is another Dinky AEC fire engine. This was cheap given its condition! It’s absolutely battered! There’s parts missing, glazing broken, it was full of and covered in mud when I got it too. It’s been heavily played with too as the suspension is very ‘baggy’ and the rubber tyres are so worn they’ve gone bald and smooth. It’ll get a new lease of life as a cab donor to build another model though. Better using trashed stuff like this and not chopping up good ones. And then this. Dinky Coles Hydra mobile crane. I’ve had an eye out for one of these for a while, just nothing too good ideally, so this one’s ideal. All the essential parts are still there but it’s no collectors item, so I won’t feel bad about detailing it and making it into more of a model than a toy. Allegedly these are 1:43 scale, or thereabouts (imperial scale measurements?). I think with some extras added like storage boxes under the chassis on each side, a bit of extra detail to the crane and rams and a set of better wheels (with correct double wheels on the back axles) it’ll be mostly there. These must have been a hell of a toy in their day! It’s big and heavy and when it was new there must have been quite a bit of play value in that crane. Must have been pretty expensive too I’d think?

That is a shame that Kraz is a static 1:1 display model! Definitely should be on the road in my opinion, but at least it’s still here and not been scrapped. Your TT MAN’s (MEN??😄) look brilliant. Don’t think I’ve seen them in that scale before. I’d never have guessed the little loader digger was a Kinder toy either.

A bit more progress on the MAN project. Closeup of the scratch built 5th wheel coupling with the trailer in place. The rear mud guards are now fitted. These were from the original truck but needed some modifications and removing from the frame they were both attached to. I’ve also cut a couple of sections of diamond plate and fitted those for the walkway behind the cab for air hoses etc and a bit to cover one of the original now unused screw mounts for the old wrecker body on the chassis. This was easily visible before so something to cover it over was needed. Refitted the air tanks. Then had to modify the original fuel tank as it was too long to fit between the wheels as it did before. The tank will go back on tomorrow once the glue sets overnight. The cab was being used to help assemble a few bits for the chassis, which are now done, so I’ve finished the last bit of filling (holes for left hand drive wipers) and these will be sanded down tomorrow ready for painting the cab. Interior will be swapped to right hand drive too. It’s slow progress though at the moment. Not helped by most of my modelling things being packed up ready to move house! I’ve got a sheet of diamond plate embossed plastic somewhere already but I can’t find it anywhere. Which meant of course that I needed to buy more to do this. Annoying little set backs like that or needing a tool that’s now in a box somewhere. Hopefully not much longer now though!

yep! There’s actually a model of those pickups in the same partwork collection as the saloon I’ve got. I think it was something about import taxes being high on imported goods at the time so lots of companies decided instead to use a domestic company to build their products and design’s under license. BMC/BL were one, AMC/Jeep were another. Other companies just built a factory in that country and built the products there under their own brand. Fiat were one such company. Spain were similar, they built lots of British commercial vehicles over there under license (BMC/Leyland, Commer/Dodge etc) some had subtle differences but they’re essentially exactly the same vehicle. They even built Land Rovers over there.

That is a handsome old rig!! Interesting it’s on a Q registration too. It actually looks weird seeing one of those trucks with English written on it! I wonder if any of those originally imported here have survived? Resin model looks great too. I’ve had a quick look for my 1:43 one but it must have been packed away ready to move house I think. I’ll have to wait now. Somewhere (also packed away I think!) I’ve got the Kraz badge off the front grill of one of the real ones. Interestingly, with these trucks the number is the exact version. 255 is a heavy duty 6x6 military spec, 256 is the civilian version. The letter after is the body style. B is for tippers, flatbeds etc. V is for tractor units. L is logging truck. Etc etc.

That’s a brilliant looking model! I’ve never seen one in a smaller scale before either, most you see are 1:43. Definitely a suitable livery for it too. Exactly the kind of place they were used. From what I’ve read about them in this country the biggest headache with them was getting hold of spares. Obviously the mechanical bits aren’t common to anything from this part of the world so it’s either got to be made or shipped in. Not good for a vehicle that is only making money when it’s running. The engines in them were a big 15L V8 diesel which, I think, had its origins in tanks in WW2! And showing how crude they could be, the cabs were built using a metal skin over a timber frame… fine, but in something made into the 80’s it’s pretty ‘old fashioned’!

Most of mine are much newer models, but I’ve got an old GAZ Chaika model. No idea who made it or when but it’s very similar in style to your Moskvitch. I’m pretty sure it’s got some CCCP markings on the base. It’s not boxed but in decent enough condition. Lovely springy suspension on it too! There’s a 1:43 Soviet bus of some form here somewhere too. I can’t remember what it’s a model of now but that’s quite a nice hefty model.

Somewhere, I’ve got a little collection of 1:43 Soviet military vehicles. They’re all similar to these cars and trucks in diecast with separate parts etc from the likes of SSM models etc. I’ve had them ages now but they weren’t easily available over here so most actually came from Eastern Europe or Russia (before the unpleasantness in Ukraine started!). There’s a MAZ-537 tank transporter, ZIL-131, Kraz 255, AT-T prime mover and all sorts! Very nice models, if pricey! Ive got quite a few Soviet cars somewhere too…

Thanks! If you do find those pics I’d be interested to see them! They’re quite an old fashioned truck really, to be expected given it’s from the Soviet Union but they are extremely tough rugged vehicles and it probably wouldn’t take much to keep them running. I don’t think mpg is their forte but if you want to pull something big and heavy through deep mud you’d probably struggle to find much better. There were, in the 70’s and 80’s a few Soviet commercial vehicles available in the UK through specialist importers who would bring batches of them over and convert them to UK specs. Obvious stuff like lighting etc etc but some would also be converted to right hand drive. Given the political situation at the time I find it quite odd really… …Even more odd is that government utilities actually bought them! As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I used to work for SSE, who were Southern Electricity back in the pre privatisation days. Part of their vehicle fleet consisted of forward control Land Rovers for certain overhead line teams. But, Land Rover stopped building them which left the utility companies in a bit of a situation where they no longer had access to a 4x4 light truck of that type, so they started looking for alternatives (they even directly asked Land Rover to build them again for utility companies only to which LR said no!). One of the vehicles trialled as a replacement was, believe it or not, the Soviet UAZ-452 ‘bread van’. These were imported and made ready for UK roads by a specialist importer and bought in a small batch by Southern Electricity. Apparently they didn’t last very well! Too small and prone to being massively overloaded! I can’t see their off road abilities being a match for a FC Land Rover either to be honest. But at a time of the Cold War it’s odd to find a Soviet vehicle working for a western government utility! So it’s one I’ve started making a replica of. This started off as a 1:43 partwork of Soviet emergency vehicles and can be picked up cheaply. Once stripped down and painted looks the part I think. I think it actually wears that livery well!

I discovered an issue with my homemade suspension on the MAN… it’s not up to the job!😆 The combined weight of the cast metal chassis and cab were starting to bend it so I’ve had to beef it up a bit. It still works well but it’s not as fine as I wanted it. Never mind. I’ve made a 5th wheel coupling for it too. I took one off another IXO truck I’ve got and used it as a pattern so I know the trailer will work with it. It also tilts like the IXO ones do so it levels up once the trailer is on. And it works! Im starting to do a bit on the cab back now ready for the air hoses etc and cobbling something together for the rear wheel mud guards. Hopefully then I can start thinking more about paint. In between glue drying on bits of that, I’ve reassembled the ex 007 Ford Econoline Club Wagon. Only thing left to do on this is make some new tail lights as the original ones broke up on removing them. I’ll probably just paint the holes the original ones sat in red, then put a drop of the glue n’ glaze over the top to fill the hole. Obviously it’ll dry clear and nobody will know any better! Id quite like to get another one of these and rebuild it as an Econoline panel van version, with most of the chrome trims painted body colour, as a cheaper van would have been back then.

Managed a bit more MAN mangling today. Slow going though as I need to let glue dry before handling it too much. Having sorted the chassis shortening to turn it into a tractor unit, I decided to remove the front axle. On the original wrecker it was a 6x6 and I want this as a 6x4 so I’ve removed the entire front driven axle and suspension (all one plastic moulding) and started building up a beam axle style replacement. The original axle should be handy for something else. It still needs work but given where it is, it’s crucial to let the glue dry before putting the weight of the chassis and cab on the new bits! Ive reused the original attachment points on the chassis and made up new mounts to fit them, dummy leaf springs and the new axle to fit the original wheels and metal axle inside. I expect you probably won’t see much of this afterwards but at least I know it’s actually a 6x2 now! Its sitting at the same height as it did before and all six wheels are touching the bench ok so I must have got it more or less right! It looks better with the trailer sat roughly in place too. Definitely too long as it was. Getting there. Slowly but surely.

It is quite addictive isn’t it!😁 I’ll have a look on that site as I really could do with a replacement glazing for it. I think the site is Steve Flowers main site, he usually sells most (but not all) his parts on eBay too. The A60 (or A55!) or indeed any of the BMC Farina’s are lovely cars! Surprised actually there’s any of them left considering the rate they were being destroyed on the banger racing tracks! Shame really. The old Corgi one here I’ll be doing a simple job of, I want it to look similar to how Corgi actually did them just without the learner bits! I do have a few others though from the more modern manufacturers… James Bond partwork A55. A60 from some other collection. I got this cheap as someone has painted the roof! Argentina partwork Riley (Siam built under license). I’ve got a ‘cars of Greece’ partwork Morris Oxford version somewhere too. Its a pity nobody has done the big Farina versions… Westminster, 6/110, Vanden Plas etc etc they’d make fantastic looking models.

For anyone interested in some older toys; Aaaaages ago I got a Corgi Austin A60, the learner driver model. I’ve always liked these but never actually had one. I was always put off by the cast in L plates front and back and that god awful big red steering wheel on the roof! To me those bits really ruined that car. I never understood why they made them like that really and restricted its use in the process. Even as a kid I always hated those parts and thought Corgi really missed an opportunity by doing that with the casting. I’m still convinced if they’d made it as a standard car it’d have sold well for much much longer in other colour combinations rather than only ever as a learner driver car. I suppose we’ll never know now. But, I decided I’d try to make the car Corgi should have made! As you can see, the one I chose to do this to was not exactly the sort that’d be a loss by doing it. I don’t hack up nice versions of these old toys/models. Stripped. Then just grind and file away the cast L plates, and fill the roof. Then paint! Masking up the white stripe was a pig of a job! The cast trims that divide colours are not the crispest of lines on this casting, add in to that over half a century’s worth of dings, chips and damage from being played with and rattling around in a toy box and you just can’t always get a perfect line. But, I will paint the trims around the white stripe in silver, as on the real cars it has a bright trim around it. Corgi didn’t do this on their release. That should tidy the edges up a bit. Colours are Lada Adriatic blue and gloss white - not an exact match to Corgi’s but not far off! Just needs to harden off for a while now, then I’ll do the silver bumpers, grill, trims etc.

Did a little bit more on the MAN tractor unit today. As it was originally a rigid wrecker the chassis was a bit long for a tractor unit, so it needed shortening. This is roughly how the trailer will sit now. Comparing against photos is helpful when doing this, but even so there’s a bit of variation in exactly how they work truck to truck, I guess it just depends on how each one was spec’d when built new and of course any modifications done during its life. And of course what extra equipment it has fitted. Next job was to rejoin the two halves. To start with I just glued the join and let that dry, then once set reinforced the whole thing with some angle and superglue. Once it’s assembled and painted you shouldn’t see much of this! There is a plastic frame that sits on top of the chassis and includes bits like the rear wheel arch covers, lights etc etc so once this has fully cured I’ll see how that fits and modify to suit. That itself should cover up most of the reinforcement strips. There was a slight oversight though. The rear axles have now moved forward which means the first wheel hits the original fuel tank! So that needs altering before refitting. Another thing I need to do after it’s all set is to make a new front axle. The original one from this chassis is a driven axle with a diff, as the truck was a 6x6. There weren’t ever that many 6x6 ones around so a 6x4 is much more suitable for my artic. Luckily on these the axles and springs are separate plastic parts and can be separated, so I’ve just taken the whole front axle and suspension assembly off and I’ll make a beam axle for it from plastic sections. The redundant original axle will come in handy for another project. I could probably have not bothered to be honest and left it as it was as you can’t really see it was a powered axle unless you pick it up and look underneath but it all adds to the fun of building it I suppose!