A Rather Late Lifeboat

[general rocket]

A quick build is planned.
Not having anything in the stash suitable for this build I have been watching from the side lines. Finding this in my fast reducing stash and thinking "what the hell" and wanting to build one of the DUKW's used as lifeboats on Southport beach until the mid 90's. For those unfamiliar with Southport, the tide goes out several miles, so an amphious lorry was the ideal solution.

The model used is the Airfix 1/72.

[general rocket]

As she stands at the moment.
No filler has been used, though some flash has had to be removed. The only criticism being the differential housings, the molds don't line up properly and needed cleaning up with a needle file. The body (hull?) received a coat of Citadel "Chaos Black" as an undercoat, the yellow being a first coat of Airfix matt 154. The drive train received a coat of Tamiya matt brown for an undercoat, while the wheels are in their finished colour of Airfix "Brick Red" as per the real thing.

Next up, several more coats of yellow.
I could only find a couple of pictures of these particular machines on the web, and they where exactly the same as the photographs I took 20 odd years ago, so a bit of educated guess work required.

[AndrewR]

Love it! My grandparents lived near Southport so I saw these DUKWS on the beach all the time

My first Airfix kits came from Woollies in Southport too

[VMA131Marine]

Love it! My grandparents lived near Southport so I saw these DUKWS on the beach all the time

My first Airfix kits came from Woollies in Southport too

I'm sure I bought kits from that same Woollies in the '70s. Although, my most memorable purchase from there was the Revell 1/570 Titanic, which I had wanted a model of for ages.

[AndrewR]

I think there were two lots of DUKWS used on Southport beach - the red and yellow lifeguard ones and also a couple owned by Southport Corporation, which were red and cream to match the local buses.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/321559;

[MarkyM607]

Will watch this one, my aunt, uncle and cousin live in Southport, it's a place I'm a little familiar with and like a lot. Didn't know these were used even with a yearly holiday for year upon year. Must have seen them at least once without remembering!. It is rare to see the sea without it being a mile off shore!!.

[jamesaw]

I've also seen them giving amphibious city tours in London, UK and Ottawa. I suppose they're like the C-47. The only thing that can replace a DUKW is another DUKW. Interesting build btw!

[general rocket]

Anyone who has brush painted yellow, will be familiar with the 5 or 6 coats of matt (does model color yellow have any better coverage?). Next is the orange (Humbrol 82) over anything that is black on the hull in the picture.
The tarpaulin (not shown) has been painted Humbrol HR132 "Orange Lining" and now needs weathering.
Wheels are in Brick Red, which is how they appear in the photographs.

More tomorrow, hopefully!

[AndrewR]

Vallejo sand acrylic primer is the stuff for putting under yellows and oranges.

[general rocket]

Vallejo sand acrylic primer is the stuff for putting under yellows and oranges.

Ta V. much. I will look out for it.

[general rocket]

Today's update.
Finally happy with the yellow, and mere 3 coats of orange.


Lettering was done by hand (like you couldn't tell) using a 0.05 drawing pen.
Next up, a bit of weathering on the hull.

[general rocket]

Not much apparent progress, just been weathering.
Pictures are of a test fit.

[AndrewR]

Brilliant! I think you got the colours just right ☺

[general rocket]

Finished.
Generally happy.






Comments and criticism welcome.

[JohnRatzenberger]

Good looking and unique !