AEC Mk I Armoured Car (1/76ish Scratchbuild)

[B4en]

This is a very old build from some even older (and very basic) Airfix Magazine plans which I thought needed refurbishment. This turned into a major rebuild as I found more and more things I had got wrong originally - including most importantly the angled engine deck and the axle width. Both were corrected using as many photo references as I could find. The turret is from the Italeri Valentine kit. Wheels and tires have been adapted but I forget what they came from originally. It still looks a bit rough here and there but at least it pretty well matches the photos now. I gave it some fairly heavy weathering and had fun trying to replicate the dirt/sand splatter on the tyres visible in a few original photos. One day I might do another one better, or more likely nowadays just buy a kit.

[X12A]

I like that!

[JamesPerrin]

This is way cool and I’d swear it was a kit.

[AndrewR]

A very nice scratchbuild.

[B4en]

Thanks a lot guys, happy that you like it! I would like a small scale kit of this one but the only one I know about is from Millicast, and having recently endured building a couple of their kits I can safely say I won't be buying their AEC Mk1!

[ShaunW]

That is a quality looking scratchbuild, Ben, well worthy of the time and effort.

[flakmonkey]

I remember the Airfix scratchbuilding plans fondly. I once did a Conqueror from just such a set of plans, which if I remember correctly were in one of the little hardback Airfix Magazine Guide series of books. Possibly one of Bryan Philpott's wonderfully written guides.

You did a really nice of that AEC, it could easily pass for a kit built vehicle.

[B4en]

Thanks again for the nice comments guys!
I still have a significant pile of the old Airfix mags from the early 70's. Some of the plans offered were excellent and honestly way too complex for me when I was a kid. Some were extremely simple things with maybe an exploded diagram to go with them. The AEC was one of the latter. Years ago I did a 1/35 A.13 and a 1/76 A.9 from some of the better plans. Never came across a Conqueror build but I think I only ever had one Annual.

[t16s]

A very nice AEC Ben- you may recall, that a long time I also scratchbuilt one of these and messed about with making wheels/tyres - we were both trying to do that at the time. Now I have mastered the art with 3D models and printing we can all actually have nice accurately measured and modelled wheels with accurate tyres on them.

£1.50 a wheel plus postage and packaging and they always transform a model- just look at what Neil Craig builds these days with wheels that I supply.

Cheers,

Stu

BTW Ben I should try and pop by to see your new place next time we are visiting the family in Sheffield.

[B4en]

Thanks very much Stuart! Be good to see you any time you're in the area.

Do you have wheels suitable for the AEC in 1/72? I seem to recall you did a very nice Mk III and I'd like to do the same, plus perhaps the experimental version with the Crusader AA turret...

[Impisi]

Cool, looks good

[t16s]

Hi Ben,

Presumably the armoured car has Matador type of wheels which we can check so if that is right I have models of those for both the army and RAF versions. Yes they are different on the rear hubs and the wheel models are from measurements taken off preserved vehicles. I was recently looking at an RAF Matador under restoration at the Shopland Collection. There is a choice of tyre patterns to choose from as well.
Firestone, Goodyear, Dunlop, India, US bar tread

Note that the Airfix Matador wheels are grossly undersize and nothing near the 13.50 x 20 they should be.

Cheers,

Stu

[t16s]

Ben,

I forgot to say that I can print these wheels at 1/76 or 1/72 or 1/35. In fact any scale as long as the model will fit on the printing plate. I supplied some custom made 1/25 scale wheels to a chap in Texas last year for a scratch build military Dodge pickup truck. The model when completed won a silver medal in a model show.

[B4en]

Thanks Martin, it's nice to know a few people like this stuff!

And Stu, yes the old Airfix Matador wheels are way too small - I'm pretty sure I adapted these ones from the Albion crane in the old Aircraft Recovery set. I haven't seen Neil Craig's stuff for ages - does he still post at ATF? I've not looked there for ages as Tapatalk doesn't like the script blockers on my browser.

I'll have to check out tread patterns for the AEC. At a guess Dunlop or Goodyear would be suitable for NW Europe or Italian campaigns? Hubs are no problem for me. This is a long shot but desert sand tyres and wheels for a Morris CS9 chassis are exactly what I want at the moment... No problem if not, a kit is supposedly coming out soon that should have some and I'll be grabbing it at the first opportunity.