This is a 1:72 scale model of the Vauxhall D-type staff car of 1917. It's from Roden of Ukraine, who have a useful number of British vehicles of WWI at that scale. I plan to include it in the same airfield scene as the S.E.5a described in my previous post. Long way to go yet before I've assembled everything :)
Vauxhall disappeared into the GM conglomerate a long time ago (I have a blurry boyhood memory of the family car being a Vauxhall Victor for a while), but it was a well known auto maker of the era. The D-type was well favoured for the staff car role and more than 1,500 were built. One was celebrated for its employment by King George V on a visit to the Front after the Armistice in November 1918.
These pictures are a little frustrating for me to present, as always with very small kits. The model barely makes it to six centimetres in length, and in reality you hardly notice the dodgy paintwork which is all too apparent blown up like this. Too bad. Yes, it's very small, laughably so considering the standard size box it came in. The sprues did feature a decent number of parts (far, far more than did that resin kit of an Austrian staff car I posted about ages ago). A few were tiny, and difficult to fix - see the small lamps next to the windscreen? - one of those broke off and vanished to the floor; by some miracle I found it, a rare victory over the carpet monster.
The small scale does make the model a challenge. I always admired Roden's tendency to mould parts in scale thickness, eg their biplane struts in 1:72 were much more convincing than in similar aircraft kits you found elsewhere. But they were fragile, could deform more readily, and the chassis of this kit of the Vauxhall staff car is a good example of how tricky a build is when several such flimsy parts are supposed to go together; and then support everything else.
I was in two minds about whether to pose it with the hood up or down. Suitable parts are provided for either choice. There's a pleasing amount of detail, and it's worth taking time over painting to bring it out. I liked the inclusion of clear parts for the headlights.
No real complaints. The car will suit my planned diorama very well, with a driver standing next to it and its passengers viewing the airfield scene.
Comments
Post a Comment