Aec 850 Fwd R6t

[mudeng]

There was a thread a while back regarding this beastie, used by the BEF.
The photograph shows the recovery version towing a 5 ton trailer, loaded with a Vickers light tank, and hitched to the rear, a bren gun carrier.

This vehicle fascinated me, as a model builder, I have always gone after the more obscure vehicles, and finding the artillery version at Duxford, made an attempt to build the recovery version.
OK so this is 1/35th and not 1:1, but this was hard enough thank you!

There was some talk of some chassis in a field, now dissappeared, does any one know what happened.

Some were converted to showmans vehicles for fairs, others for civilian breakdown, some used by the lifeboat service.
Hardy Motors converted some for civilian use.

Most of this info came from Les Freathy, to whom I am eternally grateful, both for his wealth of knowledge, and patience. (Thanks again Les).

Hope you like the finished product.

George Moore

[mudeng]

Here goes

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally posted by mudeng
OK so this is 1/35th and not 1:1, but this was hard enough thank you!

George, excellent work! At least we now have an accurate scale model to see what this rare vehicle looked like.

Thanks,
Hanno

[Alex van de Wetering]

George,

Great work and thanks for posting it here! Did you use tires of the Tamiya quad?


regards,

Alex

[mudeng]

Thanks for the comments, I am taking the liberty to post a few shots of the build.

The tyres were from the Bedford QL kit, I prefer the tread pattern, but they are a little wide.
They should be the 9 x 22, the kit ones are 10.50 x20.

The underside was the most complicated, the articulating rear axle had a very large movement. Rear axles were ball jointed at their ends, this allowed the wheels to remain upright, but involved a series of tie bars. The brakes were self compensating to allow for the movement oif the axles.
The front axle was beam mounted and again had a large travel, the front end of the springs were mounted on upright beams.
All in all one of thje most complicated arrangements I have ever encountered, and, a real challenge.
The engine appears to be mounted on a seperate sub chassis as well.
Unfortunately, whilst at Duxford, although having permission from the curator to get close up, and get details, one of the "security" chaps went ape when I was seen crawling on my back underneath to get some detailed photos. Despite my insistence that I had permission, I was then "under observation" for the rest of my visit.

I have my preliminary drawings and one day, hope to produce a set of drawings, presently there are 13 pages of sketch drawings that need to be translated into a proper format.

The example at Duxford is privately owned, and was the one seen at military vehicle rallies in the 80's, however, it's not going anywhere for a while, as the cylinder block is cracked.

I do hope that some other firm information surfaces re the remaining chassis, as I would like to clarify certain points about the chassis layout.

Again I can only thank Les Freathy for his invaluable help. it would seem he has an inexhaustable supply of rare photo's.

I have a number of other projects lined up, and have details of the Morris CDSW artillery tractor, (thanks Hanno), plus details of the No 24 limber and the split trail 18/25 pounder.

I have found this site of immense value, as a model maker, it is essential to get views and details not normally found on "stock" photo's, and seeing vehicles in their component form is of great help.

Thanks.
George.

[mudeng]

This shows the rear axle and tyres.

[mudeng]

Anfinally, another underside view, not as clear as I had hoped, but you can see the large stay frame attached to the front axle.
The rear axles and diff housings are in place.

Thanks again for the interest.
George.

[Alex van de Wetering]

George,

The pictures you just posted are even better and really show your attention to detail. It is always hard to see how much effort it took to complete a scratchbuild model when it is finally painted! And sometimes this is frustrating for the builder.

Didn't you post some pics on the missing-lynx forum some while back?

The Bedford QL-tires from Italeri are great indeed, but I am also a fan of the plastic Chevrolet FAT-tires from the "later" Italeri kits. The Airfix/Peerless/Tony offerings used to have rubber tires, but some years ago Italeri seem to have decided to redo them in plastic.

Great job!

Alex

[Les Freathy]

Super model George at last isee the finished product, did you proceed withthe trailer we discussed and what of the other project shall i mention it no lets wait for the suprise model.
keep em coming
Les

[mudeng]

Thanks Alex,
Yes, I did post some stuff on the ML forum, I am getting together quite a back log of half finished projects.

I am interested in Allied stuff, but mainly British, early war period.

I have a part done Morris CS9 armoured car, the trailers that Les has referred to, a part finished CDSW artillery tractor, plus Light Dragons and conversions of the Tamiya U/C to early and pre-war versions.

I did not want to post too much, as this is not a modelling forum as such.

Thanks again for the kind words.
George Moore.