Replete with gun trailer! This build was really good fun. Is it raining where you are? Time for some model making perhaps!
The bare chassis. Actually not much of which is visible in the end, however could be used in other interpretations and ways to build (like blown up/damaged for example)
Seeing a real AEC Matador! Looked like it was being transported somewhere, perhaps for restoration as a show vehicle. They are nowadays popular for this purpose.
The cabin casting and other parts had a lot of errors, perhaps as this is an old product and doesn't press from the Airfix factory like it used too. A lot of correction here with filler and sanding.
Building and painting the little dude in the cabin.
Further correction using glue to melt and clamps setup carefully, end result is a strong and aligned cab. This part was more fiddly and needed more correction than I realized, but worth it.
Somewhere near the end result, I haven't tried too many times in the past weathering techniques. I tried to make it look like it just drove through a muddy battlefield ...
Attempt at photography of the finished item. The problem here is the lens distorts and exaggerates, it looks better in real life, honest! Erm.... my skills can be refined also. Both in the model and photographing it more 'realistic'
This hobby, it's so satisfying. I had to throw this fact in.
Windows in stock kit were, too thick, not scale, and blemished. Instead I used thin clear plastic from some product packaging (you know the type). Then I made a broken window effect with a scalpel. On the other side, I made the window wound halfway down.
A Departure from just 'cars' ...
During lockdown back in the UK, I indulged myself during the winter months with my old hobby, some scale model making. Usually I like to build cars, however these can require a lot of resources, time and patience. There in England, I had access to plenty of cheap and cheerful 'Airfix' model kits, many of which are based on military themes from across the ages. WWII being of particular interest to me, and some machines which I recall my grandfathers and great uncles telling me about as a kid.
Building these is a lot more forgiving than doing the 1/24 scale cars. I did do some of that later, (see this Range Rover build, which was quite a mission). This military truck was a kind of 'warm up' as I hadn't made model kits in such a long time. As we shall see, they are a lot more forgiving as we can use weathering techniques to make it look worn, muddy, dusty etc which has a double down effect of hiding imperfections whilst adding realism. Model making in this style is a lot of fun, although I really enjoy (i'm a bit sick lol) the endlessly deep challenge of building cars to look as 'showroom' as possible. So perhaps this serves as a tip to anyone thinking of this hobby - military vehicles and trucks are a more simple fun way to get into this hobby, before taking on tougher challenges like road cars with perfect glossy paint, which takes hours to achieve!
AEC Matador
This was a heavy 4x4 truck used by the British armies around the period of WWII. It was good at hauling big heavy guns across virtually any terrain. A great blunderbus of a machine, the wheels are at each corner which allows for easy approach and departure from the steepest of obstacles. A go anywhere machine, with huge tractor like running gear. Not fast, but pretty unstoppable. it's awesome to think about how they must have put these together, and innovated as far back as the 1940s to engineer something like this. You'd have thought they barely moved away from steam engines so long ago, however, the hardware is really quite impressive for 80 years ago.
Meanwhile, halfway through building this - I saw a real one being towed off for a restoration! included in the shots.
More in the comments, on each photo I've added details about what was going on at each part of the build. Thanks for reading this far! Follow and see past posts for more on this rewarding and classical hobby ...