Landships II

Thank you for the kind comments, Peter. Keilkraft kits come up on Ebay UK quite frequently and can usually be bought for under ten pounds. The one I used was the Showman's Tractor, suitably chopped about. The figure is from Hat, of course.
The unused section of the roof is just long enough for the roof of a B-Type pigeon loft bus which I've just started from their open-topped bus. They also produce a Dennis fire-engine which provides a useful rolling chassis and open cab for conversions. (one of the ladders from this will appear on the side of my pigeon loft bus.)
There are many conversion possibilities from these kits. I'm researching the standard buses which were sent to Antwerp in 1914 and the single decker Daimler and AA truck with 13pdr. which were on similar chassis.
I hope the size of the file isn't too large. I had hoped to just provide links to a series of pictures but don't yet have the computer skills to do this. Perhaps someone could provide me with some advice on this?
Kind regards,
Tony.

Nice model! I like it a lot... the figure looks great too. I've never seen those Keilkraft kits... is there any horse drawn wagon in that line in 1/72 scale? Where did you got the eagle decal from?
Well done!
D.
PS: you can start a photo album of Flickr at www.flickr.com, it's quite easy, explanations are given as you go along to upload pictures.

-- Edited by d_fernetti at 19:28, 2007-07-31

Pics can be seen here: http://laurentiusnet.nl/Manufactures/KeilKraft.htm


They're phenomenally expensive on this site, but do crop up on Ebay. There's also a company called Knightwing that does mostly model railway accessories but seems to have at least some of the Keil Kraft moulds, offering them at £5-6. Whether they're still in business I don't know. They also do useful packs of 1/72 oildrums, packing cases, barrel, etc.

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/knightwing/list.htm#road

Very interesting and unusual subjecs. And exactly what I love: intrincated shapes, lots of negative space... I may try these soon!

The old Keil Kraft / Amerang kits were largely made from moulds produced by a variety of firms who couldn't make them pay and sold them.  The early steam subjects were made by Hales who certainly produced the showman's engine, the road roller and the Foden wagon.  Later moulds seem to have been made for Keil Kraft directly.

Some of the steam vehicles are of use for British Army subjects but will all need modification to some extent.  The Showman's Engine is a Fowler R3 built in 1920 as a road haulage engine for the Portland Stone Co. and converted to a showman's engine in 1932.  According to Michael Lane's book on Fowler, the British Army ordered six R3 road locomotives (ie road haulage engines) for delivery in 1914.  Elsewhere in the book, he says that seventeen were delivered in 1914 and three more a little later.  These would have been generally similar to the 1920 machine without the showman's fittings and with a shorter canopy.

The ploughing engine in the range is a Class Z7. These were exceptionally powerful machines and were built largely for export.  Lane records that three Class Z2 ploughing engines were acquired for use in the South African War (Boer War) and that eight Class Z engines were delivered in 1914 for use with specially produced trenching ploughs.  I haven't seen photographs of these engines but they would have been broadly similar to the Z7 in the kit.

The Foden steam wagon represents a Model C 6tonner introduced by Foden in c1926 and is thus too late for the war.  It would need to have a scratch built cab and a new body but the kit wheels and other parts might help in making a model of a wartime 5tonner.

The range also included an Atkinson steam tipper model.  This was an early export model and the kit represents one that was found in Australia and returned to the UK for restoration.  As far as I can discover, the Army didn't use Atkinson steamers but it is possible that some were impressed.

The steam roller kit represents an Aveling & Porter 10ton roller built in 1882 for Reading Corporation.  It remained in use with later owners until purchased for restoration by Aveling-Barford in 1960!  It is of an early pattern that would be too early for WW1 but the kit parts would help in modelling a later version.  The company supplied rollers in some numbers for RE road building activities but I don't have details of the types employed.

The Keil Kraft LGOC B Type Bus kit is useful for various conversions including the troop carrying bus, the pigeon loft, the 30cwt lorry, AA gun lorry, emergency ambulance conversion and others. 

All of these kits were simplified to varying extents and all will need the addition of parts that were not included in the kits.  This makes them heavy going but the results can be worth the effort as the model photograph shows.

The Merit kits were more complete.  I have seen only two, a Thornycroft PB 4ton lorry dating from the early 1920's and a Maudslay single deck bus of the same period.  I don't think there were any others but may be mistaken.

It's a pity that there aren't any decent steam vehicle kits in 1/72nd scale.  The Keil Kraft range are the only ones that I know of.

Gordon McLaughlin

Thank you for posting those excellent shots of the restored steam-wagon, Ironsides.
Do you, or any other Forumites, have any further details of the beast? even the model number would be a help. I'd love to have a crack at making one of those!
Kind regards,
Tony Shephard. aka 'Jellytwig'

Hi jellytwig another Foden here claims to be made for the war department in 1918 although its not in WD colours

http://www.planefacts.co.uk/wagons/foden/index.htm

and some more here

http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/ejones/tony/foden/ifod2.html

for some reason the first link has stopped working so have added the relevant pics

Cheers

-- Edited by Ironsides at 20:34, 2007-08-24

-- Edited by Ironsides at 23:57, 2007-08-24

Kielkraft also produced a steam lorry. I have this (unmade) and the steam roller and showmans engine. Did consider usung the steam roller and the showmans engine to produce a road machine  but it seems a shame to break them up.

Hi, does anyone know if Knightwing are still in business, as I emailed and got no response....

Cheers

Hi James h, thanks I'll check it out

Cheers

Hi Ironsides,
Thanks for the link. It seems that the B-type bus is the most difficult of the kits to source, probably as it's the most versatile.
Best regards,
Jellytwig.

Hi photoart, great stuff thanks for posting it obviously appears that steam wagons have been used in large numbers for road works and munitions?

Cheers

I was surprised to see that steam vehicles were being produced so late in the War and in such obviously large numbers, but it seems that the two principal manufacturers went on making them until the 1930s. With pneumatic tyres they are supposed to have been capable of 60mph, better than petrol-driven lorries. I'm not sure I would have fancied that.

The centre of steam wagon production appears to have been Cheshire and Shropshire, with Foden and Sentinel the main makers. There have been plenty of diecast models over the years, but they're obviously lacking in detail and the scale is anyone's guess. I was told that Corgi's usual method of scaling was to make the vehicle "the right size to fit in the box".

There are some great pictures from 2007 here:

http://teamhotosbyeilarvey.fotopic.net/c704871.html