Landships II

Now that the Pedals, Steering and Linkages are all in place, I can think about adding
the Floor Pan and other upper structures.



The front of this Floor pan is modified to suit the Armored car body.
(although I am at a real loss to know exactly how the front housing had been modified
and how the Armored Panels were exactly attached to the Chassis.
There will be some semi-intelligent guessing here!



Floor fits nicely...all the holes line up.
The textured floor looks good...rendered in 2D graphics.
Lets add some Pedals!



Upper box and Seat support box are done too, I even hinged the seat Box!
However, lacking the stiffness of sheet metal, the box sides are not being
cooperative and won't stay aligned.
I might just glue them in place.
(You could always add some layers to stiffen the panels?)

Throttle?...well I might just have to put something in place then. lol
But I think it might just be the pedal itself,
and I will forego anything under the floor.

[would you have photos that show the mounting or any linkage underneath the pedal?]

I have already thought about the seat/box issue, and I came up with my own theory.
I do agree with you partially...

I have only one photo that shows anything of the interior
and it clearly shows a wooden "bench" top seat.

It makes sense to me not to waste time and effort altering any more of the vehicle than
was necessary at the time of fitting the armored body. 
Removing the Seat itself does make sense.
It was large and cumbersome, in the way of working inside the cabin area
and would have blocked soldiers from moving in and out of the cabin area.

But if the supporting Engine box is removed, it would just has to be replaced with
something else to support the new Bench seat.
And if the hinged lift system was too awkward, to use inside the armored body,
then I could see removing the hinges so that the  box lifted in and out instead.

(I will add a note in the kit,  that the Hinge lift lever is an optional item)

I don't have access to the Ottawa Museum and might not be able to examine the vehicle
anyway, so unless someone has photos of the inside, I will have to guess.

well, I am still at a complete standstill on this project.

Chassis is done, I am ready to start designing the armoured body panels.
But I need to understand the inner construction.
Some idea of how the body panels are assembled and mounted on the Chassis.
I need some clues as the interior structures.

I can't even establish if the side levers (Brake levers?) are in place in the Armoured Car?
The drawings show floor and seat boards spanning from side to side with no room for these levers
and yet original photos indicate the body is wider than the frame rails enough to clear these controls.

Can these levers even be removed?

I have attempted to email (twice) the Canadian War Museum, asking for photos of the interior.
I have received no response.

I live about 5/6 hours away by car, so its not an easy visit...but unless someone told me I would
be able to look inside the vehicle, the trip would be pointless.

Anyone know how to reach Dr. Cameron Pulsifer?
The man who wrote the book on the canadian Armoured Car.
His name is obviously associated with many publications, Colleges and Historical groups.
I have searched for some sort of contact info and can't find anything.

Anyone know someone who works at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa?

I've put a lot of effort into making a semi-accurate Chassis for this model, using as much reference
material as possible...so I don't want to just guess and invent things from here.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

-- Edited by airdave on Tuesday 3rd of January 2012 04:10:06 PM

Just wanted to let everyone know...

I appreciate the attention, the interest and the help you have all given me so far.

The Autocar project has been on hold for sometime, because:
a. Holidays
b. Other Projects including Artwork jobs and Paper Models.
and c. because I ran out of reference material.

I am finished with the Chassis and ready to focus on the Armored car body.
However, I have absolutely no reference material as to the interior construction,
or how the armored panels are assembled and actually attached to the Chassis.

I need to see photos of the interior of the vehicle and none exist that I can find.

My only option is taking photos of the display vehicle in the Ottawa War Museum.
Museum people have given me permission to go beyond the barriers, and approach the vehicle.
I'm not to touch it...but I can take photographs over the sides and into the vehicle.
I would also like a couple of shots looking up inside the body, from the floor.

Anyway, I am too far away from Ottawa to do the trip myself, but I did arrange with a friend
who lives near to the Museum for him to take the photos for me.

However a serious medical
emergency within his family has sidelined that idea.

As it stands right now, I am looking for someone to make the trip and take the photos for me.
I am hoping another Paper Modeling buddy is traveling to Ottawa or already lives nearby
and will be willing to help with gathering the necessary reference images.

Hopefully more to come

New updates at my site!

Yeah, and it goes to show you that not all are so helpful...

the assistance I received from the National War Museum in Ottawa was pathetic (in my opinion).

(on a side note, someone who lives in Ottawa, told me that for some odd reason, citizens of Ottawa
in general are the most inhospitable Canadians he has found to date. What is it about Ottawa?)

It took ages to get responses from the Museum...
and they didn't seem too interested in helping me in any way.
There was no effort to snap me a few photos (which would have been the simplest and quickest solution).

...and then when I finally arranged for someone to go in a take photos for me,
the Museum changed its agreement and would not allow better access for the photos.
My friend was forced to snap half a dozen shots from the normal visitor viewing spot and thats it.

Thanks do go out to Cameron Pulsifer, who wrote the booklet on the Armored Car...he was able to
get me in touch with staff at the Museum and was extremely supportive.

In the end, a project that I had very little interest in when I got started, but as usual, taught me
a little more about WW1, Canadian Armored Cars and Model designing. Always fun to learn more stuff!

...

I forgot to mention, the digital model is available at ecardmodels.com for $12

[ http://ecardmodels.com/product_info.php?products_id=2581&osCsid=6a7cad574f2fd4cf7f5f3d31fd0aa71c ]

If anyone here wishes to purchase a kit, you can buy it through ecardmodels

or contact me directly (through my website cutandfold.info)

...tell me who you are and I'll sell you the kit for $9 instead of $12, but I only accept Paypal.

...

Tim...can you contact me through my email please?

AS Tim already knows, I have been working on a variant... I wanted to make use of the Autocar chassis
and create another vehicle model. With Tims help, supplying me with a few reference photos, I have just
about finished the parts to create a 30cwt Cargo Lorry (British Army general service).

A few more small parts to test and then its on to a photo mockup of the complete Truck.
(I just don't have time right now to build another full Chassis with Suspension and Wheels)