Alvis Stalwart Space 2099 Lunar Rover - FINISHED!

Weaver · June 06, 2019, 04:58:54 AM

Okay, I've convinced myself that I can do this and I've got a solid-enough plan.

I'm going to try to build an S&M Stalwart Mk.2 into a 'moon buggy' as used in a sci-fi TV series. It will make no attempt to be actually useable (that's what non-matching interior sets are for...

), just to look cool whie being quick'n'dirty to produce. To this end, it will have a simple flat panel over the load bed, with the upper half of a fibreglass Saladin prop stuck on top of that and suitably disguised.

The working idea for the TV series is that it's a Gerry Anderson re-boot/homage in the mid 2000's, directed by Joss Whedon after the cancellation of Firefly. The project starts out as Space 1999 series III, but is changed in development to merge aspects of Space 1999 and UFO with a more credible backstory and better attention to science than either of them. This has the advantage that surplus Stollys were definitely available by then (one briefly appeared in the Firefly pilot).

kerick · June 06, 2019, 06:29:55 AM

Sounds interesting!

Weaver · June 07, 2019, 03:57:32 AM

Aaaand within 24 hours, Events are already conspiring to steal my time: just lost an evening and a morning...

Not wanting to be left out, my internet connection's just started playing up too...

Weaver · June 07, 2019, 04:28:21 PM

And we're off!

The obligatory starting point picture. The Stolly didn't have a box: Mel was selling them in bags with no instructions or decals at a show earlier this year (the instructions in the pic came from a full one that I bought a few years ago).

Weaver · June 08, 2019, 07:12:00 AM

Christ, this thing is a PITA. There's NO location points, even where it would be easy to provide them, the backs of the wheels don't fit in the fronts and EVERY suspension unit needs so much remodelling that it's almost a completely different shape when you've finished. The problem with the latter is that they fall across the mould split line, so EVERY surface that needs to be an angled flat is actually mildly conical....

I thought I'd have the basic vehicle all together by now, but in fact, I've only just started glueing things together...

Weaver · June 08, 2019, 08:21:57 AM

Notes for anyone building one of these things.
(I'll keep updating this post as I find more stuff)

1. You need to glue the belly pan (B11) to the load bed (B6) BEFORE trying to fit the suspension units (A5 A9 A18 A19), because the front ones (A5) partly fit to the bottom of the cabin floor bulge (which is part of B6) whereas the rest of them fit to B11. Without the floor plate, you don't have a reference for trimming the A5s.

2. When cutting the transmission lines (B5 & B7) off the sprues, be careful not to cut away parts of the suspension hangers that have sprue gates on them, i.e. the dividing line between part and gate is not obvious. If you cut too much of the part away, then you don't have anything to fit the suspension units to.

3. Before fitting the suspension units you have to also file all their mating surfaces flat, cut the inboard end of the drive shaft off to get it to fit above the suspension hanger, and file the inboard end of the wishbone to a cylindrical shape to get it to mate with the suspension hanger.

4. Test-fit the inner wheels (A6) onto both the outer wheels (A8) and the relevant suspension unit BEFORE fitting the latter to the body. EVERYTHING needs sanding, filing and drilling to fit.

5. Leave the right hand side load bed panel (B1) off until AFTER you've fitted the exhaust pipe (A1) to the body. It's physically impossible to get the pipe in once the right-rear 'box pillar' (in which the silencer lives) is closed up. If you do close it up first, then your options are a) saw the pipe in half and fit the silercer from the top and the pipe from the bottom, or b) cut/drill the bottom of the box pillar out to make a bigger hole (not sure if this'll work, but it seems right).

6. The exhaust pipe as designed fouls the rear right hand wheel. I've fixed this by enlarging the hole in the load bed so that it can be tucked in more tightly and moved further back. Also, check reference photos for how it fits around the chassis shape. I'll post up a still from a YT video that shows this tomorrow.

7. The 'box pillars' at the rear corners of the load bed are formed from the load bed panels (B10 & B12), the tailgate (B9), the rear bulkhead (B8) and two inner wall pieces (B1 & B3). The corners are mitred, and they just don't fit. if you want a real-world accurate model, check a lot of references, do a lot of test-fitting, and trim accordingly. The 'lid' of the left hand pillar is formed integrally with B3, but it's awful: thick, misshapen and not even flat. Again, for an accurate model, I'd suggest cutting it off and making a new, separate lid. Since my model is dressed up for a TV show, I can, luckily, just cover all this with vis-mods.

(The design of the whole rear corner is just wrong IMHO. I'd have made the inside faces of the box pillar integral with B8, which would positively locate it at 90 deg to the base, then make the other three sides as separate L-section pieces instead of integral to the sides and rear. That way, the corner could be neat and you could leave the left-hand one off until the exhaust was installed.)

Old Wombat · June 08, 2019, 08:25:07 AM

The joys of old 1/76 kits!

Weaver · June 08, 2019, 08:31:53 AM

Old be damned - this only came out a few years ago! This is the 'modern' S&M Models kit.

loupgarou · June 08, 2019, 09:30:47 AM

Quote from: Weaver on June 08, 2019, 08:31:53 AM
Old be damned - this only came out a few years ago! This is the 'modern' S&M Models kit.

Well,whatcould youexpect from Sado & Maso Model?

PR19_Kit · June 08, 2019, 09:41:44 AM

I'll make a note of all that H, thanks so much.

I've replaced the Stolly that I bought at last year's Telford (the one that got stolen off the stand

) and I want to make it into a 'tow trick' for my Monterey flying boat.

Amazingly I found that the RAF really did have a few of them!

Weaver · June 08, 2019, 09:23:54 PM

Updated the build notes post...

zenrat · June 09, 2019, 03:55:10 AM

Thanks H. I now won't be picking up one of these.

Best of luck with the rest of the build. Nil illegitimi carborundum.

PR19_Kit · June 09, 2019, 03:59:16 AM

I hope the ratbag who stole my first one is having similar problems with it................

Weaver · June 09, 2019, 05:10:50 AM

Pictures! Bear in mind that these are AFTER a fair bit of fettling. Having said that, I was watching the clock, so if you've got more time and patience to spare you could almost certainly do better than this.

The real exhaust pic is grabbed from a Youtube video, which is why the quality's so poor. I couldn't find a still photo of this area on the web.

Weaver · June 09, 2019, 05:20:21 AM

Quote from: zenrat on June 09, 2019, 03:55:10 AM
Thanks H. I now won't be picking up one of these.

Best of luck with the rest of the build. Nil illegitimi carborundum.

Well your other option is the Ace 1/72nd scale kit, which looks, from sprue shots, to be a much more sophisticated offering (almost verging on the over-engineered), with nice things like separate roof hatches and windows. Having said that Ace have a reputation all their own, so it might be a the difference between hitting your finger with a hammer and dropping a heavy thing on your digit...