Building 1930 Thornycrofts or A Tale of two Lorries
From Gazette Volume 19 No. 11 May 2016
By John Shaw. Photos by Chris Shaw
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| S & D Models | David Sutton |
| Highbridge Works | Email: enquiries@sanddmodels.co.uk |
| PO Box 101 | Web: http://www.sanddmodels.co.uk |
| Burnham-on-Sea | |
| Somerset | |
| TA9 4WA |
Amongst the advantages of
modelling the interwar years of
last century comes the chance to
produce some road vehicle eye candy of
interesting types and resonant livery
creations. WWI had proved that the lorry
was definitely going to succeed the ever trusted
horse for road-based goods
transport; the same was to apply for
passenger coaching.
Whatever goods were being transported
by lorry, there was a large variety
of body styles available and an
even greater mix of liveries as
owners tried to outdo their
competitors with memorable
colour choices and fancy pin
stripe lining schemes, some of
which outdid the railway
varieties as the Big Four sought
economies during the Great
Depression. However, just
like the railway companies,
and the stage coach operators
before them, quite a few lorry
operators chose to name
their vehicles after a
variety of sources.
Both the model
vehicles illustrated are
based upon a 1930 four
ton Thornycroft
chassis. This was a
design that came some
five years before the
streamline fashion era
arrived for vehicle design.
Nevertheless, it boasted a cab with front
windows, though side ones did seem
optional. Such frivolities were not always
available in the previous decade.
Pneumatic tyres, even for the twin rear
wheels, were also provided, thereby
allowing an increase in both speed and
comfort, provided these
narrow tyres and the allround
semi-elliptical springing could
cope. However, even in the early 1930s
there were still enough nags plodding
along the roads to cast their shoes and,
hence, shoe nails onto the roads thereby
requiring an easily available spare wheel
to fit any axle/position. As a lorry driver
in my student holidays I always dreaded
receiving a puncture on one of the rear
inner wheels; it never occurred,
thankfully.
Some 20 years separates the building of
these two models, with the blue one first,
in flat bed form, using the
S&D Models Bygone Age Transport kit.
No real problems were encountered
constructing it, good
instructions allied
with clean
castings were
the basis of
success, but you
need to be careful
about the amount of
weight placed upon the
front axle once the heavy
wheels are attached. The
real joy lay in choosing the
load, livery and
registration details. A red
chassis, common enough in
the lorry world at the time, combined with
a mid-blue shade for the upper body parts
went well together. Pin striping in red,
either double or single lines, was offset
with the lettering in white from Letraset
sheets. Timber, in long, sawn planks
makes the load.
The planks are long
enough to cause an
overhang, which needs the
legally required red warning flag to be
attached. To protect as much of the load as
possible, a new white canvas tarpaulin,
suitably lettered to avoid being stolen,
was sheeted over and roped down in the
appropriate manner. A spare tarpaulin
was stored on the cab roof
behind the headboard; a
typical practice of the era.
The registration
lettering/ numbering is
from Southend, Essex.
In the latter part of 2015,
at a NEEGOG sale, I
purchased the second kit,
second-hand, but it had
not been opened. Another
flat bed version was not
required, but something
freelance to fit in with The
Camel Valley Railway under
construction was needed.
Carrossiers, if I can use such a
posh word for lorry body
builders, were fairly
numerous at the time. The
quality of their construction
work reached very high
standards, as did their final
painting and lettering efforts, as
both were required to protect their
loads, to advertise these wares and
the carriers, if different, too.
Some eye-catching livery
and lettering had to be applied to a scratchbuilt
Luton type body. Of all the words
on the sides, only Padstow and The
Drang are non-fictional. The latter is the
name of the road running down the
eastern side of the old harbour there. What
could be more Cornish than a pasty
maker, plus a local name in an alliterative
style? A snappy proprietor’s name, which
could not have too many letters, was
needed. To the south of Padstow are two
small settlements, St. Evan and St. Eval,
the latter forming the surname. Zach,
shortened from Zachariah, seemed
appropriate too in a county where Z is not
unknown in place names. So appeared a
van body in two-tone green, (Humbrol 36
matt and Revell 39). I find this very
attractive, as in the Southdown, Aldershot
& District and Dodds of Troon bus
liveries, with red (Humbrol 19 gloss)
raised main lettering and red horizontal
lining. The raised letters are of Slaters
origin, whilst the red lining is Letraset’s
Letraline red gloss
0/40mm although I’m not sure if this is
still available.
The
white shaded
lettering is made up
from HMRS transfers
from sheet P3S,
whilst the white only
lettering is from a MERCO
5mm size sheet; the latter
have been long off the
market. The number plates
are computer produced for
both lorries, as is the
20mph disc for Willow,
DEC 10 was so named after
my daughter's dog, at her request.
To build the body only Plastikard was used - fairly thick sheeting for the sides, ends and roof in order to prevent flexing. This was applied to a framework of carefully measured and cut sturdy box sections for both the horizontals and the verticals; the headboard from the kit was abandoned. Beading strips were applied where required and a shaped front headboard was fashioned too. The backdoors were scribed, the opening handles only being fitted once all the body painting, lining, lettering and varnishing with Humbrol Gloss Cote had been completed. Other items required to make this into a really distinctive vehicle include the double rear view mirrors, the marquetry work using fine veneers to produce the front window
framing and the nearside battery box, plus the strop to stabilise the starting handle. An opening driver’s side front window helps ventilation, especially as the driver’s mate’s backrest is the petrol tank. Modern day health and safety gurus would be apoplectic about this. No seat belts need to be fitted, nor any direction indicators of any type whatsoever nor any reversing lights of any kind. How did drivers of the time survive? Not a cheap steel radiator or Zach Eval’s No 4, but a really distinctive copper one (Precision Paints B114) sets off the high tone which such an entrepreneur would want to establish for his prestigious enterprise. Now the driver and his mate in corporate uniforms will not only need to deliver the produce, but will also need to keep this livery in sparkling condition as it travels around Padstow and environs on the narrow Cornish lanes. Are there any suitable bus/coach kits for the era to the correct scale available? That would be the next stage transport for The Camel Valley Railway.