Bedford Mobile Canteen -
London Transport
RTC Models KIT NO. SV1
Review by Andy Kent
I
have made RTC white metal kits before (TF, LTC and Bedford Canteen) and
have to say the castings are extremely good with virtually no flash and
only minimal filing and this one was no different.
All RTC kits come with written instructions with a contents list and
exploded diagram on the rear. The model comes in less than 30 parts plus
4 rubber tyres (all RTC kits come with rubber tyres) and a sheet of
glazing.
After a quick tidy up of all parts, and a few test fits just to satisfy
my curiosity it, was out to the shed for a coat of primer. This dry, I
sprayed the sides with a dark olive paint and the roof and chimney with
a matt black.
The reason for painting it an olive green colour is simple, a lack of
colour reference material, and the picture on the box was depicting an
olive green version, although looking through my copy of a London
Transport service vehicles book I found two photos, but both in black
and white but the text referred to a belief that they may have been red.
So
with my green version, I gave it a wash with a heavily diluted matt
black acrylic: this really brought out the wooden boards effect and the
distressed effect in the casting. The front serving hatch can either be
in the open or closed position, I opted for the open version and painted
this silver, so I could show off the wind breaks and all the loaves of
bread, bread rolls, doughnuts, kettle, teapot and tea urn which come
with the kit.
The interior I painted a cream colour with both front and rear counters
white. With that done it was time to fit the glazing to the side windows
and the window at the front. The instructions refer to this being
frosted, which I achieved by lightly rubbing the glazing material with a
fine sandpaper, this was then cut to size and fitted with ‘glue and
glaze’.
The four sides were next to be fitted together and the axles cut to size
and wheels/tyres glued on.
While these were setting (thank you whoever invented superglue) I
painted the floor a dark brown colour to simulate wood. Next were the
worktops to be fitted inside and the storage cupboard to the floor which
was glued in place.
Last
to fit was the roof and steps but not before strategically deploying the
loaves, rolls and buns all painted as best I could to simulate a tasty
snack!!
The kit does come with a cast figure of I believe a driver or conductor,
but I painted him and put him behind the counter because without anyone
there who would cook and make tea??
All in all a very easy kit to make within a few hours at best, ideally
suited for a novice or anyone who wants to try their hand at white metal
modelling as virtually nothing can go wrong and a very interesting model
for a display or diorama.
Andy Kent