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| Subject: | Re: [BLOG] Humber LRC MKIII |  |
| Date: | Jul 12, 2006 |
| From: | Paul Gibson | |
Paul and Alex,
The old “AFV’s in Profile” series is no help for Humber detail close-ups, chassis or interior photos. The (five) Profile photos -- and many more, besides -- can be found readily on the ‘net. The most useful aspect of the Profile is the artwork (though pretty basic by current standards) showing markings and camo for ‘Faugh A Ballagh’.
A careful net search will turn up quite a number of Humber LRC photos. However, I’ve found few photos of chassis and suspension. Patrick Keenan’s WarWheels.net site has a useful photo of the Humber 4-wheel drive chassis. I did find two photos at www.jagdtiger.de showing partial front suspension details (partial because the car has been strippedL). The front suspension layout seems to match that of the heavy utility – as shown by the excellent drawing that Alex posted. The photos from jagdtiger do need some enhancement to reveal the suspension details clearly. Also found a photo of a Humber LRC mounting an MG-34 in lieu of the Bren.
A somewhat worthwhile reference to general chassis layout is the old Airfix 1/32nd Humber staff car kit and its instructions. The staff car was only two-wheel drive, of course, but it did (according to the instructions) have a ‘heavy-duty’ rear suspension. I assume this would have carried over in similar form to the heavy utility and light recce cars.
Chassis layouts of the LRC and Super Snipe staff car are similar, and the Airfix chassis is somewhat more detailed than that of the IMA kit. Given that both the heavy utility and the recce car were based on the Super Snipe chassis, I suspect that the chassis of the LRC and the heavy utility were essentially identical. I would be most interested in seeing additional detail drawings and/or photos of the heavy utility chassis posted. Although hardly a first-class reference, the Airfix instructions should provide information to modestly upgrade the LRC’s chassis.
I am generally delighted with IMA’s Humber LRC. Although it may be somewhat simplified, what is there is very well done, and the real vehicle was pretty basic in any case. The casting quality is excellent. The lack of chassis detail is not really apparent unless you intend to display the finished model upside down in a scale ditch. Turret walls are too thick, as is the barrel for the Boys’ A/T rifle. There is no radiator included (although the armored shutters are separate parts), nor is there a muffler or exhaust pipe. There are no head- or taillights, no front fender lamps (don’t know if these would have been turn signals or not), no on-vehicle tools, and no fuel filler cap. These items can be sourced from the spare parts box or scratch built with relative ease. Enough photos of the car’s exterior fittings and accessories can be found to show what is needed and where the items are located.
I particularly like the Humber kit for its ‘hollow’ interior and separately cast hatches and visors. Whatever complexity is added by the multi-part body is more than offset by the potential for adding interior detail. I much prefer IMA’s approach, as compared to the solid-cast ‘doorstop’ kits typical of available British armored car resin kits and to the JMGT/Socrate Roll’s armored car kit with its 6” thick (in scale) turret walls!
The IMA kit includes a Boys’ A/T rifle – but NOT a Bren gun. I thought this odd at first, but it’s actually pretty reasonable. There are any number of 1/35th scale Brens out there, and anyone into WW II Brit stuff deeply enough to buy this kit probably has a stock of Brens. The later, shorter-barreled Bren (Mk III?) from Tamiya’s ‘British Infantry on Patrol’ is the best 1/35th scale Bren replica going, in my opinion. As a bonus, the ‘B.I.P.’ set includes tools, personal weapons, and plenty of gear that to be stowed on the car.
I am considering adding a reworked inline-six from one of the Skybow / AFV Club ¾-ton Dodges, and robbing other useful automotive bits from that kit. I will either modify the Airfix front suspension parts, or scratch build similar items using the kit parts as patterns -- altering them as necessary to incorporate the details of the driven front axle.
As much as I like the Humber LRC, I will be even happier to see IMA’s next British / Commonwealth armored car: a Marmon-Herrington Mk II. Presently available 1/35th M-H kits are all solid-cast (so far as I know) and are pretty miserable. The IMA kit was originally schedule for release at the end of June, but I understand from Russ Wilson that he has postponed the kit’s debut a bit to incorporate additional interior detail. No doubt the kit will be well worth the extra wait! And I have the LRC to keep me busy in the meantime.
I would be glad to forward the Airfix Humber instructions and/or the suspension pics from Jagdtiger (Patrick Kraft, “Warphead” at Jagdtiger, has kindly consented to reproduction of the photos, and these have been modified to better show off what suspension detail is visible), please drop me an e-mail (paulgibson@whitleyman.com).
Hope this helps (at least a little),
Paul Gibson |
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 | [BLOG] Humber LRC MKIII - Alex Hill - Jul 5, 2006 |
| . . . [Chapter] First Impressions - Alex Hill - Jul 5, 2006 |
| . . . . . . Re: [Chapter] First Impressions - Paul A. Owen - Sep 11, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: [Chapter] First Impressions - Alex Hill - Sep 11, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: [Chapter] First Impressions - Paul A. Owen - Sep 11, 2006 |
| . . . Re: [BLOG] Humber LRC MKIII - Paul A. Owen - Jul 5, 2006 |
| . . . . . . Re: [BLOG] Humber LRC MKIII - Alex Hill - Jul 6, 2006 |
| . . . References - Bellona Military Vehicle Data - Paul A. Owen - Jul 8, 2006 |
| . . . . . . Re: References - Bellona Military Vehicle Data - Alex Hill - Jul 9, 2006 |
| . . . Re: [BLOG] Humber LRC MKIII - Paul Gibson - Jul 12, 2006 |
| . . . . . . Re: [BLOG] Humber LRC MKIII [IMG] - Alex Hill - Jul 12, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: [BLOG] Humber LRC MKIII - Paul Gibson - Jul 13, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: [BLOG] Humber LRC MKIII - Les Jackson - Sep 2, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: [BLOG] Humber LRC MKIII - Alex Hill - Sep 3, 2006 |
| . . . [Chapter] The Chassis - part 1 - Alex Hill - Sep 15, 2006 |
| . . . . . . Re: [Chapter] The Chassis - part 1 - Paul A. Owen - Sep 15, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: [Chapter] The Chassis - part 1 - Alex Hill - Sep 15, 2006 |
| . . . [Chapter] The Chassis part 2 - Alex Hill - Sep 19, 2006 |
| . . . . . . Re: [Chapter] The Chassis part 2 - Paul A. Owen - Sep 19, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: [Chapter] The Chassis part 2 - Alex Hill - Sep 19, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Shall I make one too...? - Paul A. Owen - Sep 19, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Shall I make one too...? - Alex Hill - Sep 20, 2006 |
| . . . . . . Extra note on Chapter - Alex Hill - Sep 20, 2006 |
| . . . [Chapter] The Chassis - Part 3 - Alex Hill - Sep 21, 2006 |
| . . . [Chapter] The Axles in 1/1 Scale - Alex Hill - Sep 23, 2006 |
| . . . [Chapter] Wheels - Alex Hill - Sep 25, 2006 |
| . . . . . . Extra notes on wheels - Alex Hill - Sep 25, 2006 |
| . . . [Chapter] The Chassis - Part 4 - Alex Hill - Oct 3, 2006 |
| . . . [Chapter] An Early Look at the Body Work - Alex Hill - Oct 5, 2006 |
| . . . . . . Re: [Chapter] An Early Look at the Body Work - Paul A. Owen - Oct 5, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: [Chapter] An Early Look at the Body Work [IMG] - Alex Hill - Oct 5, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: [Chapter] An Early Look at the Body Work [IMG] - Alex Hill - Oct 5, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: [Chapter] An Early Look at the Body Work [IMG] - Alex Hill - Oct 5, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: [Chapter] An Early Look at the Body Work [IMG] - Alex Hill - Oct 5, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . Close-up [IMG] - Alex Hill - Oct 5, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: Close-up [IMG] - Alex Hill - Oct 5, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: Close-up [IMG] - Alex Hill - Oct 5, 2006 |
| . . . [Chapter] Footwell Detail - Alex Hill - Oct 8, 2006 |
| . . . . . . Whats the blue stuff? - dominic miele - Oct 9, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: Whats the blue stuff? - Alex Hill - Oct 9, 2006 |
| . . . . . . Re: [Chapter] Footwell Detail - george moore - Oct 14, 2006 |
| . . . Re: [BLOG] Humber LRC MKIII - Paul A. Owen - Jan 15, 2007 |
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