Panzerserra Bunker- Military Scale Models in 1/35 scale: Guy "Ant" 4x2 - 15 cwt GS

Gents!!!
Let me show you guys a real rare gem: The light truck Guy Ant 4x2 15 CWT.

Guy "Ant" 4x2 15 cwt GS (late windshield)

I only discovered something about this little beast when I bought, in second hand, this old kit in resin (Scale Line) , from a great friend of mine, Fabinho. I built this girl in 2010!!!

A rare Scale-Line (out of production) resin kit

But before, as usual, lets see the history of this beast:

History:

The Guy "Ant" was manufactureb by Guy Motors, a Wolverhampton-based vehicle manufacturer who produced cars, lorries, buses and trolleybuses. The company was founded by Sydney S. Guy (1885-1971) who was born in Kings Heath, Birmingham.

Sidney Guy when was young

Sydney S. Guy (1885-1971)

Guy Motors operated out of its Fallings Park factory from 1914 to 1982, playing an important role in the development of the British motor industry. Sydney S. Guy registered Guy Motors Limited on Saturday 30 May 1914, the same day he departed his position as Works Manager at the Wolverhampton company, Sunbeam. A factory was built on the site at Fallings Park, Wolverhampton and by September 1914 production was underway on the newly designed 30cwt lorry.

Guy lorry 30cwt

This employed a much lighter form of pressed steel frame, unlike the more commonly used heavy rolled steel channel frames of the time. This made the vehicle able to cross difficult terrain and a 14 seat poster bus built based on the design was used for crossing the Scottish.

Guy's 14 seater bus designed for use in the highlands

In 1915 Guy came under control of the Ministry of Munitions and production was focused on the war effort. The factory continued to produce 30cwt lorries which were supplied to Britain's allies in the First World War. They also produced Wasp and Dragonfly radial aircraft engines, Tylor truck engines and Maudslay gearboxes as well as being the country's largest maker of depth charge fuzes. For their efforts during the war Guy received a commendation from William Weir, Secretary of State for Air. Due to orders from the ministry Guy prospered during the war, expanding its factory and became an established name in British manufacturing.

Guy military lorry - 1923

The post-war period was difficult for the motor industry as military contracts were cancelled and military vehicles no longer required for service were sold onto the market at low prices. Guy returned to the civilian market, deciding to make luxury cars with a design by RH Rose, also from Sunbeam. They produced the Guy 8-cylinder car, powered by the first British V8 engine and featuring horizontal side valves. Around 25 of these were made and it was joined by a smaller model in 1922 with the 2465 cc four-cylinder 16.9 hp. A cheaper model followed in 1924 with the 1954 cc 13/36 with an engine from Coventry Climax. About 110 of the 4-cylinder models are thought to have been made. Production also continued on vehicles based on the 30cwt chassis such as the Guy charabanc and their major success the 30 seater bus.

In 1924 the company adopted the slogan 'Feathers in our Cap' which led to the addition of a Native American mascot to their vehicles.

Guy hood's mascot

The year of 1924 also saw Guy produce the first ever dropped frame chassis for passenger vehicles (the B-type).

The Guy low-loading dropped-frame chassis greatly changed bus design. It improved passenger accessibility, lowered the centre of gravity, and made the vehicle easier to handle.

This design allowed passengers to enter buses in a single step and became extremely popular, Guy receiving an order for 170 from Rio de Janeiro.

Growing populations in towns and cities meant larger capacity buses were a necessity, leading Guy to develop a 6-wheeled version of their dropped-frame chassis which allowed for the introduction of the first 6-wheeled double decker buses and 6 wheeled trolleybuses in 1926. Guy double decker buses and trolleybuses would prove popular with a fleet of double deckers sold to the London Public Omnibus Company and exports supplied all around the world.

One of the first 6-wheeled buses to be operated in London.

Exports served as a major source of income for Guy with sales to South Africa, Pakistan, India and the Netherlands, their armoured vehicles proving particularly popular for covering difficult terrain with 100 supplied to the Indian government in 1928.

In 1928 Guy took control of fellow Wolverhampton manufacturer the Star Motor Company, who had seen declining sales throughout the decade, in an attempt to expand their luxury car manufacturing. Under Guy, Star Motors moved to a new factory in Bushbury and the range of vehicles was narrowed to prevent competition against itself. Despite this Star continued to struggle and a loss was made on every car sold. The Wall Street Crash had a crippling effect on industry and the subsequent recession meant Guy could no longer afford to fit out Star's Bushbury plant and in 1932 the company entered receivership. Despite performing well throughout the decade, by the end of the 1920s Guy was facing an uncertain future due to the takeover of Star and the Wall Street Crash which had seen share prices fall from one pound to one shilling.

Guy was able to endure the depression due to orders from the war office and by taking advantage of the 1930 Road Traffic Act which encouraged the development of lighter vehicles. In 1933 the Arab bus chassis, designed for use with diesel engines, was launched and would prove a mainstay of Guy's success for the next twenty years.

The Arab Mark IV, Guy's most successful bus design

In the mid 1920s Guy developed an armoured car based on the 6-wheeled commercial vehicle chassis, to produce a robust, go anywhere design. The vehicle weighed 9 tons, and had a circular blower-type radiator, and a top speed of 45 mph. In 1928 over 100 of them were supplied to the Indian government.

Guy-Vickers armoured car (Indian pattern)

From the mid-1930s, the company became increasingly involved in the British rearmament programme, developing and producing military vehicles. In 1935 Guy Motors was invited to take part in army trials at Llangollen. The company submitted the 'Ant', a new 4-wheeled vehicle with a payload of 15 cwt., and a short wheelbase. After performing well at the trial, Guy received an order for 150.

Guy "Ant" 4x2 prototype

Guy "Ant" 4x2 15cwt GS - production version

After receiving the order from the Government, Guy Motors began to concentrate on the production of military vehicles. By 1938 the production of vehicles for the civilian market completely ceased when Guy relied exclusively on Government contracts. It would be some years before the production of vehicles for the civilian market recommenced.

Guy Armoured Car

During this time Guy designed lorrys, armoured cars, artillery tractors and others vehicles. Guy military vehicles were used throughout the war, featuring prominently in the North African campaign and at the evacuation of Dunkirk.

Guy Ant 15cwt (early windshield) with trailer

Guy Ants with late windshield in ATS hands

Guy Ant (late windshield)

Guy Quad-Ant 4x4 artillery tractor

Guy Lizard comando car

Guy Quad-Ant 4x4 15cwt GS

Although production of the Ant and Quad Ant were moved toKarrier the factory was still involved in the war effort producing anti-aircraft guns.

AA guns under construction in the Guy plant

After the war, Guy returned to civilian production with bus production. After many transactions and mergers with other companies, Guy ceased the production of Guy badged buses in 1972.

fonts:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Motors http://www.historywebsite.co.uk/Museum/Transport/Buses/Guy/guybuses.htm

Specs:

Guy "Ant" 4x2 15cwt - GS

Type	General Service light truck
Place of origin	England
Specifications
Weight	3.314 Kg
Length	4267 mm
Width	1981 mm
Height Wheelbase	1905 mm 2565 mm
Crew	2

Armor	none
Engine Gearbox	Meadows 4 cyl. 3,68L - 55 bHP at 2600 RPM 4 forward and 1 reverse
Suspension Tyres Fuel capacity	semi-eliptical springs - 4 x 2 9.00 - 16 91 ls

The kit:

As I said, I got this kit in second hand. The box was in good condition and the parts without defects.

Scale Line vintage box...a rare gem !!!

The wheels came wrong, for the 4x4 version ... I swapped by Chevy 15 CWT resin wheels:

The yellow wheels 4x2...

The kit is old, but cool...

Parts was ok...no bubbles or warpings...

Starting by the book (very Spartan...

The instructions...

Cabin and chassi:

Detail: the chassis shows no twist, which is a miracle of the Gods,
in the case of resin models ...

Assembling the cargo bed and support brackets...

And the two sub-assemblies glued togheter...

Chassi: belly view...a good kit...

And the girl, standing on his own feet:

I'd like to do something different with this little girl!! After many research hours, I decided to place this truck in Algeria, 1943, supporting the No 14 RAF Squadron, which at the time, used Marauders IA torpedo- bombers. This Squadron was the home of the famous "Dominion Revenge"

B26 Marauder IA - Torpedo bomber
No 14 RAF Squadron
Algeria, 1943.
This beautifull plane was missing from attack on convoy off Aghios Giorgios Is
probably shot down by Me 110, in 03 Jan, 1943. All crew was lost.

If you want to know more about this glorious Squadron, click here. My truck will be paint in RAF colors... As she was serving at an air base, these girls were not necessarily camouflaged, as we seen in this photo of the 14th Squadron:

RAF wrecker lorry towing a B26 Marauder from 14th Squadron.
Notice the truck's color (blue)

...like this Chevrolet used as color example...

I did a complete profile for reference of color and decals (excuse the crudeness of the design ...)

But back to the building of the kit:

Mooring rings in resin are very fragile. I decided to replace with metal.
I used copper wire and electronic welding ...

And the rings installed .... I thought they were much better ...

I added more pieces in resin and made the frames
of the windshield with scrap of PE: Cyanoacrylate!!!!

Internal view... The kit was ready for painting...

After primer, I made the springs of the truck´s bonnet:
Thin telephone wire...It is a fine detail...

The rear stirrups, made with copper wire

After primer, the first layer of Blue RAF. Acrylic...

Notice the "glossy aspect" : Future to prevent silvering...

I used a letter-set from Archer to make the RAF´s markings. It´s a great tip you have a set of these handy ...

Archer Generic Lettering: gift of the Gods !!

And as it was, on the sides of Guy::

Making the decal art in Corel Draw...

and printed with my Laserjet Color (another Gift of the Gods)

My little girl wit RAF marks...and 14th Squadron

So pretty !!!

Internal view...Notice the canvas doors in the cargo bed...

After paint the canvas and glue the top canvas in the Guy´s cabin: I kept the cabin tarp because it was original of the kit: A tribute to the Old Manufacturer and a concession to my laziness ...

ehehehehehehehehe

The canvas looks weird...but it's Scale-Line original part
and I chose to keep it that way ...

I imagined this little lorry going to do the shopping in the village near the air base ... She returned loaded with fresh food for the crews ...

Resin cargo : foods and veggies !!!

My first version of the cargo:

But the jerrycans (water) with solid strips screwed up ...

Especially after Paul Roberts (in Armorama) gave me a big scolding (and rightly so) about these jerrycans, I removed the jerry cans and it got a little better: