Following on from my Scimitar 2 and keeping with a Gecko theme as I really like their British Kits, I’ve started their FV18001, colloquially known as a Land Rover Series 1. That name didn’t come about until the Series 2’s came out and was then adopted by Rover themselves. There are issues with the kit which I will call out as I construct it but to be honest they’re trivial. There is scope for some extra detailing, especially in the engine bay but also elsewhere.
Chassis started with the front axle and leaf springs being built and fitted. Although the kit has moveable front wheel bearings the rest of the parts are not workable and so you basically decide which direction you want the wheels to point and by how much and then glue the parts in. I would imagine it would be possible to make it workable but for me the effort would outweigh the results.
Then did the engine and transmission and to be honest it’s a lovely little kit in itself. As I said there is scope for extra detailing on the engine itself with wiring from the distributor to the plugs and pipe work to the oil filter etc. Apart from the battery and air cleaner there is very little other detail in the engine bay which is a shame as the fuel pump, fuel filter, coil and associated pipes and wires are all very prominent. Something to add later if I feel like it. I’ll also have to look into engine block colour as I’ve seen dark grey, light grey, deep bronze green and eau de nile versions. If anyone has any info on that I would gratefully accept it.
I’m quite a fan of Brit military Land Rovers - though only experienced model-wise on the Italeri/Revell beasts; I’ll watch this with interest though the detailing of the engine will be wasted on me(!)
If I haven’t said it before, well done on the Scimitar.
Thanks Brian, I’ve a thing for British Military kit mainly stuff I’ve crewed but anything post WW2 really. I don’t mind Gecko kits Frank, they have their foibles but what manufacturer doesn’t nowadays. They are also the only game in town for some stuff and it’s mainly British. I took a few days Johnny after my Scimitar 2 to get my head around starting a new kit.
After having checked some references it would appear that the kit is a bit of a mish mash. It has behind grill headlights which were superseded by the protruding lights in 1950 but the engine depicts a 1952 onwards 2 litre unit and not a 1.6 litre. It’s an easy fix in that the rocker cover breather needs to be removed and the oil filler pipe with its breather needs changing for a vertical pipe with a simple screw on cap. There are other small things but they’re not really noticeable. You can see what I mean in the pictures below. Now I’ll never say there wasn’t a wagon with behind grill lights and a 2 litre engine but I personally very much doubt it.
My only real experience with Gecko kits is their LCA, the hull shape of which is very good. And that is pretty much it as far as correctness of anything is concerned
No I get it, they’re not the best however most of their kits no one else does. As I’ve been progressing with my building over the years I’ve been more confident with addressing any issues. One time I would panic over a lost or broken piece whereas now I would just scratch a new one so for me as long as the basic shape is there I’ll just crack on as best I can.
Another issue I have found is with the chassis. It would seem that Gecko have aimed off at possibly reusing molds. The straight outriggers are found on 80 inch chassis while the curved ones are found on 86 & 88 inch chassis. I can’t find anything which says a chassis would have both but I’ll keep looking. Once I know they’re both not needed to secure bodywork etc. I might cut the curved outriggers off, then again if they’re not seen I might not.
Following along with this build as I have this kit in the stash.
I have owned two Landies in the past a series IIA 109 hi-cap pickup with 2.6 straight 6 petrol and a series III 88 2 ¼ petrol ex CAA Stansted airport in bright yellow.
The actual spelling is Eau de Nil - “Water of the Nile” - I will not comment on how the river, presumably, assumed that colour save that our rather base nomenclature probably wasn’t far off the mark(!)
I didn’t say that I said their LCA needs some work, but it’s a sample of one so it says nothing about their other models, with which I don’t have any experience other than two figure sets.
Mate I wasn’t having a pop at you. Some people like them and some don’t. I like them purely because their subject matter is interesting to me and usually within the timeframe I build which is post WW2 and British.
Well done so far on the Land Rover …Right Gecko issues..I’ve built this kit and a couple more
Chassis is indeed an 88/86 chassis it scales out as an 80 but the bent outriggers are for a later and longer Land Rover .
The engine is not an early Land Rover engine..the sump is wrong as well as various parts of the engine .the engine supplied in the kit is lovely but the later Siamese bore version
Engine colour boring bit the engine colours were painted the same as the vehicles initially..same a the chassis which were painted the same as the body .
The seats are the wrong type for the early Land Rover
As I’ve said before it’s a great little kit But
Watch the rear suspension they would have you mount the rear dampers opposed to each other with different lengths oddly they provide the correct ones .
The gear tunnel has an overdrive lever as well which was not an original
Morning Barny, I was putting the cab together last night and noticed the overdrive callout in the instructions and did think why one would be fitted bearing in mind what they’re for. A little bit of digging and sure enough they weren’t fitted to military vehicles and were an option on civi variants. Looking at engine colours I came across Land Rover Engine Blue so might go down that route but didn’t know about the sump differences. I don’t think I will interfere with that as it is out of the way but you just have to do the rear dampers, would it even fit correctly if you didn’t? I unfortunately snapped the range transfer lever off so will have to sort that. Probably use the overdrive lever, at least then there’s a use for it. Parts are just dry fit at this point as I will put it all together as assemblies after painting.
I said their LCA needs 
