As sure as the machine gun was born it was discovered that airfield protection and convoy escort duties need to be motorized. Better still the company chosen to manufacture this hot box was Rolls Royce. Here this issue of the Rolls Royce Armoured Car comes with the 1914 options including PE spoked wheels and markings for Western Front 1916 RNAS squadron plus two (1917 & 1918 ) Middle East service units.

Link to Item

If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

Thanks for the great review Stephen,

I quite fancy getting me one of these – perhaps putting it into a vignette with one of my British planes... Guessing that the difference in scale will be OK if you place them in a clever way

Mikael

Nice Review Stephen, sort of whets my appetite to try one of these, like MIkael wrote, would make a nice companion piece to a Brit WWI A/C, or a captured German.

Best

Mark

The reviewer mentions vinyl tyres - but the photos seem to show the tyres on plastic sprues - are they vinyl or indeed plastic

Thats right the tyres are plastic in this release. Faux Paux in typing on my part.

Here is a bit of fun from Joseph Phelan's HEROES AND AEROPLANES OF THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918:

"On 27 August 1914, the [Naval Air Unit] went to Ostend under Squadron Commander... Charles Rumney Samson... The force remained at Ostend for a few days only, then was ordered to return to England. Because of a haze over the Channel, they landed at Dunkirk instead of flying home, and were subsequently ordered to remain there and operate against the Zeppelins. They didn't see any Zeppelins, but while they were there, they wrote a fantastic chapter in the history of the Royal Naval Air Service with their forays in armored cars. Using automobiles that had been armored by boiler plate at the Dunkirk shipyards, the pilots, armed with rifles and one Maxim gun, drove out to reconnoitre as far as Cassel Bruges. On some occasions they were escorted by one of their number in an aeroplane who swooped low and fired Very lights to signal the presence of enemy troops. Once "Samson's Aeroplane Party" fought a pitched battle in the streets of Douai, holding off German troops who were occupying the town, providing a distraction which enabled 2,500 French troops to escape an encirclement.

"On 12 September the aeroplane party was put out of action by a squall which smashed the aeroplanes, sending them cartwheeling across the beach where they had been staked down.

"With new aeroplanes and a new name--No. 3 Naval Squadron--Samson took his flying-infantry-armored car-sailors to the Dardanelles to join the Gallipoli expedition in March 1915."

Since I saw "Lawrence of Arabia" in 1962 I have wanted one of these!

I may have to build this for the Great War Campaign. Since I have done the 1920 pattern this one could be a good subject for a dfiorama. . .

GW Campaign base thread here.

Official thread here.

I will probably go with the 3rd choice.



Note here is some revised information gleaned from the Osprey book by D. Fletcher.
Armoured Car Pattern 1914, G-256, unknown unit, Al Mayadin near Euphrates,Iraq January 1919.
Armoured Car Pattern 1914, “White 1”/”Superb”, Middle East, 1918.
Armoured Car Pattern 1914, 8-C-2 from the unknown RNAS unit during training excersizes Western country in England, 1915.

Bit of history here.

". . .In 1914 the Royal Navy separated the Naval Wing from the Royal Flying Corps, naming it the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). In July Samson was appointed Officer Commanding the Eastchurch (Mobile) Squadron which was renamed No. 3 Squadron RNAS by September 1914.

In 1914, while Samson was in command of the Royal Naval Air Station at Eastchurch, he led a flight in the Naval Review at Spithead. This was the first time aircraft had appeared in the review. In an effort to increase the popularity of flying in the navy, Samson had his pilots offer rides to anyone who was interested. . ."

". . .When World War I broke out, Samson took the Eastchurch RNAS Squadron to France, where it supported Allied ground forces along the French and Belgian frontiers. In the late summer of 1914, with too few aircraft at his disposal, Samson instead had his men patrol the French and Belgian countryside in the privately-owned cars some of them had taken to war. The first patrol comprised two cars, nine men, and one machine gun. Inspired by the success of the Belgians' experience of armoured cars, Samson had two RNAS cars, a Mercedes and a "Rolls-Royce, armoured". These vehicles had only partial protection, with a single machine gun firing backwards, and were the first British armoured vehicles to see action. Within a month most of Samson's cars had been armed and some armoured. These were joined by further cars which had been armoured in Britain with hardened steel plates at Royal Navy workshops. The force was also equipped with some trucks which had been armoured and equipped with loopholes so that the Royal Marines carried in them could fire their rifles in safety. This was the start of the RNAS Armoured Car Section.

Aggressive patrolling by Samson's improvised force in the area between Dunkirk and Antwerp did much to prevent German cavalry divisions from carrying out effective reconnaissance, and with the help of Belgian Post Office employees who used the intact telephone system to report German movements, he was able to probe deeply into German occupied territory. Closer to Dunkirk, Samson's force assisted Allied units in contact with the Germans, and at other times made use of their mobility and machine guns to exploit open flanks, cover retreats, and race German forces to important areas. . ."

His career did not stop there by any stretch of the imagination. Quite the leader .

His lifetime awards and decorations;
Distinguished Service Order (1914) and Bar (1917).
Croix de Guerre with palm (1914).
Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur (1915).
Air Force Cross (1919).
Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (1919).

There are some interesting figures out there. I think I saw a dead cow on the Home page some time back. Possibly a misfire from the Vickers turret gun and an unhappy farmer? A blue eyed dead cow?



Here it is udder destruction.

I was thinking about doing a diorama with the Miniart Country farm setting or one of the dual building jobs. I just wish there were some 1/35 scale figures British uniforms of the period. Maybe I'll have to settle for modified British WWII items from Mini Art or Tamiya?



http://www.miniart-models.com/36027.htm

Hello Stephen,

I managed to pick one of these up this weekend, while attending the Swedish IPMS nationals. Looking forward to what you will make of it. I think your idea with the farm setting will work well, and look very appealing.

Best Regards

Mikael

Stephen,Mikeal ,Mark, and Bill,
I hope you guys will all work your scale magic on the Rolls my friends.Stephen that's an excellent idea for a diorama you have there. I really love the Miniart Country Farm as a setting for your diorama and look forward to seeing your project posted here. However as a tongue in cheek alert, PETA may get bent out of shape over the deceased bovine if included.
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette

Great idea ! looking forward to seeing this one take shape.

Now here is a bit of fun at Hannants.

And at Mojehobby as well.


Now while this will have RNAS and a relation to the story mentioned above I am looking to add a physical aircraft presence as well.

Look what Osprey will release on April 17, 2012!



Have a bit of a look see.

Even though the undersurface of the motor has a short shot it will be covered by the installation of the oil pan cover.

Here I have completed one set of the dualies (for the rear) and one single (for the front). Very careful study of the instructions is warranted. There are 3 frets of tires (Or tyres as you prefer) & wheels. One set is for the spares.

The round cone discs at right are forms for the spoked wheels and can give you the right depth for the 6 different centers.

The dualies are a bit complicated by nature and the through & through illustrations of the instructions make the work easier but can be misread if not studied.



The back side shows the discoloured stress area when trying to cap the axle shroud for the wheel center.

Stephen,
Outstanding work on the PE spokes my old friend. The tires look quite good with the spoked PE installed. How difficult was it to get everything together? Did you have to heat the PE to get it to shape the kit supplied formers? Awesome job on the tires as I had doubts over how good they'd look when complete. No worries about that now. I also noticed the rough texture of some of the molding you've pictured is this common on the rest of the bits and pieces too? Whoa,sorry I didn't realize I'd strung so many pestering question together. Looking forward to the next excellent update.
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette

Beautiful spoked wheels Stephen, same question as Gregory, did you annheal the brass before forming?

Best Regards

Mikael

Go slow and pop in a movie. The trick is to set the PE at opposite settings like real spokes. They can move on you before they set.




I decided to try to mold them without annealing (using heat). The area around the hubs can be a bit stiff but will press down.




Its mostly just the crank case of the motor and frame that appears metal cast I did the 1920 pattern Rolls Royce and the texture won't be seen much in the final installation.

Here are the links to the other Roden 1:35 Rolls Royce kit reviews.

1920 kit #801

1921 kit #802

Working on the wheels. Note the set up on the copper PE.