Tuesday 7 January 2020

Conversion of Franco Prussian War ambulance for 25mm S range


Not being in the right mind set to start a new project as such I have been tinkering around. I read about the British Ambulance service in the Franco Prussian War.  This was a volunteer service funded by public and private donations. 

In 1991 To commemorate the Service the British Red Cross launched a ‘limited edition’ model by Lledo of a Horse Drawn Ambulance as used in the Franco Prussian War.  I picked one up on Ebay for a couple of pounds.  Whilst it is said to be carefully recreated from material held in the British Red Cross archives, the model owes much to the Lledo models used for other commemorative and publicity models.  I decided to use this as the basis for a model of a Franco Prussian War ambulance just to pass the time and keep my hand in at doing some S range conversions.



I used the material I had to hand.  Foam board and cardboard and it tuned into a bit of a dog’s dinner.  I struggled with the wheels amongst other things and decided to abandon the idea. 



One of the reasons for making my own version of the ambulance is because the rear wheels on the LLedo model are all wrong based on all the line drawings of the time.  But having made a hash of my own model,  


I went back to the Lledo model which was very ‘flat’ in terms of detail and decided to add strips of cardboard to give if a bit of depth.  


I also decided to get rid of the ‘universal driver’ which Lledo use on all there models substituting it for an S range conversion I made.  I was going to use a Prussian figure but then remade it with a British ‘cap’ more in line with the description I was able to find on line.  The horses had the usual LLedo ‘bobbed tails’ and poorly defined manes so I used a bit of ‘green stuff’ to make the tails and manes a bit more distinctive. 



I couldn’t find anything about the colour of these vehicles.  I didn’t like the ‘creamy yellow of the LLedo model and so opted for a more ‘wooden look’.

Lastly I drilled through and added some ‘cotton reins’.  Why I don’t know, but threading the cotton through the drill holes was an absolute pig.  These I ran back to the ‘driver’s’ hand and added a whip in his other hand for good measure.  


I then made up a couple of foot figures again I am not sure why.  The ‘officer’ is a Prussian gunner officer with a British head’.  The uniform is supposed to be based on the British artillery undress uniform.  The ‘Nun’ is made from the S range CR10 Nap Camp follower with bottle & bag.  I just filed down the hair to give a flat surface for what looks a bit like a ‘wimple’.



I decide not to put the ‘Service of the English Ambulance’ logo on the side so it was a bit ‘more open’ to who and where it was used but I made up wording in the right size to retro fit if needs be.  

Anyway it is just a bit more nonsense and passed the time. May even go back and try to rescue my early attempt!


19 comments:

  1. Nicely done, full of charm and character.

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  2. Agreed, an attractive model!

    Best Regards,

    Stokes

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    1. Thanks for taking the time to post Stokes, much appreciated.

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  3. A very welcome sight to many I'm sure, worth a morale bonus when it hoves into view. When I do reins I cut a slot where the horse mouth is and put the reins in that, glue, and close with pliers - avoids the threading problem.

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    1. Hi Rob, I wish I had thought of that! Would have saved me a lot of time and a bit of turning the air blue! Good tip for the future.

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    2. You will need a fine saw though!

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  4. Like it , I didn't know about these ambulances but you have done a good job .

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    1. Hi, I stumbled across this having bought the model. I think the Vintage wargamer pointed me in the direction of a model up on Ebay last year but I missed out on buying it and wasn't sure I wanted it. There is a bit on line about the service and particularly about the Anglo Irish Ambulance service nice article and line drawings from the Limerick Times published at the time. Also seems to have been a way of enlisting to fight in the FPW for the French. An Act of Parliament prevented enlisting for service but the Ambulance service was okay as it was non combatant. But in the case of the Irish Service they seem to have been well over staffed and when they arrived in France a number of men enlisted in the second battalion of the French Foreign Legion.

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    1. Hi Hal, this was actually quite a simple job. The most awkward bit was getting the paint to cover the Lledo gloss paint finish. Would have liked to make up stretcher bearers. I have the other half of the seated figure I use for my limbers and which I cut the driver free from. Need to make him a new arm but he can lay on the ground or on something. We will see.

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  6. Great wagon! Prussian lives must be saved!

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    1. Oh dear, from what I have read the Prussians seem to have been a bit suspicious of the service even thought they treated both sides. Probably because they encountered them on French soil and the ambulances came in via the French ports.

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  7. Another excellent conversion, ABC. I'm in constant awe of your inventiveness.
    Best regards
    WM

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    1. I think if I had some of your skills with a soldering iron they could be even better. The best I managed was to burn my fingers as I thought I had unplugged it the one time I tried it out! Love what you have been doing with the French. The sheer level of flash was what made me get rid of my HHs without trying to clean or paint them. Seeing what you can do leaves me in awe.

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  8. Great job! I did most of the Hovels animal and civilian figures and found doing that more engaging than military subjects. Sometimes doing something non-military can be a breath of fresh air: plus it’s nice to have little vignettes of the people you are fighting for 😉

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    1. Thanks Jeffers. I have been busy making a few wounded to go with the ambulance and will publish them in a future post. You are right it makes a change fro regiments of figures.

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  9. This is absolute great. The Franco-Prussian war is one of my favourite subjects and I am always for exotic stuff:-)

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  10. Thanks Uwe. It was a bit different and quite a nice and simple project to work on.

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