Humber Pig from P.G. Models

The Humber Pig is a lightly armoured truck used by the British Army from the 1950s until the early 1990s. The Pig saw service with the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) from the late 1958 until early 1970. The Pig became particularly well known from its presence on the streets of Northern Ireland during the worst of the Troubles.

Here’s one of the first test castings of the Humber Pig, which is the next model in this small range of vehicles for The N Gauge Society, to go with the Saxon and upgraded Scimitar.  These two models are proving to be very popular, and there have already been several production runs of them.  The NGS Shop seem to be selling them as fast as they are being made.

The front grille is a separate part as it’s the only way that I could see to make it.  One advantage of this is that people can fit some of the alternative grilles that were fitted to these vehicles if they want to.  The Humber Pig has been made as an up-armoured vehicle as used in Northern Ireland, but could also be converted into one of the vehicles used by the Royal Hong Kong Police.  I’ve got photos of these at Ludgershall depot after they had been returned to the UK, so they would probably have got there by train.

The rear protection bar has been moulded on to the hull, so the list of parts is just the main body, the front grille, and four wheels.  I shall now have to wait for these models to be produced by the company doing the resin casting before I can send them off to the NGS Shop.  If all goes to plan, they should get them in five to six weeks.

Bandvagn 206

Bandvagn 206 (Bv 206) is a tracked articulated, all-terrain carrier developed by Hägglunds for the Swedish Army. It consists of two units, with all four tracks powered. It can carry up to 17 people and the trailer unit can be adapted for different uses..

Meanwhile, I am finishing off the fourth model that I agreed to make for the NGS, namely the Bv 206 over-snow vehicle.  I know that this is essentially just two boxes on tracks, but they are particularly complicated boxes with fiddly doors and windows to make.  I was asked to make it with clear windows, and so I have also needed to make a basic interior for it as well.

Here are the main hull parts, showing a separate interior for the front unit.  One big problem that I’ve had has been getting the sloping angles right for the body sides, and then making sure that the two body units are the same size.   I made the front unit, which looked okay, and then made the rear unit, only to find that it was the same width at the top as the front unit, but considerably wider at the base.  I re-checked everything, and found that the front unit was wrong.  I had the wrong angles to the body-sides, which resulted in the front body being narrower than the rear one.  I’ve got it all sorted now, but it was very fiddly to put right.

P.G. Models