"The Butty Wagon is here."
I remember hearing that for the first time while waiting for 501 to scramble out of Manston. The spoken English being what it is here in Texas and the fact that I had not ever been indoctrinated into British cuisine, I thought they were saying something, well, indecent. But my cultural education was exposing me to new and different ideas. I came to learn of the "butty" and its various forms, i.e. bacon or chip. I'll admit I have yet to have one, have tried Bovril and White Bait though so give me some credit, but I became fascinated by the "Butty Wagon" and had to add one to my collection.
Problem was, no one makes a kit of the vehicle in 1/48.
For those equally unfamiliar with the vehicle, let me digress. The "Butty" wagon, also often referred to as a NAAFI van, was operated to deliver food and drink to servicemen. They were frequently operated by volunteer organizations and came in a variety of shapes and sizes.
I had a surplus Airfix Albion refueler kit in my stash and decided to see if I could convert it into a Butty Wagon. I first did some online research to get ideas about how to make the wagon. I worked out the design in paper and card stock initially to get the proportions eyeball correct. I recently acquired a plotter cutter and spent time learning how to use a simple vector drawing program to input the design. I then cut the structure out using the cutter and have started putting the thing together. Unfortunately, this "build-first, plan-second" method has left me with some fit problems and I've thought of ways to improve the design, but it is finally starting to come together.
Mini-501 (if that is still a thing anymore) will soon have access to sandwiches and coffee.
"The Butty Wagon is here"
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"The Butty Wagon is here"
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Howdy Ya'll!Re: "The Butty Wagon is here"
My early efforts stalled because I could not work out how to cut a straight piece of plastic. The plotter cutter and thin styrene sheets helped solve that problem. I failed to design any support structure and things have slowly started to get wonky as the build progressed. That said, I have been enjoying the challenge.
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Howdy Ya'll!Re: "The Butty Wagon is here"
Plotter cutting is my newest modelling tool. It has allowed me to make masks for unique squadron codes and cut basic structures used in the van. Still have a lot to learn about the design program and how the cutter works.
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Howdy Ya'll!
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Broadsword
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Re: "The Butty Wagon is here"
Crackin' stuff Tex, looking forward to seeing how it turns out 
I must go up to the skies again, to the peace of silent flight, To the gull’s way, and the hawk’s way, and the free wings’ delight;
And all I ask is a friendly joke with a laughing fellow rover, And a large beer, and a deep sleep, when the long flight’s over.
Re: "The Butty Wagon is here"
This is all well and good, and looks fantastic, but when's the pussy wagon coming?
“It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes I-16s.” - Douglas Adams
Re: "The Butty Wagon is here"
Bunny, I have spent hours working out how to make that version.
Howdy Ya'll!