Model Mania — Colin Farnham’s distinctly Aussie rigs
Rear Vision
Model Mania with Bob Riley explores Colin Farnham’s McColl’s tanker, Ford LTL, recovery truck, Mobil truck and Hall’s tipper models.
Model Mania with Bob Riley. Original ACT archive column; no individual photographer is identified in the retained pages.
McColl’s Kenworth Aerodyne
Given he worked for McColl’s for 20 years, it was only fitting that Geelong’s Colin Farnham built a model of one of their fleet.
The McColl’s Kenworth Aerodyne B double tanker combination boasts a modified kit build and a scratch built trailer set. The Kenworth was converted to right hand drive and was fitted with fuel tanks made from aluminium tubing. The A trailer chassis was scratch built while the tanks on both trailers were made from PVC pipe that was initially squashed into shape before they were fitted with a wood ‘former’ to help hold their shape. The trailer mudguards were made from Dupli-Color spray can lids. The minor signage and mudflaps were made from photo reductions of the real thing. The McColl’s decals were made by Colin Robb. A selection of his models appeared in ACT # 13. All the realistic light lenses on the truck and trailers came from sheets of coloured stick-on craft crystals and rhinestones that can be found in the local “$2 shop.”
But the McColl’s rig is not his only claim to fame as Colin was co-founder of Geelong Auto Modelling Supplies, which with his brother-in-law Mick Gregg, produced, at the time, an amazing range of fibreglass, and early resin, conversion truck cabs and car bodies as well as a host of other scale model accessories. Long gone now, but GAMS pre-dated the Internet, Jaymar and even Auslowe. Colin also authored a models column for many years in the 1980s in Eddie Ford’s ‘Custom Rodder’ and ‘Custom Vans and Trucks’ magazines.
It gives ACT great pleasure to present some of Colin’s distinctly Aussie rigs.
Ford LTL tipper
The Ford LTL was a kit build that was converted to right hand drive and was then fitted with a resin conversion day cab panel to the back of the cab. Both the truck and trailer tipping bodies were scratch built and feature opening tailgates. The dog trailer chassis was also scratch built.
The Ford was fitted with an hydraulic oil tank while the high rise twin exhaust stacks were made from cut down extendable magnets. All the mudflaps on the combination were made from very thin gauge stainless steel while all the signage was by the photo-reduction of an image of the real thing.
Modern Towing and Salvage — Unit 56
Unit 56, the Modern Towing and Salvage Kenworth Aerodyne cabover wrecker is a kit build that has been converted to right hand drive. Aluminium fuel tanks and stainless steel exhaust stacks were fitted before the wrecker body from the LA Fire Department Western Star kit was adapted to the chassis. The decals were made by Colin Robb and complement the photo-reduced signage elsewhere on the massive rig.
Mobil International CO4070
ERTL’s terrific 1/25 scale International CO4070 prime mover kit was the donor for Colin’s build of this Mobil bulk fuel truck. The kit’s full sleeper cab was cut down to a day cab and the already long kit chassis was stretched to take the twin steer set-up. The long tray body was kit-bashed from an AMT flatbed trailer kit and fitted with a scratch built front rack and tie rails on both sides. The day cab was converted to right hand drive and aluminium fuel tanks were added. Photo-reduced numberplates and mudflap signage was added along with a set of Mobil decals.
Hall’s Haulage Kenworth Aerodyne
Just a single side-on image of the real truck provided the inspiration, and enough detail, for Colin’s build of Hall’s Haulage tri-drive, twin steer Kenworth Aerodyne cabover bulk tipper. The cab was cut down to an 86 inch BBC version and converted to right hand drive with an Auslowe resin dashboard. Scratch built aluminium fuel tanks were added along the chassis rail while the bulk tipping body was scratch built from flat styrene sheet. The truck was detailed using craft ‘lenses’, as noted above, while all the mudflaps, signage and the Hall’s sign writing was produced by Colin Robb.
Rear Vision: where are they now?
Have you built similar models or have an update on Colin’s collection? Tell ACT what happened next. We will verify current updates before adding them to the archive.