Land Rover Series III LWB

I need to start another project now like I need a hole in my head! So, this project will take a while as I go about gathering my paints and stuff for this build. This project also signals another case for McNally, Boston PI. This story is called, Harvest of Murder and it is a total work of fiction.

The Build
I am using Revell of Germany's Land Rover Series III LWB Kit #07047. I have been looking at paint colors trying to find a close match to the Land Rover Light Green without having to resort to ordering paint from overseas.
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The Story
McNally journeys to the United Kingdom to help an old friend harvest his farm. A “vacation” in the UK is turned into a murder investigation with the local Constabulary seeking his help. The murder victim is a longtime resident who was always broke and McNally tries to find the killer with the help of the local Police who have no training in murder investigations.

It was about 4:00 PM when the telephone rang at 157 Dardenvale Street, the home of McNally, Boston PI. McNally has just returned home from an early afternoon jog that took him over an hour to run and he had worked up a good sweat. He was also tired when he answered the phone.
“This is McNally,” he says puffing slightly.
“Mc! Its’ Angus Burrows calling you from the UK. How are you? I didn’t call you at a bad time, did I?”
“No. I’m just back from a run. I’m well Angus! Long time, no hear! What is happening across the pond?”
“I’m actually calling you from Westby Hospital in Liverpool. I have a case of bad heart angina and they had hospitalized me. I’ve got no one managing at the farm and I need some help with the workers.”
“Are you asking me for my help?”
“Yes. If you can. I know you can be busy with your detective business. But, I do need your help getting the workers organized and moving forward.”
“Angus, I could use a small vacation and the farm at Alston-at-Harkness sounds like a good place to start. I’ll be over tomorrow or Friday. Okay?”
“Thank you Mc. I truly appreciate your effort.”
“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow at the hospital. Bye Angus!
“Bye Mc.”
McNally will return...

be nice to see this go together.....its a kit ive been keeping an eye on recently

Thanks beowulf! I've had this kit since January and it is one that I have been wanting to start on. Now that I have found a body color, time to find an appropriate roof top color.

The Story
McNally gets off the plane in Liverpool and he catches a cab to Westby Hospital to visit with Angus.  Angus is happy to see him and he tell McNally where everything is at the farm, including the keys to the Land Rover Series III LWB which is parked on the side of the house.  McNally tells Angus that he will do his best with the harvest and for him to not to worry about anything and to get better.  Angus tell him that he glad that McNally made the trip across the pond and he will try to get better.  Then a nurse comes into the room and throws McNally out.

The Build
The 2.6 L straight six engine is nearing completion.  I have wired it, but in the process, I destroyed the distributor, sending me looking for another distributor cap which I found in the parts box.



McNally will return...

The engine looks good Mike.

Thanks, Al! I've beentry ing to get the wires into the distributor and they don't want to stay. I'm working through it!

Spiffy looking engine

Thanks Dirk! Adding the ignition wires helped the looks of the engine a lot!

The Story
McNally leaves Westby Hospital and hails a cab who'll drive him out to the farm in Alston-at-Harkness.  At the farm, he pays the cabbie with a decent tip and them he pulls his luggage along with his large Army bag slung over his shoulder on the dirt driveway which is rutted with rocks and holes, some holes filled with muddy water.  He reaches the farm house which is dark and he finds the front door key hidden inside a rock outside the front door, which was unlocked anyway.  He opens the door, turns on the lights and steps inside the old house and he finds the keys for the Land Rover hanging on a hook with a couple of jackets and a hat next to them on a wall rack.
The house is as he expected it to be, lived in with a newspaper next to a chair in the living room, a couple of dirty dishes in the sink in the kitchen and a light coating of dust on the furniture.  Tomorrow, he'll meet up with the field managers and discuss where they are at with the harvest in their fields and see what they need for equipment and supplies.  He goes outside and finds the Land Rover Series III LWB parked next to the side of the house and it is unlocked and he locks the doors on the SUV and the barn as well.

The Build
After staring at the engine last night, I didn't like the color of the engine.  I repainted it this morning with Model Master Gunmetal Metalizer and the fan got a coating of Model Master Daytona Yellow.



McNally will return...

The Story
The following morning, McNally gets up, eats breakfast and then he drives out to the fields and he talks to the field manager asking if the need anything to help with the harvest.  Mostly, they are seeking extra help and the West field needs help the most.  He pulls off the two people working the field and he has them go to the North field to work and the West field will be harvested later.  He decides to help harvest until he realizes that he is hungry and it is about 3 PM in the afternoon.  He drives into town looking for a diner of some sort and he finds one.
He orders an early dinner of Shepard's Pie and coffee.  While he is ordering, the Police Constable comes in looking for a cup of coffee to go and he overhears McNally talking in his American accent.  He introduces himself as PC Paul Dunbarton, a lone law enforcement officer for the Township of Alston-At-Harkness.  McNally identifies himself as a former cop now PI temporarily working at the Burrows Farm while Angus Burrows is in the hospital.  Paul wishes McNally well and he hopes Angus will be ok and he comes home soon.  PC Dunbarton grabs his coffee and he leaves the diner.

The Build
I got the wheels painted with Model Master Wimbledon White.



McNally will return...

The Story
McNally is up early and he drives out to the field that he worked at yesterday.  He works until noontime and the field is caught up.  The workers move to the next field on the list after lunch and they finish the smaller field by 5:30 PM.  At 6:00 PM, all the equipment and tools are accounted for and put away for the weekend.  He calls the hospital while he is making his supper and he talks to Angus for a few minutes.
Angus will be released from the hospital tomorrow afternoon.  He is to rest and let other people to do the work for him.  McNally will go and pick him up and bring him home to the farm.

The Build
I assembled the chassis last night before turning in for the night.  It is ready for primer and paint.  I did a mockup just to see what it would look like and the fit of the parts.



McNally will return...

The Story
PC Dunbarton drives out to the Burrows Farm and he knocks on the door.  The door is answered by Angus and after a joyous greeting, the Constable asks to the whereabouts of McNally.  The PC is directed to the field that McNally is working in and Dunbarton drives out to the field.  He finds McNally and he asks for his help.  A farmer was murdered not too far from the Burrows Farm and the PC doesn't know what to do.
McNally advises for the PC to call local towns and the National Crime Agency for assistance.  The PC says that this is the first murder that he is involved with and the first in the township in almost two hundred years and other than the Boston PI, he wasn't sure who to call.  McNally tells the Constable to log all those he wants to talk to and everyone the victim knew.  McNally asks that he be kept informed and he will be around to answer any questions from the PC.

The Build
I painted the chassis last week and let it dry completely.  Now to detail paint some of the components and add the front shocks.



McNally will return...

Nice clean build

Thanks Dirk! This is one of those builds that is going to take a while to complete.

The Story
The National Crime Agency sends a team of investigators to Alston-at-Harkness and the McCann Farm.  While they are looking around at McCann Farm, Agent Barchans of the NCA is at the Police Station with PC Dunbarton questioning him about Alfred McCann and what he knows about him.  McNally walks into the Police Station to check up on PC Dunbarton and Agent Barchans says no comments to any information to anyone.  Dunbarton explains that McNally is a former Boston Police Department Police Officer and that he can be trusted.  Barchans wants McNally out of the Station and the area.

The Build
I spent a little time on the Land Rover yesterday.  I painted the hubs and the lugnuts with Tamiya Semi Gloss Black..  I got the driveshafts and the radiator installed.  Then, I noticed that the lower radiator hose was missing and I made one out of some tubing I had lying around on the bench.



McNally will return...

The Story
McNally met Angus Burrows while he was in the US Army.  Angus was an instructor at the base teaching Covert Surveillance Applications and McNally was one of his pupils.  The class was a tough one for McNally, so he studied this class more than the others and asked more questions and he did rather well with it.  When McNally graduated, he became friends with Angus until he retired a couple of years later and he returned to England.  He has worked on his farm ever since.

The Build
Adding the driveshafts had created a problem...the engine was cockeyed!  I ended up removing the engineand shortening the housing for the front driveshaft.  This put the engine back into the motor mounts like it should instead of sitting on the edge of the engine mount.  Now, everything sits straight!



McNally will return...

The Story
McNally returns to the farm to continue working the fields until mid afternoon and he decides to have a lunch break.  He returns to the diner in town and orders his lunch and he overhears 2 other men talking about Albert McCann and he was stabbed a dozen times in the front and the back and he had no money, but he did have a large gold coin that he always carried with him as he thought it brought him good luck.  It was mentioned that the Police didn't know about the coin.

The Build
I sprayed the entire Land Rover body and hood today with Model Master Wimbledon White Lacquer in preparation for the Model Master Acryl Pale Green that I will paint later.



McNally will return...

Chassis and engine are looking great Mike. Looking forward to seeing the green go on.

Thank Al! I should be putting the green on real soon!

The Story
McNally stops at the Police Station to talk with PC Dunbarton and he sees Agent Barchans talking to him.  Barchans sees McNally walk into the Station and immediately questions why he is there and accuses him of interference in his case.  McNally claims that he is only there to say hi and chat with the PC, but Barchans says no and for him to leave.  McNally stands his ground and Barchans gets baby at him while PC Dunbarton says that McNally will stay.  Barchans is told to leave so Dunbarton can get some work done.

The Build
The Land Rover got a coat of Model Master Acryl Pale Green this morning.  The first coat was mixed with some Acryl Thinner.  The second coat was mixed with a little cheap Lacquer Thinner since I thought I was done with the color.



More Land Rover to come...

The Story
The following day finds McNally checking the fields to make sure that the harvest has been picked and he sees a man walking through the eastern field. He calls out to the man and the man takes off running and McNally follows him in the Land Rover Series III LWB to the end of the road and the edge of the property. The man jumps the fence and he runs away into the forest. McNally tried to follow him and he lost the man in the forest. He returns to the SUV and he turns the Land Rover around and he starts to drive back to the main road of the fields and a glint caught his eye and he stops and backs up to the glint.
The glint turns out to be a knife with a nearby scabbard and the knife has blood around the hilt of the handle and it was in the area of where the man was walking. He pulls out his cellphone and he calls PC Dunbarton to come out and look at his discovery. The PC picks up the knife and scabbard with gloved hands and he carefully places them in evidence bags and he will get them dusted for fingerprints and blood type.

The Build
I cleacoated the Land Rover with two coats of Testors Semi Gloss Clear. I wanted a Semi Gloss instead of a full gloss on the body. I have spent part of the morning masking the various parts of the Land Rover for Tamiya TS-29 Semi Gloss Black. I still have other parts to paint which is a little frustating to me since I like to paint all of my parts with one color and move on to the next color. Many of these parts have multiple colors on them.



More Land Rover to come...

The Story
The knife found by McNally was tested and found to be the McCann murder weapon. It is late at night and McNally goes up to bed and he hears the sound of breaking glass downstairs. He pulls out of the closet a Remington double barrel shotgun, loads it and he goes downstairs very quietly and at the bottom of the stairs he flicks on the living room lights. A man rushes over to him and he attacks McNally and he runs off through the kitchen and out the back door. McNally gets up from the floor and he rushes outside and he fires both barrels of the shotgun at the attacker and he runs out towards the barn and it is dark out beyond the barn itself and he couldn't see the attacker.
He calls PC Dunbarton who drives out to the Burrows Farm and he looks around with a flashlight and he finds blood on the ground. McNally had hit his target, but how bad was the hit? He tells McNally to stop at the Station in the morning and he will issue him a Glock G19 9mm pistol and he will deputize him to help find the killer and attacker. McNally is perfectly fine with that.

The Build
I have been painting and assembling the Landy. I assembled the interior floor, seats and shift levers. I painted and decaled the grille and mirrors and I assembled the front panel with the brake booster and air intake hose.



McNally will return...

The Story
McNally stops at the Police Station and PC Dunbarton issues him a Glock G19 9mm handgun with two clips, a box of bullets and a right hand draw holster. He checks out the pistol, loads a magazine and and he loads the gun. After informing him that the results of the blood samples haven't come back yet McNally thanks the Constable for the gun and he returns to the farm to continue working. Around 1:30 in the afternoon, he takes a break and drives into town to the diner for lunch. Agent Barchans, full of fury walks in and he goes to the Boston PI and demands the gun.
McNally refuses to turn the gun over to Barchans citing why he needs the gun and he asks why Barchans is not investigating the murder of McCann. Barchans again demands the gun and McNally tells him that the only way he'll get the gun is to pry it from his cold, dead fingers. Barchans snorts at McNally and he leaves the diner in a rage. An old patron of the diner goes over to McNally and tells him about Barchans visiting the township every year and throwing his weight around. He also tells McNally about a gold coin that McCann carried around with him and how it was supposed to bring him good luck.

The Build
I started detailing the Landy today by adding the grille and windows, painting the trim on the body sides and the rear. The interior is almost complete except for the dash which is still in the paintbooth.



McNally will return...

The Story
McNally drives down to the Petro Station to fill up the Land Rover. He talks to the Station owner about anyone who he may have seen in the area that he doesn't know. The Station owner tells McNally of a man who has a camp up in the woods about 1/2 kilometer up from the Station. McNally wants to leave the Landy at the Station and the owner says he can. He walks up to the camp and he finds that no one is there.
He looks around the empty camp and he finds a bag with bloody bandages and this must be the man he shot at the farm when he was attacked. McNally would like to have stayed at the camp and wait for the man to return, but he had to get back to the farm to help with the harvest. He will stop by early tomorrow and and wait for the camper to come out.

The Build
I had blacked out the edges of the windows with a black Sharpie and I let this dry for a bit and when I added my Mod Podge to hold the windows in place, the black ink ran. I removed the windows and the dried Mod Podge and will consider my options of adding the black trim around the windows.




McNally will return...

The Story
In the morning, McNally drives down to the Petro Station and he waits for the man to come down from his camp. After several minutes, he sees the man stumble out of the brush and he has a slight limp and he walks along the road. McNally stays well behind him as the man limps along and he stops at the General Store and goes inside. He walks inside and goes to the counter and he asks about the man who had walked in and he is told that the limping man works in the store. He asks if he could talk to him for a moment and the store owner calls the man up front.
The man comes up front and he sees McNally and he takes off running out to the back of the store and out the back door. McNally runs outside and he tackles the man and he cuffs him. He yells for the store owner to call the Police and the Police arrive a moment later and the man is taken into custody.

The Build
I used the black Sharpie on the outside edge of the windows and Mod Podge as my adhesive on the inside and I like the effect. It took one or two trips on the edges with the Sharpie and it got nice and black like a rubber seal. Now to try this on the front and rear windows.




McNally will return...

The Story
Agent Barchans of the NCA arrives at the Police Station and he is surprised to see Senior Headquarters Supervisor Peter Duncledge standing at the counter. Barchans demands to know what is going on and who and why was this person arrested for the murder of Alfred McCann. Duncledge explains the gold coin that was stolen from McCann, the found murder weapon with traces of McCann's blood on it, the attack on McNally at the Burrows Farm, finding Declan Thomas limping with some of the buckshot still in him and finding his camp. Declan Thomas had copped to the murder since he owed money to a loan shark and the loan shark had threatened his life and he was desperate for cash. He knew McCann had the coin and it would be good for some quick cash.
Duncledge also cites that Barchans has had a bad record of pissing off County and Town Police officers. Barchans is to return to headquarters for disciplinary actions. McNally turns in the Glock he was loaned with the box of shells that he never used.

The Build
The Land Rover is almost done! The engine is finished. The hood didn't fit flush until I lower the distributor. The vents for the secondary roof was fitted.




McNally will return...

The Story
McNally spent a couple of days getting the harvest to market and he paid the workers. Most of the harvest equipment was maintenanced and put up for the coming winter with the exception of anything that was needed for chores. Angus was given driving duties to take McNally to the airport for his trip home and included a stop at the Police Station to say goodbye to his friend, PC Dunbarton. After arriving at the airport, Angus was a little tired and he would rest a bit before driving home to Alston-At-Harkness. Goodbyes at the flight line for the two old friends and McNally boards the plane for his trip home.
After stopping over for an hour in Greenland for refueling, the plane lands at Boston's Logan Airport and McNally disembarks the plane, goes through the TSA check-in and Passport Control. With his luggage in tow, McNally grabs a cab and is driven home to Charlestown and home. Once in the house, he calls Angus to tell him that he was home and the flight was good. If Angus ever needed the help again, he was to call McNally first.

The Build
I have finished my Land Rover Series III LWB. I would like to thank all those who have taken the time to view and to comment on my WIP.