Thornycroft Dunlop Van

I mentioned earlier that a bodied version of the A1 chassis was on the agenda. I wanted a van that had a colourful livery with simple logos.

The Thornycroft Register has an amazing portfolio of vehicle photos. However, the 1920s/30s photos are all monochrome. Livery colours cannot be determined easily.

The Dunlop van caught my eye due to its simple branding. There is a George V 'by appointment crest' beneath which are the words 'By Appointment', the Dunlop  brand name and the words 'Rubber Company Co. Ltd.'

But what of the livery colours? I came across a photo of a Dinky toy Dunlop van in red, desaturated its colours in a graphic editing Application and compared the result to the Thornycroft Register photo. The grey shading was a perfect match! Further confirmation was needed and  a couple of 1930s Dunlop brochures were found where red featured. We can see from the Thornycroft photo that the roof is a lighter colour. One of the brochures showed the Dunlop name in black with a yellow border.  so, I assume the roof was yellow.

Here is an unkind photo of our N gauge model. Its roughness is far less noticeable when viewed from the normal distance of 2' or more.

Its chassis construction was described in a previous posting. The body is 3D printed in plastic and covered with paper overlays designed in a graphic editing Application. Windscreen glass and steering wheel are included as are headlamps and spare wheel underneath on the other side. The number plates carry the number of the Dunlop van in the Thornycroft Register photo.

Here is a very close up photo of the corporate branding. It occupies an area less than 10mm square.

On the layout I intend to park the van outside the factory in Worting Road with the Thornycroft photographer in attendance, thus capturing a typical scene shown in may of the vehicle photos.

David