Austin K2 question

[Tim Marlow]

Hi all. As some of you know, I’m building one of these for the current emergency GP. ostensibly I’m going for an Ice cold in Alex reference…..not exactly, but close enough. Come across an interesting picture that I don’t quite get though….


What’s the deal with the windows here? I get the opening one on the left, though with no doors I can’t see why they’d need extra ventilation…..but why the painted squares restricting the windows? It’s obviously deliberate, and I don’t think they’d get that wrong on set as there would be plenty of advisors and crew around that were probably there, but what does it achieve?

[Steve-the-Duck]

Hmm. Reducing the reflection off the glass? They'd still need some protection from blown sand rather than removing the windscreen entirely
I'm just speculating

[spanner570]

Could be up a gum tree, and I can't see for sure, but they look like canvas rather than glass.....

[Steve-the-Duck]

Could be up a gum tree, and I can't see for sure, but they look like canvas rather than glass.....

That would make sense.
The 'Katy' windscreen is halved on the driver's side anyway, so it follows the frames. I think wipers are mounted at the bottom, but there's none there...

Maybe time to break out my copy of 'Alex' and have a look

[Tim Marlow]

Hmm. Reducing the reflection off the glass? They'd still need some protection from blown sand rather than removing the windscreen entirely
I'm just speculating

No problem with speculation Steve, I’m not sure myself

[Tim Marlow]

Could be up a gum tree, and I can't see for sure, but they look like canvas rather than glass.....

Good point Ron, so perhaps they were standard fittments then? Still can’t see what they’d do, apart from stopping the wipers working…..

[Tim Marlow]

That would make sense.
The 'Katy' windscreen is halved on the driver's side anyway, so it follows the frames. I think wipers are mounted at the bottom, but there's none there...

Maybe time to break out my copy of 'Alex' and have a look

Can’t see any wipers on the kit either, so perhaps the K2 didn’t have them? I’ll look at some other non ICiA shots to check.
I did wonder if they were cobbled up so that the “in vehicle” shots could be easily framed and unwanted reflections were minimised , but then thought that they would simply take the screens out if they wanted to do that.

[Ian M]

I believe that they are indeed canvas "curtains" with a mesh insert and Yes it was to reduce both reflecting sun and reduce the sun in the drivers face.
Window wiper drivers side hung from the top. Logic dictates that if its raining the window will be (mostly) closed.

[Steve-the-Duck]

Tim, I THINK the screens are correct for a wartime vehicle. My British trucks book shows an Austin K30, among others, with two canvas rolls on the bonnet in front of each seat. Most of the vehicles with ghem have no windscreen anyway

[Steve-the-Duck]

I believe that they are indeed canvas "curtains" with a mesh insert and Yes it was to reduce both reflecting sun and reduce the sun in the drivers face.
Window wiper drivers side hung from the top. Logic dictates that if its raining the window will be (mostly) closed.

There you go!

[Steve-the-Duck]

Okay, just watched a scene from 'Alex'. Katy has PAINT on the outside of the glass, roughly applied but straight-edged. The drivers' side only has a half-pane. And some shots not at all

[Tim Marlow]

I believe that they are indeed canvas "curtains" with a mesh insert and Yes it was to reduce both reflecting sun and reduce the sun in the drivers face.
Window wiper drivers side hung from the top. Logic dictates that if its raining the window will be (mostly) closed.

Cheers Ian. All makes sense to me…..so now I’ve got to make them :sleeping2: Tamiya Kabuki tape should crack it ….

[Tim Marlow]

Okay, just watched a scene from 'Alex'. Katy has PAINT on the outside of the glass, roughly applied but straight-edged. The drivers' side only has a half-pane. And some shots not at all

….and now I’m confused again LOL…..paint imitating the canvas perhaps? Sounds like I might be right about removing the driver side front window for photography purposes, so to make a “close enough” shot I’m probably going with painted framing and a closed drivers window. I don’t fancy cutting up the clear part, they can be very brittle.

Interesting shots here Steve, some from making the film…..

https://www.studiocanalstore.co.uk/ice-cold-alex-1957/

[Ian M]

If You are going all in for Katy from ICiA better find a CMP 4X4 to get the chassis from. The Film used a "custom job" A K2y body planted onto a CMP 4x4 chassis as the 4x2 could not manage the sand as well as they had hoped 'off road'.
Pictures I have seen from the film look to me as they are canvas covers, they just fit well and are very flat. However looking at the detail around the edges and the hole they are a tiny bit wonky and can see the hem.... In one of the shots you can also see the wiper motor on the inside of the window frame.

[Tim Marlow]

If You are going all in for Katy from ICiA better find a CMP 4X4 to get the chassis from. The Film used a "custom job" A K2y body planted onto a CMP 4x4 chassis as the 4x2 could not manage the sand as well as they had hoped 'off road'.
Pictures I have seen from the film look to me as they are canvas covers, they just fit well and are very flat. However looking at the detail around the edges and the hole they are a tiny bit wonky and can see the hem.... In one of the shots you can also see the wiper motor on the inside of the window frame.

Cheers Ian. I’m sure you are right :thumb2: Apparently they used three ambulances, the 4WD cobbled up version was only used in the dune scenes because they weren’t sure the standard truck would cope with the trundling up and down for the repeated takes they would need. In the “wind up the hill” scene the truck was tethered to a Scammel over the ridge and the cable buried in the sand…..
Now you see it….


Now you don’t….


I’ve also read elsewhere now that the screens were paint, used as blackout anti glare measures early in the war…..apparently civilian trucks did the same thing. Like a lot of 2WW stuff it is now going out of folk memory as the original protagonists die off, and as it was so common it hasn’t been recorded.

I didn’t know the outer skins of the sides were canvas either….I thought they were solid. Here’s a unrestored one as proof….

The rest of the restoration can be found here

https://hmvf.co.uk/topic/41530-austin-k2y-ambulance/

I‘m actually going for a hybrid version, with painted squares. In part because I don’t actually have the decals for the “Katy” moniker and partly because I’m not sure the unit markings are there either.

Interior paint colour is another minefield……but I think I’ve now got a handle on that. Early ones (like this) were mid stone on the inside and later ones were white. It means this example will be darker on the inside than on the outside outside….almost a tardis!

Shown well here….

The one at the end is an oldy……

…and this one isn’t white either….