The Modelling News: Preview: Thunder Model's 35th scale C9/B Morris Bofors Gun Truck "Late".

Thunder Model has been on a bit of a sabbatical of recent times, but we are really happy to see them come back into the modelling world with a new release of this - the C9/B Morris Bofors Gun Truck "Late" in 1/35th scale. We have seen lots of sprues, but the CADs show us a lot of how the kit looks, so we look at both the real thing & CADs in our preview...

Preview: Thunder Model's 35th scale C9/B Morris Bofors Gun Truck "Late".

C9/B Morris Bofors Gun Truck "Late"

From Thunder Model

1/35th scale

Kit No #35029

Plastic injection moulded kit with photo-etch

(14 sprues, clear parts, PE parts & decals)

Product Link on the Thunder Model Website

The Subject: The C9/B Morris Bofors Gun Truck "Late".

The Morris C9/B Self-propelled Bofors was developed as a private enterprise by the Morris-Commercial company using a lengthened version of the well-known C8 “Quad” artillery tractor. A very basic body was installed, providing four-abreast seating for the driver and three of the crew, with no cab and only the very earliest vehicles having a windshield. A cab would have prevented the gun from having a 360 degree traverse; even the steering wheel was hinged so that it could be folded out of the gun barrel’s way.

Fresh from the factory, here we see a brand new (at the time) C9/B Morris Bofors Gun Truck. This is up on it's blocks in the firing position.

The gun itself was mounted on a slightly modified Bofors mounting in the mid part of the chassis, with flat platforms behind it upon which ammunition boxes could be stowed. Tools and the crew’s kit were housed in several stowage boxes slung underneath various parts of the vehicle and the whole ungainly outfit was rounded off by having four very hefty scissor-type jacks at the front, rear and both sides to raise the vehicle off its wheels and provide a stable firing platform.

In the snow late in WWII in Europe...

The service life of this vehicle is not well recorded, unfortunately, despite a relatively large production total. The largest user of the C9/B was the Manx Regiment of the Isle of Mann. The Regiment was equipped with the Morris early in 1944, in preparation for operations in Europe. We do know that this SPAAG served in both theatres, fighting the Germans in Europe, and the Japanese in the East. At the point they were in Europe, their use as anti-aircraft vehicles would have continuously dwindled as the German Air Force gradually ran out of aircraft.

Morris C9/B wth Bofors India

The 40 mm Bofors would have been an extremely deadly weapon against enemy infantry or light vehicles. It certainly would have been a devastating weapon against the thinly armoured Japanese tanks in the Far East. Using it to engage both ground and air targets, the Manx Regiment became one of the highest scoring Anti-Air units of the Second World war.

1944 "Italian Pattern" camouflage on this C9/B Morris Bofors Gun Truck

At least one of the vehicles was sent to Australia. It took part in comparative testing alongside the locally produced self-propelled 40 mm SPAAG based on the Ford CMP chassis. 1680 C9/Bs were made and very few survive.Mostly they can be found in museums in the UK.

A restored C9/B Morris Bofors Gun Truck Late at a show in the UK

This long awaited model from Thunder Model.

Hurrah! as Thunder Model come back into our lives, it has truly been too long. They do it with a kit that was first announced in 2018 - C9/B Morris Bofors Gun Truck "Late" from Thunder Model in 1/35th scale (Kit No #35029) is a plastic injection moulded kit with photo-etch (14 sprues, clear parts, PE parts & decals). The sprues were shown a few days ago on the Thunder Model FB page, which we liked to see. However CAD drawings show us much more of how it will look when the kit is all together.

Here they are below for you to see more about the kit from every angle..