Axles on HLBS armoured cars

[Sir Rodney Ffing]

This question probably lies somewhere between stupid and rivet counting. My money is actually on closer to stupid, reflecting my lack of knowledge of what the underside of a car looks like 

Anyway, I have some HLBS armoured cars to make up this weekend, including the Russian version of the Austin, Izhorski Fiat and Garford-Putilov, and can't work out which way round the front axles are supposed to go.  They are all curved in a gentle bow shape, but the question is are the ends supposed to point up, down, forwards or back? PAs I said, probably stupid, but part of the problem is that the Austin doesn't have a recess to locate the axle in, so even 'which way does it fit best' isn't helping me.

Much appreciated if someone knows the answer to this, either on general principles or from making one up, and can save me from trial and error (mostly the latter).

Thank you!

[Ignatieff]

This question probably lies somewhere between stupid and rivet counting. My money is actually on closer to stupid, reflecting my lack of knowledge of what the underside of a car looks like 

Anyway, I have some HLBS armoured cars to make up this weekend, including the Russian version of the Austin, Izhorski Fiat and Garford-Putilov, and can't work out which way round the front axles are supposed to go.  They are all curved in a gentle bow shape, but the question is are the ends supposed to point up, down, forwards or back? PAs I said, probably stupid, but part of the problem is that the Austin doesn't have a recess to locate the axle in, so even 'which way does it fit best' isn't helping me.

Much appreciated if someone knows the answer to this, either on general principles or from making one up, and can save me from trial and error (mostly the latter).

Thank you!

Been there, got it working, got the t-shirt. Best way is to google pics of the actual cars.  When I did that the veils fell from my eyes.  Good luck!

[Cubs]

Does this help? You can see a little bit of the front axle here. It's the Austin-Putliov, but I'm guessing the axles wouldn't have been a million miles apart.

[Cubs]

This has quite a good view.

[Sir Rodney Ffing]

Cubs - thanks very much for the photos, they did help.

Ignatieff - I tried, and founds lots of good photos but nothing conclusive on the axles.  However, I thought I would email HLBS and got a reply from Richard within two hours (and on a Sunday too!)

For anyone who faces the same dilemma, Richard has clarified that for all the HLBS interwar armoured cars the front axle curves up (like a smile) and not down (like a frown).  He also suggested fixing the rear wheels first, then gluing the front wheels to the axle before fixing the wheel and axle assembly to the hull. Simple really, but I suspect he realised he was dealing with a bit of a ham fist when it comes to resin and metal kits.

[Ignatieff]

Cubs - thanks very much for the photos, they did help.

Ignatieff - I tried, and founds lots of good photos but nothing conclusive on the axles.  However, I thought I would email HLBS and got a reply from Richard within two hours (and on a Sunday too!)

For anyone who faces the same dilemma, Richard has clarified that for all the HLBS interwar armoured cars the front axle curves up (like a smile) and not down (like a frown).  He also suggested fixing the rear wheels first, then gluing the front wheels to the axle before fixing the wheel and axle assembly to the hull. Simple really, but I suspect he realised he was dealing with a bit of a ham fist when it comes to resin and metal kits.

Richard at HLBS is a God.  And very funny to boot