Britains County 1884

[Steve P]

I have fianlly bit the bullet and got myself a britains county 1884, i got it for a reasonable price i think less then 60 quid and it is in good order a nice looking model.

One problem of course is it is white and black not really the colour i would have chosen but hey beggers cant be choosers..

May i ask for some advice please about this model?

Firstly, i am thinking of converting the model into "proper" blue and grey colours, obviously i do not want to spoil the model and i have never attempted to re-paint one of my models before. I would think it is quite a difficult job as the whole model will have to be totally stripped down and the right colours would have to be used. Can someone please tell me what the correct colours and the best paint to buy so ill know if i go down this route??

Second, Is there any companys or perons that i could send my model to to have it professionally converted if there is how much do they charge?, i would like to go down this route if the price is right, if i do i would like a proper job done ie the correct bubble type cab roof, mirrors, side lights and the corrct decals as well as a professional paint job..

Fianlly, Should i bother at all and just leave the model how it is?, i have not purchased the model to re-sell, it will be proudly put on display with the rest of my collection, i never purchase models for there worth its simply if i like it i will get it and i have been a massive fan of Countys since i was a nipper i never purchased one before simply because the stupid prices they command..  Any help and advice would be fantastic.

[BC]

Personally Steve I would keep the model as it is if you haven't attempted spraying one before since if it did not turn out well you would be annoyed with yourself and well  you would have devalued your model as well. Anyway just my thoughts but at the end of the day its your model and you must decide.

[MuirHillyBilly]

I agree it is perhaps best to leave alone if you want to keep a good example of the County. However on saying that with some paint practice on some donor models (i.e some cheap as chips tractors off ebay) a little patience and care you can do it. The 1884 comes apart very simply and Britains were kind enough to allow you to pretty much separate, cab, roof, chassis, bonnet, exhaust and wings with little trouble. The rear hitch, wheels can be a bit tougher but you can of course just remove the tyres, mask the rest of the tractor off and paint the wheels that way. Ensure you have replacement decals (plenty of model tractor stores do them online) as the originals probably won't stand up to a new paint job. Choose your paint wisely and ensure you have the cleanest surfaces possible before starting, an airbrush is expensive (this is what I use now) but will do the best job, however if you could get hold of a ford blue or get someone to mix it for you it should do a nice job.

As for paying someone to do it for you I would save your pennies unless it is a really good deal (like £30-50 or something) otherwise save up for the DBP 1884 which frankly is the very best 1884 you are likely to get, pretty rare though;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-32-County-1884-Tractor-traktor-tracteur-ltd-ed-DBP-/200626511907#ht_500wt_1156

[justy 46]

If you want to keep the paint job simple try REVELL gloss blue #52. I used it on a Britains TW25 rebuild & it came out pretty much as good as the orgianal colour. You could also spare the origanal Britains White cab & bonnet without touching them & just buy new ones & decals from TOWSE TRADING. Only catch is you might have to leave the casting  in  the black colour if you ever wanted to change it to its orginal Britains White again. But thats your call. The Britains Countys are making big money , so  as the lads said id nearly leave it. BUT if you could get another cheap playworn County from ebay & use that that instead for the conversion, Towse Trading would have all the plastic parts witch are the same as the Britains TWs. Just a tought.

[powerrabbit]

My advice would be to 'keep it as it is'. I'm saying this because these white ones are not as common as the blue ones, come up less often and are worth more. So don't spoil it.

[Robploughing]

I would have to agree with several of the others, Keep it as it is if its a good one.

[Tractorman810]

My advice would be to 'keep it as it is'. I'm saying this because these white ones are not as common as the blue ones, come up less often and are worth more. So don't spoil it.

tim there was never a blue britains county produced mate?? people claim there was but no records exsisit of them, the white countys if origonal are reasonably rare mind so i would not consider painting that up steve

to be honest if you want a blue county i would go down the route of a scrap chassis from a tw35/25 or alikes, then fit repo parts and paint them up, all the body parts are freely avaible from the likes of dave twose, and they alos do the fron axel and weights for this sort of job, along with decals, certainly a lot cheaper and better than painting a white britain county and devaluing it

[SOLOSHEP1]

tim there was never a blue britains county produced mate?? people claim there was but no records exsisit of them, the white countys if origonal are reasonably rare mind so i would not consider painting that up steve

to be honest if you want a blue county i would go down the route of a scrap chassis from a tw35/25 or alikes, then fit repo parts and paint them up, all the body parts are freely avaible from the likes of dave twose, and they alos do the fron axel and weights for this sort of job, along with decals, certainly a lot cheaper and better than painting a white britain county and devaluing it

hi sean we do the parts for these we know have the britains 1884 front axle cast in brass do not bend like the white metal ones

[Tractorman810]

sorry  didnt know you did those dave  [ [ , there you go steve, daves your man for parts, lot cheaper than destrying a good origonal model

[justy 46]

I flippin had one of those County front axels & weight block 2 years ago hopping to do something with em ,but herself threw them out in a box of junk. Flip sake :'(.

[MuirHillyBilly]

I definately have a spare front weight block with the 'stalk' lights if you need one Steve?

[powerrabbit]

The blue ones were the exact same tractor but decalled 1884 and yes, the front axles were very weak.

[Steve P]

Thankyou all so much for your help..

Funny enough my brother told me the same thing, dont mess with it!!, you guys have now convinced me not to,  I think its one of lifes mysteries as to why britians never produced a blue County "and never will by the looks of it ahem!!".

Yep i have decided to keep the old girl as she is dressed in white.

I will certainly now go down the the scrap TW conversion route, if the axle and other bits are available it would make for a nice project during the upcoming dark winter nights.. .. Now on the search for a knackard ford TW-35.

Thanks agan for your advice..

[Tractorman810]

The blue ones were the exact same tractor but decalled 1884 and yes, the front axles were very weak.

well they ain't in the britains bible tim as in mr pullens book so if you have one I would like to see it , only britains countys I know of are the White and yellow 1884's

[powerrabbit]

If you aquire the parts you need to build one from Dave, you can use a TW35, TW25, 8730, 8830, Lambourghini 1706 as all these used the same chassis as the base. I think that the Landini 10000S and MF 2680 and MF 3680 also used the same chassis base, the only difference was the weight on the front end.

[Marmitemania]

Steve Im glad you are leaving it as it is, they are quite rare and £60 was reasonable. I assume its unboxed at that price? Does the motor work? If not there is a thread on here somewhere detailing how to free it of and it usually works. Lay your hands on a yellow one if you can they are rarer still, I have two mint and boxed and I paid £5.99 each new when I was younger.

[powerrabbit]

well they ain't in the britains bible tim as in mr pullens book so if you have one I would like to see it , only britains countys I know of are the White and yellow 1884's

I have 2 Sean, one 'Power Farm' and one non-PF, one has a bubble cab, the other with the later cab roof with lights in the front. Both have had a few little 'mods' but the guy I bought them off swore blind they were right, can't confirm that statement of course as there were no boxes with them. Bit late now but will post up a pic of them so's you can make up your own mind.

[justy 46]

If you aquire the parts you need to build one from Dave, you can use a TW35, TW25, 8730, 8830, Lambourghini 1706 as all these used the same chassis as the base. I think that the Landini 10000S and MF 2680 and MF 3680 also used the same chassis base, the only difference was the weight on the front end.

Now your after giving me the idea. Ive a nakered Lambo. Could make good use of it maybe.

[FNHIR]

Warner Hall said in one of his Farm & Site articles that his prototypes were the closest anybody would come to a blue production model

[Tractorman810]

That's what I thought to denis , why they never did it in blue we will never know

[Marmitemania]

I have 2 Sean, one 'Power Farm' and one non-PF, one has a bubble cab, the other with the later cab roof with lights in the front. Both have had a few little 'mods' but the guy I bought them off swore blind they were right, can't confirm that statement of course as there were no boxes with them. Bit late now but will post up a picture of them so's you can make up your own mind.

Never seen or heard of a County with a bubble cab on from Britains, it must be a replacement.

[ploughmaster]

I can guarantee 100% that any blue Britains County 1884 (all of them were decalled 1884!) that you may see is a conversion.

There were definately no blue ones issued by Britains - Graham Miller asked why no blue one at the time and was told by Britains that they had no intention of issueing them in blue because they already had the blue Ford TW and 5610 in the catalogue.

It was however, a very easy conversion to do using the blue casting and bonnet and cab of a TW35/25 and the front axle assembly and front weight block from the County (only the weight and axle needed painting and with care in matching the colour they can appear authentic).  A huge number of collectors did the conversion, so although there are a few blue ones around, none of them were produced by Britains.

.....I think that the Landini 10000S and MF 2680 and MF 3680 also used the same chassis base, the only difference was the weight on the front end.

  The Powerfarm TW 35 base casting was used for the big Fords and Countys and the Lamborghini 1706DT, Same Galaxy 170 and Fendt Favorit.    The MF 2680 casting (used for the MF 3680 and Landini) is different   

[justy 46]

In reality ,there was never a Super Q cabbed County 1884 tough was there? Even when the Benson Group took over the show, i dont thing they produced a County  with the SQ cab.  Cause if they did they must be worth a  bloody fortune.

[Steve P]

Yes i think 1 1884 was built at Knighton by the Benson group and it had a super Q cab and i think it still survives today, was it not originally purchased by BT and painted yellow or am i thinking of another 1884?, all of the rest had the bubble cab, the Benson group also built a handful of 1184s in there red livery at Knighton plus several blue 974s..

[Tractorman810]

I belive bt only ran roadless tractors from memory , will have a gander on the company website tommorrow see if I can find some pics of them