von Race

Nice touch! That should take some of the jitters out of cutting into a new kit. Looking good!

Is it my imagination or do the new hybrid rally cars seemingly catch on fire more often?

Kris Meeke at Rally Portugal? This should be interesting. As much as I would like to see Ford make a strong showing in 2023, I have my fingers crossed for Evans. (Not holding my breath though.)

Thank you Chris! I am looking forward to finishing it. On page one of this thread Toftdale suggested; I said; Guess someone beat me to it! I know, a little off topic, but I couldn't help but laugh! Cheers

You guys are making me blush now! Honestly IMO, I think my talent lies in covering my mistakes well! 🤣 Many thanks for the kind words.

Thank you malpaso. Like you, I spent a lot of up close and personal time with my Cortina mk2, due to my often times, questionable judgment!

I would like to thank all of you that have followed along, especially Keith and Trevor for their valued contributions to this build. Everyone's comments have been positive and supportive, I thank you. This is about where Part 1 of this conversion is going to end. I have some commitments coming up this spring that will be taking up most of my time. Quality bench time will be scarce. So this being my first WIP, what do I do? Just drop it and create a Part 2? Or, do I just drag it up from the archives when the time comes to proceed? Maybe you guys can point me in the right direction here. While I know this Clubman isn't 3D perfect, I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. And, if this conversion seamed to go off without a hitch to you, rest assured, I had many "Oh no, what have I done" moments. 😩😟😳 A few times, the trash bin looked like the best way forward! I don't consider myself an especially gifted modeler, but I do enjoy this kind of challenge. It's the fun part of modeling for me. Painting and detailing is actually something I have to work at. I'm happy to have been able to leave some tips and tricks for you to try. (As I have learned many from this forum as well!) One thing about this hobby, there is always something new to learn. When I pick this build up again, I'm sure I'll have a tonne of questions. As I had said previously, I have never actually seen a Clubman "in the flesh", and I don't know a whole lot about them, I just have a very specific build in mind. And, if you know anything about me, "it's gunna have some numbers on the doors"! But we'll get to that later.

I think it's amazing they're still there! Truly enjoying your build(s).

Your color choices look great! Looking forward to seeing this one done. 👍

Thank you all again for your encouragement and kind words. I should preface this update by first explaining a process I have been using, (and trying to get better at) when making or redoing panel accent lines or, body lines if you will. (This, in regards to the 2 panel lines or scallops, on the bonnet of the Clubman.) Especially when trying to make them identical, left to right. This process can be used with masking paper, such as Tamiya's Mask or just simply masking tape. The process goes like this..... 1. Cut mask roughly to the size you will be needing. 2. Peal the backing off and fold the mask back onto itself, using light pressure. Adhesive side to adhesive side. 3. Trim design or desired shape 4. Gently and carefully separate the 2 pieces. It will take careful and precise knife work to get the two started, but does get easier with bit of practice. I use a #11 blade to get them started. When using mask, I like the Tamiya paper as it separates relatively easily and retains enough adhesive to adhere to your piece. Apply patterns to desired locations Cover the whole mess with the filler of your choice. . (I needed to add a little extra around the park lamps also.) Shape and sand smooth until the mask paper just breaks through. (380 or 400 dry) Remove mask and voilà, instant scallops.. Add a little primer. (Admittedly this is a bad photo, and I got some lint in the primer, right in the apex of the left scallop, of all places. So a little wet sand with 600 is in order.) The same process can be used with masking tape except you need to use 4 layers instead of 2. Tape does not release well when the adhesive sides are stuck together. ( hardly news to anyone here, right!) Layer 1 and 4 become your mask, while 2 and 3 are scrap. I like using this masking tape method when painting and want to insure pattern is the same from side to side. If you have been doing this already, my hats off to you! It took me forever to figure this one out. And while I don't use this process often, it's a nice little trick to fall back on when you need it.

Nice choice Neddy. My dad had the restyled 1960 version. Very similar mechanically. And a nice riding car at the time. He made the mistake of letting the 16 year old me drive it to school one day, with predictable results. He forbade me to drive again until I fixed it. Such was my introduction to panel beating! Looking forward to your build.

Now THAT looks like some fun!!! What a unique and imaginative build Pat. What's cool about this hobby is you never know where the inspiration for your next build is coming from. Like you, I run across photos (of cars mostly) that just scream "BUILD ME"! I may be the only one that hears it, and they don't always get built, but sometimes the search is half the fun. I too, like the red on gray and if I squint hard enough, I can make out a couple of snow boards on the roof! 👍

It occurred to me a little while back that I never really explained why this grill has been a thorn in my side. For one, it's the only one I have, and if I break it ..... well .... that would be unfortunate. 🤬 Secondly, it's really lacking any three dimension, definition. It has some, but I'm not really happy with it. The outer chrome trim that surrounds the entire grill is not there, nor does it have any headlight definition. The very thin structure makes it very fragile. There is also an issue with the slight curvature of the 1:1 grill, while the 3D part is completely flat, So my first objective will be to preserve what I have and make a mold of the existing grill. After the silicone cured, I found out there was a reaction between the 3D part and the silicone I used. It caused the mold to be ill defined in some areas around the horizontal openings. Not the best way to start! (resin residue from the print process I suspect and/or I did not give it a proper cleaning) in the mold box sorry looking mold As you can see. the area around the headlight is extremely thin and doesn't leave much to work with. Next I tried to recreate the outer grill "chrome" trim. This was achieved by wrapping the circumference of the grill with a strip of .25 x 3mm plastic. I knew my first attempt wouldn't be a success, so I was a little cavalier about how it went together. Unfortunately, I only took one photo of this trial and error process. (I know, you wanted to see them all, right?) After 5 attempts, a more successful one is at the top of the photo below. Happy with the results, I made another mold. Again, not a great mold but at least I can save the work that has been put into it so far. The problem with molding a part like this is, the area behind the horizontal openings are a little undercut, so the silicone wants to rip apart rather than just separate. Now it was on to the headlights. As you all can see in my "massacre" photo, (last post) I took a few different approaches, (the whole bucket? or just a trim ring?) and a few attempts at each, to get this right. Once I decided how to attach them, it was just a matter of getting them to fit correctly into the grill. I tried hard to keep the look of the chrome trim as close to "factory spec" as possible. Orange and green circles. Remember we're working with wall thicknesses of less than .25mm on the "trim". A few wayward strokes of the file and your starting over,... Again. 😩 And then a little test fitting..................... A little fine tuning still to go, I lost the "point" on the leading edge of the bonnet and need to put the scallops into it also. I hope this update hasn't been to boring or redundant. This grill has been, by far, the most tedious part of the conversion so far. And I still have the other style grill to go! 🙄 Again, thank you all for your support and encouragement!

I'm inspired! Where do I sign up? That looks like so much fun. Just a quick note to let all of you know I haven't abandon the thread. We had a small break with our snow storms and I had to do some damage control. Mostly downed trees and whatnot. There was one sad incident that took place in my house........... we'll just call it "The Clubman Grill Massacre". Details to follow!

Very nice, looks like a pretty straight forward build so far. 👍