Roger Clark's Cossack Escort....

[keefr22]

OK, after a slow start, I'm off!

I was intending to build one of the late,great Colin McRae's Focus', but I couldn't really get the enthusiasm to start one this weekend. Meanwhile looking through the stash, I came across the MRM transkit for another of our great rally drivers taken from us too soon - namely Roger Albert Clark. I'm building POO 505R, the famous Cossack sponsored RS1800 that won the 1976 RAC Rally, driven by Roger & co-driven by Stuart Pegg - & which made him the last British RAC rally winner until the aforementioned Mr. McRae won in 1994 (when it was the Network Q rally - & the 50th running of the event). I have to admit that this is more my era of rallying......

So, I dug out one of the Esci/Revell Mk2 Escorts I have in the stash & started cleaning it up - it needs two major modifications to represent POO 505R, namely the arches are later tarmac spec, so need 'slimming down' & the grill was a one -off with two inset spot lights as well as the normal headlights. So, I've taken a razor saw to it & have hacked off the arches.....and that's as far as I've got! Which is just as well, as I can't post piccies at the moment as there's summat up with my camera lead as it won't communicate with the PC! So I've just ordered a card reader & when it arrives form Play.com then I'm back in business!

As well as the MRM transkit, I'm also going to use various bits from a couple of Reji sets that I have.

Back soon

Keef

Edited July 1, 2008 by keefr22

[Obi-Jiff Kenobi]

OK, after a slow start, I'm off!

I was intending to build one of the late,great Colin McRae's Focus', but I couldn't really get the enthusiasm to start one this weekend. Meanwhile looking through the stash, I came across the MRM transkit for another of our great rally drivers taken from us too soon - namely Roger Albert Clark. I'm building POO 505R, the famous Cossack sponsored RS1800 that won the 1976 RAC Rally, driven by Roger & co-driven by Stuart Pegg - & which made him the last British RAC rally winner until the aforementioned Mr. McRae won in 1994 (when it was the Network Q rally - & the 50th running of the event). I have to admit that this is more my era of rallying......

So, I dug out one of the Esci/Revell Mk2 Escorts I have in the stash & started cleaning it up - it needs two major modifications to represent POO 505R, namely the arches are later tarmac spec, so need 'slimming down' & the grill was a one -off with two inset spot lights as well as the normal headlights. So, I've taken a razor saw to it & have hacked off the arches.....and that's as far as I've got! Which is just as well, as I can't post piccies at the moment as there's summat up with my camera lead as it won't communicate with the PC! So I've just ordered a card reader & when it arrives form Play.com then I'm back in business!

As well as the MRM transkit, I'm also going to use various bits from a couple of Reji sets that I have.

Back soon

Keef

I've got the base kit, but where can I get the transkit? I really, really want the Cossack Escort. TIA

[keefr22]

I've got the base kit, but where can I get the transkit? I really, really want the Cossack Escort. TIA

Unfortunately, MRM as such are no more, so your only chance will probably be e-bay. The guy who used to run MRM (Mike Rosser) has recently re-appeared on e-bay with the user name pyperhound. I think I recently saw the resin bits of the transkit (minilites with gravel tyres & rhd dash) listed by him on there, but I don't know if he still has stocks of the decals - although he does seem to be finding old stocks of his other sheets to list on there quite frequently. So it may be worth dropping him a line to see if he has any left?

HTH

Keef

[Obi-Jiff Kenobi]

Unfortunately, MRM as such are no more, so your only chance will probably be e-bay. The guy who used to run MRM (Mike Rosser) has recently re-appeared on e-bay with the user name pyperhound. I think I recently saw the resin bits of the transkit (minilites with gravel tyres & rhd dash) listed by him on there, but I don't know if he still has stocks of the decals - although he does seem to be finding old stocks of his other sheets to list on there quite frequently. So it may be worth dropping him a line to see if he has any left?

HTH

Keef

Thanks Keef, I'll give it a whirl.

Jiff

[Smiffy]

Unfortunately, MRM as such are no more, so your only chance will probably be e-bay. The guy who used to run MRM (Mike Rosser) has recently re-appeared on e-bay with the user name pyperhound. I think I recently saw the resin bits of the transkit (minilites with gravel tyres & rhd dash) listed by him on there, but I don't know if he still has stocks of the decals - although he does seem to be finding old stocks of his other sheets to list on there quite frequently. So it may be worth dropping him a line to see if he has any left?

HTH

Keef

Ooh, that's interesting.

I've got the decal sheet for this but could do with the other bits.

Very interested to see how you get on with this one.

[keefr22]

OK, finally got the card reader, so can post some pics. Apologies for the quality, but my 'ickle Canon is getting past it & I don't have a macro lens for the Nikon - maybe I should stop buying so many kits & get a lens instead!! Nah!

Anyways, here's the sealed kit box;

opened;

the MRM transkit & decals for the late,great Roger's 76 RAC Rally winner;

a couple of Reji 'update' sets. I'll only be using selected parts of these;

And this is how far the 'build' has got;

As mentioned, the arches on the Esci/Revell kit are too big for an early works Mk2. So, here's the shell with the rear arches cut off. Luckily I realised that I could file down the front ones to shape before I cut them off!! I now wished I used one of the Revell boxings of this kit I have as the clear plastic is really hard to work with (not to mention photograph!!);

I've got one arch partially modified & hope to do the other one later tonight or tomorrow. Then when I can get some primer on it I'll try to get some comparison pics with an unmodified shell to show what I'm being so anal about!!

Cheers for now

Keef

[Stevenski]

Interesting subject, Keith.

Almost a shame to cover that rare crystal body

[keefr22]

Interesting subject, Keith.

Almost a shame to cover that rare crystal body

It's not that rare - at least in my stash as I have another 3 or 4 of them!!!

[Ian]

Afternoon, Keef

Just wondering why you've not just sprayed the body with undercoat before starting work.... or do you intend to leave some of it, see-through ??

Ian

[Diesel Gypsy]

This will be good.

Got some nice etch & resin there Keef.

Good luck with the build.

[keefr22]

Afternoon, Keef

Just wondering why you've not just sprayed the body with undercoat before starting work.... or do you intend to leave some of it, see-through ??

Ian

Hi Ian,

No, I'm not into see through! I'm basically intrinsically lazy so couldn't be bothered to get the primer out before I started! And to be honest, although superglue & filler will stick to paint,I tend to find that you get a better bond onto bare plastic. Knowing how much sanding & filing I'm going to have to do, I wanted as good a bond as I can get.

This will be good.

Got some nice etch & resin there Keef.

Good luck with the build.

Thanks Dave,

I hope I can make progress half as quickly as you are with your truck!

Cheers guys

keef

Edited February 7, 2008 by keefr22

[PHIL B]

I've got the base kit, but where can I get the transkit? I really, really want the Cossack Escort. TIA

Hi Folks,

Jeff, Can't find the transkit on-line but Rallysport Models still have the MRM decals:

Rallysport Models

I might be wrong but it seems to be co-owned by Mike Rosser so he might be able to get hold of the transkit for you.

Phil.

[Obi-Jiff Kenobi]

Thanks Phil, just had a look at the site, and they've got full kits of MkI Escorts in 1/24 for 65 quid. I think I know what I'll be saving up for...

[keefr22]

Hi Jeff,

Those are the hideous Narton Escorts - I don't know if you've ever seen one but there is something woefully wrong with the roof, & they just look awful when built!! Sad thing is that MRM (of which Mike Rosser was the leading light) had commisioned a Mk1 Escort, the master of which looked cock on. Unfortunately they dropped plans to release it when Narton released their abysmal effort. I'm no 'rivet counter', as long as it looks right its fine by me - unfortunately the Narton escort looks wrong from six feet away......

There may be light at the end of the tunnel though, as Scale Productions have announced a Mk1 Escort transkit for release apparently late this year. The picture of it on their website looks a lot better than the Narton lump (do I give the impression that I don't like the Narton thing!) I might even get my conversion of the Revell Mk2 into a Mk1 finished one day (doubt I could afford the silicone to mould it though!!)

Thanks to Phil for posting that link, hadn't come across them before (too late to have stopped me paying a fiver more for the Mark Higgins OPirelli Scooby from Media Mix though!!! ) I'm guessing (& could well be totally wrong - no change there!) that the Chris is Chris Banks who used to build a lot of the rally cars that were on the MRM stand. Nice guy who built some tremendous models!

Cheers

keef

PS - I think the white metal minilites they have in the accessories section may be the same as the resin ones that came in the Cossack transkit. If that is the case, you'd just need to convert the dash to RHD to have the same contents as the old MRM kit.

[Obi-Jiff Kenobi]

Thanks for the advice Keef, I'll have to see if I can get a look at one of the kits before I part with my hard-earned. Definitely don't want to buy one if they're as wrong as you say.

I'll also have a closer look at the site when I'm not at work.

[keefr22]

Thanks for the advice Keef, I'll have to see if I can get a look at one of the kits before I part with my hard-earned. Definitely don't want to buy one if they're as wrong as you say.

I'll also have a closer look at the site when I'm not at work.

No problem Jeff, its a real shame that the Narton kit is so wrong - well to my eyes at least - as the Mk1 Escort is just about my all time favourite rally car (& in Mexico & RS guise one of my favourite ever 1:1 cars - I so wish I still had a couple of the dozen or so road & rally Mk1's that I owned at various times in the good old days!). As I mentioned the roof is the worst problem - when you get a chance to look at the photos with a bit more time, look at the top of the windsceen - the shape problem is just about visible in the pics on the site. The top of the screen sort of 'bows' upwards which leads to the roof having a very curious dome shape which is very noticeable when you see an actual built up kit. The effect of that also leads to the roof looking decidely narrow. There are other minor problems such as the 'bonnet ridge' which looks more like a broom handle stuck on than the slight 'crease' that it should be!

I'm really hoping the ScaleProductions Mk1 is accurate (& reasonably priced!) as I "need" more than one of them!!

Keef

Edit:

I just realised you can click for more details of the stuff on the Rallysport models site (I had my screen reduced as I'm in work too!!). Clicking on the Mk1, they say that its a reworked Narton kit (although I don't agree with their description of the original being a good representation!) - & it "appears" from the photo of their unpainted kit that they "may" have done something to the front of the roof. So, it may be that the kit now does look more like a Mk1. When I get home I'm going to e-mail them & ask for some more pictures of the shell. Fingers crossed........!!

Edited February 22, 2008 by keefr22

[keefr22]

Well, after being off work sick for 7 weeks, & having all that time off, I've done very little modelling (problem with actually being ill - would've been a lot better if I could just have had 7 weeks off!!), and what little progress I'd made on the Escort has just been undone!! I'd modified the front arches by filing them down to be more representative of Roger's 76 RAC winner, & had cut off the back arches to reduce them in size & filled the gaps left by the surgery. They were looking OK, so I thought I'd give them a prime to see how they really looked. I used a cheap can of acrylic auto-primer from Poundland that I've not had any problem with before, but it looks like it was a little too 'hot' for the clear plastic Esci had used for the shell, as it promptly caused thousands of little cracks all over the body!! D'oh!! Well, I hoped I could rescue it by sanding the primer down, but I just couldn't get rid of them. So it's just gone for an early bath in brake fluid - which is also going to remove all my nice filling work - d'oh again!! So, I think I may cut my losses with this shell, & instead re-do the body mods on one of the Revell kits I have in stock - at least the Revell plastic should be easier to work with than the horrible brittle, yet hard, clear stuff!!

And note to self - don't use that primer again. Just in case!!

So, off to start some work on the interior now, just for a rest!!

Keef

[Dr_Fester]

Hey Keef I can feel for you with the primer woes my friend. Hope it all goes well second time around, and that you are on the mend too!

Cheers

Doc

[Neil]

Can be a bit hit and miss with those aerosol sprays can't it? Ruined a few things myself using some of them.

I remember that Escort kit, had one of those myself and very nearly built one for my Sister's 'ex', to make a model of his Escort, who used to do Rallying around the Herefordshire/Wales areas. Looking at your avatar Keef, do you do Rallying yourself?

[keefr22]

... Looking at your avatar Keef, do you do Rallying yourself?

Used to Neil - back in the dark ages (mid 1970's to 80's!!) - so the Escort is a special car to me - both because I competed in them & also spent many a cold, wet night stood in the Welsh forests watching the greats like Roger, Ari, Bjorn, Hannu etc., driving them so much better than I could ever hope too!

My avatar is actually a hillclimb Imp campaigned by a good friend of mine. It's a fibreglass, spaceframe car powered by a 1000cc bike engine putting out about 140bhp. As it weighs about the same as a cornflake & he's an excellent driver, he frequently humbles much more modern (& vastly more expensive!) cars & usually finishes in the top 5 of most events he enters!

And Doc, thanks for the good wishes, I'm sure it'll be alright on the night! (well, I hope it will anyway - we've got a few months to go, haven't we??!!)

Keef

[T-Tango]

Yes I remember seeing him drive this car in rallies, also remember him racing in saloon car events at Silverstone.

[Neil]

Used to Neil - back in the dark ages (mid 1970's to 80's!!) - so the Escort is a special car to me - both because I competed in them & also spent many a cold, wet night stood in the Welsh forests watching the greats like Roger, Ari, Bjorn, Hannu etc., driving them so much better than I could ever hope too!

Keef

My Sister's 'ex' used to Rally the Escort too, I think he did quite a bit of it in Wales, may even of been around the 80's. His name is Glynn Byard, at one time Nicky Grist used to be his co-driver (alot of years ago, I would imagine). I've never watched any Rally event anywhere in the UK, but when I lived in Cyprus it was fantastic to follow the WRC event around the island, watching a bunch of very talented drivers tearing down gravelly mountain tracks and through tiny remote villages. Lots of sunshine, hot weather, and sitting on the side of the road while they drove past. Lovely. Shame they are not holding the event there this year.

[keefr22]

Well, unfortunately, this one is again not going to get finished for this group build,

I've given my reason's (excuses!!) here if you want to find out why!! ;

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=16775

Keef

[Dr_Fester]

I hear ya Keef, same problem with my big Ferrari except I have no valid excuses...... Mine probably won't get finished for this GB, but it will get finished at some point.

Just like to say that 911 looks bloody gorgeous mate, love the mirror like finish you achieved.

Cheers

Doc

[keefr22]

I hear ya Keef, same problem with my big Ferrari except I have no valid excuses...... Mine probably won't get finished for this GB, but it will get finished at some point.

Just like to say that 911 looks bloody gorgeous mate, love the mirror like finish you achieved.

Cheers

Doc

Thanks muchly Doc!

Keef