Vehicle Content

There is absolutely nothing 'plain Jane' about that little stunner! What a totally beautiful model, the build, those scratch made screens and the stunning paint finish rely do bely the scale - it's simply an excellent Excellence....!! Keith

Yikes! I'm not a car guy, but that's too beautiful to ignore. Great work!

Thanks Steve. Yes the HK500 is my favourite of the lot: the Excellence had a reputation for bending in the middle when both doors were opened. IIRC Ava Gardner had one. Many thanks: the chromed kit parts are a bit too 'bright' for me so I sanded them smooth and Bare Metal Foiled them. Hopefully it works a bit better. I made the FV II many years ago and it's due a re-paint: the HK500 is quite a rare kit nowadays and as with the Excellence, it needed a new screen - front and rear in the case of the Excellence; just the front on the HK500 kit (which has crystal clear screens (strange), but a big crack in the front screen). Luckily it would appear that the Excellence and HK500 front screens are the same, so the mould I made has already done its magic for the second kit. I've seen a few HK500s and FV IIs in recent years but never an Excellence: there's a car museum on the Isle of Man that has three!

Going to lunch today and this was there. Not my favorite.

Having inspected the cargo box a little more closely I decided it wasn't up to standard. Since then another couple of methods of printing have not yielded the expected results and so I've gone back to basics, redone the outer frames and doors as separate items and the large flat areas will be scribed plasticard. The new 3D parts are curing and then I'll see if it all fits together. Meanwhile, after more photo scrutinising, a host of smaller parts have been fabricated. Most of these are instruments for the interior on the co-driver/navigator side. Also there is, what I'm assuming, a cooler box that sits between the seats. Parts on the cab exterior are - different stye mirrors and arms that have gas struts, new wipers, a cut off switch, and wing mounted marker poles. As depicted below the front arches have been remade with more pronounced corners being slightly wider and with the addition of more rivets than an Airfix Spitfire. Fortunately these were done during the CAD drawing and weren't applied individually.

That is rather lovely! I'd never heard of this car before. What a beauty!

nice wine red tone

Was excited seeing a V12 Vantage S behind the 914 but realized it was a Roadster (which is not as pretty as the coupe) so it kinda lost its attraction. The Fulvia Sport Zagato, ChromaFlair Tuscan S and that Mercury Silver Alpine A110 GT though... absolutely love them all.

Absolutely beautiful build of a stunning car. French elegance at its best. I have a few of the Provence Facels and I hope I can get a simliar result from them.

That is a very nice model you have there. It kind of looks like a souped up Mercedes of the same period to me. My memory says French built with a Chrysler engine? I think I've only seen the Vega before.

Very nice indeed. The FVs have long been on my dream list, possibly the HK500 rather than this one but this is sure a bit yummy, especially in this colour. Steve.

Beautifully finished model of a rare and amazing car. The paint finish is stunning and the chromework not overdone - not an easy thing to carry off in that small a scale.

I then continued with the fuel bonnet and front bumper with the same procedure, while for the body I continued the work in 2 steps. First I painted the inside, all the various recesses, edges and wheel arches. Then (with the help of a swivel stool) I finished the exterior paint job. I wait 48 hours, then I will matt it with a 1000 grit water abrasive pad and then give the final clear gloss.

I've reached one of my favorite stage of the project: the new body color. After weeks of preparing the body parts, checking all the missing parts and the mod made, I'm ready for painting. I wanted to do an experiment with a new base which is a white filler primer and the experiment seems to have worked well. I primered everything and then started with the first part of the pieces which I would say turned out decent Once painted (in a fairly dehumidified environment and with a temperature of 27-28 degrees) I left them to dry.

Before start with the final painting of the body, I continue with the some details. I started filling the hole for the antenna housing on the mudguard and the various holes at the base of the front pillars where the switches for the courtesy lights would be housed. I then worked on the quick hooks for the bonnets. I have decided that both the rear and the front will be a single hook. At the rear only on the left side as there is no space on the right side due to the intake system and on the front instead of the two lateral ones only a central mono. I like it in the middle and it makes the line less heavy....while I'm posting I've already revised the dimensions of the front by tapering the bracket on the bumper and shortening the hook itself. I have made the hooks functional, the appropriate pin and bolts will follow.

Experience is what you gain just after you needed it. Experience is a terrible teacher. It gives you the test before it gives you the lesson. I probably read both of those scribbled on a bathroom wall somewhere.

Though I usually concentrate on race cars, I am also gradually working through my "favourite car" list: probably not a Top 10 (more like a Top 50), many of which are indeed race cars. But occasionally one of my favourite cars isn't a type that ever raced, so I've done a Cord 812 many moons ago, and if I can find a Cord L29 kit I'll be on it like Mother Teresa at an all-night rave. Which brings me to this: Provence Moulage's 1/43 Facel Excellence. It's a yonks-old kit, so the screens had to be crash-moulded after the kit items were found to be very yellow, and cracked. The rest is pretty much as per the kit. Colour is a Zero Paints metallic which is actually a Pagani Huyara shade, but I think it looks good. If I ever own an Excellence, I shall have it resprayed this colour. I also have a Facel HK500 in the stash (another from the "favourite car" list), and that's a type that never raced either (though one or two did drag race), so another 'plain Jane' on the way sometime...

From memory, there was only one T51 among the Bugattis at Goodwood: Tim Dutton's black/red car. All the rest were T35 or T35B.

A really cute custom car.

Veg. Your friend's Bugatti. Going by the wheels alone, is it a Type 51? Basicallly derived from a T35 but with a twin cam engine instead. Been toying with the idea of converting the Italeri kit to the twin cam motor.

WOWEE Neddy, Just Brilliant!

Many thanks Jeroen. Fitting all loom and tubing with small space was a challenge. I think one of smallest engine bay with I worked on.

Wow, that's coming together really well! That is one properly full engine bay, excellent work!

Keith, Thanks for those kind words. the colour choices are per the instructions. One thing I haven't done is put a coat of gloss varnish on. The decals don't seem to have silvered, so I left it. As for the Tamiya tape, glad to give you a heads up!!😄