Alan R

A bit more progress. I decided that the area behind the wheels was a bit bare. I guess to keep the cost down, Revell decided not to add brakes. So, emboldened by my endeavours with the BMW, I thought that I would have another go on this one. Since I had absolutely nothing to start with, I have had to fabricate the discs AND the hubs. This is where I have got to so far: The 'kit' consists of four discs made from 40 thou card at approximately 12mm diameter. 12 discs of 30 thou card for the hub 8mm in diameter, and four discs of 20 thou card of the same diameter for the 'backing plate'. Notice that they all have a very big hole in the middle... This allows the assembly, once glued together to slip over the rather thick 'axle' on the wheel. I think that things will become more obvious when I have assembled the discs, and can show them on the wheels. I shall be using the same technique that I used to make the callipers for the BMW. I have some pictures of the 308 suspension and brakes from which I can fabricate them. More to come when the discs are made up. Cheers, Alan.

Another update. Further to my idea of fabricating the distributors, I have started on this. here are the initial images. (Sorry for the blurry bits...) This is the initial stage, so far. The 'rounded' triangular part sits on the end of the camshafts as far as I can tell... I have drilled small holes in the camshaft covers to accept a locating pin. I am pleasantly surprised at the detail on this old kit. The copyright date on the instructions is 1979. More pictures to come.. Cheers, Alan.

Hi All, Having just completed a REALLY, REALLY stalled build of the Beemer, I though that it was time to resurrect another Revell kit from the shelf of doom. This one has also been around the block a few times. I must have bought it a very long time ago, it's priced £4.50, and I bought it from the Lewis's department store here in Bristol.Must have been about 1978 or so... I had started this one some time in the past, but it got forgotten somewhere along the line. (That's my eternal story: Started well, never finished... ) So, on with the pictures: The box top (This'll give you an idea of how old it is...): "Molded in color.", "Real Rubber tires" etc. The obligatory sprue shots: The largely painted body and underpan: By the way, the body colour is Halfords Broome Yellow, which is a Fiat colour. Wheels and tyres: The tyres don't look too bad actually. They were a bit 'feathered' on the edges. A quick rub with a file sorted that out. The rather dinky little 3-litre V-8: Notice that I have installed ignition leads. It seemed a little bare without them. Simple to do: a very fine drill bit and some CA glue. However, where do they go to. There is no obvious distributor to plug them into... . So after a little trawling of the web, I got some images of the engine bay, and it seems that some 308s had one distributor running off the cam of the front bank of cylinders, while others had a distributor per bank, each running off the 'outside' camshaft. So, in the spirit of "doing it my way...", I'm going to fabricate two distributors, one for each bank of cylinders. That'll tidy up the ignition leads. The suspension and drive train are rather simplified. For example, there are no drive shafts from the differential, you poke a steel rod through the hole in the diff, and push-fit the wheels on to that. I'm going to ditch that (Assume that I haven't lost the steel shaft anyway ) and fabricate new shafts with "rubber" boots something like the real thing. It should look a lot better, and I don't care if you can't see it when it's all done. I'll know that it's there ... Thanks for looking, Alan.

Thanks all for your very kind comments. It's really great to have got something finished! I hope that it'll inspire me to finish some of the others in my stash.

Finally got this finished after a long period of inactivity. It's not the best I have ever done, partly due to some incompetence on my part, but given the circumstances, it's not turned out too bad: OK, the pictures: The camera is rather unforgiving. The model looks better 'in the flesh' so to speak. I hope you enjoy. Cheers, Alan.

Finally, after a number of trials and tribulations to do with the old peepers, I have managed to finish something. All it needed was a few touch-ups in places and bingo, done! I will be posting images on the ready for inspection section. Cheers, Alan.

Just stumbled on this thread. I have the Bandai 1/16 Esprit. In a partially completed atate. Nice kit as far as I can tell. Did you know that they did a 1/16 Jag XJ-S (US Spec with silly round head-lamps sadly). I have that in my stash as well. Shame that Bandai gave up making car kits, they did some cracking stuff in 1/12, 1/16 & 1/20 scales. Oh, I nearly forgot. Fujimi did a 1/16 Jaguar Bertone Piranha. Had that as a kid. Neighbour came in while we were on holiday to feed our guinea pig and decided to do some dusting, why I don't know, and the jag ended up on the floor. Apparently, it was my fault that it was on the side-board (!!!?!!). Still rankles after nearly 50 years... All the best, Alan.

Tamiya do clear colours, if that's not a contradiction in terms. I have found that the most useful are clear red (X27) and Clear Orange (X26), though I also have Smoke (X19). Clear Blue (X23), Clear Green (X25) and there is even a Clear Purple (X16). They look very effective when used on indicator lenses. They can be very effective as 'anodised aluminium' if painted over metallic paint. Cheers, Alan.

Blame it on condensation . I have had British cars over the years where condensation got into the headlamp... I built this model some 10 (or more) years ago, and am now finishing the Mote-Carlo Rally winner ('67, I think). Lovely kit. Some simplification in places, but builds up well as you are demonstrating. My first running car was a 1963 Morris Mini Minor 850. I even remember the reg: VPN 633. Got me through my Uni days. I wonder what happened to it after I sold it? Alan.

Spectacular. I have always wanted one of those, and the BONE as well. I hope that I could do similar justice. 1/48 is my favourite A/C scale. (Mostly) a decent size, and plenty of scope for detail...

Apologies to anyone watching this thread, or any of my others for that matter, but These builds have stalled due to eye-sight issues. I recently discovered that I have type-2 diabetes, and that some damage to both my retinas has occurred. As a result, I have been receiving treatment on the NHS to hopefully correct the problems. However, it's left my eye-sight a bit messed up, and it has become (temporarily, I hope!) a bit of a problem doing detail work. It doesn't prevent me from doing my day-job (I'm a software engineer/consultant), but it can be a bit like, 'shall I, shan't I? - Nah, not tonight!'. Rest assured I will be back! The sight in my left eye has improved, which pleases my consultant (and me!), and I'm very hopeful for the right eye as well. I cannot praise the treatment from the NHS too much. I have received courteous and efficient treatment at all times. There has been the occasional wait while seeing the various doctors/nurses, but I can cope with that. By the way, the NHS is the third largest employer in the world, after the Chinese PLA, and the North Korean Army, I believe. All the best, Alan.

The last stage before decalling, which may or may not happen, depending on the state of the decals, is to paint the rubbing strips on the body of the car. Using strips of Tamiya masking tape and a sharp cocktail stick, I pressed the masking tape into all the crevasses with the point. Then using a sharp new blade in my Swann-Morton, I carefully cut along the tape. Once I was sure that the tape was correctly cut, I removed the waste tape, and painted the rubbing strips with Matt black. Pictures: The front. Notice that the headlamp lenses are missing. They fell out while I was applying the tape. It was nearly curtains for the model at this point, because, as I was picking up the model to start painting the strips, I managed to catch one of the lenses and drop it on the floor. Could I find it? Not on your nelly! This nearly resulted in the car having a high speed crash against the conservatory wall... However, I tidied up, and left it until the next day. I found the offending item on one of my shelves. So, once the strips were painted and the tape removed (photos later...) I re-attached the lenses and all was OK with the world again. The back ... and ... The side. I know, the bonnet looks a bit odd. It's only because of the so-called 'hinge' that Revell have used... Also. You can't see it here, but if you look through the spokes of the wheels, you can see the disc brakes and callipers. Just what I wanted. I have since removed the tape and it looks quite good. No seepage under the tape,and a good demarcation line. Just the rear number-plate and decals to do, and I'm calling it done. That's all for now. Cheers, Alan.

I built the Rothmans 956 a very long time ago. Trouble was I panted it with Cellulose paints and they cracked very easily... Eventually, it went the way of all flesh, and shuffled off this mortal coil, and went to the great plastic graveyard... Cheers, Alan.

I dug my Canon sponsored 956 out of the stash this weekend because of this thread. I will be watching this with interest. Have you used Studio 27 etched parts before? I have the same set for this kit, and just wondered... The 956 is such a beautiful car and iconic as well. Cheers, Alan.

How did you do the ding in the tank?

I once owned a GSX550 Katana, The big Kats baby brother. First 'proper' sized bike that I owned. Lovely little thing it was. Replaced it with a Honda VF750 R. Also a lovely bit of kit. I've got the Tamiya 1/12 version of that to build one day. That was way back in '84. All seems a very long time ago...

Just don't take it in for an MOT...

That's a good point. I have never done that. I always seem to get CA glue on my fingers, and the part seems to love sticking to me rather than the intended destination I have fitted the tail lights using "No More Nails", and it seems to be holding well. Nearly complete...

Finally!!! Wheels on. It's beginning to look like a BMW...`I always wanted a 3-series, I have ended up with a SAAB... Only one small thing... One wheel is a little too high and the model 'wobbles'. It doesn't sit quite right. However, I can live with that. It doesn't look all that odd in the pictures. What's left to do: Bonnet (Hood?) to be installed. It's ready to go... Rear light lenses to be put on Door handles to be painted and added Windscreen wipers to be added Final painting - Rubbing strip and the like... Some decals to be added - though given the age of the kit, that may be an exercise in frustration. At my pace that should all be done some time in 2017 .... I have been trying for some time to find a glue that can fix transparent parts on without leaving a mess, always a problem for me. I have tried CA glue and always seem to get fogging issues, Poly cement risks crazing/fogging the clear parts. Ordinary PVA glue doesn't seem to bind very well, and the part seems to fall off easily. This time I have tried an acrylic glue. I am using "No More Nails" water-based glue. It is supposed to adhere very well and dry completely transparent. Looking at the headlamp covers, I would say that both are true... Stinks of vinegar though. I wonder what it's doing to my respiratory system... All the best, Alan.

I think so. However, after this, any adjustments should be 'shimples' !

That is quite some model. I'm impressed. It doesn't seem to be available from Revell any more. At least it wasn't on the website when I looked the other day. Looks like a visit to EBay ... Cheers, Alan.

I had a disastrous night last night. I was putting everything away after some work on the Escort. Nearly done, I was putting the bits in a small pot, when the lid popped off, and the back axle and steering rack both disappeared behind the workbench! After a lot of searching, I found the back-axle, but the steering rack has been consumed by the carpet monster! Which is quite clever, since our conservatory has a laminate floor! Argh! After over an hour pulling everything out, and making a complete mess of the conservatory, I gave up in a funk! That was one more model build scuppered and an early night lost, I thought. However, after a while, whilst laying in bed, I remembered that I had taken a picture for the forum of the modified steering rack, and that I should with a bit of patience, work out how to fabricate a new rack. So, with some evergreen rod and tube, I made this: It is almost exactly the same as the original, without the pesky seams that just refuse to go away, even after sanding... It's a combination of 1/8" tube for the axle pivots, 1/16" rod for the rack and tie-rods, and 3/32" tube for the rubber boots. To make the rubber boots, I cut the tube to the correct length, inserted into the chuck of my trusty Dremel, and filed the ends to a bevel, and carefully using my scalpel, engraved the concertina bits. I then assembled the bits together, and hey-presto, this is the result.Not too shabby, even if I say so myself. Saved!!! All the best, Alan.

. That's pretty impressive! I can only hope that mine turns out as well.

Some more progress. After some trepidation, I started on the surgery required to make the car sit properly with a widened track and lower stance. You can see that the front struts have been modified to have the axle sit further up, so that the front of the car sits about 3mm lower. Each wishbone has been lengthened by 3 mm as well. Notice that now, the anti-roll bar is bowed, and the mounting points would not sit correctly on the body shell. They appear to 'float' inside the chassis runners... If I had left the rack pivots (?) on the struts where they were the body shell would interfere with the steering rack. That also needed to be lowered. So, I lowered the pivot points so that the rack would sit correctly in the shell: One thing that the article forgot to mention was that the steering rack would need widening, otherwise the front wheels would look decidedly 'knock-kneed'! This was my first attempt: This fell apart as the white plastic rod was only butt-joined to the rack. Should have realised this would have happened , so I cut the rack up to the 'rubber' boots, drilled small holes in the ends, and cut a length of 30 'thou rod to the correct length (34mm, for those who want to know) and cemented that into the newly prepared holes, thus: Much better... I also slightly lengthened the anti-roll bar, thus: It fits the chassis rails much better. Later photos will show that. The back axle needed widening as well: Finally, the car has holes in the boot (trunk for our cousins overseas....) I drilled them out thus: Well, that's all for the present, All the best, Alan.

I have this one in my stash as well. I built the 1/72 version of the PR IV for my son a few years ago, and the 1/72 FB for my dad a few years earlier. The U/C is just as complex... I have about 80% finished the 1/48 FB as well. I'm hoping to finish that soon, to get on with the PR version. Cheers, Alan. P.S. Lovely job. I think that I'll try that weathering technique.