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Spiny

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  1. I've always used Halford primer and so far never had any problems with it. I might need to give it a light rub over with 800 or 1000 grit surface if it comes out a little rough, but it's always adhered fine for me. What I would suggest though is to ignore the politicians of all hues (actually, this is generally good advice outside the modelling world too!) and get yourself a stash of plastic spoons, especially if you're planning on mixing brands. That way you can test various paint combinations for reactions and at worst you'll spoil a 2p plastic spoon rather than a £20 bodyshell. (Poundstretcher is a good place for these)
  2. I have to admit that I hadn't noticed this as being excessively shallow, but I had noticed that the floor is quite thick being double skinned (tub plus chassis) so I guess it's that form of construction which shallows things down a bit. What did stand out though was the incredible thickness of the seat cushions as they include both the seat cushion and the base right down to the floor. Fortunately it looks as though that won't be visible once the interior is inside the car.
  3. I said it would be a long wait... and with the awful weather we've had so far this year it was nearly six months before I made any progress. Checking this again, it's the rear clamshell which is going to need most paintwork. While I had finished the floor piece of the clamshell, the main part was just in white primer. Finally we got some sprayable weather and I'm pleased to say that I got the inside of the clamshell painted in Halfords Flat Black (which is pretty shiny for a supposedly matt finish). Masking-wise this was the easy step as I only had to put masking tape over the outside. It didn't even matter if some paint came through the various vents as the outside will be painted black anyway. Probably of far more interest though was that this week I attacked the decals in earnest, and the front half of the body is now fully decalled up. I said earlier that I was struggling to match the decals with the kit instructions and they seemed different somehow - I was definitely doing Indycals a disservice with that comment as it turns out the reason for the decals not matching is that the Tamiya kit is for the '84 car, but I had an attack of numptiness and ordered the decals for the '85 car. Fortunately that's not a big problem, I'll just make the '85 car instead. The only problem seems to be that I've painted the front white stripe a bit narrow - it looks ok but if you put it next to a picture of the real thing you'll be able to tell it's not right. And that's all I have to show for nearly half a year since the last update. Thanks for looking.
  4. Very nice. One thing I've only just noticed looking at these photos (and it's something I really like by the way) is how the two-tone colour scheme does such a good job of masking the wheel arches - really helps give it, well I was going to say subtlety but I guess what I mean is it stops it looking over the top in a way which would be difficult with a single colour. I'd never have guessed the body was a second if you hadn't said - excellent repair job as I can't see where the air bubble was.
  5. Nice end result on this one. The Escort was always a good looking rally car, and it's true of your model too. I know you mentioned about the panel lines both here and in the build thread where you said you weren't happy with the black lines. I'd suggest trying dark grey on a white car as it just takes off some of the starkness. That doesn't detract from the build though - if you hadn't mentioned being unhappy with them I'd never have noticed the panel lines.
  6. I can't believe how much detail you're getting in there - if I was to try that the carpet monster would have a feast and I very much doubt I would get anywhere near this standard. Excellent work.
  7. OK, I admit it, I spend quite a few seconds trying to work out what MG badges would be doing on an Escort before I saw the V8 ones. All looking very good, the finished article should attract quite a bit of attention on the shelf.
  8. A bit predictable for this week's update, but I'm pleased to say that the interior is now at the stage where I'm calling it done. Not really a surprise as all I needed to do to finish the dash was to add the last bits of foil. But the chrome strip along the top of the dashboard was a real pain as it runs so close to the dials - I ended up having to cut a couple of shorter pieces to go into the gaps between the dials with the joins being in line with the top of each dial otherwise the foil just did not want to go in. It still wasn't keen on fitting in that gap, but if was just about possible to get it in there. Not a 10/10 job, but it will be practically invisible when the car is built anyway so I'll live with it, and probably would forget about it too if I hadn't just written it here. Had a last minute near cock-up as I had just put glue on ready for the steering wheel when I realised I hadn't done the buttons with GSW chrome, so had to get that done then glue on the wheel, but nothing interfered with anything else and it all fitted in the end. The only thing to watch out for here is that there is a bit of play in the steeering wheel - if anyone building one of these is reading this make sure you stick the wheel so it's as high as it will go otherwise it will sit on the driver's seat and only be suitable for Douglas Bader. Meanwhile, I got the last bit of embossing powder stuck to the floor and the tub was ready to receive the dash. Having done lots of dry-fits with the dash, I knew it fitted in securely even without glue so fitting it here was a breeze. And that pic is of the completed interior. I tried a mock-up of the body over the interior sitting on the chassis, and although I didn't take a photo of that (you'll all have to wait until later in the build), I am pleased with the way it looks. Next job is the body... which a few of you were kind enough to comment positively on the paint. This weekend shoudl have mainly been further polishing, but the car has quite a few creases and sharp edges and unfortunately I had a couple of burn throughs. Oddly though, they were all on the edges of doors or the boot/trunk where I'd scribed it deeper. (Note to self - make sure to properly sand down door edges after scribing!) Those have been touched in with a brush, but I didn't go any further as I'm leaving it was a week to cure. It's had its 8000 grit polish though (last week's pics were 6000 grit), so next week I intend to go at it with the 12,000 Micromesh, then Novus 2 & 1. The good news though is that the spats were kind to me and didn't burn through anywhere other than the chrome trim, so I could continue with the polishing and then got them foiled. So this photo should give a clue as to how I'm hoping the paint on the whole car turns out. (Just noticed that I havne't cut back the foil on the top spat - don't worry, that will be done next time I'm on the bench). Unfortunately, other jobs both on and off the bench prevented further progress, but thanks for looking.
  9. Would something like this work in your headlights? https://www.componentshop.co.uk/warm-white-micro-led-0402-smd-pre-wired.html If you end up finding a chip described using colour temperature, 2700K is about the same as one of the old tungsten light bulbs, 3000K is like a halogen downlight. Both of these would be described as warm white in descriptions. I suspect you won't want to go higher than 2700K if possible, and if you find a 2200K chip of the right size (usually described as very warm white) that would probably be even closer to the original lamp colour. Depending on the quality of the chip, it's quite possible that adding paint onto the lens will have unintended effects in terms of colour as LED chips don't produce a broad spectrum of colour like tungsten lamps, instead they produce at certain wavelengths which trick the eye into believing it's seeing the full spectrum (with varying degress of success).
  10. The great thing is that, with the exception of the 928 and (possibly) the 924s, they're all able to drive around without paying the ULEZ tax. Much as I like the idea of driving around town in a nice environmentally friendly Lincoln, I think it would have to be the Europa for me - perfect time of year too before it turns into an oven.
  11. It might be blind luck that it all works so well, but as the saying goes you make your own luck.
  12. If I'm honest, the most shocking thing to me is the asking price on that 2CV even if it has been heavily modified. €100-120,000 🤣 The sad thing is someone will probably pay it...
  13. Got to agree those wheels do look nice. What did you use for them?
  14. Can't remember when I last saw one, but I have seen them although they are very rare. What I can't be sure of though is whether the ones I saw were imports from Ireland (where saloons are more popular than over here) or genuine UK cars. They were on sale over here early on, but hardly anybody bought them and I'm not sure if they survived the facelift.
  15. You'd think that the lap belts would be a minimum, but H&S was a bit different in the '60s. I had a lift in a friend's '66 V8 Mustang (not a 350GT though) and that had no belts available - it's a little nervewracking going down B-Roads sitting in the middle of the road with no steering wheel nor seat belts and other traffic feeling like it's coming straight at you. It just goes to show how used we've all got to seatbelts. Incidentally, that carpet has worked way better than I would have expected painted felt to look.
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