mikevillena

I built almost all of that series from Monogram including the Mercedes Benz "Rally Car" but I sadly don't have any of them surviving. I distinctly remember building the TR7 kit and of course watching the Triumph advert on tv.

Minor updates. Gave the grill and headlight buckets a 15 minute soak in a vat of Purple Power degreaser. You can see that the original chroming didn't make it to the inside of the headlight buckets. That and the awkward loss of chrome when one cuts the part from the tree especially on the sides of the grill. I will eventually spray the chrome bits with Alclad II Black Primer and Alclad II Chrome. Switched focus onto the chassis parts. Lots of cleanup was required as the parting lines and draft angles were prominent. I chose to thin out the hoops that secure the axle since they're supposed to formed out of thin metal strips. I also added bump stops. I did one side after I thinned out the hoop and realized that I should have glue the bump stop BEFORE thinning out the hoop. Fortunately, I didn't break anything. Moved onto the firewall and scuttle (I think that's what you Brits call it). Added more details as per my reference photos. I also carved out the swagged "X"s on the firewall. I'll have to add the corresponding "X" shapes on the other side which will be visible if the doors are open. I'm thinking of redoing the rubber boot. Anyway, thanks for looking. Good luck on your projects.

Added a little more detail before proceeding. Second attempt didn't work out too well as I had rolled the mold putty too thin. However, I dusted the outside of the putty with talcum powder and used an inflated disposable glove to press down on the putty to mould it into shape. Sorry about the poor quality of the photo. Third attempt. This time I also dusted the molded plastic with talcum so that the putty will slide easier as it tries to form around the contour. I also rolled the putty a little thicker this time. (It still looks like I'm making pizza dough...LOL) The trimmed and painted results. I used some Duplicolor Trim & Bumper Paint which has a flex agent in it. All in all it doesn't look too bad. I'll set it aside for now so that I move on to the other bits.

A few more updates. Made a bit more progress on the steering wheel. I'm still not pleased with how it looks so I will try a different approach. Started on the rear differential. It's going to need a lot of cleanup and a few mods to come close to my reference photos. Unfortunately, I was clumsy when I cut the rear axle off of the parts tree and I had inadvertently cut the little nib that will locate the knock offs in a later assembly. I've had to file off the stubs, drill and insert some styrene rods. Started on the floor/firewall. My photos indicate that the floor is wood except for the transmission tunnel and the firewall. I had to fill in some prominent ejector marks. My old painting knife really works a treat when applying putty. I tried several materials to try and duplicate the rubber cover that goes over the transmission tunnel and shift boot. I hit upon using some two part molding putty. I mixed it and rolled it flat. Since it's my first go at it, it's lumpy and ugly but it's promising. I wasn't careful with trimming but I just wanted to validate the approach. I also tried some Tamiya Acrylic Semi-Gloss Black but the silicone is highly resistant to acrylic. I'll try airbrushing some Tamiya LP Rubber next. Anyway, I just need to refine my handling of the silicone.

Just a few updates: I tackled the other spoke. Looks a bit wonky so I might have to rethink my approach. I found this tool to be extremely handy in trimming the tiny bits of stretched sprue. I got ambitious after looking at a whole bunch of reference photos. Evidently, there is a guide on the stays that allows the windscreen to be locked in position. It's missing on the kit. So I tried my hand at modifying the relevant parts. A bit on the large size due to limitations on my skills but shouldn't look too bad once it's painted chrome. Now onto the other side. A tool that I found handy is my old drafting lead holder. It can hold the various drills as well as pins. Very useful. Started on the wipers.

Thank you Ben Brown. I'm actually leaning towards the red for this build. Thank you Noel. We'll see how well I pull it off.

Super clean build! 🥰

Shifted my attention to the windscreen. The plating leaves something to be desired and the frame looks way too thick to be convincing. Another downside is that the plating covers up any misalignments in the moulds so that there is an almost visible parting line. A quick bath in Purple Power degreaser to strip off all the chrome. Next step is to remove the god awful moulded in wipers and to clean up the backside slot where the replacement clear will be sitting in. I've also drilled out where the wiper arms will pivot. The kit doesn't have a positive locating feature to help locate the stays in assembly except for barely discernible "X"s molded to indicate locations. I've gone ahead and drilled the two holes on each side of the cowl and I carefully drilled out the braces to accept bits of stretched sprue so that I can locate things in final assembly. With the windscreen in place.

Thank you Neddy. Let's see if I don't get too ambitious and I actually bring this to a finish. 🤣

It looks great!

After a prolonged absence I'm back at my makeshift workbench. I've managed to collect several kits of my favorite British sports cars including the postwar (1948) MG TC. I've started on one of them which is the re-issued kit by Minicraft in the 2000's. I also have two of 1970's issue Entex kits in my stash. The kit itself is a very nice with much of the mouldings still crisp with minimal flash and a few sink marks here and there. Anyway, I started with the engine. I've added a few bits based on my reference photos. I separated the various pulleys from the moulded fan belt and filed the V grooves as I will scratch build the belt at a later stage. I also made the adjustment bracket for the generator. I will modify the generator to add the drive unit in the rear. Here's the stock kit's firewall. A lot of modifications will have to be made to match my reference photos. I scribed the edges of the lids and the "X" on front of the battery box to add further definition. Scratch built one of the latches. With a bit of primer to check things. Now I just have three more to do. I turned my attention to the kit's steering wheel. I was not happy with the "toy like" appearance. I decided to try and convert it to a Brooklands style four spoke wheel. I started by stretching some sprue from the kit. I started by cutting one of the spokes, reshaping the hub and the spoke stub and added one of the wires. It's a bit nerve wracking. Finished one of the spokes. It was a constant struggle to try and keep the spacing even. I'll set this aside and allow the cement to cure. Hopefully, it will be firm enough to allow me to handle cutting the other spoke in sequence and add the next spoke. Thanks for looking.

I always knew that Aurora had some issues with accuracy but they really dropped the ball on the Aston. I found this video which was informative. I guess they really sacrificed a lot of accuracy just to get to market sooner and with the least amount of investment. I also have the Maserati 3500 GT in my stash and I've seen other very good modellers from this forum tackle that beast.

Well, a bit of an update and I've run into a problem. Building the oil sump: I kept my Alfa engine on hand as a rough reference even though it's in 1/24th scale. Replicating the cylinder head bolt bosses. I began to suspect that something was off as I kept redoing the oil sump to match my references. The proportions seem off. I found a photo of the head gasket that is relatively distortion free (perpendicular to the viewing plane). Based on the published bore size of 92.0 mm, I was able to scale the image on my screen and calculate the rough length of the block in 1/25th scale. Sure enough the Aurora engine block was too long and the proportions are just wrong. Just to make sure, I compared it to two kits that I had on hand that had inline 6 engines; Heller's XKE 91/24th) and Revell's Austin Healey 100-6 (1/25th) I need to stop and decide how to best move forward; either rework the engine or scratchbuild an entirely new one. Any thoughts? YES!!!!!! 😃

Thank you JeroenS. I hope you had a good Christmas and that Santa brought you a nice and shiny new kit! 😃

Some updates: While waiting for the layers of filler to harden, I started work on other bits to lift my spirits. I decided to experiment on the steering wheel since I won't be using it (vintage race rules ban the use of wood in steering wheels). My holes were a bit wonky. I inserted a bit of silver solder and CA'd it in place then trimmed and polished. I also practiced thinning one of the steering wheel spokes. I purchased an inexpensive food dehydrator to help speed up drying times. I also worked on the engine bits. While scrounging through boxes of scrap styrene I found some of my ancient engine builds from RC car projects. I'm making some progress. At the very least, it looks much better than the kit stock. Anyway, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

I've also thought about that for a bit but I believe some of the colour paint flaws might be caused by insufficient "de-gassing" of the underlying filler strata. The evaporating solvent bleeds through the primer and through the final paint so that the transition becomes visible weeks later. Could also be caused by different rates of expansion between the native styrene and the filler or even shrinkage of the filler. In any case, I'm going to allow all of the bodywork plenty of time to cure and de-gas before I even think of laying colour down, that is if I ever finish the bodywork! 🤣

@Noel Smith The bodywork turned out to be a greater challenge than I had imagined. At first blush it looks like the chassis is going to need a major re-work at the very least and a full scratchbuild at worst. Oh well, it has been a great learning experience albeit a thoroughly frustrating one at that. Some updates. Evidently, I had at some point gotten impatient and had carelessly glopped on the putty in thick layers as I was building up the roof. I began grinding the underside of the roof and discovered that the kit plastic was soft and soggy. When I ground through to reveal the putty, everything was tacky and uncured. The solvent in the putty had not fully outgassed and was trapped between the thick layers. I had not choice but to scrape everything and start over. I ground off as much of the roof as I dared to help the remaining layer of putty to harden. A fresh start, this time with thin "skim" coats of putty allowing each layer to cure. I got tired of making mistakes with the contour so I cobbled up something to help me gauge the heights of various points. I also modified the other headlight to match the left side. With the roof modifications under control, I tackled reinstalling the bonnet scoop. Scoop is glued in place. I used Micro Balloons and thin CA to build up the rear part of the scoop. Blending the scoop. As always, thanks for looking.

@JeroenS & Lvp - Thank you guys. Just another round of shaping and correcting. I had to do a chop on the rear valance and sectioned it to add a shim to make up the width. Looks much better. I will blend it in. Blended in the valance. I've also started rebuilding the tailight housing area. More adjustments underway. I realized that the kit roof is too flat and needs more height. You can see in the previous photos that I've started raising and re-contouring the roof line. I've concluded that the windshield and side window openings are too small and will have to be raised so I'm raising the roofline yet again. I've also switched to Tamiya White Putty. This putty is slower to "skin over" and takes a bit longer for a layer to cure. At some point I will have to shift focus to the chassis as soon as I have firmed up the body shapes. Thanks for looking.

Jo NZ, Anteater, & Malc2 - Thank you very much guys. First of all, my build buddy (Ollie) Finished the planking. It looks frightful! This tends to be wasteful as most of the styrene will end up being ground off. Applied some dissolved styrene and kept wet sanding. Started shaping the other side. I can't really blend it fully as the rear wing still needs to be updated. Some more blending. I've been trying to assess the shapes by "sight sizing". It's a technique that I learned when painting from life. I hold up the model a foot away then I close one eye and try to adjust and tilt the model so that some of the edges line up with the reference photo on my computer screen. I shift focus back and forth between the model and the image on the screen. Closing one eye kills depth perception and stereoscopic vision. I'll keep doing this until I get a vague idea of what needs to be re-shaped or I get dizzy; invariably it's the latter 🤣. Anyway, I drew some rough exploratory lines to indicate where the window cutout and boot lid front edge will be. I'll set this aside and pick up tomorrow with fresh eyes. Thanks for following.

Improved the planking process. Doing it this way is way less fiddly than trying to cut each piece to a precise length and the extra bit gives me material with which to shape the curve. The angled cut on one end allows me to simply "drop" it in place and automatically butts up against the opening. Both the inside and outside will be thoroughly carved and shaped with a ball cutter once everything has hardened.

On vacation? Relax and build a model car they said......we'll have a few laughs........it will be fun they said....... Trying to wrap my head around the needed modifications. I tend to work in a rather chaotic manner. Must have been dropped on my head as a baby. Preparing for surgery. No turning back now. At the very least I have the beginnings for a shooting brake if this doesn't work out. 😬 I had to position and stabilize the rear boot. The top of the boot lid was raised a bit so the opening will be higher on the rear valance. I could have used some 2 part epoxy putty or some plastic wood but I guess I'm a bit of a masochist and chose the hard way. I will be "planking" things much like ship building. Center spine in place. Split window coupe?

hendie, I'm not sure if it's bravery or foolhardiness on my part coupled with a disconnect between my ambition and my meager ability 🤣. But I do thank you for the sentiment and it certainly helps my mojo. This is turning out to be at once a nightmare and a real challenge and it really kills the project velocity faster than a pie thrown against a brick wall. 👍

Ok, I decided to try and resolve that rear wing issue. I dug out my decade old Tamiya Epoxy Putty but it had hardened to an unusable mass. I'll have to use what I have on hand. I thought about constructing a framework out of styrene and planking things. As always I had to step back and realize that I am overthinking things. So I slapped some of the Tamiya Basic putty and shaped it into a tail fin ala 60's Caddy or an Alpine A210. The tail fin will help guide subsequent applications of the putty. I also have a growing suspicion that the rear window's rake is all wrong and should be shallower with the window being smaller. This will have an impact on the shape and size as well as the vertical location of the boot lid. Sigh, it's as though I've opened up a can of worms. I then built up the shapes using thin layers allowing each layer to harden. I know it looks ugly 🤓 After the initial few passes of 400 grit I applied more putty to refine the rough shapes. Starting to look better. Stark contrast with the other unmodified side. I'll have to reshape and redefine the tailight bezel.

No problem Noel. BTW, get a painting knife. It makes applying and manipulating the putty a little bit easier, rather like spreading icing on a cake. Also use 600 grit or higher and wet sand. You will be surprised at how easily it sands. Thank you so very much Andy. That photo helps a lot. Bare metal really takes away the distortion and the tricks that colour plays on perception. It must be amusing to watch a modeler like myself struggle with a plastic model whereas you've laid your hands on the real thing and have shaped metal as a living and as an art form. I have nothing but the highest esteem for your work and indeed the traditional coach builders at Aston. I had no idea the level of craftsmanship and artistry involved. 😍 You are not disrupting anything my friend. That miraculous restoration that you did was truly epic. I didn't mind at all k5054nz.

Well, just a small update. I realized that I should have shimmed the headlight bucket forward before I glued it into position. Not wanting to cut everything apart, I tried a simpler approach. I cut a section of styrene tubing of the right diameter, dressed the cut and glued it in place, After I blend it in, I will trim it back. Since I have yet to modify the other side, I can use this simpler technique. I kept thinking that something was out of proportion but I couldn't put my finger on it. I knew that the tailight housing is too far to the rear and that the rear wing is too long. Then I found this photo. The Aurora kit really got the rear wings all wrong. Even the rear window is too large and the boot lid is out of proportion too. Time to re-assess things and try to come up with a solution. At least I found the unused wheels from my old Italeri 250 GTO kit. They're a tad bit too wide.