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Well, this is a strange feeling... a WIP no less. It seems I haven't been involved in a WIP for forever, or even maybe a bit longer. Over the last few months I've been heavily involved in 3D printing various bit of Wessi for parishioners of this parish. That took up pretty much most of my time and what little time was left, well, the mojo seemed to have gone on vacation. I'm not sure if it's returned or not, but what better way to find out where it's hiding than to start a build. Then being as dense as I am, not just one build, but a triad of builds. Surely nothing can go wrong there then? You may or may not know but aside from the venerable Wessex, I've always had a thing for the Aston Martin DB5, and in particular, Mr. Bond's DB5. (actually that car and 2CV6's, but that's another story). I knew there was an ancient Airfix kit of 007's car but ebay prices were a bit over the top - generally going for over $300. Way out of my league. However, there was an alternate route when I spotted that Aurora back in the day released a "Super Spy Car" which was an unlicensed version of the Bond car. The Aurora kit was a bit cheaper and one of my first build threads on BM was the rebuild of a glue bomb obtained from the bay for the princely sum of $19 iirc. Fast forward a bunch of years and I managed to obtain one of the old Airfix DB5's or rather, some of it. In my modeling innocence I thought I could repair/scratch build whatever to build the kit, but when it arrived and I had a good look, well, let's say it's been in the stash for coming up on 10 years now. More recently, Revell released a snap together kit of the DB5 and of course, I had to get one. Then, just to add insanity to the madness, at some point in the intervening years I had obtained one of the old Corgi 261's. I've even gone as far as dismantling most of it with the intent of refurbishing it. The only thing preventing that action was a cracked windscreen, and putting the ejection seat roof panel in a safe place, never to be seen again. Back to trolling auction sites and I managed to obtain another fairly decent Corgi recently for just over $7. Bargain. I now find myself in the position of having 3 different DB5's and thought, well, if I'm building one, is building 3 any more difficult? Of course it is dummkopf! One is a snap together kit, one is a nearly 60 year old Airfix kit, and the other is a (revolutionary for the time,) die-cast model. But what the heck... in for a penny and all that. What are we dealing with here then? Well, both kits are 1/24, and the diecast per standard is 1/43. Here's the two bodyshells. See if you can guess which is which Followed by the complete line up of combatants for this endeavor. Please note that I do not intend to make these super accurate. I just want to have 3 completed DB5's at the end of the day, and am quite happy for each version to show it's heritage, and it's age. How accurate are the kit's? I have no idea to be honest. They look like DB5's but I have no access to data that would tell me one is more correct in any aspect than the other. I would assume the Revell kit being more modern, is more accurate. Perhaps Airfix had access to the Aston engineers and their kit is more accurate. Who knows? Lets start with the bodyshells. At first glance they are very similar, but taking a closer look: Look at the difference in the windscreen apertures - significantly different, aren't they? Other obvious differences are the shape of the bonnet's, especially the front edge - more or less a straight edge on the Revell, but generously curved on the Airfix kit. The bonnet scoop is different as is the width and curvature of the front wings. The difference in the front wings can be seen to more effect in this shot. (I just know those Airfix headlamps are going to give me problems). There are issues with the Revell kit also. For one it's designed as a snap-together, so I know there's going to be gaps and lots of filling in my future. There's also a load of flow lines present on the kit and I just don't know how they are going to present themselves under paint. Flow lines anyone? I think one of the first jobs on the Revell kit will be to spill primer over it to highlight seams, sinks, and any other potential pitfalls. At least I know I have a full kit. The Airfix kit on the other hand. Some bits I have, and many other bits I do not. The engine is completely missing along with various other probably important bits. James himself is missing though I have his arms (? ) and the bad guy. I thought I had two seats until I looked closely and realized that they are both passenger seats. While I managed to dismantle most of the kit, there were some bits that just wouldn't come apart despite all efforts, such as Bond's weapons tray on the rear parcel shelf. Oh this should be a fun ride. Snap-together... did someone mention gaps? Before I even start any kind of assembly on this I have to figure a bunch of things out first. On the Revell kit, the interior tub and chassis are meant to be assembled as a unit then slid into the bodyshell, with the front valance being attached afterwards. That means there's going to be a horrible join line to deal with and I'd like to get the bodyshell completed and painted before the interior are shoved into it. But... There's no way the chassis will pop in once the valance is fitted. I need to check my solutions book and see if there's a chapter dealing with that in there. On to the Corgi. Initial disassembly was easy - just drill out the single rivet holding the chassis to the body - then photograph it so I have a chance of remembering how it goes back together. Sheesh, that looks complicated. It looks even more complicated now A quick test shows that parts may clean up quite well. How long they stay that clean is an open question. This is another thing I have to consider going forward. Will a simple clear coat keep them in shiny condition? or do I need to consider something else? Interestingly, as I discovered when breaking these apart, Corgi seems to have modified or changed the molds over the course of production. These are both the Corgi 261 originals. Both windscreens are different, as is some of the geometry inside the bodyshell. More significantly though is the vent on the front wing. Note how the version on the left doesn't have the "chrome" divider present while the version on the right does. Also, the version on the right seems to sit just a tad lower than his still painted kin on the left. Ehrr, not much progress for a WIP I'm afraid but at least I've put my stake in the ground. Now I just need to figure out what the landscape looks like. I think there will be a lot more destruction before there's any actual construction, not to mention and decent amount of chaos. The next post will be interesting, maybe. P.S. I have no idea where I'm going with all of this.

First things first... this will not be a quick build. I am posting this to kind of force myself into finishing my Dalek build over on the Sci-Fi forum ( http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234945056-scratch-build-16-scale-dalek-an-eye-for-an-eye-and-some-painkillers-please/?p=1382230 ), and then commencing with this. Posting this will hopefully force me into finishing one and getting on with the other. I've always had a thing about the Aston Martin DB5, especially the Bond version. I'm lucky enough to own a Danbury Mint version of the Bond DB5, and recently I acquired several more versions. The first one I managed to lay my grubby mitts on was the old Aurora version. Of course, it wasn't officially licensed, so it was sold under the completely different guise of "Aston Martin - Super Spy Car" Good versions of these seem (like the original Airfix version) to go for stupid money. So, me being tight and looking for a challenge found this beast up for grabs on evil bay. What on earth am I getting myself into? These are the original photo's from the listing and you can see just what kind of state it is in. The box itself wasn't too bad considering it's about 50 years old. But as for the kit.... maybe just a tad too much glue methinks! Where do you even begin on something like this? Well, obviously, it has to be taken apart to see what we have got. Fortunately, it's almost complete. There are a few parts broken, but should be able to be scratched without too much difficulty. I also broke a couple of pieces taking the thing apart - no surprise there. I tried the soak in water, then leave in freezer method, but to no avail - there was just too much glue. I eventually discovered that the glue bonds were actually quite brittle, so, some judicious coercing and some downright forcefulness arrived at this collection of parts. As you can see I have already primed a few parts - I needed a break from my Dalek build when it wasn't going too well. At this stage I think I can rescue 95% of the parts. A few others can be scratched, but my biggest areas of concern are around the windows. I just don't know if these will be salvageable at all. The side windows aren't really a problem but the front and rear windshield may be beyond repair and I may have to try molding new ones myself. - That's a ways off yet! I have invested may hours scraping off decades old glue, with some limited success. To give you some idea of just how bad this is... here's a wheel hub and here's what's left of the ejection seat and occupant Okay, intro over, now back to my regularly scheduled Dalek build and I shall return here in a few weeks (probably!) perhaps I should also mention that since winning this on ebay, I also managed to obtain a copy of the Airfix Bond DB5 - in a slightly better state but with some parts missing - that shall also become a WIP in due course.

I've not built a model for quite some time, and had this Airfix kit lying around, so I thought I'll use it to get back into things. It came with paints, and I think it was a gift. It's a pretty rough looking model though, but it'll do for some practice. I'm not expecting great results, but it's lockdown on a Sunday afternoon, so needs must.