Aurora's Super Spy Car: James Bond's DB5 wannabe

[Nigel Heath]

yup, all rattle cans I'm afraid. They will probably end up being better than my attempts at airbrushing.

I doubt that, rattle cans are like Niagra at full bore, with an airbrush you have so much more control. A man with your dexterous skills will soon appreciate it I'm sure.

and more recycling to come as I have an old helicopter lined up after this.

hendie, are you trawing bins for your modelling projects?? You can buy stuff in shops you know.

[hendie]

Not quite... I haven't quite reached that stage yet. It was another ebay bargain which has some limited sentimental value

[Nigel Heath]

Glad to hear that, I had a mental image of this sad, tartan clad hobo desperately looking for his next modelling fix.

[hendie]

So where were we again? Oh yeah... waiting on stuff arriving.

Well, while that was going on I attended to some of the less exciting parts of the build. I had already made a replacement ram for the rear bumpers (fenders for our American cousins). I still had to create something for the front bumper.

I began by taping up the front structure, and cutting another block of 1/8 styrene.

The front battering ram system is a bit more precise than the rear bumper arrangement. While the rear just fits inside the bodywork, with very little restriction (I think).. the front is a bit more constrained. The ram carrier slides inside these grooves molded into the engine sidewalls.

My 1/8 thick styrene was a little oversize, but with a bit of fettling, I got it to the correct width and thickness, and sliding nicely in the groove. Then it was a simple case of drilling to accept the tucker pop rivet mandrels.

I still have to cut these to length but I need to wait until I can fit the chassis to the body and fit the bumper in order to get the correct length.

I had the original part for the rear so I just copied that, but the front was completely broken so I have no reference length to use just now.

Next on the agenda was the tail light actuator.

I have one complete part, shown below, and one part where the curved hooky part is missing. So I need to replicate that in order to have both parts working. And I just spotted that the light arrangement is upside down on the cluster - but I was intending to replace those "bumps" later anyway.

(maybe I should have one open and one closed... thoughts???)

My first thought was to punch a disc then drill the center out - but it's always difficult to get the exact centers on those small parts. Then I had another one of those ideas... I found a drill bit with a diameter that was pretty close to the diameter I needed.

So I drilled through a piece of styrene of a suitable thickness. Then simply filed a radius around that, keeping a constant width from the hole. After I had done that, a quick couple of cuts with the razor saw, and we arrived at this part.

That's the easy part done! The difficult part is still to come... I still need to attach it to the light cluster in exactly the right position.

Those hooky parts slot through square holes (which I have not yet cut) in the recessed panels in the tail lights shown here in the photo below.

Unfortunately, the position of those square holes are critical to the function of the tail light clusters. If I cut them off center, the tail light clusters won't line up with the rear bodywork. If I cut the holes too high or too low, then the clusters will sit too high or too low in relation to the rear bodywork.

I think I have a plan to conquer that particular problem, but there are more pressing items to attend to first.

I took my first look at the guns. Ouch!

These are the kit supplied items. I *think* the bulbous drippy looking nodule is supposed to be the front sidelight in the open position, and the long protruding bit is the actual gun! Who knows what the rest is supposed to represent!

Obviously these have to go.

My first thought was to see if I have anything immediately handy... what about the rivet part that I have left over from the battering rams? (Nigel would be proud).

So I grabbed one and tried it out....

Better than the kit part certainly but way too over sized to be used here. I have some 1.5mm brass tube just arrived and it looks much more in scale for this. We'll see how that works out.

And hot off the press... my Xmas pressies to myself arrived tonight.

I got one of these....

and one of these....

and that's about it for the moment.

I am still struggling on and off with the headlamp apertures. I have a couple of ideas I need to try out in that area.

However, now I have the painting gear, I can get the interior finished off and built up in the very near future.

[Nigel Heath]

And you didn't even like my sad hobo routine, well I will with heavy heart pass comment on your latest build progress.

fenders for our American cousins

hendie - you are a fully naturalised American citizen - this is the way you speak now and please don't try to pretend otherwise.

(maybe I should have one open and one closed... thoughts???)

I have no idea what you are going on about here - is it the indicators or sumink?

This looks like very fine work:

These bits are clearly junk - bin them

(Nigel would be proud).

I am, Scottish hobos recycling kits out of bins does kind of fit in with my overall philosophy.

Now this lot looks very tasty:

And hot off the press... my Xmas pressies to myself arrived tonight.

I got one of these....

and one of these....

But I think you should have waited until the morning if December 25th before ripping off the wrapping paper. You are clearly a Celtic heathen.

[hendie]

1. And you didn't even like my sad hobo routine, well I will with heavy heart pass comment on your latest build progress.

2. I have no idea what you are going on about here - is it the indicators or sumink?

3. These bits are clearly junk - bin them

4. But I think you should have waited until the morning if December 25th before ripping off the wrapping paper. You are clearly a Celtic heathen.

1. I did like it... I just didn't like it if you get what I mean... must have been a busy day
2. On the Aurora kit, the tail light clusters fold out to reveal some kind of "device" - see page 9 of the instruction sheet here... http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234949840-auroras-super-spy-car-james-bonds-db5-wannabe/?p=1476054
3. Yes
4. I seriously considered that - but I wanted to make sure they were undamaged and in fully working condition. The last thing I wanted was to open them on Xmas day and find something wrong, or something wasn't working.. plus the wife told me to!

[Nigel Heath]

plus the wife told me to!

A celtic heathen and under the thumb as well, my heart goes out to you hendie.

[hendie]

After the excitement of looking at my new compressor and airbrush, it was back to business again. (There will no doubt be loads of questions regarding airbrush and compressor settings in the very near future)

After my disastrous attempts at weathering, I cleaned off what I could, then determined that I could live with what was left. I gave everything, well, seats etc a coat of clear satin yesterday. Strangely, the satin seems to have a higher gloss finish than the clear gloss I used for the initial coat. Hey ho....

This time around I could actually get on with some construction (of sorts...)

First things first, the carpet had to go back down. I started with the gear tunnel. I saved my last attempts at carpeting and used them as templates.

The rear parcel shelf has a couple of "air vents" according to Aurora. I wanted to used the carpet on the parcel shelf as it will help close up some gaps between the chassis and the exterior shell around the rear window, so I needed to find a way to create nice cuts around the air vents.

I found a hole punch that was close enough in diameter to the size of the air vents.

As you can see, the air vents are pretty close the the rear seat, which does not leave enough space for a decent sized piece of carpet.

I discovered that when punching so close to the edge, that the carpet just twisted and pulled into the hole being cut.

I then discovered that if I used a piece of masking tape I could get good clean cuts and position the holes very close to the edge without detriment to the carpet. So I cut a piece slightly larger than I needed, covered it in masking tape, measured the distance between the air vents, then punched a couple of holes...

This was then bonded to the rear parcel shelf.

Just for information: I use a slightly diluted white glue applied to the model and left for a few minutes. I then apply the same solution to the reverse side of the felt being bonded. I find this helps the felt bend around corners and into compound curves better.

I wanted to try and get a good definition on the upward angle on the back end of the parcel shelf so I used a small file to help clamp things in position.

Parcel shelf now covered in carpet.

The remainder of the floor was then carpeted, and the rear parcel shelf trimmed.

I cut out a portion on the drivers side so that I can get a good bond between the drivers seat and the floor.

And I did the same with the passenger side so I could get a good bond between the floor and the ejector seat mechanism.

You can see here that I have also fitted the clutch, brake and accelerator pedals.....

... which required fitting before the front firewall was bonded in place. The drivers seat pan is being bonded here at the same time.

Next steps in construction will be (I believe) fitting of the engine side walls, and attachment of the cabin interior sides.

[Nigel Heath]

Good tip on the punching of the carpet. Will the ejector seat mechanism be working on your model?

Overall, this is looking very good.

[hendie]

Thanks Nigel.

My original intention was to have all the gadgets working.

In this particular model, that is:

Ejector Seat

Front battering rams

Rear battering rams

Rear light clusters

Tire shredders

Bullet proof shield

The machine guns are present but will be static and non operational.

Although the molding on the Aurora is nowhere near as good as the Airfix model, It appears all the gadgets on the airfix model are static with the exception of the ejector seat. So to that effect, this is actually a better model.

However, I also intend to have the finished model in a display cabinet, so I am not sure if the model should be all closed up, or whether I create a display where the roof is in the process of opening and the ejector seat is firing.

[Nigel Heath]

or whether I create a display where the roof is in the process of opening and the ejector seat is firing.

That sounds like it would be tricky to pull off but would lead to a more dynamic (and interesting) model.

[hendie]

Some further progress today...

After the firewall had set, the engine side walls were clamped in place and glued.

I used the front battering ram support I had made earlier to help set the appropriate gap.

I could then start building up the rest of the interior. Next on the list was the passengers door card... Note my dreadful attempt at weathering on the drivers seat - I am not too concerned as Mr Bond or his American counterpart shall be parking his derriere there so it (the seat pan) won't be seen.

Note that I have also glued the engine side vents in place at this point.

I attempted to use styrene glue as I wanted a stronger joint for the door card. Unfortunately, I made a bit of a mess trying to get the parts all together. You can see here (during a quick dry fit) that I shall need to touch up the rear compartment where it meets the rear seat.

I did get one benefit from my quick dry fit though.... it showed me that I shall need to do something with this gaping hole in the rear wheel well. - you can see right through the opposite side. I have no idea what Aurora were thinking there.

That was quickly remedied by cutting a couple of pieces of sheet styrene to shape and gluing in place.

Then I had to take care of the rear wheel wells.

Styrene to the rescue once again. I cut a rectangular section roughly to length, then wrapped that around a pencil to preform a curve. Added a spacer or two....

Then the rear wheel arches were added... I need to take some better photos and I shall post those later.

The arches are oversize in width. I shall need to trim them down when it comes to fit the chassis to the body.

At least you won't be able to see right through the back end of the car!

[Nigel Heath]

Note my dreadful attempt at weathering on the drivers seat

What happened? it does not look too bad from this side of the Atlantic (LOLs). What media were you using there?

You know hendie, you are doing truly amazing work here.

Edited December 23, 2013 by Nigel Heath

[hendie]

Here are some shots of the rear wheel arches in construction....

There's a lot of tidying up to do once it's all set

Edited December 23, 2013 by hendie

[hendie]

What happened? it does not look too bad from this side of the Atlantic (LOLs). What media were you using there?

You know hendie, you are doing truly amazing work here.

I started off with a custom mix of enamels for the base coat.

That was followed by a clear gloss enamel as a base for the weathering.

For the weathering I used watered down acrylics. Finally, a clear coat of satin enamel was applied.

I waited a few days between each coat so I didn't get a reaction between the layers.

I need to do some more reading up on this weathering malarkey - it's not as easy as others make it seem!

I don't know about amazing... competent in some places, bloody awful in others and the occasional highlight. I have a lot to learn before I get anywhere near as good as some of the people using this site.

[Nigel Heath]

I started off with a custom mix of enamels for the base coat.

That was followed by a clear gloss enamel as a base for the weathering.

For the weathering I used watered down acrylics. Finally, a clear coat of satin enamel was applied.

I waited a few days between each coat so I didn't get a reaction between the layers.

That sounds like one of the most complicated weathering systems I have ever come across - and then you wiped most of it off?

Can you post some closer up pictures please?

I need to do some more reading up on this weathering malarkey - it's not as easy as others make it seem!

That's for sure. Some of the paint effects I see here leave me dumbfounded, I do what I can but I know I will never achieve the level of the work that some others do.

Anyway your work is excellent and clearly comes from a very skilled hand.

[hendie]

That sounds like one of the most complicated weathering systems I have ever come across - and then you wiped most of it off?

Can you post some closer up pictures please?

From what I read - and I may have picked this up incorrectly but I thought.....

If you used enamels as the base, then you had to use acrylics as the weathering media (ignoring oils and crayons etc. for the moment). That meant:

Apply base coloring of enamels

Apply clear gloss enamel coat

Apply weathering

Apply final finish (gloss/matt etc) in enamel

Or vice versa: if you used acrylics as the base then you had to do the weathering with enamels.

I'll take some closer shots tomorrow

Yes, I wiped most of it off as it just didn't look right at all. It also dried very fast leaving outline marks of the wash. Perhaps my gloss coat wasn't gloss enough

[Nigel Heath]

then you had to use acrylics as the weathering media

I don't think you have to use acrylics:

Apply base coloring of enamels

Apply clear gloss enamel coat - I think an acrylic like Klear would also be OK here

Apply weathering

Apply final finish (gloss/matt etc) in enamel - or acrylic would also be OK I think

[hendie]

Nigel, here's the best close up photo's I could get

To me, it doesn't look weathered. It just looks grubby - as if I've left grubby painty fingerprints all over it.

Thankfully the drivers seat will be covered by James.

The blocky, lumpy thing on the passengers seat is what's left of the passengers backside - he refused to separate cleanly from the seat. As it turns out, I have repaired his bottom with some skin grafts of white putty so he doesn't look too bad now - at least he can sit down. And I left the lumpy thing on the seat as I need that to have the passenger sitting at the right angle. (The seat is a one [piece mold, the passenger is a one piece mold, and of course, the angle of the seat does not match the angle the passenger is sitting at!)

The wheel arches were left to cure overnight.

A bit of judicious trimming was required but the operation was relatively fast and painless.

The wheel arches fitted quite nicely inside the bodywork.

And we have got rid of the see through section at the back end.

If you remember back a touch, I was figuring out how to make the rear light clusters operate. I had one complete part, one broken part, and two parts missing. Newly made part below.....

Well, in my haste I forgot to take photo's.

How can I explain this..... well, I formed two small inserts to fit inside the rear light cluster aperture (there are photo's of that earlier in the thread). Those were the missing parts.

In that insert, I had to cut a small square, probably about 1 mm² which the hook on the rear light cluster fits through, allowing it (the cluster) to open and close. The position of the hole was critical as it determined how the cluster would open and also the final position when closed.

Yup, it was guesswork.... but turned out not too bad at all.... here we have the reara light cluster in the closed position...

and then in the open position....

The other side was a bit more problematic... how could I ensure that the scratch built hook ended up in the correct position ?

A few head scratching moments and then I came up with this method....

I cut the square hole in the insert... then I inserted the hooked part like so....

A dab of styrene glue was applied on the protruding end of the hooky part... I then placed the light cluster against the hook, and pushed the cluster into the closed position.

Then, while holding the light cluster in position on the outside, I applied pressure on the hook from the inside.

A few seconds of pressure and the styrene glue took hold.

Yes the rear light clusters really do look awful, and something needs to be done with them.

I do intend to replace the light fixtures with something a bit better, and tidy up the cluster to make it look a bit better.

However, the design and method of operation means that the rear light cluster will never, ever look realistic, and because it sits on the back of the rear wing, instead of fitting inside it, the join will always be visible, and not very good.

What do I do about it? Well, after considering it for some time, I have decided to leave the design as originally intended... after all this is a 50 year old model, and I consider it part of the "quaintness" of the antiquated design.

My plan is to have this on display beside different versions of the 007 DB5 - I have Danbury Mint version, which is much more detailed, and I kind of like the fact that this particular model is sort of "clunky" in areas.

... back to business... since the rear light cluster is small and fragile, I have put the bodywork aside to let it fully cure before handling it again.

I also primed the rear wheel arches, so the chassis has been set aside to dry also.

I took the opportunity while the chassis was set aside to do a quick dry fit of the dash to see what the overall effect looked like....

It is taking shape slowly and surely.

I have two major issues left to figure out.

The kit transparencies are useless. I polished and micro-meshed several of the kit parts, and the damage inflicted by the original owner was too much. Even although I managed to get the glue marks off and polish the transparencies back to something almost useable, the parts are crazed.

The side windows are not a problem as I can just cut some clear sheet to replace them, however, the front and rear windscreens are a bigger problem.

My plan ???? I am keeping my eye on ebay and hoping to obtain a Mattel Vac U Form, and use the kit parts as formers to make new ones.

I figured that the Mattel Vac will come in useful for other projects so it's worth buying, provided I can get one cheap enough. (Did we ever have toys like that in the UK back in the 60's? - I don't remember ever seeing one)

My other main issue is assembly of the chassis to the body. I can fit the chassis quite easily now, but once I assemble the front and rear battering rams, plus the bullet proof shield etc. There's no way it will slide in place as I have already attached the front and rear valances, which the kit says is one of the last things to do.

However, I wanted a decent finish on the body with as few visible joins as possible. I still need to figure out what to do there.

I am sure it will come to me.

[hendie]

Back to the rear light clusters again.... I know.. boring, but they need to be done.

Here are the two scratch components that fit inside the rear wing. The square hole is for the rear light cluster bracket.

The round hole is for... well, I don't really know. The instructions show some kind of rod protruding from the part. Maybe it's supposed to be a tube for a smoke screen, or an oil dispersal... who knows. However, I opted to reinstate the component using some Ø1.5mm tube.

Shown dry fitted but you get the idea.... (I never realized my thumbs were as big!)

When I was in Walmart the other day I picked up a packet of really cheap and nasty paintbrushes. I had no intention of ever using them to paint anything, but they did come with a nice assortment of colored acrylic handles - red, orange, clear etc. - Cheaper than buying colored acrylic rod from some supplier!

Out came the file and off with the nasty little protuberances masquerading as lights... I also thinned the fitting down just a tad.

Then I hacked the end off of one of the paintbrushes and threw it in the drill, and attacked it with a file.

After a bit of filing, followed up by a polish with some micro mesh and I had this...

I know it's not the exact shape of the original lights but it's certainly better than the kit supplied parts.

Repeat a few times so I have some spares in case I muck anything up... very possible!

and we have this...

Which, when fitted to the fixture, look passable to me.

The DB5 has a reflector (top), and indicator (middle), and a brake light (bottom) in each cluster.

The reflector has a flat face so that will be easy to reproduce. Both are red, but have different color strengths. I may drill a small hole in the rear of one and add a spot of red paint to try and produce some differentiation between them when fitted.

I still have the indicators to make... and try not to lose these parts in the meantime.

[hendie]

Last job for today is the ejector seat roof panel.

If you remember back I inherited a panel that looked like this... broken in a couple of places

and both sides covered in glue marks

A while back, I had cleaned it up as best as I could, sanding all the marks off. In one place there had been so much glue it had actually bubbled the plastic.

I stuck a piece of masking tape on one side, then applied some Tamiya grey putty. That was left for a few days.

Once the masking tape was carefully removed I was left with this splodge of plastic.

That was very carefully filed down to size, well the size of the original roof panel that is.

I found when trying it in place that it was a nice fit in one direction but a loose fit in the other direction. Additionally, after all my sanding to eliminate the glue marks, the plastic was perilously thin in some places.

As a static display, I could probably get away with it being that thin, but after spending some time thinking, I determined it was best to attempt to do something with the panel now, before it was too late.

Out with the thinnest styrene sheet I could find... cut a rectangle... smear some styrene glue all over the panel. - Then slide to styrene around on it to get the glue as thin as possible, but entirely covering the roof panel - then clamp in place.

The styrene seems to have conformed to the shape of the compound curves on the roof panel. Time will tell if I have been successful or not.

I will wait until the roof panel is fully cured then I shall attempt to cut it back to a nice snug fit in the body shell.

I am now getting close to the point where all the awkward stuff coincides.

There's lots of work to get the body work in order before painting.

I have to alclad a few pieces, bumpers, wheels etc.

I also need to figure out the transparencies - that may halt the build for a while.

And I also need to lay my hands on a resin casting kit as I need to cast a few replacement pieces

I am thinking it shall not be complete before Hogmanay! (more like summer!)

[Nigel Heath]

hendie, the work you did on the rear light clusters was very good. I like them a lot.

bottom

Should be pronounced - bottom!!

after all this is a 50 year old model, and I consider it part of the "quaintness" of the antiquated design.

Have you thought about trying some lead loading, I had a little bit of involvemet with the old Daimler Limousine, half of the body of which was lead alloy!!

hendie, you are doing some fantastic work on this model, I am just a bit sorry that it is not being more appreciated by the wider BM comunity.

I love it anyway.

Cheers,

Nigel

Edited December 23, 2013 by Nigel Heath

[hendie]

Thanks Nigel, I appreciate your comments.

.... I am just a bit sorry that it is not being more appreciated by the wider BM comunity.

I love it anyway.

Cheers,

Nigel

There's no shortage of viewers but people (with the exception of a few) seem reluctant to post any comments for whatever reason.

[Nigel Heath]

There's no shortage of viewers but people (with the exception of a few) seem reluctant to post any comments for whatever reason.

BMers are a shy and retiring community, they tend to live in small damp holes in the ground. On a similar tack I have heard that g-usa is being held against his will in a muddy hole in the jungle by little men dressed in black pyjamas - do you think we should start up a collection or some sort of fund raising activity?

[hendie]

I'd much rather steal his cow! At least the steaks would go towards a good cause!

I'm sure he'll be around again soon, though for a lawyer, he does seem to work a lot - I thought those guys did nothing but sit on their backsides and twiddle their thumbs. Maybe G is the exception