Heller 1/24 Citroen Fourgon H Van

[mbdesignart]

 

I've decided to make a start on this which I managed to grab before Heller's last 'bit of trouble'. No photos of the spurs as I jumped straight in.

 

 

This is the scheme it will be finished in, albeit I doubt I will replicate the condition due to the ravishes of time and climate in the Canary Isles, the van's not me!

As mentioned I have completed some sub assemblies [see below] and part painting of the interior and other bits will have to be done whilst easy access to the interior is available.

The instructions have proved a bit vague regarding exact part fit and some parts have been mislabelled, step 23 should be C3 for instance. Also I have deviated from the Heller assembly guide and fitted the inner arch panels to the van bed prior to one of the outer side panels. There will be some filling required too, I didn't expect such a poor fit considering this is a new tooling.

 

 

 

 

 

More progress as and when...

Edited September 29, 2016 by mbdesignart
correcting typo

[arni]

I will watch this for two reasons..

1.I have this kit.

2.I have more Citroens than a French scrap yard!

[CrazyCrank]

Waouu....my entire childhood....I'll follow this topic

[bentwaters81tfw]

There is one of these used as 'retail outlet' at Lakenheath. I think they were selling burgers and dogs.

[roymattblack]

That is a superb scheme to be building.

I'm no 'van man fan' but this one is different so I'll be following along.

 

As a point of interest, did you know there's a new 1/8 part work of this very vehicle just out from Atalya?

Not in the UK just yet, but who knows?

 

Roy.

[injidup]

I suppose getting it finished will be a fourgon conclusion?*

 

 

Intersting subject, will be following this one!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* Sorry

[vrsmatt99]

Looking forward to this!  I have this in my stash too and the Guinness livery will look great.

How are you doing the colour scheme? Have you made your own decals etc?

 

Cheers

 

Matt

 

[mbdesignart]

Thanks for the interest. These are popping up all over the place refurbished into mobile catering vans, campers or as delivery vans for chic boutiques. The museum at Cosford has one as a catering van. There are at least a couple of importers in the UK who are converting them, one is 2CV City in Bradford. This van could fors the basis for many conversions, long wheelbase van, high top, car transporter [there is a previous post about this], etc., so plenty of possibilities from the basic kit. 

There are some 'interesting' conversions on You Tube, with someone dropping a V6 under the bonnet, given the van's low weight that would be a nice Q Van!

[Hamden]

 

Nice start I really like these old vans so will follow along

 

  Roger

[mbdesignart]

Why do they do it? Hours of fiddly work on the wheel hubs to remove the attachment points to the sprue which are on the rim edge and four per wheel. I'm sure with a bit more thought Heller could have made things easier. I have cut more bits off other sprues and prepped ready for a primer coat but the weather has decided to turn cold and damp, strange for October in the UK.

 

[arni]

My peeve is plated rims that are attached at the rim itself!

Edited October 1, 2016 by arni

[Billydick]

Looks interesting .. going to follow this 

 

BillyD

[mbdesignart]

Things are getting more 'interesting'. I decided to complete the front hub/steering assembly, as no painting was possible today, and decided I'd like the front wheels to be steerable. After finding another part misnumbering issue on the instructions [a possible issue for new modellers I bet?] see below, I discovered the steering arm just hangs onto the locating posts on the hubs and can pop off at will. Amusingly these make a brief absence in subsequent build images only to reappear when the chassis is complete.

Fortunately there was enough length on the locating post to flatten the top with a hot knife [don't try this at home!] to capture the steering arm,  I then cut a sliver of evergreen rod and attached it to the flattened top to mirror the outer diameter of the ring on the steering arm end [see pic which I hope is clearer than my rambling]. I may leave the engine out, either to detail at a later stage or as a time saver. 

 

My other thought for the day is why no paint masks for the windows? Given they are clear parts complete with the 'A' posts/windscreen frame and the rear upper door it would have been a worthwhile inclusion in the kit. Gallic shrug anyone?!

 

PS The large curved rod is a support post for painting.

 

 

[mbdesignart]

Roy,

Have you a link to the Atalya kit?

 

Thanks

Mark

[Mpfiend]

4 hours ago, mbdesignart said:

Roy,

Have you a link to the Atalya kit?

 

Thanks

Mark

 

There are some images here

 

Keith

[mbdesignart]

Finally I managed to get a quantity of parts primed. I tried Hycote primer which appears to be as good as Halfords but less expensive.

 

 

Also made a start on the front end, the mix of clear and solid plastic parts. All the windows will need masking both sides before painting, with them being integral to large parts the van parts. I'm going to give the Tamiya masking sheets a go. Also I may replace the sliding side door with plasticard as the real van shows these as flat panels. Once everything is primed it'll be time to shoot some colour.

 

[mbdesignart]

Following a bit more research on the interior I came across these images which show different seats than those in the kit. Info suggests these are similar to those in the 2CV, most likely above the subframe. Even though the vans pictured are of the later version [single screen] I wonder at what period these were replaced with the more 'plush' items that Heller have supplied. Given time constraints on my build finish date I doubt I will be replicating these at this time. But it gives you detail hounds something to mull over.

 

.

 

 

[mbdesignart]

A bit more progress... The Guinness van has modified openings on the r/h side with top hinged panels and the sliding door runner housing removed, now done on the kit. The kit door has been replaced with one from plasticard and strip frame, I've also reworked the dash to resemble the early version with the squarer speedo and simpler, angular mounting panel, also added some knobs as per reference photos. The lift out panel in the middle of the dash is longer than the kit version and I added a 'proper' handle too. That should be it for mods now back to priming...

 

 

 

[vrsmatt99]

Its coming along nicely!

Great work on the modified panels. 

 

Those seats look pretty basic don't they!!  

 

Cheers

 

Matt

 

[mbdesignart]

Thanks for the comments Matt. The seats are a match for the whole van 

A quick google at 2CV's shows the Ebbro 2CV pick-up seats could be a match for the early H Van? 

[heloman1]

Lookin' good Mark, that front suspension set up looks rather complicated!!! The primer seems to give a good finish.

 

Colin

[mbdesignart]

Finally returned to this, damn aircraft modellers! Anyway I may have said I wasn't going to bother with the interior but I couldn't help myself so out with the weathering stick. I can throw these bits onto the main chassis and attach the cab front and remainder of the body, or do I weather the underneath too where no one will look?

 

Colin, it's French- probably the result of many committee meetings.

 

I've used Tamiya masking sheet on the windows, first use of this so we'll see what the end result is after the top coat. The shiny worn metal areas have not shown up in the photo, but I'm pleased with the seats as they replicate your finest sun baked and worn vinyl.

 

[mbdesignart]

Some progress on assembling the body parts [just in time for All Hallows' Eve, put that down Igor you'll have someones eye out!]. Unfortunately another couple of poor fit issues have cropped up. The front of the floorpan which butts to the cab front requires sanding to achieve a flush fit with the bulkhead and sides near the footplates.

 

 

The roof appears to be too wide for the rear door surround. When aligned with the side panels it bellies and creates a large gap around the top panel. When pressed along the profile of the curved panel the ends miss the cab sides. Assembly is not helped by the side panels bowing inwards and only a couple of small locating pips along the top edges of each for alignment. This will either require a van load of filler or a new top panel making. 

 

[mbdesignart]

A little more progress away from the roof issues. I know the engine and front suspension won't be seen but hey. Applied the correct speedo/fuel/temp decal along with the gearshift label decal and fitted the cab front.

 

 

Here's the suspension engine subframe assembly suitable weathered.

 

 

And a couple of shots of the engine. I had to install a larger distributor cap, which needs painting once set, for the plug leads and I see some paint has rubbed off onto the air filter housing. I could go crazy with the other pipework and linkages but this will be all on this engine considering the work I've been doing on the Panigale too.

 

[mbdesignart]

I'm glad I took a break from the roof as upon revisiting the gap issue I came up with an easier solution, 2 layers of Slater's Microstrip. A little bit of filler will be required at the corners but far easier than a remake. It appears Heller omitted the interior door pull handles for the cab doors from the kit so they will need making and I will have to check if there should be a rear view mirror above the windscreen as standard. Hopefully the roof and load bay side door will be on today then I'll have to decide if any of the rear doors will be in the open or closed position.

 

 

The roof is now on. Make sure to drill out the 'pip' locator holes in the roof, there are a couple for the corners of the windscreen that have been missed. And from my research there should be a rear view mirror.

Edited November 1, 2016 by mbdesignart
extra info