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Tamiya 1/24 Monte Carlo Mini Cooper S


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Hi All,

This has been on the back shelf for many, many years. I have lost count. I think the reason was that I had decided I wanted to wire up the ignition, and it was at the time that my eyesight was poor due to my diabetes.

However, I received a birthday card from my sister recently, and it had a picture of a Mini Cooper on it, and I saw a recent Car SOS episode where they restored a Mini Cooper S, so that inspired me to try and finish this one.

Anyway, enough waffle, here is where we are at the moment:

y4mxD4D-x4u74dxZ_fhSSS-EUg3jYmtfcTZUnToU

y4m_MQORq8sgN1MAwH5gZ2pF4BVsgT48y1fe8v1m

y4mCmOMt0iLc3tc3zRULNm-5GGrvAke7Tk_KW6gO

This was more or less where I had got until the other day. The only work done before I took these pictures was to wire up the ignition and put in the glazing.

As it happened, the wiring went rather more easily that I had thought it would. :)

I then installed the door panels and carefully prised the body onto the floor-pan, thus:

y4m4cyi-8mU4g3mCqwMrT-apjU3ZqxS2Ey2Iy2o1

y4moh1D1IiuKeuo9jO0oZYlAoPLlDLyM4z2t2IrS

y4mtzCNprnu_WJmvoT2g_e6DG-fvnYObnFuawUEe

y4m14neErV24riGDPL8E1rl1fC-ySvWi_FGfBULe

 

This little blighter has been fighting me all the way to the finish line. (Still a long way to g0 yet though!!!)

I was fitting the oil-cooler when the body shell fell out of my hands on to the work-bench. All the glazing fell out. A few choice words were spoken over it, but after a bit of wriggling with the glazing,  I got it back in. The problem was that having installed the door panels, they now were in the way of the glass... :(

Still, we all live and learn, and I did get the glazing back in without any PVA glue smearing the windows.

Getting the body on the floor-pan was a bit of a challenge, and a couple of small bits fell off in the process. Nothing major though, and easily fixed.

 

That's all for the mo.

Thanks for looking.

Cheers, Alan.

 

 

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It's a little jewel of a kit, isn't it? I did the road version <mmpphcough> years ago and was most taken by the detail. I always thought that whoever was in charge of cutting the tooling for it must have had a real love for Minis.

 

Your version is looking pretty darn fine Alan. I might have to get mine out of the stash and have a bash at it.

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Thanks everyone for the kind comments.

It is a little jewel of a model.

I have fond memories of driving my 850cc Morris Mini Minor waaaayy back in the early '70s.

Totally bonkers handling and great fun to drive. I may not have been driving very fast, but since my bum seemed only about 2 inches above the road, it felt like I was doing 150!!!

 

Cheers, Alan.

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The model is coming along very nicely and a good recovery from dropping the shell!

I thought you might like to see the pictures below.

I saw the Bomber County Mini's out for a drive this morning while I was out delivering beer.

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=bomber+county+minis&rlz=1C1GGRV_enGB757GB758&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj2pYjNoZzaAhUBZFAKHXK6AIUQsAQIMQ

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On ‎02‎/‎04‎/‎2018 at 7:57 PM, Pete in Lincs said:

I saw the Bomber County Mini's out for a drive this morning while I was out delivering beer.

Hi Pete,

 

Wonderful set of Minis.

It's amazing that after nearly 60 years, the Mini is still loved so much.

 

Cheers, Alan.

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Hi All,

Some updates. What makes the Monte Carlo Mini a bit iconic, is the wheel arches. So, without further ado:

y4mpmvbK2yrPutCZZGm3E2rykEZ4oCKhmviUHie5

y4mXDfDSEJ-4UUoumTfdL4E0Slsco05u336eqJnw

y4miOkxG9064uWQvJqyAUNBbLWUaAMONIwGK6IFH

y4mmu5DNmn5OwjAtZ5W9bvFjIs-HRiKh5gmVrIdV

I think that it makes it look a bit more purposeful.

There was a bit of minor repair work to the wheel arches due to that fact that I painted them on the sprue, then had to cut them off very carefully.

A quick swipe with a small rounded file, and some very fine wet-n-dry before putting them on tidied up the scarring. I touched them up after attaching them to the body.

I didn't want to risk damaging the paintwork, so I attached them with Hiro-boy's Cristal Clear PVA adhesive.

I figured that if it was strong enough to hold widows in, it was probably strong enough to hold the wheel arches on.

So far, so good.

It's beginning to look like a rally Mini.

 

Thanks for looking, Alan.

Edited by Alan R
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Hi All again,

I decided to post these two stages separately, because in reality, the first pictures were taken some time before the second.

I thought that I would try to do the window surrounds and some of the chrome trim.

The chrome trim appears to extend onto the wheel arches, so:

y4m9a0USQOWIPBE55b16BP6eAFE66F4lWzT4jr9z

y4mRP12aqO9ud0f_728JNUEXoEnc5ZMMphyJAtWH

As you can see, the chrome needs a bit of 'refining', so I will be touching up the chrome surrounds later.

y4m0og2VbgDYMNr23e88qSn8OmXzKv1ekHpgqsJG

y4mjdvXc4l9p0M7fjOTIZZICtYP3jmioUvR8I2Zr

The window rubbers need a bit of work too. Again, I will be touching those up as well.

y4mGlevLKUV7KkhbBSUat4KLXW_G-GvC-TjkJyCI

 

The chrome trim was painted with a micro-brush, rather than the pen itself. A bit tricky to do, but it does allow for more control I think.

 

Next. Attach the roof...

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Alan.

 

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Hi All,

Just a bit more progress. The roof is on. It begins to look like a Mini...

 

y4mqAs0BVz_Ez-qY83UaSRYlPUO3THtzg_QZDX5q

y4mJZnYlx9cQh87RCbxgvMTYe79bCNk4jChCIO-B

y4meZWdNpK8DQVlJRsJrkQ6o8-tl8XisKvt4DDap

y4miGV21CeV3zBoNUsQH3gQcUWAgKpNRDGb9Y6bt

y4m_EZX9pvNeKgw6geKIf7AenjJwj9kTAljh9BPt

 

You can just see the ignition leads lurking behind the oil cooler here...

 

I have already assembled the headlights and spotlights, but not installed them yet.

I think that some decaling is required first. Then I will reduce the risk of knocking them off while trying to apply the decals...

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Alan.

 

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Hi All,

Another update. I'm really on a roll with this.

I have applied all the decals, and it now looks like a Rally Mini...

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y4mXxBVpsTPpFaAGqKNImmcjgQU-IcpJzmmkuTAM

I noticed that the Rally Plate was skew, but only after the thing had set completely. Not sure how that happened. Anyway, why not make the picture skewed as well ... :)

Actually, it's just poor camera work...

y4mczCmQkmJrUZzwPjU5wM-scoof_BIB9ClJyK1k

y4md-DwS-6reknBa9U96ltMVjHL2DDY_X9sFSKaR

 

There still some more to do. More tomorrow, I hope...

 

Thanks for looking, Alan.

 

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Hi All,

Another 'Mini' update...

I have most of the chrome-work attached now. Forgive the crap pictures:

y4mC7ju28mAlIdHViZr-5K5aK-PTVWktZ7SISN3z

y4mIst6xL0P1e_pxDEDBF_7H69zfNI1dQ6BRr6ZE

I'm not sure what happened here. The light was lowish, and I was hand-holding the camera AND crouching and wobbling...

Never mind, better luck next time.

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y4mufWqLeT7Urp5UKE4mWtdvJFzEIao4dEtrtLVx

 

Just a few more things to attach, like door handles, auxiliary lights and rear number plate.

 

More soon.

 

Thanks for looking, Alan.

 

 

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Hi All,

Just another small update on this guy.

I have managed to attach all the fiddly bits of chrome-work and most of the side-lights.

All that is left to do is the back number-plate, the rear lights and the roof furniture.

So, pictures:

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y4mC4SGNFmDLvfpCI2ngipt8ENRZLN_Q81rlZQcf

y4mp3-Qt7X-0QsoaIYdQ0jhhVb6UJ9RKPJ2tc8hX


Since taking the picture, I noticed that the door-handle on the nearside was a bit skew, so I detached it (it was fixed in with strong PVA glue) and re-attached it.

 

We are nearly there with this one.

 

Thanks for looking, Alan.

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1 hour ago, mini man said:

Dont worry about the handle Alan,the mk1s always went askew.

That's true. I think my Mini did that.

Cheers, Alan.

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