1/24 Citroën 2CV RHD conversion

[Jonners]

Hi folks,

I'm veering right from my usual aviation subjects here, so I'm somewhat out of my comfort zone!  I recently bought a Revell 1/24 Citroën 2CV Charleston kit with which to recreate my -almost as-recently-bought 1/1 scale Dolly:

The kit seems to provide a very good starting point with most of the real-life differences (eg seat headrests, no overriders) being pretty straightforward to recreate.  All 3 kits that I've seen though - Revell, Heller and Tamiya - have the left-hand drive interior and mine, being a UK car, is right-hand drive.

 

I'm obviously going to have to either significantly modify or perhaps scratchbuild the dashboard area (okay, perhaps 'dashboard' is being generous in a 2CV...).  My question is: has anybody done this before and/or know of any top tips?

 

This isn't going to be done in a hurry, as I already have a list of things to do on the full-scale version!

 

Jon

[JeroenS]

Nice project. Your 1:1 looks great too. I've never done a conversion like that; what does the "dash" look like? Could you post some pics of it?

[Jonners]

2 hours ago, JeroenS said:

Nice project. Your 1:1 looks great too. I've never done a conversion like that; what does the "dash" look like? Could you post some pics of it?

Well, I'll give it a go.

 

First up is the overall kit 'dashboard' part on the sprue:

 

 

...compared with the real RHD thing (apologies for the dodgy pic, just taken under the carport in the dark!):

 

 

The instrument and switch binnacle looks like this in the kit:

 

 

...whereas the 1:1 version looks like this:

 

 

Hmmm.  The one-piece floor mat that is visible in the second photo is represented like this on the kit floorpan:

 

 

Close, but no cigar. There's no smooth section around the steering column in the real car, though there's a smooth rectangle under the driver's heels, and I've no idea what the raised rectangle represents. Looking on the bright side, I'm not going to be stuck for references!

 

Jon

Edited March 7, 2019 by Jonners

[Spiny]

1 hour ago, Jonners said:

Close, but no cigar. There's no smooth section around the steering column in the real car, though there's a smooth rectangle under the driver's heels, and I've no idea what the raised rectangle represents. Looking on the bright side, I'm not going to be stuck for references!

 

Jon

I'd say that the raised rectangle is the driver's heel pad - you can see it on the floor of the interior of your car and it's in the right place if you transpose the mat for a left-hand drive. Similarly, looking at your first interior photo I'd say that there is a smooth section on the floor around the steering column, and by the looks of it the steering column is in the bottom right corner of that smooth section whichever side the driver sits.

 

When it comes to how to correct for this and the dash though, I'm afraid you will need advice from a far better modeller than me.

[Jonners]

1 hour ago, Spiny said:

I'd say that the raised rectangle is the driver's heel pad - you can see it on the floor of the interior of your car and it's in the right place if you transpose the mat for a left-hand drive. Similarly, looking at your first interior photo I'd say that there is a smooth section on the floor around the steering column, and by the looks of it the steering column is in the bottom right corner of that smooth section whichever side the driver sits.

 

When it comes to how to correct for this and the dash though, I'm afraid you will need advice from a far better modeller than me.

Yes, on reflection I suppose the raised rectangle must be a representation of the heel pad; it’s too far inboard if you were to simply ‘mirror image’ it to RHD but I think it would probably be in the correct place for LHD pedals.  You’re absolutely right about the smooth section, though - I don’t know what I was thinking when I said it wasn’t present in the real car. It’s really obvious! D’oh...

 

Jon

[JeroenS]

I'd say you should be good to go after cutting out the glovebox (which your 1:1 doesn't seem to have anyway) and the instrument panel surrounds, i.e. everything in that lower part like this 

 

 

 

Just keep the frame. Then scratch build the instrument panel, the kit's version doesn't look a bit like the real thing. That's what I would do and I'm not exactly a master scratchbuilder so if I could do it...

[Jonners]

17 hours ago, JeroenS said:

I'd say you should be good to go after cutting out the glovebox (which your 1:1 doesn't seem to have anyway) and the instrument panel surrounds, i.e. everything in that lower part like this 

 

 

 

Just keep the frame. Then scratch build the instrument panel, the kit's version doesn't look a bit like the real thing. That's what I would do and I'm not exactly a master scratchbuilder so if I could do it...

Thanks, Jeroen; I think something like that is the best way to go. I'll definitely have to make my own i strument panel, but that's not a big worry. 

 

 

[Admiral Puff]

You could have a look at Ebbro's 2CV Pickup - kit 25004 - which can be built as an RN vehicle, and so comes with an RHD instrument panel as an option. It's basically a standard Deux Chevaux, so the panel may not be appropriate for a Dolly.