Revell 1/24 Land Rover

[Natter]

3 hours ago, Kirk said:

Y'all seen this right?

Oooh.  Too late for me but thank you for highlighting this for others.

[xffw45343tg]

6 minutes ago, Natter said:

Too late for me

Nonsense. There's always the next Landy...

 

:)

[Natter]

Good morning All, I have been pottering with the Land Rover and to be brutally honest I just want it off my desk now.  I need to find something to restore my mojo after this, something simple to build straight from the box that doesn't need correcting and can just fly off in to the cabinet.

 

Enough complaining, where am I up to.  The real dash, from an 88" admittedly, looks like this.  From t'internet sources the Station Wagon dash looks the same.

 

 

This is how I have tried to replicate it on the model, using fine wire with painted bits for the switches.  Sorry they're a bit out of focus.

 

 

 

The gear levers of their various types have been adjusted on the model to make them a little more like the real thing.  The limitations of plastic moulding are really what makes them what they aare and makes it worth doing a little work to get the model closer to the real thing.  Nothing a bit of fine wire and a few minutes work can't put to rights, and not Revell's fault.  The real one is photographed in the garage with the flash, hence the heavy shadows.

 

 

The model is like this.  Note that I have redone the main gear lever as on the six cyliinder models it is not double kinked the way it is on the four cylinder models.

 

 

With the sides on the cab and the dash in place it is starting to come together.  Looking at the photo made me realise I have forgotten the decals for the gear selection instructions that are on the centre part of the dash in front of the main gear lever.  I shall add those before closing the body up.

 

 

In the second view note that the fuel filler cap recess has been fitted to the side panel, as per the instructions at Stage 45.  Follow the instructions!  I fitted it to the interior of the bodyshell and ripped it off trying to force the interior in to place for a dry fit.

 

 

Just as an aside, when I started my last modelling session the bench had the model box, the newspaper and a few bits on it.  By the time the session finished I had reduced my available space to not much more than the size of the model itself.  Is this just me or do you find yourselves doing the same thing?

 

[Hamden]

 

Like your dash reprosentation most realistic

 

    Roger

[JeroenS]

Looking good Dave, I'm sure this one will be satisfying once finished. And you did leave some nice pointers for the rest of us!

[Natter]

Two more I missed fom the last post.  The metal colours I am using are form the new Vallejo acrylic Metal Colour range.  I have only sprayed them over the primer so far, not over gloss black primer yet.  I quite like them - as does Phil Flory if you follow his vlog.  They don't seem to be too bad to handle, though they are more fragile than solid colours, but I will continue to give them a run alongside my Alclad lacquers.  I am going to have the bonnet closed on my model, but the engine bay gives a really good base for detailing and the engine shape is reasonably accurate.

 

 

Some of the positions for the later additions, to go in when the bodyshell is fitted, are a little vague.  I'll see how that goes when I get to that stage.

 

Oh yes - don't bother to try and highlight the radiator fins as I did by dry brushing.  The ones behind the radiator are completely hidden by the fan cowl and the front ones are obscured by the bodyshell front panel.

 

Mmmm...  the exhaust.  A simple thing with one piece for the full length and one more piece as half of the silencer box.  Attached to the manifold, then the front left outrigger and then under the rear axle.  The instructions are clear, fit it before installing the rear axle.  Once again the instructions are right and I didn't do this, but therein lies another warning about the law of unintended consequences.  The silencer box doesn't fit properly if you reduce the ride height of the rear axle, and the box has to be forced sideways to get it between the axled and the floor of the body.  I had to cut the end section off to fit the exhaust after the axle, and used a fine wire pin to give support to the new join.  Here you can see it has been forced at an angle by the new axle position.  As it is hidden behind the wheel I am leaving it as it is.

 

 

The exhaust has to be fitted before the bodyshell too as it passes through the inner wing panel and is trapped by the bodyshell.  Dry fit the bodyshell to check your clearances before gluing the engine end of the exhaust or the join to the front outrigger.  When I fitted the bodyshell to check fit with these joins glued it broke the locating pin at the outrigger and pulled off the manifold.  The fit just needs a bit of a tweak so please take care in this area as you build; it may be worth leaving these joins loose until the bodyshell is fitted, but note the forward end of the exhaust would then need to be fitted through the hole in the wing panel.  This isn't a difficult area, just be ready to fiddle and tweak and avoid my errors.

[Spiny]

11 hours ago, Natter said:

Just as an aside, when I started my last modelling session the bench had the model box, the newspaper and a few bits on it.  By the time the session finished I had reduced my available space to not much more than the size of the model itself.  Is this just me or do you find yourselves doing the same thing?

 

Not just you, and this is precisely why I always clear the desk between models.

[cmatthewbacon]

56 minutes ago, Spiny said:

Not just you, and this is precisely why I always clear the desk between models.

BETWEEN models? I have to do mine every couple of days! If there's one thing I'd change for my next workspace, it would be a way of having the box full of sprues not on the modelling bench but accessible, a way to display the instructions open so I can read them (which means in a way that's compatible with my multifocals), and all my paints within reach but not constantly falling off the blinkin' shelves... If there's THREE things I would change... (and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope...)

When we move house in some (4-12) months when Julie lands her next vicar-ing gig, I'll be able to build my fourth go at this and see if I can get that right... I sit down in the current version, and stood at the bench in the previous one, which was better, on the whole. The real luxury would be able to hold the stash and reference bookshelves in one room, and have a dedicated, brightly lit, ventilated workspace with accessible tool and paint storage all around, with the most used things closest to hand...

best,

M.

[Cooper645]

Superb work @Natter

I have this model in the stash and just did a simple OOB build of the Italeri 1/35 offering.

 

nothing on this level of workmanship. I will be using some of your lessons when I carry out this build myself. 
 

@cmatthewbacon
 

I recently purchased some storage units and they have helped tidy the workspace immensely. There’s even the pull out keyboard shelf to store boxes and sprues on 🙂

 

 

Apologies @Natter for the half hijack

 

Coops

[ModelMonkey]

To continue the hijack...sorry...I'm using THE desk during the day to work from home so I need to clear and clean it daily... I have got pretty slick though. 

 

I'm about 70% of the way through the same kit, pics to follow once I'm done. Yours is looking great Natter!

[s.e.charles]

On 4/3/2020 at 4:53 AM, Natter said:

 . . .as an aside, when I started my last modelling session the bench had the model box, the newspaper and a few bits on it.  By the time the session finished I had reduced my available space to not much more than the size of the model itself.  Is this just me or do you find yourselves doing the same thing?

 

no matter the size of the workbench, everything takes place in a 12" x 12" area.

 

nice job on the Land Rover.

[Natter]

Good evening All, a small update on the Land Rover; from a clear-ish desk.  The outer part of the rear cross member of the model is moulded with the body, which makes a very nice neat finish.  The chassis part of the rear cross member is moulded solid, which means that the through and through hole, which is a throwback for the Power Take Off drive, is not through the chassis but is just a shallow representation.  In the photo below I have drilled the pilot hole:

 

 

The circumference of the hole was scribed and then the body was removed again:

 

 

With the hole drilled right through and the inside painted black it looks much more like the real thing.  The galvanised cappings were masked and sprayed with Vallejo Metal Color Aluminium direct over the green body colour.  This acrylic sprays straight from the bottle, covers beautifully and seems to give a properly metallic finish without the strong smell of lacquers.  The rear lights and reflectors are Tamiya acrylic clear colours:

 

 

The engine bay was completed as an exercise to see what it would be like.  A word of warning here about the battery.  The instructions have the battery fitted before the air filter and trunking - follow this order or you can't fit the battery as this goes under the intake trunking.  The instructions are very vague regarding where the battery actually locates, I think it sits on the top of the right chassis member.  I didn't follow the order of the instrcutions, which is why the battery is missing; oops.  As I have closed the bonnet none of this will be seen again so no real worries there:

 

 

On to the bonnet mount for the spare wheel.  This is my interpretation, which I now realise isn't fully accurate.  The hoop and spigot type mounting isn't on a circular base as I have done it but on a strip mount, and I think uses straps to hold the wheel down.  The circular mount has two bolts and clamps.  Oh well, it is what it is now.  You'll see I have started to fit the windows too.  They fit beautifully in to their respective openings and I have secured them with thinned Formula 560 canopy glue run in to the edges with a fine paint brush:

 

 

The wheel just pops on to the mount:

 

 

One of the other 'new to me' things I have tried on this model is AK Interactive's Panel Liner.  The panel gaps on the Land Rover Series and Defender models are fairly substantial, so highlighting them on the model is more than acceptable, it is really necessary.  The paint finish was given a coat of Klear before the panel liner was applied, and then another coat of Klear sealed it and gave the paintwork a suitably muted satin finish.  This is where we are at so far then:

 

 

We are getting there - slowly.

[Paul H]

Is that the same finish on the front bumper as the rest of the trim?  It looks like it has a suitably mottled galvanised finish, which works really well.

[Natter]

Hi Paul, I have tried to get a mottled galvanised finish on the front bumper.  I used a sponge and a mix of greys over the same Aluminium used on the cappings.  It isn't a bad result, but for once I think the photographs are better than real life.  Maybe I should have thinned the greys a little more.

[Paul H]

Ah - that's a neat trick!  This was one of the things I was wondering how to do, as just silver on the bumper won't look right.  Fresh galvanising is often quite harsh looking - if you think it is too much, some light weathering may tone it down, however it looks good to me!

[Pete in Lincs]

A Cracking Landie! 

[heloman1]

Hi, understand what you are saying re the Italeri kit. I waited and got the Revell kit. I was following your earlier build of the 90 chop and started to build mine, however you didn't give any dims for the cuts you made. Since then, I can't find that build thread! Is it still on BM?

 

Colin

[Natter]

Hello All, the last quick WiP entry.  I remade the rear number plate from plasticard as the kit piece is quite thick.  In hindsight I should have put the decal on and then cut it to size as it is a little too large.  Oh well.  I had painted the black seal around the safari windows with a fine paitbrush in a earlier session, the same as the ones on the Italeri model.  The two rear quarterlights should have the same seals really, but they're not there on the model.  EDIT: No they shouldn't this is my error and the kit is correct.  The originals as factory fitted didn't have seals until the Defenders, only aftermarket fits have the seals to hold them in.  The model is correct.

 

The last fiddly bits were the sink marks in the wing mirrors:

 

 

These has a bit of perfect plastic putty worked in to them and then they were levelled out with a micro chisel:

 

 

The kit comes with decals for the mirror but I used BMF chrome for the mirrors' shiny bits.  I didn't take a specific photo but you can just about see them in the photos I took from the rear: still not perfect but much better.

 

 

Well that's it then.  I'll put some more pics in RFI later this evening.  Imay have given this kit a good slagging through this WiP but generally it is quite a nice model.  Sadly it is let down by the over thick springs and the 'toy like' moulding which makes the ride height so high; and don't mention that gearbox.  The lack of a bonnet mount for the spare is a shame, but that can be easily worked around.  The Italeri model is great, but some of the Revell bits are better, so both are a bit of a compromise.  As a Series III Station Wagon this is the only 24th scale game in town, so break out your scalpels, files and sense of humour and get one built!

Edited July 13, 2020 by Natter
Erratum correction

[JeroenS]

I'd say you managed to create a very good looking version!

[Natter]

On 4/17/2020 at 2:00 PM, heloman1 said:

Hi, understand what you are saying re the Italeri kit. I waited and got the Revell kit. I was following your earlier build of the 90 chop and started to build mine, however you didn't give any dims for the cuts you made. Since then, I can't find that build thread! Is it still on BM?

 

Colin

Hi Colin,  it was someone else did the 88" conversion but I can't remember who.  If you need some dimensions PM me and I'll measure my 1:1 88" for you.

[heloman1]

On 4/18/2020 at 9:19 PM, Natter said:

Hi Colin,  it was someone else did the 88" conversion but I can't remember who.  If you need some dimensions PM me and I'll measure my 1:1 88" for you.

Many thanks, don't have the kit with  me at present, I'm away from home. Will contact you later.

 

Colin

[Ryedale Wolf]

You don't mention that in the instructions Revell have mixed up their LHD and RHD...

[Natter]

On 6/7/2020 at 12:25 PM, Ryedale Wolf said:

You don't mention that in the instructions Revell have mixed up their LHD and RHD...

Hi Wolfie, the discussion about Revell's mistake with the LHD and RHD versions was in a different post in vehicle discussion, and I didn't repeat it here.  The notes I put on are on the second page of the Topic linked here.