cmatthewbacon Posted January 19, 2020 Share Posted January 19, 2020 Simple to build but exquisitely detailed in parts, with fit that's great in some places, not so good in others... It's really not very big... Got quite a little stack more of these little Hellers as light relief between larger scale builds... best, M. 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElectricLightAndy Posted January 19, 2020 Share Posted January 19, 2020 Yeeeeees, I've been waiting for you to post these built up, beautiful job on a stunning car... and not quite in BL brown either what's next? Andy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Smith Posted January 19, 2020 Share Posted January 19, 2020 are they your personalised plates as well 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gt6mkiii Posted January 19, 2020 Share Posted January 19, 2020 Nice! Too small for my eyesight to work on but it looks great. 49 minutes ago, cmatthewbacon said: with fit that's great in some places, not so good in others... Like the real car? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted January 19, 2020 Share Posted January 19, 2020 52 minutes ago, cmatthewbacon said: Simple to build but exquisitely detailed in parts, with fit that's great in some places, not so good in others... I was going to say but... 2 minutes ago, gt6mkiii said: Like the real car? ...he beat me to the drop. Great work, I'm hoping some more of these will pop up in the Classic Heller GB, these really are Heller classics and you've done a fantastic job there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted January 19, 2020 Share Posted January 19, 2020 He beat me too. Nice car to drive though. I've never seen the kit built up before. Good job, Matt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeroenS Posted January 19, 2020 Share Posted January 19, 2020 1 hour ago, cmatthewbacon said: It's really not very big... He says... seriously, I went to the box in which I keep my Tamiya paint jars and took one out to double check the size... the car's tiny! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted January 19, 2020 Share Posted January 19, 2020 Lovely job on one of my favourite British cars of the '80s (aside from the TR7!) I would like to build this kit as a police traffic car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiny Posted January 19, 2020 Share Posted January 19, 2020 The SD1 always looked good to my eyes, and that's as true of this model as it is of the real thing. Fantastic work, especially given it's only 1:43. I wish someone would do a 1:24, but that's probably a big ask and small seller in the grand scheme of things 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan R Posted January 20, 2020 Share Posted January 20, 2020 (edited) The SD1 was a good car plagued by build and reliability issues. Shame really. The V8 was quick! Under-pinnings were a bit agricultural, though. Live rear axle when all their competitors has IRS? What were they thinking! Cheers, Alan. Edited January 20, 2020 by Alan R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul H Posted January 20, 2020 Share Posted January 20, 2020 On 19/01/2020 at 21:26, Spiny said: The SD1 always looked good to my eyes, and that's as true of this model as it is of the real thing. Fantastic work, especially given it's only 1:43. I wish someone would do a 1:24, but that's probably a big ask and small seller in the grand scheme of things I'm hoping that Beemax will do a Vitesse touring car (one is visible in the background of the artwork of their Volvo 242 Turbo). I suspect that is the only way a 1:24 one will appear. 10 hours ago, Alan R said: The SD1 was a good car plagued by build and reliability issues. Shame really. The V8 was quick! Under-pinnings were a bit agricultural, though. Live rear axle when all their competitors has IRS? What were they thinking! Simply a case of cost saving - this was the dark days of BL... Rover were fully capable of desigining and building a more advanced rear suspension, as demonstrated by the de Dion rear on the P6 from a decade earlier. However, I recall back in the early / mid '90s that Performance Car mag (when still a proper car mag) featuring the Vitesse version in a regular series of articles on older performance cars, and describing them as being not far off a 5 door TVR, so the live axle can't have been that bad. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunkyChiken Posted January 21, 2020 Share Posted January 21, 2020 Beautiful little build! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rs2man Posted January 21, 2020 Share Posted January 21, 2020 On 1/20/2020 at 12:52 PM, Alan R said: Under-pinnings were a bit agricultural, though. Live rear axle when all their competitors has IRS? What were they thinking! Cheers, Alan. Ah , but it was a properly-located coil-sprung live axle . A good live axle is better than an indifferent IRS , not least because you don't get any track or camber changes & your tyres stay planted square on the road . A lot of IRS set-ups tend to be semi-trailing arm & , unless the springs are very stiff , suffer from considerable camber change . That's why Sierras had tyres that were way too wide for the rims (195/60s on 5.5 inch rims) so the tyres could roll sideways on the rim & keep the tread on the road . If they'd had 6.5 inch rims , which are more appropriate for a 195/60 , they would have spent much of their life balanced on the inner or outer edges of the tyres with consequent rapid tyre wear & loss of grip . Now back to the original subject of the thread . Great model Matt - I'd forgotten about that kit . Those 1/43 Heller kits really were lovely little things . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul H Posted February 1, 2020 Share Posted February 1, 2020 On 19/01/2020 at 17:24, cmatthewbacon said: Simple to build but exquisitely detailed in parts, with fit that's great in some places, not so good in others... The end result looks like it turned out great to me! Proportions and shape look just right too. What went well, and what wasn't so good about the build? I have one of these which I was originally planning to paint in one of the solid colours that they were available in, but the colour on your model looks absolutely spot on for a pre-facelift SD1 😎 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orky Posted April 14, 2020 Share Posted April 14, 2020 looks stunning. I think the vanguards and minichamps versions (series 2 I know) are too small width-wise - can you tell me please if this version is wider than minichamps? If so I would like to get it and redo in another colour, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klubman01 Posted April 14, 2020 Share Posted April 14, 2020 Many moons ago I owned an SD1 2600S. It was like driving a boat! The power steering was too powerful, with little feedback to the driver. Build quality was dubious at best, but a great looking car. The touring car V8's were fantastic. Great model, well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince1159 Posted April 15, 2020 Share Posted April 15, 2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 Lovely model Matt. It takes me back to my silver 2600VDP. I managed to average 8mpg on one tank through 'enthusiastic' driving. Ace car, ace model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmatthewbacon Posted April 19, 2020 Author Share Posted April 19, 2020 Ah-hah! Sorry, I didn’t notice this one had popped up again. So... thanks chaps. I always thought they looked cool, but I’ve never had the chance to own/drive one. Though my first car was a Rover Vitesse, it was a 216... mind you, I liked it a lot! I’d have an SD1 Vitesse in a heartbeat. Amazing that Heller of all companies did so many of BL’s finest — I have an XJ-S and a Princess to go, along with a Renault 30 and Citroen CS. 70s car park classics all! best, M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now