pau10wen Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 Right then, new start. Still need some finished pics for my last build, but have been itching to leave it a while a start something new. I've always wanted to have a play with this escort mk2 kit that seems to have been around forever. I also know that the fitment of a lot of the parts is a bit iffy. Well, I've made a start, and it's worse than I previously thought, lol. The wheel positioning in the wheel Wells is the most obvious, which I mean to try to address, but the body fit also seems to be a 'near enough' type affair 🤔🙄. Ahh well, here we go with another jigsaw. I'm going for this sort of stance... After a very quick mock up, and some aftermarket minilites, could be OK... The flat boot interior wall had to go as a spare tyre wouldn't even fit! So I made a nice new hole and built a fuel tank using the filler cap from the kit. Much better after I'd removed the doors and boot too, the spare now fits Used magnets and some plasticard to wedge and position the body and floor, so that I get a consistent fit each time I put them together (took a good while!) Also fabricated a new floor section (in white) to cover the new mess my hole made 😂 Then re-fitted the bonnet and boot so that they can open and close. I had a head start on how to attack the bonnet as I've had a play with the belkits mk1 escort bonnet, so that wasn't too bad. Boot lid was MUCH harder to figure out, but I got there... I'm making the jigsaw pieces up as I go, so god knows how long this one will take. Hopefully it'll keep me sane for a while as I'm still stuck at home. Thanks for looking as always, hope everyone is still safe and well 👍👍 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy J Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 Excellent choice can't wait to see what you conjure up with this one. The wheels especially need to sit further out in the arches so once you've cracked that issue I can build mine 🙂 Defo following this one 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElectricLightAndy Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 (edited) This is going to be a cool project, I love the mods you've made I look forward to seeing your progress. M'lady has been keeping me busy whilst furloughed with gardening and decorating... you know, just in case I might relax a bit 🤣 Andy. Edited May 4, 2020 by ElectricLightAndy 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 You can't have too many Escorts looking forward to seeing what you do with this Stay safe Roger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redstaff Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 Looking forward to seeing your progress on this one mate I've got one in the stash with the Cossack decals and a RH dash, but I'm not a big Italeri fan at the minute while I'm fighting the Stratos 🤣 So I'll sit back and see how you get on first, not that I'm chicken or anything Ian 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anteater Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 Ambitious start, I look forward to seeing where this goes. Glad to see you've ditched the awful wheels that are supplied with the kit. A good set of aftermarket minilites transforms these. The other thing I found was it's worth drilling out behind the headlamps to add some depth to the lenses, but you look as if you know what you're doing so I won't teach you to suck eggs! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pau10wen Posted May 4, 2020 Author Share Posted May 4, 2020 6 hours ago, Andy J said: Excellent choice can't wait to see what you conjure up with this one. The wheels especially need to sit further out in the arches so once you've cracked that issue I can build mine 🙂 Defo following this one Thanks for the follow Andy, since I've made sure that the body and base fit correctly, the work on the wheels is now wrong 😂😂😂 Jigsaws are supposed to be fun? Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pau10wen Posted May 4, 2020 Author Share Posted May 4, 2020 3 hours ago, ElectricLightAndy said: This is going to be a cool project, I love the mods you've made I look forward to seeing your progress. M'lady has been keeping me busy whilst furloughed with gardening and decorating... you know, just in case I might relax a bit 🤣 Andy. I've dodged the decorating so far Andy, I feel your pain though, lol The missus hasn't reached full quarantine fever pitch yet, so it's only a matter of time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pau10wen Posted May 4, 2020 Author Share Posted May 4, 2020 2 hours ago, Hamden said: You can't have too many Escorts looking forward to seeing what you do with this Stay safe Roger Thanks Roger, one of my many favourites but some of the parts on this one have always bugged me, especially the fit of the wheels. We'll see how it goes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schwarz-Brot Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 Great start already. I'm sure I'll find some good ideas to add to the scratchbuilding repertoire along the way. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pau10wen Posted May 4, 2020 Author Share Posted May 4, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, Redstaff said: Looking forward to seeing your progress on this one mate I've got one in the stash with the Cossack decals and a RH dash, but I'm not a big Italeri fan at the minute while I'm fighting the Stratos 🤣 So I'll sit back and see how you get on first, not that I'm chicken or anything Ian I've looked at the stratos kit parts on the spot model website Ian, it does look a challenge against the revell one I built, or even some of the old hasegawa ones. Definitely an italeri kit, if you know what I mean? Lol I don't know if this'll end up as a cossack red car or not, I'm wondering about using these tarmac wheels when I can't find a reference picture of the Roger Clark car with them on, apart from later pics at car shows etc... Maybe this will be the white and blue striped mikkola car shown on the box? Need to decide soon! Lol Edited May 4, 2020 by pau10wen 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pau10wen Posted May 4, 2020 Author Share Posted May 4, 2020 2 hours ago, Anteater said: Ambitious start, I look forward to seeing where this goes. Glad to see you've ditched the awful wheels that are supplied with the kit. A good set of aftermarket minilites transforms these. The other thing I found was it's worth drilling out behind the headlamps to add some depth to the lenses, but you look as if you know what you're doing so I won't teach you to suck eggs! Thanks anteater, i'll take any tips I can get! I've got a photo etch detail kit with x2 versions of the grille (Ford badge and Ford lettering). Both are see-through so I'll need to do some drilling to open that area up, but hadn't considered the headlamps 🤔👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pau10wen Posted May 4, 2020 Author Share Posted May 4, 2020 11 minutes ago, Schwarz-Brot said: Great start already. I'm sure I'll find some good ideas to add to the scratchbuilding repertoire along the way. Thanks schwarz That's the plan, I do love that each different kit seems to offer new learning opportunities, lol 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 8 hours ago, Andy J said: The wheels especially need to sit further out in the arches Not convinced on that, Paul 2nd & 3rd photos look about right to me but maybe I'm thinking rally rather than race. I'm keen to try one of these, long hours spent in out of the way places in the wee small hours waiting for the flair of lights followed shortly by a blair of noise left an indelible impression on me. Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy J Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 8 hours ago, stevehnz said: Not convinced on that, Paul 2nd & 3rd photos look about right to me but maybe I'm thinking rally rather than race. I'm keen to try one of these, long hours spent in out of the way places in the wee small hours waiting for the flair of lights followed shortly by a blair of noise left an indelible impression on me. Steve. Sorry guys I meant they look awful as they come standard with the kit they do indeed look way better in the pics above. Apologies for the confusion 🙂 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pau10wen Posted May 5, 2020 Author Share Posted May 5, 2020 (edited) 17 hours ago, stevehnz said: Not convinced on that, Paul 2nd & 3rd photos look about right to me but maybe I'm thinking rally rather than race. I'm keen to try one of these, long hours spent in out of the way places in the wee small hours waiting for the flair of lights followed shortly by a blair of noise left an indelible impression on me. Steve. Snap Steve, me too! Although I must admit, the 5 cylinder audi's made the biggest impression on me. That said you can't beat a mk1/2 escort working it's way through the revs 👌👌👍👍 Edited May 5, 2020 by pau10wen 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pau10wen Posted May 5, 2020 Author Share Posted May 5, 2020 8 hours ago, Andy J said: Sorry guys I meant they look awful as they come standard with the kit they do indeed look way better in the pics above. Apologies for the confusion 🙂 No confusion Andy, but to be honest I'm still caught between wanting to use those tarmac wheels desperately, and wanting to use the Cossack decals for a Roger Clark car. I could then do the mk1 belkits in a similar fashion, but I reckon both really need gravel wheels 🤔 I'm thinking cossack car, and am attempting to make good moulds to copy the smaller set of belkits mk1 escort tyres (I have some spare wheels from the mk1 kit, but not tyres). These fit well as gravel wheels for me. Pic below mocked up roughly.... I may well want to use my 2nd set of tarmac wheels on a separate mk1 build as I love the look, so maybe the answer is to just buy another mk1 kit for the tyres now (only spending money at tesco at the minute, lol) and make a mk1 tarmac car in the future with the new kit? Aaaargh! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pau10wen Posted May 6, 2020 Author Share Posted May 6, 2020 (edited) Test fitting the dash today, I've purchased an aftermarket RHD resin dash, but it and the kit seats are not going to work. So I'm plundering some spare sprues from the mk1 escort belkits kit. Here are the kit seats, just weird? And here are the belkits escort seats roughly positioned, they need wotk but are a much better starting point I think Now, the RHD dash, strange that someone would go to the trouble of reversing the whole dash for this kit to RHD but not move anything around to make the steering wheel line up with the seats? It's an exact mirror image of the kit dash, I can't imagine how you make that without having to make it new?!? Anyway, here's the steering wheel centralised on the aftermarket dash. Off-centre to the drivers seat. And here's where I'd like it to sit So, it's time to cut stuff up again 😡🤬🙄 Here's the kit dash cut to pieces, an hour spent trying not to hack off a finger... And the main console repositioned with a thin blank across the main area. The belkits steering wheel also fits the build better than the kit one, which always seemed too big and thick to me. Roughly fitted in the new position, I'm happy with it as a replacement so far... Productive day, much happier with that. Hope you're all well and safe, and thanks for looking as always. 👍👍 Edited May 6, 2020 by pau10wen 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiny Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 17 minutes ago, pau10wen said: Now, the RHD dash, strange that someone would go to the trouble of reversing the whole dash for this kit to RHD but not move anything around to make the steering wheel line up with the seats? It's an exact mirror image of the kit dash, I can't imagine how you make that without having to make it new?!? Not sure why you're puzzled - up until about 30 years ago it was almost unheard of for an Italian car to have lined up seat, wheel and pedals so why should their kit be any different As for those kit seats, I have to agree they do look odd - almost as though they took them from a beach buggy or similar. As for your build, what can I say other than that it seems to be living up to your usual high standard. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy J Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 As always great mods I feel another special build on it's way 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pau10wen Posted May 6, 2020 Author Share Posted May 6, 2020 (edited) 13 minutes ago, Spiny said: Not sure why you're puzzled - up until about 30 years ago it was almost unheard of for an Italian car to have lined up seat, wheel and pedals so why should their kit be any different As for those kit seats, I have to agree they do look odd - almost as though they took them from a beach buggy or similar. As for your build, what can I say other than that it seems to be living up to your usual high standard. Thanks spiny, very kind I've had lots of longing looks at this kit in the box over the years, but it never looked quite as bad as it seems to be now I've come to putting it together. I've seen a lot of really nice examples of this kit built, and each one has my respect and admiration. Especially for their levels of patience 😂😂😂 Edited May 6, 2020 by pau10wen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pau10wen Posted May 6, 2020 Author Share Posted May 6, 2020 6 minutes ago, Andy J said: As always great mods I feel another special build on it's way 👍 Cheers Andy, also very kind of you too 👍 This kit though, honestly 😂😂😂 I'm edging towards saying stuff it and doing the tarmac wheels with the Cossack decals so that I don't have to take another one of these on too soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy J Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 Very similar situation to Ian with his Beemax Delta and then the italeri stratos. Most of us are aware of the limitations of the italeri kits but imagine someone new to modeling trying to build the escort or the stratos!! For someone like yourself this is a challenge for a newbie it's a nightmare 😱 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pau10wen Posted May 6, 2020 Author Share Posted May 6, 2020 You make a good point. It would appeal as a newbie too as one of the less pricey kits. That'll be why I have 3 of them knocking about! The beemax lancia s4 looks amazingly detailed out of box, it's a bit daunting to be totally honest. I've got one, and have another great looking KMP tarmac wheel set from Italy, but there looks a lot to go at! Thought Ian made a great looking job of it, added some extra subtle detail bits and gave it a little bit of extra oomph 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy J Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 I'm slowly coming round to a bit of extra detail, nothing on the scale that you achieve, but I certainly look at thing's a little differently now. Whether or not it's something I will develop I'm not sure but at least I can always settle for watching your builds 🙂 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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