Fiesta S2000

[Spiny]

Well, a month into seatbelts and the rollcage and still not finished... but the end of both is very much in sight now.

 

With the lower part of the roll cage installed last week, it was relatively simple to install the steering column and wheel. As seems to be becoming a habit with this kit, it's easier to ignore the order of the instructions and put the column in before the wheel (although to be fair this probably wouldn't have been too difficult the other way around.

 

 

Meanwhile, I was able to get the straps for the spare wheel fitted at the back. After a bit of debating, I've just strapped these to the floor as there didn't seem way to attach the straps to the rollcage and still have the straps appearing to be holding the wheel in place.

 

 

Of course, straight after taking this photo I discovered that the ratchet was too far back and clashed with the rearmost part of the rollcage, so I've slightly adjusted all the fitment positions for the straps and it will go now.

 

With that done, it was 'just' a case of gluing in the rest of the rollcage. First problem, the top has either flattened out in the box or was moulded too flat, so I had to manipulate more curve on it, particularly at the back. That has meant I've basically had to go around clamping each fitment point until the glue had set. Second problem, if you follow the instructions you fit the dashboard before the rollcage - that makes it tricky to get the front of the rollcage connected so I had to remove the dash for install later (you can see it lurking in the background in the last pic of this post). More delays....

 

 

However, I'm nearly there. The last attachment point is clamped and drying as I write this, but here's what it looks like without the clamp - just need to touch up where I've scuffed the paint and fit the rear cross-member and rear section, both of which look as though they will fit ok with not much fettling.

 

 

So there we are, yet another post from me on the near interminable fitment of the seats, belts and rollcage. Thanks for looking and not drifting off with pic after pic after pic of half-finished cage. Fingers crossed next weekend I can show a finished chassis and interior.

[Andy J]

Well worth the effort Spiny that interior and roll cage look great well done 👍

[Redstaff]

Looking good Spiny 

Must admit I hate the roll cage fitting myself, never had one that fitted perfectly yet and that I haven't had to manipulate to get something else to fit  

Looking forward to the end result  

[Spiny]

Thank you.

 

Forget what I said about the dash having to go in after the rollcage - being a working from home day I had a few minutes end of the day to try dry-fitting it... and it didn't work that way either. So I had to break the front joints of the rollcage, spread it apart and then put the dash in then glue the cage again. At this rate, the rollcage is going to be 80% glue. Think I'm there with the front of it now though.

[Spiny]

This could have been a better weekend, and that's entirely down to the coronavirus - basically I should have been down in Le Mans now but instead I'm here at home.

 

Not all is lost though as I did get some more progress on the Fiesta, and it is definitley taking shape now. First up was finally finishing those darned seatbelts and rollcage. Can't say I'm 100% pleased with the seatbelts at the back as they took a lot of persuading to stay together when wrapped around the rollcage, and it wasn't the easiest thing to get the tweezers in to hold the belt together. But this will have to do:

 

 

All that remained to complete the interior was to complete the door cards. I was fully expecting them to be a pain to fit what with being recessed around the rollcage, but they fitted in very easily and fitted perfectly. That means that I've finally got the interior finished

 

 

After that, it was time to get the chassis from earlier - just a case of dropping the interior onto the pegs on the chassis. Even better, the interior has straightened out the chassis so I no longer have a tripod car I'm looking at the car now and it really feels like it's starting to take shape.

 

 

Now it's onto the body shell, which is undergoing a polish and doesn't really look any different to the last shot of it. But I did get the headlight piece done, sprayed it satin black much earlier in the year but painted the reflectors in Revell Silver to get a good background, before going over that with the chrome pen (as the lamps are detailed, it was too fine for the pen to get everywhere hence the silver background before the pen to reduce contrast to a minimum). It might just be me, but I think there's something sinister about the way this triple-eyed set of headlights looks at the moment

 

 

And that's it for now, some more polishing heading my way I think... not a patch on looking at a load of highly polished metal in France

 

[Andy J]

Your hard work is paying off Spiny that looks damn fine to me 👍

[Redstaff]

27 minutes ago, Spiny said:

not a patch on looking at a load of highlight polished metal in France

 

I know what you mean Spiny, I should have been at the Canadian grand prix last month 😒 but obviously that didn't happen either, but at least the F1 has started back this weekend in a different format to usual  

The interior looks great after all that work on the cage and I'm looking forward to seeing the end result  

 

Ian  

[johnlambert]

1 hour ago, Spiny said:

It might just be me, but I think there's something sinister about the way this triple-eyed set of headlights looks at the moment

 

 

 

The build is coming along nicely and I see what you mean about the headlamps.

 

Sorry your weekend plans were spoilt but it looks like you've made good use of the time.

[FunkyChiken]

That's a fine looking interior! 

[Spiny]

23 hours ago, Redstaff said:

I know what you mean Spiny, I should have been at the Canadian grand prix last month 😒 but obviously that didn't happen either, but at least the F1 has started back this weekend in a different format to usual  

The interior looks great after all that work on the cage and I'm looking forward to seeing the end result  

 

Ian  

That's even worse than missing Le Mans, at least I have the consolation of having been a few times before and Canada is a great place to visit (that said, I've only been to the other side). Fingers crossed you can get there next year - that will definitely be something to look forward to.

[Redstaff]

We will get there next year or the year after depending on how things roll out I'm sure.  

At least we've either got full refunds or credits plus 20% for booking again on most stuff, still waiting on F1 tickets whether we ask for refund or hold on as they haven't actually cancelled it or rearranged the date as yet, so until we know what's happening we can't make a decision.

We were going to travel on the Rocky mountaineer as well, so we've got to try and tie all the dates together again

 

Ian  

 

[Spiny]

This has been a weekend of sanding (on a future project, expect to see that one hit the bench early 2021 but I need to get it painted now) and polishing of the Fiesta, so little progress.

 

First up, I attached the body with Tamiya coard/fine/finish polishes so it has a bit more of a shine now. Not a super high-gloss shine, but enough to be suitable for a retired rally car on display rather than a concours entry. I've also added a couple of little paint details (window washers and jack points) as well as going over the window rubbers with clear matt to dull the shine on them.

 

 

Alongside this, I've also been painting up the inside glass. This comes as one piece which is meant to click in place (we'll see about that one when the time comes!) and the kit has masking decals which makes the painting a lot easier. This is how it looks with five layers of semi-gloss applied, but I think a sixth is needed around the windscreen even though it doesn't show in the photo. I also got the sinister headlight assembly fitted in too. Many of the photos of the S2000 show a mesh over the bonnet vents so I was going to use some leftover material from the Countach, but looking more deeply it seems that mesh wasn't present for the Monte Carlo car.

 

 

And that's where I am, more work involved in getting to here than it will look. It's all starting to come together so hopefully now I've got that interior out of the way I can power through to completion.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

 

[Andy J]

All of a sudden you'll get to a stage where bang it all comes together that's when you realise it was worth the effort. Keep up the good work the end is nigh 🙂👍

[Spiny]

I'm pleased to say that the end is in sight for this one, or at least I'm onto the last double page spread in the instructions.

 

I could have made more progress this week though, but spent quite a bit of time tidying up and priming a future project (too early to start a thread for that one as it will be a while before I get around to building it). But I did get the glass from last week put in along with the scuttle. It's a clip-in part, but unfortunately the holes on the clear plastic didn't quite line up with the pegs on the body - fortunately the click-in part is the side windows rather than the pegs so it still clipped in place once I'd enlarged those holes.

 

 

After that, I spent a bit of time getting the rear light reflectors and surround painted, and also noticed that the plastic on the bottom of the rear bumper needed painting. Decided to go with the 'steady hand' method having first flooded the panel line arund the black plastic with wash to get a reasonably smooth edge - it seemed to work out ok.

 

 

Last job of the weekend was the one which I think most of us dread - fitting the body to the chassis. With this one, the double boot floor makes it very difficult to see where you're clipping the chassis into the body, but once it's lined up the body slides quite smoothly over the interior tub... right up until you try to get the front wings over the wheel arches. In the end, I resorted to cutting the line around the front wing parts and removing them to get the body fitted.

 

 

Turns out that's a bad move because it wasn't just a case of trying to get the wing past the wheel arch. It seems that the wheel arch is just a bit long for the wing, so a bit of surgery was called for to remove the last couple of mm of arch (not the easiest thing to see, but it's the hacked-up bit to the right of the number 2).

 

 

With that done, I reattached the wings. Happily, they seem to have gone back much neater than I feared they would - not perfect but I can live with them. This is how it sits at the moments, just more decals and detail parts left I think. And on the bright side, it's no longer tripodding now everything is fitted together.

 

 

At this rate, I might even get the Fiesta finished in August Next week though, I need to try and work out a better way with the door mirrors - not really happy with the way they're modelled here unless I've missed something.

 

Thanks for looking.

[Andy J]

You've faced a few battles with this one my friend and won every one. This is looking well cool looking forward to seeing the finished car 🙂

[johnlambert]

That's looking really smart.

[Redstaff]

Looking good Spiny  

That was a blow with the wings, good recovery though   

 

Ian

[Spiny]

Can't deny that it was annoying to struggle trying to get the front over those wheel arches. Even more annoying when the first wing popped off as I tried to get it over the arch, hence me cutting the edge for the other one to avoid risking making a mess of the decal. I got away with it, but the ideal woudl have been to have removed that bit of wheel arch before fitting the body. Still, got there in the end...

 

Thanks for the comments everyone. I think this one is shaping up to be a good 2-foot model. One thing Belkits have definitely got right is that everything fits into the right place, it's just a few annoying bits which are probably more an indication that this is only the second kit they built but they are all addressable and it does seem to be building up into a decent looking thing if you don't look at the decals too closely!

[Windy37]

Keep plodding on , looks good so far . 

 Gary.  

[Spiny]

I mentioned last week about the mirrors being rubbish. And here they are - this is what Belkits give you. It seems incredible that you get so much detail on the rest of the kit, and then they give you these and nothing for the glass, just paint the recess silver.

 

 

Now I'm in no way a scratch builder, but there is no way I'm going to live with these having put a load of effort into the interior. Looking for a solution, my eyes rested on the photoetch which came with the kit, specifically the blank area with the kit name etched on one side, but smooth on the other. So I gave that bit a micromeshing, then cut out some 'glass' for the mirrors. It doesn't look great in the pics, but given that the mirror bit is 4.5x2mm I'll allow myself a bit of leeway...

 

 

Having got a plan in place for the mirrors, it was onto the rear end of the car, which is complete now. Took a bit of time to get enough layers of the red on the taillight lens, the reflectors were quicker as they use solid gloss rather than clear. All clear plastic and photoetch boot pins has been attached using the UV resin so I could make sure everything was in place before setting it. I've also got most of the decals onto the car, just a couple at the front to attach, one good thing about them being so thick is that the white decals come up still nice and white even on the black spoiler.

 

 

I also got a little done at the front of the car. The roof airscoop has had black wash added inside the scoops to give depth and headlight glass and bonnet pins have been fitted, again with the UV resin. Unfortunately, the decals on the mirror aren't wanting to conform, or even stick particularly well, due to all the curves of the mirror. I think there's going to be quite a bit of Microsol applied through the week...

 

 

Thanks for looking.

 

 

[Andy J]

Looks better with every update mate and the mirrors look fine to me 👍

[Mike]

The mirrors look great, but I'd advise a coat of clear gloss to prevent any tarnishing over time

[Spiny]

Thanks for the tip, I must admit that I wasn't aware that PE had an issue with tarnishing, so that clear coat looks like a job for next time I'm at the bench.

[Spiny]

Away last weekend so no work then. And for this week, it's been a case of inching towards the finish line but it has been a pain-free weekend on this so no moaning from me today!. Only four bits added to the car, two of which were aerials and the other two being the grilles (and the decals on them - no more decals to go on this kit now ). However, the main grille does change the appearance of the front of the car quite a bit.

 

 

I'm within touching distance of completing this one. Just need to add on some more aerials, the chinstrap and spotlights so fingers crossed I'll be done next week. Speaking of the spotlights, I got them chromed a couple of weeks ago, and most of the black paint is on now - looking quite promising with only another coat of black to add on the back of them and the glass.

 

 

My main concern is with fitting the individual side spots. The instructions, and the holes in the front of the car, strongly imply that there should only be one post to fit into the body, but as can be seen on the left hand unit above there are two posts on the light, plus the post for the light unit sticks through the mounting plate. I need to investigate carefully before fitting I think to try to work out which bits (if any) need chopping off. If anyone has done the spotlights on this (or indeed the equivalent WRC), any advice would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks for looking.

[FunkyChiken]

What a great build! Looking fabulous so far! Not long left now...