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Tamiya Alpine A110 1:24


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This has been sitting in an unfinished state for many years since I messed up the paint on the body.

 

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I chose yellow for the body and picked up a can of Humbrol enamel spray from the model shop when I bought the kit.  Unfortunately it went on so thick that it looked like I'd used household gloss paint.  At least I can check out paint stripping on the sprue before attacking the main body.

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In the past I've tried sanding back and respraying but it probably needs stripping back to the plastic.

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There is also a crack in the windscreen pillar, I hope I can glue and fill it so that you can't see the join (the photo hides it pretty well).y4mwg_EnQhcK2Epi9OeBug4toUZU9g0HsW7Favhu

 

I like the clear plastic undertray that allows some of the suspension and engine detail to be seen.  Pity about the glue and finger print.  Maybe a bit of sanding will save things, I might just try and use some satin black to paint over the marks while leaving at least half the tray clear.

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Onto the more positive stuff; I'm really pleased with the front and rear screens, the frames were probably painted in Tamiya X11 or Humbrol Silver.

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The rest of the build is pretty much complete.

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It looks like most of the other parts are painted, if I can just get the body done to an acceptable standard then it should be an easy job to finish as the kit seems to go together really nicely (typical Tamiya quality).

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Thanks for those pictures, I don't always strive for 100% accuracy with the colour choices for my cars, but I do prefer them to be plausible.  You have also gifted me some nice reference pictures for doing the body details.

 

Incidentally, any idea what the beige coupé is in the first picture (the car just to the top right of the Alpine)?  I'd guess it's a Ford Taunus of some description, it's certainly not something I recognise.

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Those are my most favourite "wish I had the money for one" cars, ever since seeing a works one hurtling through a Scottish forest, round an uphill hairpin near on backwards way back then.

I've got both kits, the road one and the Monte version with the proper 6 spoke wheels. I stopped work on the road one ages ago as the wheels are wrong; wrong pattern, even for a standard car, and moulded with 4 studs - Alpines only have three.

 

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13 minutes ago, MR2Don said:

Those are my most favourite "wish I had the money for one" cars, ever since seeing a works one hurtling through a Scottish forest, round an uphill hairpin near on backwards way back then.

I've got both kits, the road one and the Monte version with the proper 6 spoke wheels. I stopped work on the road one ages ago as the wheels are wrong; wrong pattern, even for a standard car, and moulded with 4 studs - Alpines only have three.

 

I did wonder about the wheels, given the French penchant for attaching wheels with only three studs.

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1 hour ago, MR2Don said:

I've got both kits, the road one and the Monte version with the proper 6 spoke wheels. I stopped work on the road one ages ago as the wheels are wrong; wrong pattern, even for a standard car, and moulded with 4 studs - Alpines only have three.

I'm happy to say you can continue the work on the road car as far as the wheels are concerned. The wheels in the Tamiya road version are perfectly correct for the 1600SC the kit depicts, both in shape and being 4-studs. Beginning with the A110 1600SC/SI introduced in 1974 the rear suspension changed to a double wishbone, close to the newer A310 1600 rear suspension, and 4-stud wheels where therefore also introduced. The 1300 model retained the older style rear suspension and 3-stud wheels.

 

Works rally/race 1600/1800 cars of the same years differ from this and must be studied as individuals.

 

The problem for Tamiya begins with the rally version they released; A 1600S, where they have supplied the correct 6-spoke 3-stud wheels for that car, but still kept the newer rear suspension that is all wrong for a 1600S.

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Cue the well-known music, I'm stripping; paint of the Alpine, that is!

 

There's something lurking in this ice cream tub full of Dettol.

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Most of the top coat came off after a lot of minutes and some scrubbing with an old toothbrush.

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After many more minutes, that old enamel was really caked on:

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Most of the white primer has gone now, only yellow enamel to go.

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It's still soaking as I type this.  I started at about 10 or 11 this morning, so it's had about four hours!

 

 

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The Dettol eventually seemed to run out of "oomph" but it's done a pretty good job.  I'll need to get some more and give it one last long soak to get the stubborn remaining paint off.

 

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An old (or cheap) toothbrush can often help with dislodging those stubborn bits of paint in panel lines, corners etc. I've found. It hopefully goes without saying that this will be in conjunction with the soaking in paint stripping fluid or some description, and ultimately you will still need a good soak to soften it anyway.

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2 hours ago, Spiny said:

An old (or cheap) toothbrush can often help with dislodging those stubborn bits of paint in panel lines, corners etc. I've found. It hopefully goes without saying that this will be in conjunction with the soaking in paint stripping fluid or some description, and ultimately you will still need a good soak to soften it anyway.

Yes, that's what I did.  Soak for a long time, then scrub and back in for another soak.  I'm glad I always keep an old toothbrush or two.  Another soak and more scrubbing and I think it will be pretty much as good as new.  It's quite satisfying to see a "ruined" model start to look like something that might turn out fairly presentable.

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Hi all :)

Brake fluid is also highly effective to strip the paint, but rather dangerous

Now, I use a product  named "Glanzer",  very rich in ammonia, but infinitely less toxic.

You can find it in UK

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Some success to celebrate.  Hours of soaking and scrubbing have finally removed all the old paint.

y4mbf0GKLUivNDKqyipRIAf7JDP_URb3Tggl8woJ

 

Some parts of the body have lost the gloss but I don't think it should be a problem once primed and painted properly.

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There are a couple of little bits of flash on the rear screen pillars that I'll sand down.

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I've removed the chrome from the plated parts.

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The clear under-tray came off quite cleanly, let's see if I can tidy it up and put it back.  If all else fails it'll get a coat of satin black.

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Current thoughts:

 

Do I attach parts of the body like the air intakes before painting?  Probably.

What to do with the engine cover? Glue it on or try to make it removable?

 

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Removable, of course, and articulated too 🙏

Edited by Mike
Removing quote from previous post - please reply from the bottom of the page, rather than quoting people if you're the next contributor.
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1 hour ago, CrazyCrank said:

 

Removable, of course, and articulated too 🙏

OK. I've never done anything like that before.

13 minutes ago, MR2Don said:

Engine is quite nicely detailed, so visibility is well worth while.

Thanks.  I may need some advice on how to make it open.

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1 hour ago, johnlambert said:

hanks.  I may need some advice on how to make it open.

Good point! Haven't got to that stage in mine yet, but the instructions seem to indicate that you just sit it in place, not cemented. Hinging it would be a real plus, but a bit of scratching required - both of head and building!

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4 hours ago, johnlambert said:

Some parts of the body have lost the gloss but I don't think it should be a problem once primed and painted properly.

Just call it a key for the primer ;)

 

4 hours ago, johnlambert said:

Current thoughts:

 

Do I attach parts of the body like the air intakes before painting?  Probably. I think you'll get different opinions on this, so go with what feels right to you. For what it's worth, if it's a part which is separate on the real car I tend to attach after painting, and if it doesn't look like a different part on the real thing I'll attach prior to painting.

What to do with the engine cover? Glue it on or try to make it removable?

 

This one has cleaned up really nicely, it'll be good to see how you go with it.

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Good save with the paint job 😁

This is one kit I will get and build at some point as it's such a beautiful looking car, keep up the good progress

 

Ian 😁

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Decided to do a little to the Alpine, there are a couple of mould seams on the body, they're only faint but I might as well try and smooth them off.

 

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I also had a think about the rear air intakes, I think getting them to fit after painting would be risky so I've decided to fit them before painting.

 

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First dry fit.

 

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Careful filing with a sanding stick is necessary to get a good fit.

 

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One step forward, two steps back.

 

I did a test fitting of the body to the chassis - I'm glad I did but the result wasn't pretty.

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The engine cover doesn't fit

 

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The floor doesn't sit flush with the door sills, causing the backbone chassis (which wasn't very well glued to the floor) to come away.

 

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One nice thing is that the body fits round the interior with no nasty gaps but something isn't quite right with the dashboard.

 

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It looks a bit wonky.

 

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Not much but compare this side of the dashboard...

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...and this time, only a little out but enough to throw out the body alignment.

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Thankfully it didn't take too much to take the interior apart.

 

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A little damage to the dashboard but it shouldn't notice when back together.

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I'm still quite pleased with how the dashboard turned out.  It's almost a pity it won't really be visible in the finished car.

 

With the interior removed I tried the body again and perfect fit.

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Engine cover fits better too, I'm glad I didn't resort to any more drastic measures.

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Better fit underneath too.

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Next step is to clean up the mating surfaces and refit the dashboard.

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You have the basis for a very smart looking little car there. Take your time preparing the body, it should pay off!

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38 minutes ago, johnlambert said:

 

y4mI3JnljV3oVq568XCmeKRKexeFdfjxCarelcHh

 

I'd never notices until I saw this pic, but the A110 makes a pretty little car without the bubble-rear window, definitely shades of the original Lotus Elan although with a longer rear deck in this photo.

 

Good work on sorting out the fit issues, it's always a nervewracking moment when you fit the body so that was a very foresighted move testing and fixing now rather than when everything is in place :thumbsup:

 

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