JeroenS Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 Nice work Jörgen. The vinyl is indeed a poor choice of material isn't it? It seems the kit would have been better off with regular plastic so as a modeller you'd have a choice of either just painting or adding your own (leather) upholstery. Maybe they went for the middle ground with the vinyl. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted December 7, 2020 Author Share Posted December 7, 2020 18 hours ago, JeroenS said: Nice work Jörgen. The vinyl is indeed a poor choice of material isn't it? It seems the kit would have been better off with regular plastic so as a modeller you'd have a choice of either just painting or adding your own (leather) upholstery. Maybe they went for the middle ground with the vinyl. Thanks Jeroen. The reasoning behind the choice of this vinyl for the seats is a mystery to me. Definitely the low point of the kit. I can't see that it adds anything compared to ordinary plastic, not even for a builder who would only glue unpainted parts together. Oh well, it's not the only time they did odd material choices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted December 7, 2020 Author Share Posted December 7, 2020 I'm trying to work through the vinyl seat problems. I have sanded what could be sanded, but in more than one place the vinyl starts shearing off very thin layers. I drenched the areas with CA, on the worst front seat added fine resin dust, and then sanding again, and repeat until it looked solid enough to take new paint. Here we are after first respray. It looks far better than it is in the photo, but it's going in the right direction. They will need at least another fine sanding and a new colour coat. With some luck they might be decently OK for the continued painting process after that, but it remains to be seen. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeroenS Posted December 7, 2020 Share Posted December 7, 2020 Looks like it's getting better. Thanks for sharing your "bag of tricks", using CA for this kind of work wouldn't have occurred to me. What thickness is the CA you're using for this? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted December 7, 2020 Author Share Posted December 7, 2020 6 minutes ago, JeroenS said: Looks like it's getting better. Thanks for sharing your "bag of tricks", using CA for this kind of work wouldn't have occurred to me. What thickness is the CA you're using for this? I think I will win in the end, but it's still some way to go... I use ordinary Loctite "Super Glue Precision" in the pyramid shaped bottle. The idea is to solidify the porous rough soft surface, so the tiny high points can be sanded down instead of just bending away, and to fuse the layer edges. I apply a layer of CA and smear it around with a cloth while it cures, sand, and repeat if needed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted December 7, 2020 Share Posted December 7, 2020 The work on the seats seems to be paying dividends. A strange choice of material from Heller and at odds with their superb engineering elsewhere in the kit. I've got to say that I would be concerned about the long term stability of the CA layer and underlying soft plastic though. Some of my old collectable kits are showing reactions between different plastics used, usually tyre material set against a different plastic. Mind you, it's taken fifty years or so to show itself, maybe I worry too much! Tony. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted December 7, 2020 Author Share Posted December 7, 2020 39 minutes ago, TonyW said: The work on the seats seems to be paying dividends. A strange choice of material from Heller and at odds with their superb engineering elsewhere in the kit. I've got to say that I would be concerned about the long term stability of the CA layer and underlying soft plastic though. Some of my old collectable kits are showing reactions between different plastics used, usually tyre material set against a different plastic. Mind you, it's taken fifty years or so to show itself, maybe I worry too much! Tony. It is indeed a strange choice, and the seat parts engineering are a good way below the level of the rest of the kit. It's almost as if they where too exhausted and only had the seats left to do, and rushed them off to be done and go home. I'm not too worried about CA and the vinyl, I think, but the vinyl against styrene parts is certainly a problem to be aware of. I've seen the same problem you mention with tyres melting styrene rims in only a few years time. A rare happening, but still. What I have found is that it is always the vinyl directly against naked styrene. Never on painted surfaces, using the same combination of parts. Evil stuff these softer materials. I have a Monogram 1/8 scale Corvette that my father built in the 60's, putting a lovely little Barbie driver on the unpainted blue seat as finishing touch. She's still looking lovely in her car, but her bum has melted through the seat over the years... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted December 7, 2020 Author Share Posted December 7, 2020 Continued work on the dashboard. I wanted the hinges glued to the glove box door before painting. They are flexible enough to be installed afterwards. So the glove box was taped in place and the hinges fitted with small dots of blue tac in the correct position. Glue added, door added and aligned, and left alone to dry. And there are working hinges on a door that fits. With pretty toy like hinges I suppose... Masking for the speedometer glass was needed, and as I have the tools I drew it up in a CAD program to be test printed. Some small adjustments later it was sent to the digital cutter and the glass could be masked. It can of course be done in less complicated ways... After a lengthy spraying session all parts for the dashboard project have their first coats of paint. After that the paint on the offending seat parts was dry enough to be sanded. I did not go through the paint when sanding this time, and after another few coats the parts are back in business. They aren't 100% perfect and there's some slight differences in the surface finish, but after some more paint work and a finishing flat coat I think most of it will disappear. The added parts around the pedals have also been installed, here with the adjusted and test fitted floor mat in place. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted December 7, 2020 Author Share Posted December 7, 2020 6 hours ago, Bengalensis said: Evil stuff these softer materials. I have a Monogram 1/8 scale Corvette that my father built in the 60's, putting a lovely little Barbie driver on the unpainted blue seat as finishing touch. She's still looking lovely in her car, but her bum has melted through the seat over the years... She's been driving her Corvette for soon 55 years non stop now, and she's not getting out anytime soon as she's one with her car... 😎 3 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cherry268 Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 Just caught up again, stunning work as usual 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted December 9, 2020 Author Share Posted December 9, 2020 Some more work on the seats has been done. I masked the seams with thin strips of Tamiya tape. Then I used the airbrush on low pressure and higher flow to dust some thin green and grey. The seams were unmasked and a thin mist of beige was added. I finished the work by hand painting the edge piping in brown. This will be followed by an overall flat coat. But the main work of today has been the installation of headliner. It's done! As I suspected it's the most difficult job so far. I must have spent closer to three hours at the workbench, hours that just vanished, before I was finished. It all became rather involved and I didn't manage any photos during the work. The fit isn't perfect in the corners just aft the windscreen, but that will disappear, as apart from the sun visors to be added I also hope to add a net for storing your maps and important papers, that is seen in some cars. But here is the finished and fitted headliner after necessary touch ups and fitted courtesy light and handles. It wasn't easy, it needed trimming and fiddling, but Heller's engineering must be admired. 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjaweijfopi4j48 Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 All that looks so unbelievably amazing! Excellent work! Superlative results! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeroenS Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 Woowww Jörgen, that looks just so lovely! Three hours very well spent I'd say! Absolutely fantastic. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wimbledon99 Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 I'm sorry, you ARE a giant and this IS a real car!!!! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fightersweep Posted December 10, 2020 Share Posted December 10, 2020 Great work on those seats. I don't like the idea of them being vinyl at all, as clearly illustrated by the struggle you had with them, but you got a fantastic result. I'm not sure I could have coped with them. Love the headliner too, and once again, I admire the way you tackled that. Certainly doesn't look like an easy job. Love the colour too. A wise choice by Citroen as I imagine it would have nicely hidden all the staining from a few decades worth of Gitanes. Steve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted December 10, 2020 Author Share Posted December 10, 2020 23 hours ago, Moa said: All that looks so unbelievably amazing! Excellent work! Superlative results! Thank you very much Claudio. I'm still surprised I didn't make a mess of it... 23 hours ago, JeroenS said: Woowww Jörgen, that looks just so lovely! Three hours very well spent I'd say! Absolutely fantastic. Thanks a lot Jeroen. It was indeed three good hours, involved and busy work, but never really frustrating, just concentration and no relax until finished. 20 hours ago, wimbledon99 said: I'm sorry, you ARE a giant and this IS a real car!!!! I just hope I can just back to normal size again, so I can enjoy the car for a very long drive when it's done 😎 3 hours ago, fightersweep said: Great work on those seats. I don't like the idea of them being vinyl at all, as clearly illustrated by the struggle you had with them, but you got a fantastic result. I'm not sure I could have coped with them. Love the headliner too, and once again, I admire the way you tackled that. Certainly doesn't look like an easy job. Love the colour too. A wise choice by Citroen as I imagine it would have nicely hidden all the staining from a few decades worth of Gitanes. Many thanks Steve. Yes, the choice of vinyl instead of ordinary plastic is very strange. It does add frustration. With a bit of luck my edition (about 2008-2010) has a material problem (the layer shearing) not present in earlier or later kits, or my kit is a one off, but I wonder. Of course Gitanes, or Gauloises 😎 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted December 10, 2020 Author Share Posted December 10, 2020 The flat cote on the seats was sprayed this morning, and when dry I did some test fitting of the rear seat backrest into the body, now that the headliner is in place. There are two tabs on each side that I think is to make piece klick and lock in place without glue, but they would put al lot of strain on the sides of the headliner while being fed into place, and that I cannot risk, so I cut them off. A little glue on the two hooks at the back that fits the rear shelf will be enough. With the tabs cut off it fitted nicely. The front seats were assembled and the scratched back pieces installed with the vac formed pockets. Just about where the glue seam is there should be an edge piping, so I made that from electric wire glued into the seam and then painted brown as the others. With another light flat cote sprayed over the back the seats are at last ready for installation. Here are all the seat pieces. One could discuss about possible weathering, on the other hand original seats in near perfect or restored condition in these cars do look very plain. For now at least I'm leaving them alone. Before I can mate the body and floor once and for all I have to make the net under the forward headliner. I found a piece of garlic wrap in the kitchen that may work, as a compromise at least. I drew up 120x40 mm and stretched the mesh to cut a suitable piece. It feels a bit iffy, and the mesh is a tad too fine, but I will try to make a frame to represent the edge wire and see what can be done... 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeroenS Posted December 10, 2020 Share Posted December 10, 2020 I think the seats look just fine like this... There seems to be a slight colour variation so they don't look too plain or toylike, the piping sets it off nicely. And when you start weathering, where do you stop? This look fits the spectacular finish on the body shell. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted December 10, 2020 Author Share Posted December 10, 2020 4 minutes ago, JeroenS said: I think the seats look just fine like this... There seems to be a slight colour variation so they don't look too plain or toylike, the piping sets it off nicely. And when you start weathering, where do you stop? This look fits the spectacular finish on the body shell. Thanks. In reality there is a little bit more life in the surface and colour than my crappy photos show. If they match the body they should do OK. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted December 10, 2020 Share Posted December 10, 2020 What can I say that has not been said already - mindblowingly good! And there was I thinking Barbie must have been wearing "Hot Pants", but it seems it was a certain part of her anatomy that burned into the seat😆! Pete 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted December 11, 2020 Author Share Posted December 11, 2020 20 hours ago, PeterB said: What can I say that has not been said already - mindblowingly good! And there was I thinking Barbie must have been wearing "Hot Pants", but it seems it was a certain part of her anatomy that burned into the seat😆! Thanks a lot Pete, you are most kind. And yes indeed, it's her precious parts, no pants... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted December 11, 2020 Author Share Posted December 11, 2020 I started a "frame" representing the edge using 0,5 Evergreen rod. First I thought it may work out, but soon it just looked like something "the forum auto-correction did not allow". So I started a second frame, and immediately realised that a cut plastic mesh of non-glueable material was never going to satisfy. I should have learned from the seats... I decided to raise my ambitions. I drew the outlines and experimented with a good pattern in AutoCAD that was printed after satisfaction. I then chose two dimensions of ship rigging thread that can be glued with CA if one is very careful, and started working. First the edge was done. After an excursion to assist in a 1/1 scale paint preparation (original Challenger T/A '70 😎) it was lunch time, and after that I started threading, and very soon realized that the afternoon would become evening before long... The afternoon moved on... ...and became evening, but in the end I could unfasten a reasonable mesh that looked like something, and could be draped. Installation could begin with two tiny steel rings and two straps made from the vac form left over's. This might work out... And here we have the finished forward section of the headliner and wiper box. When I printed and fitted the maps it all felt worthwhile... So the maps we need in France during the many kilometres of summer holidays in the 15 Six are there. When travelling in this car we avoid GPS. The long drive to France was perfect. The large annual international Citroën meeting is waiting the first weekend, then some good swap meets for parts and a few nice vineyard visits as well while we drive round... 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malc2 Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 Looks great, no, it looks fantastic! I'm sure you will find some les brocante bargains... And you have shown never be afraid to start over if the first attempt does not work out! M. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 That dull thud you just heard from the direction of the Fenns was my jaw hitting the desk. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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