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1907 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost, 1/24 Finecast metal kit


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Amazingly, the seat building method turned out to be OK...

 

bare-seats.jpg

 

I fixed the base cushions to the ledge along the bottom of the back cushion out of the car, then put the sides into the car and dropped the "bench" between them, wiggled everything into place and ran some thin superglue down the seams, using microballoons to fill bigger gaps at the corners.Once verything had set up, I took them out of the car again, and applied epoxy to the joints from behind and below for strength.

 

seats-in-situ.jpg

 

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seats-in-situ-sideview.jpg

 

These are just resting in place.... I need to get them out a few more times yet!

 

firewall-radiator-chassis-2.jpg

 

firewall-radiator-chassis-front-view.jpg

 

Mockup with a view to seeing how the bonnet fits (I really need to build it so that I can paint it at the same time as the body)

 

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Couldn't resist trying a mockup with all the parts to date! I didn't like the look of the seats so I've done a bit more work on them:

 

seats-finished.jpg

 

Onward!

best,

M.

 

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Oh wow, this looks lovely,  I have never seen on of SE Finecast's models being built, it is an impressive model, I have built and am pleased with.ith a couple of their locomotive kits and they are nice .  

The engine work and painting looks particularly nice as do the seats .

Great work 

Chris

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@johnlambert it's Tamiya Fine Surface Primer... which says that it's for metal and plastic, and has worked fine throughout. Silver is on.... I'm using a custom mix by Zero Paints of Mercedes Diamond Silver but made with mica pearl flake instead of metal flake, so you can't see the grain at all...

 

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There is a difference from the primer, honest...

radiator-done.jpg

 

And the radiator is done: Tamiya Italian Red Lacquer paint on the RR badge, taken off with thinner after it dried; AA badge painted with gold enamel, followed by Tamiya Acrylic, wiped off later with a cotton swab moistened with X-20A thinner

best,

M.

 

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Zero 2K clear is on now:

 

body-mockup-2.jpg

 

body-mockup-1.jpg

 

body-mockup-3.jpg

 

It's all just dropped into place here, but the fit seems pretty good... I couldn't resist a bit more comprehensive test assembly!

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The rear wheels don't go fully on to the axles at the moment, so they are too wide-tracked. I didn't want to force them at this juncture, and will ease the mounting holes with a file when we get to permanent fitting stage. I'm sure there are folk who will think the body is too shiny for period, but since the whole thing is silver I want a range of finishes and textures... and the real thing is incredibly well looked after!

 

The bright green in the body is some Post-It paper being used as low tack masks for the seat base boards, which are mahogany. I'm off now to finish graining them!

best,

M.

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Thanks, John! I think this is definitely one of the best kits I've built. The Bugatti 59 and SS100 look equally good "in the box". I think the Autokits range that they now sell as well has a bit less finesse (I have the Bugatti 35 and ERA), so I'd try to get a look at the contents of the box before settling on one, unless there's a specific car you're after...

 

This is now the official end of "Stage 4: the Bodywork"

 

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A first test to see if the driver is going to fit. His passenger is also under way, but her lower half is rather more complicated! Next "Stage 5: The Scuttle", which is the dashboard by another name.

best,

M.

 

 

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The ghost is looking great, adding figures can make a huge difference to a model (normally detrimental when I try) so I'll be watching with great interest to see if I can pick up any tips Andy 👍 

 

PS, I have the Autokits Lotus 7 and can back up your experience, it's very basic compared to the Tamiya model.

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19 hours ago, cmatthewbacon said:

Thanks, John! I think this is definitely one of the best kits I've built. The Bugatti 59 and SS100 look equally good "in the box". I think the Autokits range that they now sell as well has a bit less finesse (I have the Bugatti 35 and ERA), so I'd try to get a look at the contents of the box before settling on one, unless there's a specific car you're after...

Thanks Matt.  I had another look at the SE Finecast website and I'm spoilt for choice.  The SS100 would be nice and go well with the other Jaguar kits I own (sometimes it feels like I'm trying to recreate the JDHT in 1:24). and the Bugatti is beautiful.  I also fancy the Vauxhall 30-98, the Mk1 Mini and any of the variants of MGB in the Car Kits range.  There are a few tempting things in the Autokits range.  I've seen the SE Finecast stand at some of the model railway exhibitions I attend, maybe I'll wait until then before taking the plunge.

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So, the scuttle/dashboard is done:

 

scuttle-1.jpg

 

scuttle-2.jpg

 

scuttle-3.jpg

 

The big "mahogany" box contains the coil, so it can be accessed from the cockpit (I assume as part of the starting sequence, perhaps because of the dual coil and magneto firing circuits). The dials are provided as printed paper, but carefully cut out and with painted on "glass" from Citadel "''ardcoat" varnish they look OK. That is how the speedo/rev counter should fit, but my word was it hard to figure out: the isometric view on the instructions is at just the wrong angle; the photos are unhelpful (most of the time the mounting is hidden behind the spare tyre); and for a famous car it's surprisingly hard to find a clear walkaround image of the inside or "driver's eye" view. Eventually I found a video from Goodwood Revival which gave me a glimpse. By 1909 models, the cluster was back inside, in front of the steering wheel.

 

people-figures.jpg

 

People progressing. The ICM figures are well sculpted, but the fit leaves a bit to be desired. I've found over the yeas that the best way to fit them together is to take your time, and join the critical, well fitting pieces, then let them set. You can then close up the remaining gaps by flexing the rather "soapy" plastic. The lady's jacket back is solidly located on the rear part of her skirt, and her front fits solidly to the top of the skirt front, so tomorrow I'll get her shoulders to meet up with the aid of a large clamp!

 

best,

M.

 

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The dashboard is looking good.  As for the ignition system, I recall the Ghost was supposed to be so well engineered that a warm engine would hold compression and could often be started by turning on the ignition and moving the ignition timing lever between the "Early" and "Late" positions until a spark occurred in a cylinder that in the right place (nearly everyone else labelled the ignition timing control with "Advance" and "Retard", but Henry Royce thought this was too fancy and foreign sounding).

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The bodywork and radiator both look excellent and with very realistic  colours,its stunning already.i have built the Jag SS100 and  the long chassis parts I must say look very familiar! There are a lot of nice parts in these kits but I struggled with the wings and running boards of the Jag. I found these bits very awkward as there isn't much attachment area to the chassis parts. Chris.

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If the body wasn't shiny the chauffeur would be getting his cards!  As for the occupants, in my (very, very limited) experience I have found that ladies lower halves are always more complicated...

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@dnl42 Yes, the radiator housing is just the white metal of the kit, filed with a very fine Swiss watchmakers file to remove the faint seems and texture, then polished with various sanding sticks and finally Scratch-X. So, as it's getting heavier it's time to experiment with the stand...

 

trying-out-stand-1.jpg

 

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Not too obvious, I think

 

stand.jpg

 

Handily, the column height at the lowest point of  the saddle needs to be 10mm. The blue is sticky backed velvet I bought as carpet for the Jag Mk2. You need something with a bit of "give" so the car can sink onto its tyres, and make sure you don't end up with a wheel or two in the air. I tried craft foam, but that was too thick.

 

steering-box-1.jpg

 

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The steering box is one of those parts where the instructions and exploded diagram are not much help so I've put these pix in to show how and where it fits clearly. One thing to know if you are building one of these is that rather counterintuitively, the only way to get it into place is to thread the column up through the chassis from the bottom. There's no way to get the lower lever through the gap between the engine and chassis rail from the top (voice of frustrated experience).

 

steering-box-2.jpg

 

Before the epoxy was fully set, I used the body as a jig to make sure the column would come through the firewall in the right place. You can see there is a cutout between the pedal slots to take it.

 

Next job is to attache the scuttle, and then the body.

best,

M.

 

 

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And here we are...

 

bodywork-on-4-XL.jpg

 

bodywork-on-profile.jpg

 

bodywork-on-3.jpg

 

bodywork-on-2-XL.jpg

 

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And some detail shots of the steering lever. There is a small hole at the base of the offside kingpin, but the beautifully moulded nut in front of it gets slightly in the way. Still, the design is very precise, so you can get the nubbin on the end of the "scythe" of the steering lever into it and spring the far end of the rod that attaches to the steering box over the pin on it, and then flow superglue into the joints.

 

steering-1.jpg

 

steering-2.jpg

 

steering-head-on.jpg

 

And that's it for the main body assembly. Quite a few details and accessories to go, including those piano wire stays and braces, but I no longer worry that it's going to go disastrously pear-shaped!

best,

M.

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The owners are looking a bit more like people now. Herself is not gesturing wildly... she will have a rolled umbrella/parasol in her hand, resting on the floor. Getting her arm to rest on the side upholstery was a challenge, and I'm not going to try the surgery needed to get her sitting right back in the seat...

 

people-in-1.jpg

 

people-in-2.jpg

 

The driver will have to remain armless until very near the end. I'm not sure I can fit the steering wheel and the arms and still be able to remove him when needed. We shall see...

 

steering-wheel.jpg

 

Talking of which, there's engraving on  the quadrants on the hub. I can't quite see if it actually says "early" and "late", but there are words in all the right places, or something that's a very convincing effect, anyway...

 

stays.jpg

 

An apparently rather boring picture, but there's a lot of work on the bench here. These are all the replacement piano wire stays and the white metal originals. A couple of hours of happy bending and clipping... and about 1" of the wire left.

 

stays-laid-out.jpg

 

Having spent some time puzzling over part numbers and the exploded instructions, I thought it might be useful for those who may come along later to see which strut or stay goes where. The strut second from the front is still white metal.... it seems to be a butt joint to the inner face of the lower mudguard and has a chamfered end, which would be hard to achieve in piano wire. The rear of the mudguard rests on a shelf at the front of the running board/toolboxes, so it should be well located, meaning the short white metal strut will be pretty well unstressed.

best,

M.

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