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2002 Safari Rally: Ford Focus RS WRC. +++Withdrawn+++


CliffB

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Hi all.  So, it's another Group Build and another Ford jalopy from me!

 

This time it's the 1/32 Hornby Ford Focus RS WRC 02.  I bought the kit off eBay without any box or instructions, so I'm hoping it will go together OK ;).

When the kit was originally released, the box looked like this (thanks to Scalemates).

 

183744-12155-t240.jpg

 

I say 'originally released', because my particular kit was actually part of a later Science Museum mulkti-kit release comprising the Focus, an Airfix Mk1 Escort and an Airfix Model T. 

Again, here's the box art from Scalemates.

 

181297-12155-t240.jpg

 

Here's what I got for my money.

 

P1120051.JPG

 

The kit is extremely basic (although it does have rubber tyres), but the decal sheet looks nice.  The decals actually relate to the 2002 Swedish Rally, but are broadly correct for the Safari Rally too. They lack some Safari-specific sponsorship markings though - most noticeably those for "Martini".

 

Help is at hand though thanks to this Carpena decal sheet, which provides a range of 1999 season markings.  With a bit of luck I'll be able to mix and match.  The Carpena sheet also includes some useful harnesses and carbon fibre 'wraps' for the seats.

 

P1120052.JPG

 

The Safari Rally is held in Kenya and was first run in 1953.  At that time it was called the East African Coronation Rally (as it was held to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II).  It was won by a VW Beetle :thumbsup:.  In 1973 the rally became part of the World Rally Championship (WRC) and continued to be so until 2003, when it dropped out due to a lack of funding and organisation.  The rally has continued however, as part of the African Rally Championship.  2020 was to have seen the Safari Rally return to the WRC, but Covid had other ideas.  Hopefully this year.....

 

The Ford Focus RS WRC was a joint venture by Ford Europe and M-Sport (a Cumbrian based motorsport company run by ex British rally driver Malcom Wilson).  The car I shall be modelling will be that crewed by Colin McRae and Nicky Grist, when they won the 2002 Safari Rally.  In doing so, Colin McRae became the driver with the largest number of WRC victories (although his record has since been surpassed).

 

I'm looking foirward to making a start in early March.

 

Cheers

 

 

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Okay Cliff, you win, we've got a GB filling with interesting subjects but yours is my favourite so far. Thankfully it's a simple kit coming as it has without instructions.

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1 hour ago, modelling minion said:

This is a bit different Cliff, and certainly covers a few African states.

Having seen your previous vehicles I know this will be another stunner.

 

1 hour ago, Robert Stuart said:

Good to see something with an interesting story and without wings here Cliff.
 

 

1 hour ago, Col. said:

Okay Cliff, you win, we've got a GB filling with interesting subjects but yours is my favourite so far. Thankfully it's a simple kit coming as it has without instructions.

 

I don't have much to add to that, Cliff. Top entry. 

 

Alan

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@modelling minion Thanks Craig.  I think the rally is now limited to Kenya, but certainly it used to encompass Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.  By all accounts, it was particularly tough in those days! 

(I had included your quote, but a cat trod on my keyboard and deleted it)

 

 

11 hours ago, Robert Stuart said:

Good to see something with an interesting story and without wings here Cliff.
 

Thanks Robert.  This year's Group Build menu has been very kind to car builders :)

 

 

10 hours ago, Col. said:

Okay Cliff, you win, we've got a GB filling with interesting subjects but yours is my favourite so far. Thankfully it's a simple kit coming as it has without instructions.

Thanks Col.   Thankfully, I've got a couple of other Hornby rally car kits that do have instructions.  It looks like the only tricky bit is likely to be the roll cage, which Hornby like you to fold into shape.  At least I now know that folding is likely to be involved - without that knowledge I might have struggled!

 

 

9 hours ago, Angus Tura said:

I don't have much to add to that, Cliff. Top entry. 

 

Thanks Alan.  I think it's all going to come down paintwork and decals.  Fingers crossed :winkgrin:

 

Cheers

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1 hour ago, vppelt68 said:

We need to see the cat!

 

1 hour ago, modelling minion said:

Yes, proof of cat is required!!!

 

 

OK, you asked for it - don't have nightmares :winkgrin:

 

Misha.JPG

 

Her name's Misha and she's an 8 year old Burmese.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Excellent project. 

This is surely the same kit as issued by Airfix.... It certainly looks like the one I built last year in "Abu Dhabi" decor.....? 

It goes together well and I can't remember any particular issues. There's a roll cage made of several pieces but I think it's fairly self evident without instructions etc. 

In fact I have a bee in my bonnet about cars with no steering..... even in the bigger 1.24 scale, so while I was on the case, I managed to get this little rascal to steer too. 

I have no instructions but a few WIP pictures so if you need a visual on some item I can paste some on here. 

Such a relief to find something interestingly associated with Africa ! 

Edited by rob Lyttle
Clarity
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10 hours ago, rob Lyttle said:

This is surely the same kit as issued by Airfix.... It certainly looks like the one I built last year in "Abu Dhabi" decor.....? 

 

 

Thanks Rob.  Are we talking Fiesta or Focus? 

 

Cheers

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1 hour ago, rob Lyttle said:

Errrmmmm..... 🤪

 

:winkgrin:  Been there, done that!  I took me ages to twig that they were different kits too.

 

Once you get the bits out though, the differences are obvious.   The Focus is sooo basic.

 

P1120067.JPG

 

P1120068.JPG

 

The bodyshell looks quite nice though and I do like the fine wipers.  I'm not so sure though about the slick tyres and miniscule steering wheel (I'll need to check the latter).

 

Cheers

 

 

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I built a few of these kits with my son when he was small and they do look good when they're finished. 

I think the body shell is essentially the one from a Scalextric racing car with some detail parts added. 

One of Airfix's trade show stands from a couple of years ago suggested that they were thinking about bringing them back.  I  hope they do - I never managed to get a hold of a Caterham 7 😀

John 

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Thanks @John

I've a got a few more in my stash too (including the Caterham), but this will be the first that I've built.  It's good to hear that they should turn out OK!

Fingers crossed, I shall be building Tommi Makinen's Impreza in the Nordic II GB later this year.

 

Cheers

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On 2/16/2021 at 2:51 PM, CliffB said:

Her name's Misha and she's an 8 year old Burmese.

 

Mine is Mr. Orange Soda (Kiri Portokalada) and he is a 5 year old orange cat that is mostly feral...

 

On 3/7/2021 at 8:30 AM, CliffB said:

I shall be building Tommi Makinen's Impreza in the Nordic II GB later this year.

 

That'll be fun too!

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Thanks @John Masters, Mr Orange Soda sounds like he might be a bit of a character :)

 

I'm still playing with Focus bits (I don't think I can mark it as 'started' in the master spreadsheet just yet!).

 

Unlike your typical Airfix car kit, there is no internal wheelarch structure which means that there's plenty of opportunity for see-through.

 

spacer.pngspacer.png

 

I've got more Hornby kits in my stash, plus plenty of older ones from Aurora etc. that have same problem.  So the question is, should I spend time and effort scratchbuilding the missing structures?

To help me decide, I popped the wheels on.

 

spacer.png

 

It doesn't look too bad to me (and should look even better with some judicious use of matt black paint), so I've decided to build this one straight OOB, as an experiment and guide for future builds :winkgrin:.

 

Cheers

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OK, I really have made a start now.

 

Here's the interior assembled (although the seats and spare wheel are still loose).  I had said that I wasn't going to try to stop see-through via the open wheel arches, but in the end I just couldn't resist blanking off the footwells with a piece of card.  It's probably the lesser of two evils.

 

P1120087.JPG

 

As you can see there's very little detail provided and there's only a fraction of the total roll cage.  Hornby have also introduced a parcel shelf on which the spare wheel sits, whereas in reality it sat on the boot floor.  I shall ignore all these problems though and will concentrate instead on the bodywork - that should be enough of a challenge!

 

Cheers

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Good call on the card on the foot wells. Its the view from the too out of the bottom which is an issue and you should have cured that.

Flat out to the decaling now!

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10 hours ago, Colin W said:

Good call on the card on the foot wells. Its the view from the too out of the bottom which is an issue and you should have cured that.

Flat out to the decaling now!

 

Thanks Colin.  Yes, the foot wells have turned out well.  No see through and you don't notice the blanking plates either.

 

P1120089.JPG

 

I'm looking forward to getting the decals on, but I've got the small matter of the paintwork to sort out first :winkgrin:.

The demarcations between colours will be covered by decals, but I need to check how opaque they are before deciding exactly where to mask.  The signs are good so far, based on the white decals that I've applied over black.

 

Cheers

 

 

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