Ian T Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 Hi everybody, it’s been along time between posts for me. We’ve moved house and downsized considerably, so I started packing away my modelling tools, paints, bits and bobs some 6 months ago. Today was the first time that I’ve really looked at them again. So I’m just launching into this Bandai kit. For those of you that followed along with my Bandai Pendle Princess Showman’s Engine build will know that I was given that kit and this Mercer by a good friend of mine. As with the Princess, this Mercer looks like it’s going to be fun, and by that I mean riddled with flash, sink and very little to assist in accurate placement of components. The kit doesn’t have any decals, these got lost back before I inherited the kit, but they’re not too extensive, just the pin-striping really. I’m not sure if I’m going to try hand painting them or use some “off the shelf” decals if I can find any. I’ve bought a couple of sheets of various width lines and curves, but at the moment I don’t know how they’ll go. The instructions were also missing, but I managed to get a set through this group, so even though they’re in either Chinese or Japanese (and I’m a bit embarrassed to say that I don’t know the difference) I’ll be able to assemble the kit. What I’m going to struggle with is colours, obvious a nice bright yellow for the bodywork, but once I get down to the details, I’m going to have to take a punt I’m afraid. For example the engine block, black or grey, if grey, which one, gunmetal?? Anyway there are a couple of builds in this this group to help and pictures on the web. So with the obligatory picture of the box lid, I’ll be away with my usual, very slow, build speed. Feel free to follow along and comment. Regards Ian 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cherry268 Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 I have this kit somewhere, I can see if I have English instructions if it helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian T Posted March 18, 2021 Author Share Posted March 18, 2021 6 hours ago, cherry268 said: I have this kit somewhere, I can see if I have English instructions if it helps That would be great if you can, I’m OK with the construction, it’s just the colours for the detail that I’m struggling with at the moment. Thanks for your offer, and there’s no rush, I’m not a prolific builder!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cherry268 Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 26 minutes ago, Ian T said: That would be great if you can, I’m OK with the construction, it’s just the colours for the detail that I’m struggling with at the moment. Thanks for your offer, and there’s no rush, I’m not a prolific builder!! I'll try and find it at weekend, a trip into the loft beckons 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cherry268 Posted March 21, 2021 Share Posted March 21, 2021 Well the good news is I have found the kit and the instructions and they are in English as well. Bad news is the don't give much on painting I will get them scanned tomorrow at work and let you have them. There is no decals Instructions say "draw black lines on engine hood" It will be guess work I am afraid Do you go onto Model Car Forum Have a look for some on there and especially the one by Harry P. It's magnificent as are all his models Such a shame he is no longer with us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian T Posted March 21, 2021 Author Share Posted March 21, 2021 On 22/03/2021 at 03:22, cherry268 said: Well the good news is I have found the kit and the instructions and they are in English as well. Bad news is the don't give much on painting I will get them scanned tomorrow at work and let you have them. There is no decals Instructions say "draw black lines on engine hood" It will be guess work I am afraid Do you go onto Model Car Forum Have a look for some on there and especially the one by Harry P. It's magnificent as are all his models Such a shame he is no longer with us Thanks very much for that @cherry268, I appreciate the help anyway!! I’ve previously looked on the Model Car Forum, but I must confess that I’ve not looked for any Mercer build, so I’ll do that. I reckon between that forum, this Britmodeller group and the internet I should be OK, but the colours won’t be correct for the purists amongst us. I did find a motor museum site in the States that has video of a beautifully restored Mercer. Hmmmm ... no decals, so I need to practice my pinstriping skills then. I’ll give the “off the shelf” stripes I’ve got as well, that includes lines of various thicknesses and curves of corresponding thicknesses, but assorted radii. I won’t have enough, but hopefully I can buy some more. I’m not sure if you can attach a scan to a PM, if not, let me know and I’ll send you my email address. Thanks once again for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old John Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 Hi Ian I will follow your build with interest. I have one myself.Building 1/16thThomas Flyer at the moment.Checked my Mercer, instructions same as yours. Will not bother me too much as I admit I am not a slave to colour accuracy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian T Posted March 23, 2021 Author Share Posted March 23, 2021 10 hours ago, Old John said: Hi Ian I will follow your build with interest. I have one myself.Building 1/16thThomas Flyer at the moment.Checked my Mercer, instructions same as yours. Will not bother me too much as I admit I am not a slave to colour accuracy Thanks for looking anyway @Old John, I’ve now got the instructions in English (courtesy of @cherry268) if you’re interested in a copy. Like you, I’m not a slave to exact colours, if I know what they then I’ll try and use them, but if not, I try and estimate my closest guess from the ranges available at my local model store. Do you have a “WIP” for your Thomas Flyer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpnuts Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 Bandia made so many great kits, how I wishe they would re release them. Will be watching this 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old John Posted March 24, 2021 Share Posted March 24, 2021 Hav'nt got a WIP going for Thomas.I have taken a few photo's along the way which I may post when finished. Thought kit rare & of limited interest a WIP was not worth it. Seems old cars are a niche hobby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian T Posted March 24, 2021 Author Share Posted March 24, 2021 10 hours ago, Old John said: Hav'nt got a WIP going for Thomas.I have taken a few photo's along the way which I may post when finished. Thought kit rare & of limited interest a WIP was not worth it. Seems old cars are a niche hobby. At the moment my favourite build is the Tamiya motorcycle range, but I love to see anything that is different which is my I seem to gravitate to this group on the forum. So I reckon that there would be a bit of interest in Thomas!! I plan to get one of the Occre trams a bit later when some spare time magically appears. But a RFI post would be great when you’re finished @Old John. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cherry268 Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 On 24/03/2021 at 09:31, Old John said: Hav'nt got a WIP going for Thomas.I have taken a few photo's along the way which I may post when finished. Thought kit rare & of limited interest a WIP was not worth it. Seems old cars are a niche hobby. I think you would be surprised at the amount of interest there would be. I would certainly follow it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old John Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 Hi Ian Will do. I did a couple of Occre Kits.The London Tram & B Type Bus, Decent finished items but admit I did struggle with them a bit. I have put 3 pics of them in WIP for you to have a look at if you wish. Should have gone in RFI but I made a mistake.Made them a couple of years ago & at the time I was churning out models as if there was no tomorrow (which at 82 years old was quite reasonable) Now I have reached a more mature age I take a bit more time LOL 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian T Posted March 25, 2021 Author Share Posted March 25, 2021 12 hours ago, Old John said: Hi Ian Will do. I did a couple of Occre Kits.The London Tram & B Type Bus, Decent finished items but admit I did struggle with them a bit. I have put 3 pics of them in WIP for you to have a look at if you wish. Should have gone in RFI but I made a mistake.Made them a couple of years ago & at the time I was churning out models as if there was no tomorrow (which at 82 years old was quite reasonable) Now I have reached a more mature age I take a bit more time LOL Thanks for the bus and tram pictures, that makes me even more keen to do one now, they look great. I think I must have matured early!! I’m a mere youngster at 65 and I’ve always built very slowly, not necessarily through choice but because I’ve got quite a few other things that I want to do, and all at the same time. I’ve got a few of the Mercer bits ready to paint, so hopefully it will be underway soon. Regards Ian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 Too much talk! Show us some pics!!! 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian T Posted March 26, 2021 Author Share Posted March 26, 2021 1 hour ago, Sabrejet said: Too much talk! Show us some pics!!! 😉 Patience @Sabrejet, I was hoping that @cherry268 English instructions would help with the colours, that wasn’t to be, so I’m off now using my best judgement. So look out shortly for a nice bright blue engine block with a salmon pink timing chain cover ...... 😂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 Sprues in the bare plastic would be fine The box top makes it look like a gem. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian T Posted March 27, 2021 Author Share Posted March 27, 2021 Happy to oblige @Sabrejet, here are the sprues, I’ve started assembling a couple of bits that will be the same colour, so the engine block and a couple of other bits are assembled. I tried a silver grey on the engine block just to try it out and it’s much too light, so a darker grey is required, maybe even black. There is also a picture of the “generic” pinstripes and curves that I bought at a swap meet. I’ll give them a go when I get that far, but there won’t be enough, plus the kit requires a thick line with a parallel thin line ... probably not this modeller!! 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 Nice one: looks like a good starting point. According to Scalemates, it dates from 1971! 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpnuts Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 Nice sprues, I love these old bandia kits. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian T Posted April 2, 2021 Author Share Posted April 2, 2021 A bit of progress at long last. I’ve spent some time checking colours on the internet, both models and real cars and it left me no wiser, there is a huge range of variation out there. So I decided that I would simply make the model “out of the box” to the best of my skills and just enjoy the build. So here is the engine almost complete, the main block is gunmetal and I’m quite happy with the colour. The Bandai plating is quite unrealistic in real-world terms, but I’ve left most of it. The springs (??) running up the side of the engine have horrible seam lines but I decided that they probably wouldn’t be seen much and if I removed them, there wouldn’t be much spring detail left. So anyway, here’s my start, all constructive comments are very welcome. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpnuts Posted April 2, 2021 Share Posted April 2, 2021 Loving the engine . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnlambert Posted April 2, 2021 Share Posted April 2, 2021 That's a very smart motor, the seam lines on the springs don't look obvious to me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian T Posted April 2, 2021 Author Share Posted April 2, 2021 46 minutes ago, johnlambert said: That's a very smart motor, the seam lines on the springs don't look obvious to me. It’s called creative photography @johnlambert, as always, we are our own worst critics. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnlambert Posted April 2, 2021 Share Posted April 2, 2021 16 minutes ago, Ian T said: It’s called creative photography @johnlambert, as always, we are our own worst critics. Yes, I know what you mean, when I look at my work my eyes are often drawn to the flaws and imperfections. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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