Airfix Triumph Herald starter set build

[johnlambert]

With my SMTS TVR nearing completion and my Airfix Aston Martin DB5 looking like it might be a bit of a slow-burn I thought I'd try something a little different.

 

On the Airfix Facebook page there was a challenge to build an Airfix starter set using just what was in the box and a few simple tools.  I thought it might be an interesting experiment to take that approach with this kit.  Can I build something to an acceptable standard using just the supplied parts, paint and glue?

 

Box photo.

 

Close-up of the "extra" bits, six paints, two brushed and some Poly Cement.

 

I think the colours are silver (was Humbrol #11 called Silver Fox?), red, white, matt black, matt aluminium and some sort of tan/brown.

 

Apart from the starter set parts I want to stick to some cutters, a knife and some sanding sticks.  I think that's what Airfix suggest as allowable tools.  I guess I should have gone back to basics with some nail polishing files rather than "proper" sanding sticks.

 

As for the kit, it came neatly packaged and even without opening the bag I was pleasantly surprised.

 

Straight out of the bag it actually looks like a Triumph Herald.  Some cleaning up to do, but really not bad.

 

Overview of the other parts, it's quite detailed.

 

Clear parts in their own bag.

 

Pretty clean too, apart from the tail lamps.

 

I have to say that this is a really charming kit, it deserves a decent build.  I've made a start and there will be another update soon.

[johnlambert]

The kit parts were quite greasy to the touch, so they got a wash in warm soapy water.  Then it was time to tidy up the mouldings.

 

Compared to some Airfix kits, this isn't a bad level of flash.

 

I'm not sure that the tail fins are quite right, it's almost as though the mould doesn't quite line up correctly.

 

Tiny but annoying bit of flash on the quarterlight frame.

 

That actually cleaned up really weii.

 

That's somewhat better too.

 

The bonnet seems to fit fairly well.

 

Windscreen fit, not bad but not great.  Still a little cleaning if the edges will help.

 

Rear screen is a nice fit.

 

I thought I'd start with the white parts of the body and the wheel centres.  The paint was like toothpaste, according to Airfix and Humbrol the paint could be thinned with water (which seemed doubtful to me.

 

Suitably diluted, or so a novice might think.

 

Not a success.

 

I thought I'd try some undiluted paint and it was no better.

 

At least it washed off without any lasting damage.

 

I thought I'd work on the chassis.  It's a bit fiddly but the wishbones are separate components.

 

Front and rear suspension added.  There are also some radius rods to add and parts of the chassis that pass under the rear axle (well, axles).

 

Engine part assembled and part painted.  The matt black paint was thinned with isopropyl alcohol, which worked somewhat better.  I'm sure Humbrol Acrylic thinner, which contains a retarder, would work even better.

 

More of the engine.

 

Test fitting the manifold, I'm not sure what's going on here as it doesn't seem to have enough branches for both inlet and exhaust but I hope it will look OK when assembled.

 

Selection of parts, the brown paint was less thick and gloopy, so it went on without thinning, but I think it will need several coats to get any sort of decent finish.

[CrazyCrank]

It will be a funny battle, John

East-German workers themselves didn't paint the Trabants with simple brushes and water-based paints 🤔😉

[johnlambert]

22 minutes ago, CrazyCrank said:

It will be a funny battle, John

East-German workers themselves didn't paint the Trabants with simple brushes and water-based paints 🤔😉

I couldn't see a nice model spoilt by deliberately poor painting, so I have broken my self-imposed rule.

 

I've sprayed the body with Tamiya Fine Surface primer and I think I'll end up using automotive paint for the body.

 

Well, they say that rules are made to be broken.

[keefr22]

The moulding of this one looks a lot better than the Aston John!

 

I think I'd be tempted to just clear coat the primer for the white bits of the body - it looks nice and smooth!

 

Keith

[Bengalensis]

2 hours ago, johnlambert said:

I couldn't see a nice model spoilt by deliberately poor painting, so I have broken my self-imposed rule.

 

I've sprayed the body with Tamiya Fine Surface primer and I think I'll end up using automotive paint for the body.

 

Well, they say that rules are made to be broken.

A very good decision, and besides; Rules are for fools. 😎

The plastic looks quite good, especially compared to the Aston Martin, and I just can't understand why they pack the kit together with that glop they call paint. It can't make anyone happy.

[Deanali]

I'll be following this as I'm tempted to do one for the Mrs as its her favourite car. Just got to finish 7 or 8 odd kits I've had for years first. 

Edited March 20, 2021 by Deanali

[Pig of the Week]

Good call ! Looks like a pretty reasonable Triumph Herald to me, would've been a shame to spoil it with the crap paint !

[johnlambert]

Yet more work on this one this morning.

 

To avoid clogging the detail with too much paint I decided to mask off the non-white parts of the body.  I hope it also means that the red paint will go on nicely when it comes to that stage.

 

Good old Halfords Appliance White, straight from the can.

 

I've applied three coats and it looks pretty good.  It will need a bit of a polish to smooth it down but it's pretty satisfactory so far.

 

As the wheels are supposed to be white, I sprayed them at the same time.  I hope I can mask these (I'll use my compass cutter to make circular masks) and get a decent finish.  Not sure whether to go matt black or a more realistic dark grey.

 

A useful hack for any kit with a side opening box (one that I got from YouTube) is to cut along one edge then tape up the sides to make a top-opening box.  I can't leave my kits out all the time so it's useful to be able to pack them away safely.

 

Close-up of the seats.  I think I painted these on Thursday and the paint still feels slightly tacky.  The finish is horrible although it's had two coats and is much better after the second coat.

 

I tried sanding with a fine abrasive to smooth the paint before another coat and it just felt horrible.

 

The paint just peels off if you rub it.

 

I've applied silver paint to various pieces, plus aluminium on the fan and brown rocker box cover.  From what I've seen, this is usually a brass or gold colour, so I've gone with brown from the supplied paint as the closest match.

 

1 hour ago, Bengalensis said:

A very good decision, and besides; Rules are for fools. 😎

The plastic looks quite good, especially compared to the Aston Martin, and I just can't understand why they pack the kit together with that glop they call paint. It can't make anyone happy.

Yes, the paint is truly awful.  I used the matt black today and it had gone like tar!

 

I managed to salvage the paint; I researched paint retarder and added some glycerine, distilled water and isopropyl alcohol, and managed to get something that brushed on reasonably well.  I've done the dashboard top, battery, radiator, steering wheel and heater assembly.

 

The engine is coming together, again with more matt black.  You don't get much instruction in the kit for painting the oily bits, so I've been looking for Herald photos online.

 

Another view of the engine with the belts and dynamo added.  I might try some dry brushing to bring a bit more life and colour to it.  I think adding the rocker box and manifold will help too.

 

48 minutes ago, Deanali said:

I'll be following this as I'm tempted to do one fir the Mrs as its her favourite car. Just got to finish 7 or 8 odd kits I've had for years first. 

As long as you throw away the supplied paint I would recommend this kit.  It's not perfect, but there is something appealing about it.  I'm not a Herald fan, but it has won me over so I think your Mrs would be over the moon!

[Sabrejet]

You are a glutton for these! I have to admit I'm impressed by your commitment. I'm going to have a long lie down in a dark room after the DB4 GT.

[johnlambert]

Thanks @Sabrejet the Herald is a much nicer kit than the Aston Martin DB5 or Jaguar E-type from Airfix.

 

34 minutes ago, Sabrejet said:

You are a glutton for these! I have to admit I'm impressed by your commitment. I'm going to have a long lie down in a dark room after the DB4 GT.

Yes, I've got a Maserati Indy in the cupboard and a Jaguar 420 on pre-order from Airfix.

[johnlambert]

Yet more work on this.

 

I've given the awful brown paint another go.  It's not looking too bad on the dashboard.

 

The seats look ok in pictures, slightly less so in real life.  Pity Airfix decided on that particular attachment point to the sprue.

 

Close-up of the engine.

 

Silver paint on various parts and the over-riders are attached to the front bumper.

A little aluminium dry brushed on the engine block.

 

Other side of the block, and paint is coming off the gearbox but that can be touched up.

 

So far all this painting and gluing is using all the provided paint, brushes and glue.

 

[johnlambert]

Quick update on the Herald's chassis.

 

Brush painted with the supplied goop pretending to be matt black paint.  It would probably work as underseal on a real car!.  The front valance is body colour so the chassis was masked and the front end sprayed, hence the over-spray which is easy enough to fix.

[Alan R]

Hi John,
Heroic effort on this little car.

I have an original boxing of this lit (Priced 9/6!). I think I bought it in about 1969.

Seeing your build, I think I might break it out of the stash again.

 

BTW. I found a way of diluting acrylic paints with water that prevents the 'pooling' that you got. I found, a long time ago, that if you put a small amount of washing up liquid in with the paint, that it flows much better and almost entirely stops the pooling. It's probably a good idea to use 'distilled' water rather than straight from the tap. I take water from the condenser tank on our tumble dryer, as that have been vaporised off the clothing, and any chemicals are left behind.

Those little pots of acrylic paint aren't very good at all, but can be made useable with this trick.

 

Cheers,

Alan.

Edited March 20, 2021 by Alan R
typo

[johnlambert]

A quick look at the Herald's body on the chassis.

 

White paint seems to have gone on well, the panel gap isn't ideal but I'm leaving it as it is.

 

I'm not quite sure what to do for the red paint.  I've got some Ford Rosso Red and Sunburst Red in Halfords cans and Tamiay Racing Red spray.  Maybe I need to spray some spoons to see how it comes out?

 

It's quite nice that the bonnet pivots on a pair of trunions (or are they spigots) although it is only held in place by gravity.  It means that the underside of the bonnet needs painting too.  If this were a proper build, then you'd probably want to add some more detail (or just glue the bonnet shut and be done with it).

[Stef N.]

Spunions.😀

 

If this was your first ever kit would it be good enough to ignite a passion in the hobby or would it put you off? Or do they just need to improve the paint to make it a fun build?

[johnlambert]

51 minutes ago, Stef N. said:

Spunions.😀

 

If this was your first ever kit would it be good enough to ignite a passion in the hobby or would it put you off? Or do they just need to improve the paint to make it a fun build?

This is actually quite a good starter kit.  The general quality of the moulding and fit of the parts is acceptable, unlike some other Airfix car kits.  Yes there's some cleaning to do but nothing so far has felt like a battle (unlike the Jaguar E-type, Aston Martin DBR9 or DB5 that are my other Airfix builds of recent times).  I'm not a massive fan of the Triumph Herald but this kit has really charmed me, which probably shows in the rate of progress on this build.

 

As a starter set I've actually been reasonably impressed by the brushes and cement but the paint really would spoil it for me if it were my first build.  I think I'd have been heart broken if I'd got that white paint splitting and running as it did back in one of the first posts on this build.  I think it would be better not to provide paint than provide the stuff that Airfix does.

[Mr Mansfield]

I do like these Airfix 1/32 kits. I’ve only built the Triumph TR4 but was suitably impressed with the fit of the parts. I wouldn’t be brave enough to try the paints that come with it though!

[johnlambert]

6 minutes ago, Mr Mansfield said:

I do like these Airfix 1/32 kits. I’ve only built the Triumph TR4 but was suitably impressed with the fit of the parts. I wouldn’t be brave enough to try the paints that come with it though!

Having now attempted to use the supplied paint, I can understand why nearly every mention of the s Airfix starter sets includes the advice from experienced modellers, "Throw away the supplied paint".  It really isn't fit for anything else.

[Muddyf]

I have tried using the supplied pots (usually if I’m out of the particular colour) and found the paint to be either ‘useable’ or complete dross. I’ve had mixed results even with the same colour from different kits before.

 

I tend to bin the paint and reuse the pots to store excess paint I have mixed.

[johnlambert]

12 minutes ago, Muddyf said:

I have tried using the supplied pots (usually if I’m out of the particular colour) and found the paint to be either ‘useable’ or complete dross. I’ve had mixed results even with the same colour from different kits before.

 

I tend to bin the paint and reuse the pots to store excess paint I have mixed.

Oh, re-using the pots is a great idea!

[Muddyf]

1 minute ago, johnlambert said:

Oh, re-using the pots is a great idea!

 

Recycling will save the planet! (Oh, and anything that will save cash for more kits of course 😁 ).

[Spiny]

8 hours ago, johnlambert said:

As a starter set I've actually been reasonably impressed by the brushes and cement but the paint really would spoil it for me if it were my first build.  I think I'd have been heart broken if I'd got that white paint splitting and running as it did back in one of the first posts on this build.  I think it would be better not to provide paint than provide the stuff that Airfix does.

 

Confession time, what got me back into the hobby was an Airfix set - two Spitfires, one Lancaster, two brushes, two cement tubes and 12 posts of paint. And on that all the paint was good apart from falling short of matt black for the Lancaster. I didn't reckon much to the brushes though, the head kept splitting, particularly on the Size 0 brush. As for the polycement, I must be doing well with it as not only did it do those three kits, but I'm still on the second tube 14 kits later I get the impression that the QA is somewhat variable on all products, shame you got the dodgy white paint. On the bright side though, if it wasn't dodgy you wouldn't have got that good paint job with Appliance White...

[johnlambert]

1 hour ago, Spiny said:

 

As for the polycement, I must be doing well with it as not only did it do those three kits, but I'm still on the second tube 14 kits later

I must admit the polycement is a pleasant surprise.  I was expecting it to be stringy and messy, and it just isn't.  I can see myself making more use of the little tubes I've collected from various starter sets.

 

1 hour ago, Spiny said:

 

On the bright side though, if it wasn't dodgy you wouldn't have got that good paint job with Appliance White...

Thanks, yes I'm pleased with how that turned out.

 

1 hour ago, Spiny said:

 

Confession time, what got me back into the hobby was an Airfix set - two Spitfires, one Lancaster, two brushes, two cement tubes and 12 posts of paint. And on that all the paint was good apart from falling short of matt black for the Lancaster. 

I wonder if the matt paint is a bit more forgiving?  I've been tempted by some aircraft kits a few times.  Maybe when I run out of cars I want to build?

[Windy37]

I’ve built the Airfix Fiesta and Mini rally car kits , one came packaged as a “ starter “ kit  . I never used the supplied “ paint “ and  the complexity of the decals on the Fiesta put me off applying them and I consider myself to be quite good at decaling ! Apart from that , and the wheel situation , they built up into quite good , well detailed kits . I think I posted their builds on the Forum at the time . 
 Gary .