1/32 Renault 12TL +++ Finished+++

[CliffB]

Hi all.

My model club is currently running an informal group build with the theme "My First Car".

My first car was a 1974 Renault 12TL which I bought in 1978.  Back then, second-hand foreign cars were much cheaper to buy than British ones .  Here we are in action at a Rugby Motor Club 'trial' (by the end of the event, the front number plate was completely off).

 

 

Having decided to build this as a model, I had to find a kit.  This proved to be quite easy - a quick search on eBay brought up a gentleman in France who sells (and presumably makes), resin body shells.

 

 

The shell has a few surface imperfections, but overall is actually quite nice.  Better still, it doesn't represent a competition vehicle (as many resin shells do), and so the only surgery I will need to perform will be the removal of two unwanted fog lights.

 

For the running gear and internals I'll be using bits from similar Airfix kits (mainly their Mk.1 Escort), which possibly may also help with the glazing.  We shall see...

 

Unfortunately, by this point of the GB year, I've got a backlog of builds and so I won't be able to start this one for at least 2 months.  I'll see you later.

 

Cheers

[Wez]

Great choice Cliff.

 

One of my uncles worked for the Renault franchise on the IoW during the 70's, I well remember him having one of these at one time.

 

Welcome and good luck.

[TimJ]

Looking forward to this one. My head teacher at junior school had one which he probably bought new in 1972 (showing my age there).  

[JOCKNEY]

Great stuff Cliff

 

And may I say you look very dashing in the photo, especially with your arm out of the window to improve the cornering !

Good luck with this one.

 

Cheers Pat 

[jean]

Hi Cliff,

 

for several years I had a Renault 6, and it just would not die, that is until it lost a back wheel (and a portion of the axle) on a mountain road... Never found the wheel and the rest.

All this to say that you must have been twice as rich as I was, to be able to afford a Renault 12....

But obviously no Frenchman told you that a grassy, muddy environment was not what this car had been designed for.

Have a lot of fun!

 

JR

[CliffB]

Thanks for your comments and reminiscences @Wez @TimJ and @jean

My 12 was a great first car.  Totally reliable and very easy to work on, although admittedly not a great 'bird puller' (especially in pastel blue)!

My next five cars were Renaults too (all different numbers). I even owned a 14, which was neither reliable nor easy to work on .

 

@JOCKNEY, I'll send you a link to my OnlyFans page 

 

Cheers

 

[JOCKNEY]

Hi Cliff

 

Desperately trying not to refer to dodgy French electrics in Renaults but, are you having trouble getting your 12 started ?

 

Cheers Pat 

 

 

[CliffB]

5 hours ago, JOCKNEY said:

Hi Cliff

 

Desperately trying not to refer to dodgy French electrics in Renaults but, are you having trouble getting your 12 started ?

 

Cheers Pat 

 

 

 

Thanks for the chase Pat.  It's simply a case of too many other Group Build entries to finish first!  The R12 should now be my "October Build" 

 

Cheers

[CliffB]

Morning all.

I'm waiting for some paint to dry on my Ford Mustang build, so thought I'd start to get my act together on this R12.

 

The first question that raises its head is how was my bodyshell actually made?  I'd initially assumed that it was a traditional resin casting, but now I think it may have been 3D printed.  Any thoughts anyone?

 

 

I'm also intrigued by the cut-out in the floor pan.  I'm assuming that this is slot car orientated, but am not really sure why it's that shape?

 

As I previously mentioned, I'm planning to use an Airfix Mk.1 Escort kit to provide the internals and running gear for the Renault.  According to online data, the wheelbase dimensions are virtually identical (R12: 2438mm, Escort: 2400mm), and the track dimensions are also pretty close (R12: 1314mm, Escort: 1245mm).  In 1/32, the difference in track equates to 2mm (or 1mm per side).  A visual comparison of the two bodies confirms what the data says 

 

 

 

My biggest concern for the build is the glazing.  There was nothing provided with the R12 bodyshell and I've got nothing suitable in my spares box either.  It looks like I will have to resort to cutting out individual windows from acetate sheet.  On the plus side, the bodyshell features a flange around each window opening which will help to locate the glazing (fitting from the outside).  Also, the curves involved are not as extreme as on more modern vehicles.

 

 

I remain concerned though, so will probably try to cut out the windows before I do anything else.  That way, if it's a complete disaster, I'll be able to switch to another French build and still have time to complete it .

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

[CliffB]

OK, I'm on to this one full time now .

 

As I mentioned before, I first needed to demonstrate to myself that I could sensibly glaze the car using acetate sheet (if not, the build would be a non-starter).

 

1. First, I traced round the windscreen opening using greaseproof baking paper.

 

 

2.  I then placed a piece of clear acetate cover the tracing and traced it again.

 

 

3.  Finally, I cut out the acetate shape.  Amazingly, it fitted (just about), first time.

 

 

This version is 'proof of concept' only (not the final job), but it's served its purpose of showing that it can be done!  A pleasant surprise is that the acetate actually clips into the flange that's been moulded around the windscreen opening, thereby allowing the screen to hold its curve even without glue.  Thumbs up to the designer .

 

Cheers

 

 

[CliffB]

I should perhaps say a few words about the Airfix Ford Escort kit that will be providing the underpinnings for my R12.

Here's a shot of the sprues.

 

 

The kit was first released in 1969, but still looks pretty good.  If you go on eBay today you can buy a nice, original, boxed example for just £249.99 (or best offer).  Fortunately, a year or two ago you could buy modern bagged examples (sans box and instructions), for just £5 a piece.  There seemed to be a job lot doing the rounds.  I bought just one - I should have bought more, as they're great for this sort of project.

 

I've started by assembling the suspension.

 

 

Using the Escort kit is an easy way of supplementing the R12 bodyshell, but of course it's not 100% accurate (nor probably even 50% ).

The suspension is a good example.  The Escort was a RWD car with leaf-springs at the rear, whereas the R12 was FWD with coil springs all round.

To reflect this, I've made a few simple changes to the Escort kit to make it a bit more R12-like (without destroying the fit and structural integrity of the parts).

• I've sanded off the differential housing from the rear axle.
• I've cut off the rear half of each leaf spring and then lightly sanded the retained halves to make them look a bit more like swing arms.

The result is obviously not perfect, but is adequate for what I'm trying to achieve .

 

With the suspension in place, I've been able to loose fit the wheels and unfortunately this has confirmed that I'm going to have to extend the wheelbase of the floor pan slightly.  Happy days!

 

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CliffB]

I had a happy few hours with the Dremel yesterday, cutting out the floor pan of the R12 body and extending the one from the Escort.

 

 

It's not pretty, but it seems to work!

 

 

Cheers

[TimJ]

Nice work so far. 

[CliffB]

Thanks @TimJ 

 

I wasn't going to add an engine to this one, but the 16 pieces on the Escort sprue looked too nice to ignore.  So despite the fact that it's a Ford engine (not a Renault), and despite the fact that the bonnet will be sealed shut, here it is!

 

 

 

On the Escort, the engine sits across the (imaginary) front axle, with the gearbox nestling behind, under the floor pan's transmission tunnel.

On the R12 however, the engine is moved further forward so that it's the gearbox that straddles the front axle (because the car is FWD).

To achieve this, I had to modify the Escort chassis rails.  All good fun though 

 

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

[CliffB]

I've now finished the basic construction and prepping of the running gear and interior, so have moved on to the 3D-printed body shell.

 

The first job is to grind off the two spotlights (which I didn't have on my R12).  Here's one gone and one remaining.

 

 

I can already see that the radiator grille is going to be very difficult to get looking neat.  Fortunately, it's pretty much all black so that should help to disguise any roughness .

 

Cheers

[CliffB]

I've been doing a bit more work on the body and have added some internal structures such as a rear parcel shelf and a bracket to support the dashboard.  

The body's also had its first coat of primer.

 

 

 

Superficially the body looks OK, but up close the primer reveals a lot of defects including some characteristic striations caused by the 3D printing process.

 

 

 

It looks like I've still got some work to do!

 

Cheers

 

[CliffB]

I'm still soldiering on with my tidying up of the bodyshell - I'm now on fill/sand iteration number four.  I have at least now moved on to improving some of the more detailed features (like the door handles), so the end is in sight.

 

In the meantime I've also finished assembling the chassis.

 

 

Just like my original car, everything inside is black, which will at least help to disguise the Escort-derived inaccuracies.  For example, the stitching on my R12 seats ran vertically, not horizontally is in the Escort.  I'm using the same 'black camouflage', within the engine bay.

 

The Escort's wheels are not totally dissimilar to the R12's, but Renault used a central bolt to hold their hub-caps in place.  I've added these as a nod to greater accuracy!

 

I've also finished preparing the dashboard.  This, plus the rear seat, will be fixed to the inside of the bodyshell (rather than to the chassis).

I had both an Escort and a Cortina dash in my spares box.  I've used the latter as it's much closer to the look of the R12's.  Similarly, I've used a Cortina steering wheel (with one spoke removed).  It's all close enough for my needs on this build 

 

 

Cheers

[CliffB]

It's taken me a long time, but I've finally got the bodywork painted to an OK standard.  I've used an old tin of Airfix enamel paint which was a pretty good colour match, but which has not sprayed well (possibly due to me using modern formulation thinners).

 

 

Thank goodness for the deadline extension!

 

Cheers

[CliffB]

A quick update.  Almost ready to add the glazing.

 

 

Hopefully should be on course for the new deadline 

 

Cheers

[CliffB]

And finally it's finished 

 

 

To be honest, the bodyshell has been a bit of a PITA and despite my best endeavours is still not as refined as a mainstream, injection moulded product.

Nevertheless, it looks OK in the cabinet and it is actually quite nice to have a model of 'my first car'!

 

Many thanks to @Wez for hosting the GB and to those of you who've supported the build 

 

Cheers

[Wez]

Great result in the end there Cliff, well done!

 

Thanks for participating.

[Max Headroom]

That’s a nostalgia blast

 

In my memory they were always white.

 

Trevor

[CliffB]

Thanks @Wez and @Max Headroom 

 

Cheers

[Wez]

14 hours ago, Max Headroom said:

In my memory they were always white.

 

Not for long, in my memory they were mostly rust...

[Whirly]

Very nice! It's so rare to see built car models you could meet in every street.

I remember a lot of these Renaults in very dull crimson or blue, typical colors of the time.