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Heller Citroen 2 CV, 1/43 JR's first car! FINISHED!!!


jean

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Hi everyone,

 

I am throwing my beret in the ring with a Citroen 2 CV...

It is the Heller 1/43 kit, courtesy of Pat, aka @JOCKNEY, who obviously still believes that this is the nec plus ultra of French technology in our year of Grace 2021, along with the SPAD XIII... Ah, Scotland...

I haven't dared disillusion him, so I will build it, only because it looks like such a quick build. Who is laughing at the back?

BUT... I have never built a car kit, so that could be fun!!!!

I drove many 2 CV when I was much younger, and nightmares still visit me when I remember how it behaved in tight bends at "high" speed...

 

Photos will come later.

Cheers all.

 

JR

 

Edited by jean
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4 hours ago, jean said:

I drove many 2 CV when I was much younger, and nightmares still visit me when I remember how it behaved in tight bends at "high" speed...

 

Photos will come later.

Cheers all.

 

JR

 

 

OK JR,

 

High speed in a 2CV who are you kidding, you're be telling us you found second gear next ! :wink:

 

If you have any pictures of your old cars it would be great to see them, you could even replicate your favourite one in the build.

 

Best of luck with this one :like:

 

Cheers Pat

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Hi everyone,

here are a couple of photos of this poor 2 cv, who yet doesn't know it will be JR's guinea pig, as the first car I have ever built...

 

2 CV GB Photo 1

 

2 CV GB Photo 2

 

Once more, what could go wrong? It can only be a quick build.... And cue Mozart's requiem...

Have fun!

 

JR

 

 

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Hi everyone,

 

I started on my deux lapins (term of "endearment" used by our French speaking Swiss neighbours when referring to this four-wheeled national monument) today and did some clean-up, gluing and painting.

Not much, but it is a start.

What you see on the picture below are three quarters of the parts.... So I should be finished before Xmas...

 

2 CV GB Photo 3

 

Cheers

 

JR

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Hi everyone,

 

Painted the chassis and the seats and glued this lot together.

I am left wit painting the tires, the dashboard and the front bumper, then I can deal with the body.

I need to scratch a gear stick and a hand brake. The steering wheel alone is not enough!

Here is a photo of the progress, not helped by the fact that all is in various shades of grey plus black, and the lighting does not help.

 

Oh well....

2 CV GB Photo 4

 

Have fun.

 

JR

 

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Hi Cliff,

 

if my memory serves me right, the seat had fairly sturdy stitching... Having said that, it could have been 4" nails of rivets, for what comfort the seats offered...

As this is mostly an OOB build, I decided to leave everything in place, as almost nothing will be seen when the clear parts are in place...

 

Cheers

JR

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28 minutes ago, jean said:

Hi Cliff,

 

if my memory serves me right, the seat had fairly sturdy stitching... Having said that, it could have been 4" nails of rivets, for what comfort the seats offered...

As this is mostly an OOB build, I decided to leave everything in place, as almost nothing will be seen when the clear parts are in place...

 

Cheers

JR

 

I have seen photographs of a 2CV with wooden 'park bench' type seats (although probably not original fixtures), so I thought metal seats might have been a possibility on early, utilitarian vehicles :coolio:

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18 minutes ago, CliffB said:

 

I have seen photographs of a 2CV with wooden 'park bench' type seats (although probably not original fixtures), so I thought metal seats might have been a possibility on early, utilitarian vehicles :coolio:

I had once to use the 2 CV for an urgent run into town from the gliding club, but I had taken the seats out...

So I sat on an upturned wooden oranges' crate and 4 of my mates sat on the floor... The police saw us at a traffic light and waved... good old days.

The crate was not more uncomfortable than the seat, although I had to clutch the steering during the lightning fast accelerations, so as not to topple backward...

The 2 CV was actually deceptively nervous upon starting...

This car did make an impression on all those who drove it.

 

JR

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Hi everyone,

 

Almost a disaster today with the  2 CV...

I had painted the underside of the car in gloss black (Humbrol 21), and because it seemed a bit toy-like to me, I decided to tone it down with a semi gloss varnish.

So for the first time I used a Tamiya spray can of TS-79, still brand new.

And under my eyes, the smooth black paint turned to a toad-like appearance, with little pustules popping up all over...

Not good... I used a cotton cloth to rub it and then 4000 micro-mesh, and the final result is on the photo below...

 

2 CV GB Photo 5

 

I will leave it like that, as it looks like some protective spray Citroen may have used on the chassis...

I sprayed the wheels as well to make the rims less dull. The tires had been painted with Mr Hobby H77 (Tire black) and they are OK, along the rim that had been painted in Humbrol 125.

I am not sure what happened... if anybody has any inkling, please let me know.

 

Now I have to mask the wheel's rim and spray the tires with Tamiya matt varnish... Never had a problem with that one.

 

Thanks for looking in.

 

JR

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Looks like underseal to me, you should patent the method so others can pay you to discover the secret.

 

I hate to say this mate, but this is by far the fastest and most enthusiastic build I've ever seen you do !

 

Have you been a vehicle modeller in denial all these years ? :wink:

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On 15/07/2021 at 21:09, jean said:

Hi everyone,

 

Painted the chassis and the seats and glued this lot together.

I am left wit painting the tires, the dashboard and the front bumper, then I can deal with the body.

I need to scratch a gear stick and a hand brake. The steering wheel alone is not enough!

Here is a photo of the progress, not helped by the fact that all is in various shades of grey plus black, and the lighting does not help.

 

Oh well....

2 CV GB Photo 4

 

Have fun.

 

JR

 

As a car fan with a bit of an interest in the 2CV I'm following this build with great interest.

 

I'm not sure what's going on with those seats as they don't look like anything I've seen fitted to a 2CV.

 

The little Citroen famously had hammock or deckchair-style seats where there was minimal cushioning and just some sturdy fabric suspended by what look like springs but might have been elasticated fabric straps suspended from a curved, tubular frame.  Not sure how you'd recreate that in 1:43rd scale, it would probably need some fancy, photo-etched parts to do it properly.  And then you wouldn't be able to see it anyway through the small windows.

 

Anyway, it looks like you're doing a great job.

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Hi @johnlambert,

 

I m fully in agreement with you.

As you rightfully say, the seats elasticated fabric was hung on a  basic metal frame.

You could see right through underneath the seat from the sides.

I debated trying to modify the seats to something closer to reality, and then decided that once the body and the transparent parts have been installed, the sides of the seats would become totally invisible. So, I'm afraid they shall remain a they are. But I shall make amends to the gods.

The 2 CV has been omnipresent through my youth, along with the Panhard, Simca 1000, Peugeot 203, and many more...

It is impossible to remain insensitive to the Deuche.

 

Thanks for your comment.

 

JR

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A couple of my mates had 2cvs when we were young and stupid - we tried everything to get one to roll, but would it heck. We would even throw ourselves across the seat at the door during a tight turn to try to get it to go over, but it never did! (I hate to think what state we would have been in had it done what we were trying to make it do!)

 

The exact opposite of a Reliant Robin!

 

Ian

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3 hours ago, Brandy said:

A couple of my mates had 2cvs when we were young and stupid - we tried everything to get one to roll, but would it heck. We would even throw ourselves across the seat at the door during a tight turn to try to get it to go over, but it never did! (I hate to think what state we would have been in had it done what we were trying to make it do!)

sw

The exact opposite of a Reliant Robin!

 

Ian

Hi Ian,

 

I agree with you. Being inside a 2 CV during a roll would have been a very bad idea. The canvas top would not have shielded your head very much!

Now, I never qualified a Reliant Robin as a car, but that is just me! "Only horses and fools", as well as "Mr. Bean" are enough to confirm my feeling!

Having said that, in a tight turn the 4 wheels of a 2 CV would still be on the ground, while the body would be tilted at 45 degrees outwards (or so it felt)... Real fun!

 

Cheers

 

JR

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4 hours ago, Brandy said:

A couple of my mates had 2cvs when we were young and stupid - we tried everything to get one to roll, but would it heck. We would even throw ourselves across the seat at the door during a tight turn to try to get it to go over, but it never did! (I hate to think what state we would have been in had it done what we were trying to make it do!)

 

The exact opposite of a Reliant Robin!

 

Ian

The one time I saw a Citroen 2CV was a deliberate attempt on TV (not sure what show but I have a feeling it was 30-odd years ago.  The trick was reversing rapidly (in relative terms) on full lock, which was enough to put the car on its side.

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Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

well, I have glued the wheels, which means that the collection of bits looks almost like a car!

A great sense of achievement as I have never glued four wheels on a kit before in my life...

Next will be work on the dashboard, steering column, etc.  and finally the painting of the body.

Here is a photo of the progress so far:

 

2 CV GB Photo 6

 

So yes, @JOCKNEY, I may well finish this one before Xmas 2021....

Maybe I am a closet car modeler... Should I come out?

 

Have fun!

 

JR

 

 

 

Edited by jean
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2 hours ago, jean said:

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

well, I have glued the wheels, which means that the collection of bits looks almost like a car!

A great sense of achievement as I have never glued four wheels on a kit before in my life...

Next will be work on the dashboard, steering column, etc.  and finally the painting of the body.

Here is a photo of the progress so far:

 

2 CV GB Photo 6

 

So yes, @JOCKNEY, I may well finish this one before Xmas 2021....

Maybe I am a closet car modeler... Should I come out?

 

Have fun!

 

JR

 

 

 

Yep, join the ranks of the out and proud car modellers ;)

 

That looks fab!

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Hi all,

 

last night I glued the front lights, minus the lenses, and this simple add-on made the body really look like a 2 CV.

So today I sprayed some light grey Tamiya primer, and looking at the result, I had an epiphany.

Why not leave the body in this color, as it is pretty much the grey of many 2 CVs of my youth?

Plus there is no way my brush painting can be as smooth as that.

I will paint the fabric roof in dark grey, as that was often the case.

So all I have to do is micromesh the body and give it another coat of primer. Easy! Anyway, here are a couple of pictures. The body is not glued to the chassis, just put on top for the photo.

 

2 CV GB Photo 9

 

2 CV GB Photo 8

 

 

Thanks for watching.

 

JR

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Hi everyone,

 

still progressing with my Deuche.

I have glued the dashboard/"glove compartment"and made and fitted a gear stick and a hand brake. Just felt like it, but nobody will see them!

I decided against the floor pedals...

Just need to place the steering column, then all the work will be on the body.

Re the body, I am almost finished painting the canvas top in darker grey.

Some bad news though:

-it would appear that my spray of Tamiya grey primer is almost finished! Rats! I hope it will last for the last coat...

-and I just realized that one of the lights has disappeared!!! Now that is going to be fun finding it, what with the carpet monster, the thousand of spider webs and the mongoose... Rats again!

 

Anyway, here is a photo of the chassis;

 

2 CV GB Photo 10

 

Have fun!

 

JR

 

PS: After 30-odd minutes on all four with a spotlight, I have found the missing light! A chance in a thousand.

Smiling again!!!

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I'm glad you were victorious in your hunt for the missing part, and I can sympathise over the Tamiya primer, which does seem to enjoy running out halfway through spraying.  I try to always keep an unopened spray in reserve.

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