1/43 Heller 2 CV. JR's first ever vehicle build.

[jean]

Hi everyone,

 

this is indeed my very first car build, and although a simple kit, I was seriously intimidated, believe it or not.

Just finished this build as part of the French Fancy GB, and the build thread, for the ones interested is:

 

 

Here are a couple of photos and I feel a bit self conscious as you guys and girls build car kits for a living, or so it seems looking at the smashing quality of your builds.

So feel free to give me some feedback and pointers, as this small 2 CV may not be the last car I build.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for taking the time to look at this post.

 

JR

[Spiny]

The grey works very well for a 2CV, easy to imagine this as a well-used car trundling around a French village. Given its 1/43, it's never going to show the detail of a 1/24 car but the end result is very pleasing.

 

The only thing I would suggest relates to, of all things, the glass and so can be levelled firmly at Heller's door. It may be the harsh African sun, but the windows look a bit scratched up - maybe next time giving them a polish (not sure what you can get in Zimbabwe, but if you have some plastic polish such as Novus 2 and/or 3 that would do the trick.

[Natter]

I have had one of these in the stash for years and years and haven't plucked up the courage to build it - so well done on such a great job of your build.

[PatW]

Wow! Really good job!

[JeroenS]

Hi Jean, I've got feedback for you: build some more of these 🙂

 

It looks great. They're not that easy to pull off in this scale but you managed really well.

[jean]

14 hours ago, Spiny said:

The grey works very well for a 2CV, easy to imagine this as a well-used car trundling around a French village. Given its 1/43, it's never going to show the detail of a 1/24 car but the end result is very pleasing.

 

The only thing I would suggest relates to, of all things, the glass and so can be levelled firmly at Heller's door. It may be the harsh African sun, but the windows look a bit scratched up - maybe next time giving them a polish (not sure what you can get in Zimbabwe, but if you have some plastic polish such as Novus 2 and/or 3 that would do the trick.

Hi Spiny,

 

thank you for your comments.

With such a small scale, I did not wish to go overboard with detailing, because a stuff up would have ruined the kit.

For the fun of it, I scratched a gear lever and a hand brake, knowing full well nobody would ever see them. I just wanted to see for myself that I could do it in 1/43 and I was happy with the result.

Now the "transparencies": The front windscreen had a raised, caricatural set of wipers that really irked me, the more I looked at them.

So I threw caution to the winds and sanded them off, then I used Tamiya fine polish compound (found in South Africa; forget about Zim!).

I polished until I decided that, the plastic not being that strong, I was going to snap it off if I carried on... So I called it a day. Better a slightly foggy windscreen than a broken one. And yes, the sun did not help. Again, part of the learning curve.

Thanks for the pointers. The next car will be better!

 

JR

[Kitkent]

It think it looks really good especially for a first 1/43. The grey is very realistic,and so is the car being slightly scuffed up If i may say so! Windows are always a pain in 1/43rd. Chris.

[Spiny]

8 hours ago, jean said:

With such a small scale, I did not wish to go overboard with detailing, because a stuff up would have ruined the kit.

 

 

If you hadn't said I wouldn't have guessed that you'd sanded the original wipers off the windscreen so in that respect I think you've done a good job. Got to agree with you as well about discretion being the better part of valour - some scratches which only show in intense sunlight is much better than a cracked windscreen.

[stevej60]

That s a great little 2CV Jean,nice work all round.

[klubman01]

Great work, keep it up.

Trevor

[bigbadbadge]

It does look great, the colour does really suit it and the paint does look good.  Cracking job 

Chris