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Land Rover Defender - conversion from 1:24 Landy?


bootneck

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I'm probably opening a can of worms here;  however, I want to build a Land Rover Defender in 1:24 scale.   I've checked Scalemates and there doesn't appear to be a plastic kit of the Defender to that scale.  As such, is it possible to convert either of the Italeri or Revel LWB Land Rovers to a Defender?   Has anyone done that and could provide details and any other helpful material please?

 

cheers,

 

Mike

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Depends on how accurate you want to be & what year of Defender, as the detailing (e.g. grille, lights) & interiors were repeatedly modernised.  Aside from the obvious change of the longer bonnet, there are a lot of differences under the skin - the Series 3 and earlier were leaf springs, whereas the Defenders were coil sprung.  The wheelbases are slightly different, but whether that would be noticable at this scale is another matter.  I reckon that a regular, non-Chelsea tractor spec Defender model wouldn't be that tricky (especially if not fussed about the suspension), but Land-Rover afficionados will no doubt point out a whole host of differences!

 

However, someone has posted up pics of a transkit in progress (can't remember who / where, but think I might have seen it here) for a Defender, I'm guessing using the Revell kit as that is easily available.  Possibly C1 Models or Motobitz?

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Hello Paul,

 

I could probably scratchbuild the parts, especially around the grill and bonnet areas if I can get decent plans.  Other items, such as the detailing of the coil springs would also be a nice challenge for me, if I can source the details for them also.

 

cheers,
Mike

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Google image searching for Land Rover Defender blueprint brings up loads of stuff.  I guess that LR spares suppliers probably have parts book images on their sites too.  The ex-Esci Italeri chassis, despite being much older, is a lot better than the Revell one which is has very chunky details (Revell's gearbox & transfer case is shocking...).  However, that chunkiness may make it more suitable for hacking to take coil springs.  The Esci / Italeri Range Rover is coil sprung - not sure how similar it is to the set-up on the Defender though?

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Hello Paul,

 

I've googled lots of time but all I got was photos of the vehicles; however, I hadn't thought to add the term blueprint.  Lots of plans showing now, thank you.

thanks for that info.   I see that Kingkit currently has a 1:24 Italeri Range Rover on sale for £31.  I shall probably order that in the morning,  just for the coil spring assemblies.

 

cheers,
Mike

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I have had a chat with Mark at Motobitz and he tells me that his catalogue of Landy conversions will be updated on Monday, in the near future.  I've placed an order for the pickup conversion and am looking forward to his announcement next week.

cheers,
Mike

Edited by bootneck
date amended after discussion with Motobitz
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