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1/43 Heller Mini mod


SLR520

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5 hours ago, keefr22 said:

Some very fine detailing going on, your wire window trim is really neat!

 

Keith

I think it works but what I cannot work out is how to get that silver chrome center strip in there. Too small. May have to just be the black rubber at this scale. Or possibly can scrape the high edge with a knife once painted and get the wire to show through in a line. Need a surgeons hand for that , ha. 

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The car has minilites and for the life of could not sort something that was a 10 inch mini lite for this kit. Finally found the wheels from an old Carlo Brianza resin kit and then used the rubber off one of those 1/43 Ebbro die cast cars. I don't like rubber tires and would rather have some cool resin job on here and I ultimately may end up sealing these rubber tires tto the wheels and painting the whole thing  so I can get something I like.  These are a decent minilite look and best I can find. No lug nuts molded on there 😪....too small,  but I filled the center holes with milliput, redialed to fit  my axles  that are cut to length and tapered edge for center caps on the ends.  Making the vented inner fender was real pain. but did a grid with 32 gauge wire and putty slurry and clean up with scribe dental tool.  

hm8

 

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Underside of your model looks great.  A lot better than any of my three which were mostly shades of rust!

 

From the photos of your car, it seems it was more of a restomod than full restore?  My third Min was a 78 1000, which had been in the family from new.  It came with black grille and deckchair fabric seats (nicely offsetting the exterior colour parts inside).  Speaking of which it was Russet Brown, AKA poo, which I assume BL mixed up from all the other left over paint (remember how kids coloured Plasticene always resolves to brown too) but had either remarkable rust-proofing quality or hid it well.

 

Is that grille maybe off a Mk2 Cooper?  If so nice but back in the early 80s we wouldn't have been seen dead with headlamp eyelids, so early 60s.  Minilites were things of myth, the alloys of choice then were 6x10 Revolutions.

 

 

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This is a great project.  I love the your full size Mini.  

As a serial Mini owner myself (currently five in the family) I really like your attention to those details that make a Mini what it is.

My first mini was an 850 Riley Elf mk1.  The body was so rusty that I re-shelled it with a Mk1 Mini shell that I bought for £5 from the classified ads in Motoring News, and transferred everything over.  

Trevor

 

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10 hours ago, SLR520 said:

. Not well versed on that vacuform thing and I don't have any high speed equipment, but last time I made airplane canopies with the thin styrene and heat with a lighter and pull over the original form. Eventually one will look good. 

I normally find these low tech solutions far more interesting than if you had a bespoke window making machine.  It sounds simple in theory,  but a couple of photos when you do it would be greatly appreciated 👍fantastic build so far,   keep it up - Andy 

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grill is from earlier style, yes.  I put the headlamp shades and runner grill lights on before selling the car for some bling. Resto mod, yes.  Main change was from the 998 auto transmission to the 1362 w/ 4 speed. That autobox worked ok but was a doggy runner. Tried to be low key with it. But I do like all those retro colors in brown, green , orange, etc. The bracken is a nice fit but I do know the brown you speak of and it's another of my fav's.  Changed the grill, add minilites, KM gauges in the biennale, changed the Leyland bonnet badge to an earlier one from a '74. Shift knob I replaced with an old style and was told it was for an Austin Seven. Not sure but it was bakelite and has nice retro look.  I think the glass will be a fairly easy task to get a good curve, thanks for the advice. Yes, I have a "Senior Management " project for the holidays to make my wife a doll head. If it's not a total disaster, I will post a pic. I have been running along on the Heller kit trying to make progress , but will have to slow down for the doll project this month. 

 

Here are some pics of the car as it originally was. 

Edited by SLR520
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Some interior progress. And my wheel alignment so far ( I put a lot of grey on the blue kit parts as I cannot seem to see the details on that loud plastic blue color.  My vents are a bit weak, so I may try to detail them, and no where can I find decals to suffice for the binnacle. Handmpainting is probably the option. So small I don't believe much will be needed to work these out. Also, after I made tiny choke and heat knobs , there really is no room to sneak in the switches. I didn't plan that very well. 

hm64

 

 

hm65

 

hm63

 

hm62

 

 Handi work on the shocks and vent tubing is really in vain as they are not too visible when things are buttoned up. 

hm66

 

 

Edited by SLR520
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Those before photos - I don't remember seeing a mini that rust free when they were new! 😂 Its rare to see a bog standard 70s mini like that nowadays, most have been tricked up into Cooper wannabe looka(bit)likes!

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Yes, it looked pretty clean when I got it. And not tricked out. It belonged to an elderly  woman in UK who owned it since new . A US airman bought it and sent it over here for his father to putt around town in. He was aging as well and so I picked it up from him when after he had some fun driving it. It appeared to have some of the white resprayed at some point in the past but stock . I Just wanted to stay pretty simple with it. I did get rid of the dashboard ashtray and weld that thing over. 

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7 hours ago, SLR520 said:

Yes, it looked pretty clean when I got it. And not tricked out. It belonged to an elderly  woman in UK who owned it since new . A US airman bought it and sent it over here for his father to putt around town in. He was aging as well and so I picked it up from him when after he had some fun driving it. It appeared to have some of the white resprayed at some point in the past but stock . I Just wanted to stay pretty simple with it. I did get rid of the dashboard ashtray and weld that thing over. 

I hope you drove it like you stole it....

 

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Bwahaha 🤣, I need to watch this one. The New Zealand Job. Same year/model. Good reference material. RIP Pork Pie, you served us well. 

 

I didn't rough up the mini but I had a VW rabbit for my teen stunt driving car. Many sorties over steep hills trying to get airborne in it or test the limits of the bumpers. 

Edited by SLR520
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Slow progress this week. Now sorting the headliner and shades  with some lead sheet. The rear view mirror I may make as the tiny cast one 

I found is lousy. Also trying to find a way to correct my grille, but I think the lamp inserts may be too much for me. I don't even have the area for the bonnet release figured out yet. 

 

liner3

 

 

liner2

 

 

liner1

 

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I am a bit sidetracked on the mini to make this tiny doll head for my wifi. She collects toys and this project has proven to be a test. The head is supposed to be huge compared to the body, that must be the way to make these small things look cute, but this one is a bit sterile and alien like, but humanoid none the less. The you tube videos make it look so easy and a 20 minute job. But it is not, been messing with it for a week. Using sculpey clay and every time you hold it and sort an area then another area is imprinted and needs to be redone.  Ha. 

 

ob11

 

 

Edited by SLR520
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29 minutes ago, SLR520 said:

I am a bit sidetracked on the mini to make this tiny doll head for my wifi.

 

 

I know its rude to point it out, but your typo did make me chuckle 😆 and wounder why.   Great work on the Mini - Andy 

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10 minutes ago, Toftdale said:

I know its rude to point it out, but your typo did make me chuckle 😆 and wounder why.   Great work on the Mini - Andy 

Haha, no worries. It does have a nice ring to it though and still better than  some of the things I hear her call me. 🤣

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On 12/16/2021 at 3:25 PM, keefr22 said:

That's a really neat idea for making the headlining and sunshades!

 

Working on that doll's head would give me nightmares, really scary looking thing!! 🤣

 

Keith

Thanks, I did end up thinning out the sunshades so they fit more flush into the headliner and added a mounting bit for the rear view mirror, will add pic. The addition of the lead headliner did not allow me much room to be true to form with where the shades rest but got as close as possible. This whole project has been a bit of fiddle around and see what works close enough. I really think 1/24 is a better scale to capture details so no demand for a hyper detail 1/43 kit. I do have some Felling43 kits that are maxed out in terms of detail. I will start one next and see if all the cool bits slide together or are a nightmare of photo etch meets white metal tacked onto resin. I also thought to build the 1/24 MK1 mini from South Eastern Finecast in the stash. A white metal kit might be a fun challenge.  The doll was really a test , yes. Here is my finished product. Not quite as easy as I envisioned , more like a tiny old man, but a first attempt. Will try again to see if I can capture something like what is being produced now.  Started the grille. Wallowed out the factory mold , which I have been been fearful to do but devised a makeshift knife scraper and worked well. Will fine tune this thing a bit before glueing down. But in the end I still think I will skip the inset runner lamps on this one. 

 

doll2

 

 

 

 

grille5

 

 

grille4

 

Edited by SLR520
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