Pink Panther

[Enzo the Magnificent]

I am thoroughly enjoying this groupbuild.   

 

So...   with three builds heading rapidly towards the final furlong, let's chuck another into the mix.  Another one I always wanted to build back in the day but never got the chance: Tamiya's Land Rover Pink Panther from 1976.

 

 

I would never forgive myself if I didn't do this... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Davek72]

Cool always wanted to build one of these Enzo.   Will look on with interest.

Dave

[Enzo the Magnificent]

The sprues are a shocking pink!!!   

 

 

 

[Jinxman]

Fond memories of these Tamiya AFV kits - they were a revelation after a diet of old Airfix and Frog kits. I had to get a job in a greengrocers to afford them though - no way was my pocket money stretching that far. ☺️

[Enzo the Magnificent]

This is a nice simple kit and builds up quickly.  This is the chassis.

 

 

 

The bonnet assembly, including the instrument panel.

 

 

The load bed.

 

[Enzo the Magnificent]

The next stage was to prime all the units with grey plastic car primer from a rattle can...

 

 

...and then fit them together trmporarily to see how they look.

 

 

 

[Enzo the Magnificent]

Into the paint shop.  All the lower surfaces were sprayed with Tamiya XF-089.

 

 

Then the upper portions were sprayed with Lifecolor UA-268.

 

 

And the modules clipped together again.

 

 

 

[CliffB]

I always lusted after one of these, so particularly nice to see you building one Enzo 

[Enzo the Magnificent]

Some detail painting on the chassis completed.   I assembled the wheels and added a flat at the bottom of each wheel.  I did this by pushing the wheel down on a hot electric cooker ring.  A couple of words of warning here.  Most importanty: WEAR GLOVES!   Secondly, turn on the power to the ring for a few seconds and test with a piece of sprue.  The plastic should melt with difficulty.  Too hot and you will destroy the wheel.  Once the ring is hot enough, turn the power off.

 

 

Wheels clipped into place.

 

 

The steering works!  

 

[Mjwomack]

On 3/11/2023 at 5:51 PM, Enzo the Magnificent said:

The sprues are a shocking pink!!!   

 

I remember being put off by that very thing as a teenager, even though I got staff discount from my Saturday job!

[IanC]

Nice work. Looking at the sprue shot, the mouldings, especially the canvas cover, scrim net and sand channels, appear to bear up well considering their age.

[Enzo the Magnificent]

40 minutes ago, IanC said:

Looking at the sprue shot, the mouldings, especially the canvas cover, scrim net and sand channels, appear to bear up well considering their age.

Indeed.  It could so easily be a modern simple kit.   I'm thoroughly enjoying building it.

[John Masters]

Looking great Enzo.  I must say that despite all the technological advances that have been made in the past years by some companies, there is something soothing and relaxing about a Tamiya kit.  You just know the pieces will all fit and it will be an excellent facsimile of the subject.  

[JOCKNEY]

As many have already said, quite possibly a candidate "for kit I most wanted to build but never got round to it !"

Looks terrific 

 

Cheers Pat 

[themcgarvie]

I found this kit in my local toy shop, they were selling it for £9. So its now under my desk

[Enzo the Magnificent]

Driver figure assembled and primed.

 

 

Lots of detail painting of the small parts had been carried out, so now we're ready for assembly.  Ignore the large curved tarp.  This from the Universal Carrier build.  

 

 

There are even more small parts to be painted while still on the sprue.

 

[marvinneko]

When I was a kid visiting my gramps I got a basement bedroom with a tiny black and white tv and I stumbled on The Rat Patrol series aired late at night. I realize it's a Yankee-washing travesty from the Uk point of view but it made a big impression on me with the machine gun jeeps zipping around the desert harassing Germans.

Edited May 17, 2023 by marvinneko

[Enzo the Magnificent]

Having painted all those parts, the only left to do was put them all together.  So we're finished!

 

 

 

Then I thought it might be fun to put it on a base.  The base was a small photo frame from the local poundshop.  I replaced the glass with layers of corrugated cardboard covered in Polyfilla.  Once the Polyfilla was dry, I painted it in various colours of Wilder textured earth. I also added some self-adhesive grass clumps.

 

 

 

[helios16v]

Cracking build.

[Stef N.]

Excellent work, Enzo. Very nicely done.👏👍

[Roland Pulfrew]

Wow, that’s just brought back memories (thank you). I did one of these in my teens and I’d forgotten all about the shocking pink plastic!  It was a great kit though (I wonder what ever happened to mine) and you’ve done it justice with your build. 👍🏻

[IanC]

Terrific result. A neat little model nicely displayed. 

[Grandboof]

Another awesome result . Well done 

Martin H

[John Masters]

Superb Enzo!

[JOCKNEY]

A confession to make....

 

Thanks to this build I've bought this kit.

 

@Enzo the Magnificent you have a lot to answer for !