Ford Focus WRC

[Spiny]

With the weather being so good last weekend I figured it was time to try to get some paint on plastic. Unfortunately I didn't quite get that far, but here's what did happen.

 

The next kit due for painting is the Simil'R Ford Focus WRC kit from a little over a decade ago. Unfortunately they only had a brief time in business so the kit is hard to find. And I can't afford to mess things up as spares will be almost impossible to find. Good timing in a way with one having just been posted in the RFI section a week or so ago so that gives me some added inspiration.

 

The reason I wanted this kit is that it's the nearest I know of to my current (fun) car:

 

 

Unfortunately, with prices being £70+ even if you can find one I'd pretty much given up on getting one. Then in the midst of the first Covid lockdown, I found one for just under £40 on Amazon from a seller who had it listed as an alternative seller to one listed in German amd showing as out of stock. Obviously an omen and everything in the universe telling me to buy it - what else was I to do?

 

 

Generally it looks pretty detailed, although if I can build it without one of the suspension springs flying off into either my eye or the jaws of the carpet monster it will be a miracle. But I will give it a go. This is the plastic which comes with the kit (maybe I should have taken it out of the bags before the photos).

 

 

In addition, you also get the aforementioned springs and some photoetch for added detail and testing of patience:

 

 

First thing to do was to try to get something ready to paint, and this is where I failed miserably. I figured the chassis was probably a good place to start. Turned out not to be the case as there was this bit where the ejector pin looks to have sliced though the plastic - I think this needs firming up a bit to ensure we don't have a weak point here.

 

 

So out with the dissolved sprue and I have the hole filled in. I'll leave it for at least this week to firm up before sanding back to shape, but at least this should prove stronger than filler. There was also a bit of a pin mark on the other side, but that took much less filling.

 

 

Now a question for anyone who  has built this (and I accept there probably aren't many). There are these two bits circled in red which I'm unsure of. My first thought was they were additional sprue channels to avoid a short shot, but on closer inspection they appear quite well moulded and have a definite pin / nipple on them as if they are meant to fit in something. But they don't seem to be shown on the instructions - does anyone know if they are meant to be there or should they be removed?

 

 

And that little bit is all for this one for now. Thanks for looking, and any advice on the circled bits.

 

 

[Windy37]

As you know I love building rally car models and I have this one in my stash. But something has always put me off building it . Whether it's the challenge  ( which I do like ) or the future value ( wrong , I know )  . So instead I'll enjoy watching you build yours , which I know will be to your usual high standard. And it will look great next to your Belkits Fiesta. 

Crack on 

Gary .

Edited March 10 by Windy37
Punctuation

[Potsie]

Looking forward to this for sure. I am sorry but I cannot help you with your query as I do not own this kit. Could have bought one from a general toy shop in York at a discount when it was first released but didn't...... Not that I regret it much!

 

Did I just hear the Ford have announced they will no lnger make the Focus? After the demise of the Fiesta and Mondeo this is very sad. Perhaps this could be a tribute build?

[Windy37]

I bought my Focus from Modelzone in Hull. They were shutting down and selling stock cheap. I bought it for , I think £19.99 ! I wasn't modelling then so just bought the kit to " maybe build one day " . My none modelling brother bought one as he had a road going ST Focus,  in orange, at the time.  

Gary

[ceeb555]

Great you are taking on this model, definitely looking forward to your progress and build which I will be following closely

I too have this kit and whilst seeing a couple built, most recently 78GT have always been a bit reticent in starting it

It is definitely one I want to build ( not bothered about resale value) so following yours will prompt me to make a start

I too don’t know what the parts are but may become apparent as you progress

Good to see your “fun” car - I had an 11 plate one of these and loved it, so much so I have stuck with the ST for all future cars

Chris

[Spiny]

Don't expect too much to happen immediately. I've only started now due to the unexpectedly good weather at the weekend, even if I didn't get around to doing any painting. But it has made me think I need to get the prep work done before things warm up. There could be quite a bit of spraying (not to mention decal work) needed on this one! However, I wouldn't expect the building to begin in earnest until the back end of this year as I still have to finish the Silvia and Europa before I go mad with this one.

 

12 hours ago, ceeb555 said:

Great you are taking on this model, definitely looking forward to your progress and build which I will be following closely

I too have this kit and whilst seeing a couple built, most recently 78GT have always been a bit reticent in starting it

It is definitely one I want to build ( not bothered about resale value) so following yours will prompt me to make a start

I too don’t know what the parts are but may become apparent as you progress

Good to see your “fun” car - I had an 11 plate one of these and loved it, so much so I have stuck with the ST for all future cars

Chris

 

I'll look forward to seeing your build when the time comes. And great to come across another ST driver - I got mine back in 2010 and like it so much I have no plans to sell it any time soon. And as the new house has a garage I can keep it out of the weather now so hopefully I should get quite a few years more of it.

[keefr22]

13 hours ago, Windy37 said:

I bought my Focus from Modelzone in Hull. They were shutting down and selling stock cheap. I bought it for , I think £19.99 !

 

Same here - except mine was from Modelzone in Swansea, really miss that shop now, went with some model club mates on opening day, and again the day they shut up shop

 

Looking forward to progress whenever that should happen Spiny.

 

Keith

[Windy37]

44 minutes ago, Spiny said:

Don't expect too much to happen immediately. I've only started now due to the unexpectedly good weather at the weekend, even if I didn't get around to doing any painting. But it has made me think I need to get the prep work done before things warm up. There could be quite a bit of spraying (not to mention decal work) needed on this one! However, I wouldn't expect the building to begin in earnest until the back end of this year as I still have to finish the Silvia and Europa before I go mad with this one.

 

 

I'll look forward to seeing your build when the time comes. And great to come across another ST driver - I got mine back in 2010 and like it so much I have no plans to sell it any time soon. And as the new house has a garage I can keep it out of the weather now so hopefully I should get quite a few years more of it.

My brother swapped his ST for a mk2 Focus RS in green . Its very low mileage as it hardly gets used and is very much a garage queen . 

Gary 

[ceeb555]

Don't expect too much to happen immediately. I've only started now due to the unexpectedly good weather at the weekend, even if I didn't get around to doing any painting. But it has made me think I need to get the prep work done before things warm up. There could be quite a bit of spraying (not to mention decal work) needed on this one

                              —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

 

Yes I can understand you getting ready for the warmer (spraying) weather, I am doing the same currently.  Be good to follow whenever

you get round to the build.

Chris

[Spiny]

23 hours ago, Windy37 said:

My brother swapped his ST for a mk2 Focus RS in green . Its very low mileage as it hardly gets used and is very much a garage queen . 

Gary 

 

I suspect that's quite common - the previoous owner of mine also traded it in against a Mk2 Focus RS!

[Jbourne124]

I’m happy to follow along anytime @spiny always good to see another fair weather builder, you know my struggle 😂

[FunkyChiken]

I'm pulling up a chair for this one!  A very rare build, good luck!

[Spiny]

I've not completely ignored this one, just been doing bits and pieces in the background while I try to sort out the Silvia.

 

After a bit of work, I got that dissolved sprue filed back to something like smooth (although it looks as though there's still a few air bubbles might be lingering in it). But what has really taken the time is the multitude of ejector pin marks on the underside - there are quite a few covers to fit later down the line which might cover them all up, but I figured better to sort them out just in case. And there are quite a few of them:

 

 

The inside of the chassis got its first coat of primer yesterday, I'll give it a couple of weeks then have a go at the interior. No picture as the difference in appearance between white plastic and white primer is not exactly large! The wheels are also primed (last weekend) and may even end up gloss painted next week if the weather holds.

 

Other work included the doors and bodywork. Both had a surprising amount of cleaning required, which was a bit disappointing for quite a new and little-produced kit. Doors seem to line up correctly, but one weirdness is that the tops taper to a very thin edge - good job I'm planning to glue them shut as I suspect they will be very prone to forming a gap with the body otherwise. Seams have been scribed with a 0.4mm scriber (and yes, I did slip and have to fill along the sides of the bonnet). The insides of the doors got primed today.

 

 

Finally, I made a start on the rear spoiler, which feels solid even when just held together by hand. Trouble is, there are these two large ejector pin marks on the underside of the top wing which needed filling, and some bumpiness on the inside of the end uprights which needed filing (both in the pic below). But I think it's ready for paint now.

 

 

Thanks for looking

 

[Windy37]

I'm glad you've not put this on the back burner pile . I can't wait to follow the trials and tribulations of how the build goes . 

Gary 

[Spiny]

There may be many trials along the way, just looking at the decal sheet there's an awful lot of decals on there (I had a quick count and think it's about 160 or so!).

 

At the moment I'm trying to get enough ready to keep me painting, then there is the Europa to do first so don't expect building in earnest until probably August/September sort of time. But there's still all the 'joy' of cleaning up various parts, not to mention that decalling to get through first.

[Spiny]

Just a little update on this one. Having primed the inside of the body I moved onto removing the other bits from the sprue which needed spraying. And that's when I noticed that the sills go on almost at the first step with the body. As far as I can tell, there's nothing in there which will prevent them being attached before spraying, so that's what I've done now. This seems like a good time to catch it, as I'll only need a little bit of primer on the inside of the sill which I can do when I spray the body. As the body isn't the most rigid seeing as it lacks doors or sills, the best procedure for attaching these seems to be to tack in place with tube glue, then once it's dried add Tamiya Extra Thin to one join, make sure it's aligned properly and allow to set. After that, I moved onto the next join, then repeated for the other side.

 

 

There is a little bit of plastic squidging where I pushed the joins together, but I'll get those sanded back tomorrow. I definitely looks a lot more Focus shaped though now it's full height.

[Spiny]

Just a little update on this one as it's more a case of trying to get paint onto it than actually building it. So with the sills/front wings fitted as above, the body feels a lot stiffer and I no longer worry about it snapping in half. With that sorted, I was able to get it covered in Halfords White Primer.

 

 

Coverage of the grey filler has been surprisingly poor for a primer, but I think it's enough that once I get the white/green/blue* (delete as appropriate) paint on it will be ok. I've also got paint on the rear bumper and a couple of other bits. Annoyingly on this kit, the front bumper has fitment tabs while the rear bumper only has one in the centre. Which is a pain because the bumper has flattened slightly over the years so the front sticks out further than is idea. Nothing for it... I had to fit my own tabs.

 

 

And that was all I got done this weekend. Thanks for looking.

 

 

[keefr22]

34 minutes ago, Spiny said:

And that was all I got done this weekend.

 

Any progress is better than no progress which is all I achieved this weekend!

 

K

[PatW]

On 3/11/2025 at 6:47 AM, Potsie said:

Looking forward to this for sure. I am sorry but I cannot help you with your query as I do not own this kit. Could have bought one from a general toy shop in York at a discount when it was first released but didn't...... Not that I regret it much!

 

Did I just hear the Ford have announced they will no longer make the Focus? After the demise of the Fiesta and Mondeo this is very sad. Perhaps this could be a tribute build?

I think it's now called a Puma. Another Ford model name from years ago!

[Spiny]

It's been a while since I last updated this thread, but you haven't missed much, I've just been painting the shell. And there's still a lot more to go.

 

Moving on from the primer, I've got white on most of the bits which need white now, just the chassis and inside of the blue parts to go now. A couple of weeks ago, the inside got sprayed white - I decided it was better to do the inside and outside in separate sessions as both need to be gloss white and there isn't really a good place to hold it. So here it is ready for spraying the inside:

 

 

Probably a bit of overkill with the masking, but it turned out ok in the end (not that you can really tell from this shot).

 

 

Fast forward to this weekend, and it was time to make a start on the outside. First up is the white - oddly enough the box art and built model on the side of it don't have the white area on the roof which is in the instructions. Mine will have the white though, so time to get masking.

 

 

I've got to admit that I was surprised just how noticeable the difference is between the gloss white (Halfords Appliance White) and the primer, fortunately that's in a good way though.

 

 

As you can see in the photo, the masking tape has unfortunately left a lot of gunk behind. I seem to remember someone here (possibly Matt Bacon) suggesting a sticky stuff remover so I bought some a while ago. I'll leavve the paint to harden then give it a shot with that and hopefully it will be all ready for the next step.

 

Finally, time for the spoilers and photoetch grilles. Most of that was a nice easy case of applying three layers of Halfords Satin Black. I'm pleased with how the lower grille turned out, but the upper grille has a finer mesh. Can you tell that I'm too stupid to put light enough layers on to stop it blocking up and have had to strip it twice?

 

 

Anyway, that's as far as I've got with the Focus this weekend. Thanks for looking.

[Windy37]

Good progress @Spiny

I'm a bIt of a cheat when it comes to white interiors . If it's white , i just brush clear gloss where it will show ( usually the inner roof ) as once the interior is fitted out it's barely noticeable. Same with white rollcage bars . It saves so much time too . 

Gary 

[Spiny]

I have to admit I'm counting on the roof interior not being noticeable too - although I filled the ejector pin marks they do seem to have reappeared a little (the camera did a very good job of not showing them here thankfully). Like you, I'm hoping viewing angles and the roll cage will mean this doesn't matter.

[Spiny]

This is why I hate airbrushing:

 

 

After spattering on the test spoon it started spraying smoothly, so I moved onto the body while things were going well and the spattering started again. Add to that a great drop landing on the bonnet for no obvious reason and it was obvious this wasn't going to work well. So I took the airbrush, stripped it down, soaked it in thinner, gave the components a zap in the ultrasonic bath in a small tub of IPA and... it seemed to have decided to only let air out with all the paint instead trying to come out of the top of the top of the reservoir (which was how the great big drop ended up on the bonnet in the first place). Result - I've gone and got a better hopefully non-crap Gaalheri airbrush instead (I've read good things about them so here's hoping). Serves me right I guess for having bought a cheap Chinese airbrush a few years ago - at least if things still don'twork I know it's be being clueless with airbrushes and not the kit now.

 

Hopefully I'll be able to have another go next weekend. The pic above is after a little sanding and it's had some more - not perfectly smooth but better than the photo looks.I'm hoping decals and clear coats will hide the remaining imperfections. And thank goodness I started with the green - I might have been struggling if I'd started with the blue as there's a lot more of that.

[Windy37]

Despite the issues that's a great colour 👌 

Gary

[keefr22]

That does look a really good match for the green on the full size car. 

 

Shame about the spraying issues, I've been airbrushing for nearly 50 years and can't offer any advice as I still sometimes get similar problems! I think you've done the right thing in ditching the cheap airbrush though, they're often the root cause - I've gone through a few of them that I only buy for using with primer! Good luck with the Gaalheri, I bought one cheap on Amazon Black Friday but haven't really used it as I keep going back to my trusty H&S Ultra - the Gaalheri does look lke a really nicely built airbrush though.

 

Keith