Chasing Unicorns (kits that don't exist and should ?)

[keefr22]

1 hour ago, fightersweep said:

C1 Models have just started taking pre-orders for an Mk 2 Harrier

 

Hadn't seen that - Chris had mentioned to me in an email that he was thinking of doing a 'flat front' Escort - oh my poor wallet....!!

 

Having said that I still have one of the shells Motobitz had, together with their stripe decals (aargh!! 🤣) and a C1 interior - so maybe I should finish my Sport and get the Harrier done... better extract the digit...!!

 

Keith

[RossFMJ]

K&R make a white metal "curbside" version, but no-one makes a styrene version of the Jaguar C-Type. It's the original "anything type" and the prettiest Jaguar ever made by far. Just calling out for a resin or styrene version.

For some reason it's very obscure compared to its less pretty brethren which I suppose explains why there are few kits.

 

 

[Black Knight]

Provence Moulage  makes some Jaguar C-Type in 1:43

I'm not sure if they are resin or i/m plastic

But, afaik, they're as rare as the proverbial

[cmatthewbacon]

The K&R kits look pretty good made up, and they are not tricky to build. They are’t cheap, but they are accurate and well-proportioned. Don’t be nervous of white metal… it’s no more tricky than resin, and no one is ever going to do a mainstream injection moulded C-type…

best,

M.

[Black Knight]

The OP mentioned the (classic) Mini

In injection moulded plastic

Hows about a Mini Van/Pick up and Mini Traveller/Countryman

I prefer building 1/32 but any scale would do

and while I'm on about them,

the Mini(s) with a boot; The Riley Elf and Wolseley Hornet

and, in for a penny, in for a pound; the Moke too

[Noel Smith]

I picked up a Mk2 Lotus Cortina 3D printed body at Telford a couple of years back to make a model of a car I once owned. Used it with a donor Italeri/Esci Escort kit for the underpinnings. It was 'expletive' hard work but got there in the end.

Would like to see a full kit of a Mk2 Lotus Cortina as a unicorn wish, but realistically a Mk1 would have more appeal generally being more of an icon.

[fightersweep]

14 hours ago, keefr22 said:

Hadn't seen that - Chris had mentioned to me in an email that he was thinking of doing a 'flat front' Escort - oh my poor wallet....!!

 

Tell me about it. I wasn't expecting to spend another £67 that I don't have this month.

 

I mentioned I would love a Cortina Mk V in my previous post and then found this;

 

https://www.model-cars.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=473

 

Has anyone had any experience of these resin kits from Model-cars? £33 doesn't seem too bad.

[keefr22]

3 hours ago, fightersweep said:

Has anyone had any experience of these resin kits from Model-cars?

 

I have a few of what I think are older resin shells done by them (bought off e-bay rather than direct from them) - narrow arch Mk1 Escort, Anglia, Mk1 Cortina & Ford Zephyr, all supposedly needing the Escl Mk2 Escort as donor. I've not actually built any of them, but have started cleaning up the Escort. I think I'd describe them as rough but workable. All mine are really thick resin which is going to take a lot of cleaning up to get the donor parts to fit and look good around the windows etc. But the shapes look good to me and I think their newer stuff looks a lot nicer in the photos on the website, especially the ones they say are 3d printed. Also as the Cortina has an interior and floorpan, it might be easier to put together than trying to butcher the Escort parts to fit! Main 'problem' will be window glass - I have made screens and windows out of acetate sheets before, but find it very tedious and time consuming to do!

 

I do admit though, they have a lot of tempting stuff on their site - must resist!!

 

Keith

[fightersweep]

@keefr22 Thanks Keith! I appreciate your insight into the Model-car stuff. Considering their Cortina has an interior and floor pan included, I think I feel more inclined to give it a try. Likewise, the idea of trying to make the front and rear screen scares me a bit. Not something I've tried before so I guess I'll have to get my big boy pants on and give it a go.

 

Steve 

[keefr22]

1 hour ago, fightersweep said:

Not something I've tried before so I guess I'll have to get my big boy pants on and give it a go.

 

You know that old saying - if I can do it, anyone can....!! 

 

I glue a fine strip of plasticard just inside the screen/window apertures to give me something to glue the clear plastic onto. I use clear acetate sheets that were used for overhead projectors back in ancient times! I put tracing paper over the apertures and draw round said aperture to make a template, then scribe round that onto the acetate. It takes (me anyway!) a few attempts then, trimming and fettling to get it (or them - usually I need more than one attempt!) to fit. Having the plastic strip to glue to (and gluing slowly, a bit at a time) means the acetate will conform to complex curves like a windscreen.

 

I would try to get the thinnest clear plastic you can too - it makes it much easier.

 

Get those pants on and go for it....!!

 

HTH

Keith

[othertales]

2 hours ago, keefr22 said:

 

You know that old saying - if I can do it, anyone can....!! 

 

I glue a fine strip of plasticard just inside the screen/window apertures to give me something to glue the clear plastic onto. I use clear acetate sheets that were used for overhead projectors back in ancient times! I put tracing paper over the apertures and draw round said aperture to make a template, then scribe round that onto the acetate. It takes (me anyway!) a few attempts then, trimming and fettling to get it (or them - usually I need more than one attempt!) to fit. Having the plastic strip to glue to (and gluing slowly, a bit at a time) means the acetate will conform to complex curves like a windscreen.

 

I would try to get the thinnest clear plastic you can too - it makes it much easier.

 

Get those pants on and go for it....!!

 

HTH

Keith

Intimidating process but a skill worth having and going for. I agree with @keefr22, pants time and please share your process and results with us @fightersweep when the time comes.

[Noel Smith]

Making windscreen and side windows for these bodies from acetate is time consuming to get a useable set. Be prepared for some scrap pieces in the process. Even after producing thin card templates to work from, getting a perfect fit can be a bit difficult.

 

Besides acetate sheets some clear plastics from packaging might be able to be utilised.

[fightersweep]

@keefr22 @othertales @Noel Smith Thanks guys for the encouragement, hints and tips. I shall order a Cortina body shell and give the windows a go. I'm sure it will be a complete dogs dinner of which I shall post progress pictures in the WIP section for everyone to have a giggle at. Quite looking forward to it. All I need now is to find someone that can 3D print some Ghia wheels for me. I intend to build this a my past favourite car: Mk V 2.0 GLS reg no SGW 658X.

 

Steve

[keefr22]

 

2 hours ago, fightersweep said:

I'm sure it will be a complete dogs dinner .........  for everyone to have a giggle at.

 

No giggling from me - I've made more than enough meals for our canine friends to not laugh at anyone else's attempts....!!

 

Keith

 

[Noel Smith]

From C1 following the characters Bodie and Doyle.    How about  Bodie's car. Was it a Capri ?

Also as C1 are into Land Rover in a big way,  How about Lara Croft's Land Rover from the first Tomb Raider film?

The original is in the transport museum at Gaydon so no problem with finding a prototype to work to !

[Vex]

If there are kits that don't exist but should, it's American cars in 1/24.

[othertales]

Hasegawa had a series of kits in the mid-80s of 1/24 American cars. Decent kits from what I have seen and being able to compare like for like and side by side with other 1/24 is really great.

[Six97s]

6 hours ago, othertales said:

Hasegawa had a series of kits in the mid-80s of 1/24 American cars. Decent kits from what I have seen and being able to compare like for like and side by side with other 1/24 is really great.

 

Nooooo.... those are terrible!  😵‍💫  The bodies were fine - see below - but they had generic chassis, interiors and wheels (same for each) with minimal detail, let alone accuracy.  The bodies were actually 1/25 scale and copied from various vintage 'annual' kits:

 

• AMT 1966 Chevy Impala
• AMT 1966 Buick Wildcat
• MPC 1966 Pontiac Bonneville
• Jo-Han 1966 Cadillac Coupe DeVille

Revell have a 1/25 '66 Impala with much better detail, though some would argue the old AMT body is more accurate.  The '66 Buick Wildcat has been reissued countless times and may even be in the current catalogue.  Although it has a 1965 interior, it's still miles better than the Hasegawa knock off.  The only one of those I might entertain buying would be the Bonneville, because it was never reissued and a more readily available AMT '65 could supply a chassis, engine and the bones of an interior.

 

If you're really stuck on 1/24, then Monogram is about your only option.  Some of them have been reissued under the Revell brand since the merger.  Quality varies....  Arii and Yodel made 1/24 kits, but generally best avoided.

[cmatthewbacon]

Personally, I've never been that bothered: American cars are so much bigger in real life that the 4% difference in scale is really neither here nor there to me.  I like the Monogram 1/24 US cars, but that's more about the choice of subjects and the quality of execution than the scale. Let's face it, there are a whole lot of "nominally" 1/24 or 1/25 cars which aren't actually correct to the last decimal place... Frankly, when I think about the number of classic European cars that haven't been done well in 1/24 and the number of classic American cars that haven't been done well in 1/25, I find it very hard to get worked up about not having a much Detroit Iron available in the "home" scale of European modelers who are mostly lusting after something different... And to put my mouth where my money would be, I'd take all of these as new tool high quality in 1/24 kits first:

 

1) Aston Martin DB4 to 6

2) Series 2 E Type Coupe accurately and Series 3 V12 E type

3) Alvis TD21-adjacent

4) Ford Lotus Cortina Mk 2

5) Facel Vega

6) ISO Grifo

7) Alfa Romeo Montreal

😎 FIAT XI/9

9) Rover 3500 ("civilian')

10) Jensen Interceptor

 

And a Heller Citroen CX, new tool R5 and Twingo plus a "new" Alpine A110...

 

best,

M.

 

[RossFMJ]

27 minutes ago, cmatthewbacon said:

And a Heller Citroen CX,

Hell Yeah !!!!!!

[othertales]

2 hours ago, Six97s said:

 

Nooooo.... those are terrible!  😵‍💫 

The Bonneville and Coupe de Ville were the kits I knew the best and thought they were pretty decent. As you say, the bodies were quite okay and I liked that the  interiors, lack of engine bays and trunk as good projects for possible improvements — delusions of planning modifications and all that I know and to be fair but don’t we sometimes (or often) just bite more than we can chew because the challenge is fun 🙃

 

2 hours ago, cmatthewbacon said:

Personally, I've never been that bothered

I know what you mean re scale. I suppose it’s more a case of conceptual consistency rather than whether the difference is actually that substantially noticeable between 1/24 and 1/25. It would just be nice to have 😬

 

I am in for the CX! Including an option for the Safari/Break, please.

[Alan R]

I have never really been that bothered about American cars to start with.

Give me some UK 60s/70s classics any time!

 

Cheers,

Alan.

[Jbourne124]

I’m here for the TVR sagaris, I wish there were a kit of the TVR lineup but, for me mostly the Tuscan, and sagaris.

[Marco F.]

Concerning the TVR Tuscan, May be

this will help you

Marco F 

https://youtu.be/9uKgUzgH0lo?si=xLfdyphUyNS0Oc6A

[Anteater]

On 17/05/2025 at 13:01, keefr22 said:

Main 'problem' will be window glass - I have made screens and windows out of acetate sheets before, but find it very tedious and time consuming to do!

 

 

Evening, what glue are you using to fix the acetate in place please?