Reissued 1/12 Bentley kit, questions answered

[Harry P.]

A bit of irony. But sometimes, discovery that begins with ignorance, through experimentation, can be more valuable than book larnin'; (the illumination of following the journey vs. the destination). I honed my ability to make educated guesses on this one, and most of them turned out to be right. Thus have I seen it, grasshopper.

"The journey of a thousand miles begins without a set of instructions."

- Lao Somebody

That's a nice load of new age mysticism... but I still don't see how reference material and experience can ever be seen as a disadvantage.

[sjordan2]

Just a tongue-in-cheek way of saying that at that level of experience, I could have messed it up by adding too much detail. So I just blundered ahead, learned a lot through trial and error, and it came out better than I expected. In fact, if I knew then what I know now about the car and the kit, and better building techniques, I might have been too intimidated by the challenges to build it.

Edited August 8, 2012 by sjordan2

[Cato]

Hey-I'm late to this party due to intergalactic travel even though I was named as instigator.

Very nice build-even though mine is just as old (first edition kit) you beat the carp out of mine. My claim to fame was covering the tonneau with tee shirt cotton for that cloth texture and painting it flat dark green.

Now I'm off to your new thread!!

[Bugatti Fan]

I hope that Airfix have corrected the radiator shell on this latest release. Th flying 'B' badge was far too low down on all the earlier releases of this kit.

The comments about Lauren's lawyers was a bit surprising, considering that Airfix had released this kit back in the days when Neil Corner owned the car. It subsequently went to Anthony Bamford (Boss of JCB) in the meantime before Ralph Lauren bought the car. The number plate has not changed.

The only people who own the rights to the UK registration number UU 6571 would be The DVLA in the UK, a government body. The registration number has to be surrendered back to them when any UK registered vehicle is broken up or written off.

[kennb]

The problem with reference photos....I have found when looking for my MG material, is that in reality there are seldom any 2 cars alike after this many years.......The have all been changed, added to,,,taken away from,,,despite being accurate restorations,,,,,,,,,,you need to use only one car for a reference and note that is the car you are working from,,,,,someone may quibble about differences if he is using a different reference picture. Even when they were being built changes occurred at any time during assembly during a model run,,,,,so 2 cars from the same year depending on the assembly date could conceivably be 2 entirely different cars, I know MG was good for this and I am sure it was common practice to do so, There was no clear cut change over date as there can be now,,,,(so they say)

Edited May 24, 2013 by kennb

[sjordan2]

I hope that Airfix have corrected the radiator shell on this latest release. Th flying 'B' badge was far too low down on all the earlier releases of this kit.

The comments about Lauren's lawyers was a bit surprising, considering that Airfix had released this kit back in the days when Neil Corner owned the car. It subsequently went to Anthony Bamford (Boss of JCB) in the meantime before Ralph Lauren bought the car. The number plate has not changed.

The only people who own the rights to the UK registration number UU 6571 would be The DVLA in the UK, a government body. The registration number has to be surrendered back to them when any UK registered vehicle is broken up or written off.

The Lauren car continues to have the UR6571 registration as seen at shows (not UU); Airfix changed the number to another Birkin Bentley (UU5872, as seen in the original post), and changed #8 to #9 on the box art, without changing anything else in the kit, not even the radiator badge. My original kit has the UR6571 registration plate. And I made it pretty clear I was only guessing about legal issues.

EDIT: However, since I made that guess, Lauren has started offering large-scale models from his car collection (about $9,500 each), made by Amalgam. That may entail certain contractual agreements. They haven't done the Bentley yet. Who knows? Airfix's original property release may have expired a while back.

"The number 9 car featured above, UU5872, is an original Birkin car known as 'Birkin Blower No.2'. This car made an appearance at the 1930 Lemans."

Read more at http://www.supercars.net/cars/130.html#7iVtLj4tVCZVziOe.99

Here's my Bentley, circa 1972

Here is Lauren's Bentley, as seen in his Paris exhibition in 2011:

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-shows/art-of-the-automobile/photos-1929-blower-bentley-slide-8#slide-1

Edited May 24, 2013 by sjordan2

[The Creative Explorer]

isn't the Bentley such a beauty?

[sjordan2]

isn't the Bentley such a beauty?

The most enjoyable kit I've ever built, with lots of opportunities for detailing -- especially the need to use real mesh here and there. But even box stock, like mine (with minor mesh added), it still looks great when done.

[Bugatti Fan]

Hi Skip

When I said in my post about the number plate not changing, I was actually referring to the actual car UR6571, not the Airfix kit.

Having read your post and upon reading my post again, I see that I made a typo. and referred to the car as UU6571. My mistake and I agree with you that it would be read incorrectly whilst referring to the kit. So apologies on my part to any readers for my earlier post causing confusion and thanks for picking up on my mistake.

I take on board that you were guessing about any legal issues. I was simply speculating from this that there could be an issue if the UR6571 number plate was still used on the re released kit. As I see it, it is just another kit of a classic Blower Bentley. The UR6571 registration number continues to be the intellectual property of the UK licencing authority as a means of identifying that particular vehicle. So the owner of the vehicle does not actually own the registration number. this has to be surrendered back at the end of the life of the vehicle. I am not sure if it has to be surrendered when a vehicle is sold and shipped abroad however.

Does the American Vehicle registration process work in a similar way?

UU 5872 the number plate on the the latest release of this kit is for another short chassis variant, and the bodywork on the real car when looked at casually is very similar to that on UR6572, but there may be a few subtle differences.

Edited May 27, 2013 by Bugatti Fan

[sjordan2]

<p>I doubt that there are enough differences to warrant any significant retooling of this kit, and I've been told in earlier conversations that it's the same as the original except for the number plate. But I'm not going to spend $140 to find out for sure, and build another example of a kit I'm already happy with.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Registration numbers differ from state to state in the US; in Tennessee, your license plate goes with you when you sell or trade a car, and is transferred to the next car you own. I think the license plate stays with the car in California, since I see so many of those cars for sale with &quot;original California black plate.&quot;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>And certainly, UR 6571 has not reached a &nbsp;point where the registration number has to be surrendered.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Could Airfix have wanted to reissue the kit with a different number so builders could collect all 4 Birkin team cars? I doubt it.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>NOTE: I just sent an inquiry about these questions to Hornby (owner of Airfix) to see if they could add any illumination.</p>

And what the heck is going on with all this code showing up in my edited post???

Edited May 27, 2013 by sjordan2

[The Creative Explorer]

The most enjoyable kit I've ever built, with lots of opportunities for detailing -- especially the need to use real mesh here and there. But even box stock, like mine (with minor mesh added), it still looks great when done.

I was actually meaning the real car itself, such great lines and profile. I do have a serious weakness for late 30's and early 40's cars, especially with the larger body's. Think Bentley, Bugatti, Auburn, Hispano, Packard, Cadillac, you catch my drift

But I was finally able to get my hands on the kit after a long time search, I paid 50 euro''s for it, not the latest release, but I don't really care for that, it needs to go together anyway and the latest release is just too spendy for me.

[sjordan2]

I was actually meaning the real car itself, such great lines and profile. I do have a serious weakness for late 30's and early 40's cars, especially with the larger body's. Think Bentley, Bugatti, Auburn, Hispano, Packard, Cadillac, you catch my drift

But I was finally able to get my hands on the kit after a long time search, I paid 50 euro''s for it, not the latest release, but I don't really care for that, it needs to go together anyway and the latest release is just too spendy for me.

Keep us posted on your build! Your work is always topnotch.

[sjordan2]

SOLVED! I sent an inquiry to Hornby (owner of Airfix) about the registration plate change, and received this answer. Good guys, fast answer.

Hello Skip,

We contacted Airfix UK and got an answer to your question.

“Quite simple really. Bentley insisted on the change, due to the new plate being owned by someone in the company.

Everything else is the same.”

Now you can let the others know the reason for change.

Regards,
Steven Lesh

Hornby America Inc.
IT / Technical Support / Airfix
Telephone: 253-922-7194 or 877-358-6405 ext 101
FAX: 253 922-7203
www.hornbyamerica.com

Edited May 29, 2013 by sjordan2

[sjordan2]

I initiated a rather lengthy thread in Big Boyz, but it probably should have gone here (I know this is double posting on this subject). Last year, Airfix reissued the 1/12 Blower Bentley kit, which had been under several different labels and box art since about 1973. This time, however, the kit has a different registration plate on the box art, instead of the one that is currently on Ralph Lauren's Bentley - UR 6571, the original plate for that kit.

So, the questions are: Why was the plate changed for the reissued kit, and are there any other differences in the kit? I, along with others, made a lot of speculative guesses (I haven't looked inside the new version, since it's $140). I contacted Hornby, owner of Airfix, and here's what they told me:

Hello Skip,

We contacted Airfix UK and got an answer to your question.

“Quite simple really. Bentley insisted on the change, due to the new plate being owned by someone in the company.

Everything else is the same.”

Now you can let the others know the reason for change.

Regards,
Steven Lesh

Hornby America Inc.
IT / Technical Support / Airfix
Telephone: 253-922-7194 or 877-358-6405 ext 101
FAX: 253 922-7203
www.hornbyamerica.com

Mystery solved.

Edited May 29, 2013 by sjordan2

[sjordan2]

An article with clickable pictures on UU 5872 (originally raced by Tim Birkin, leader of the Birkin race team), plus an archive image of UR 6571:

http://www.conceptcarz.com/articles/article.aspx?articleID=2311

Edited May 31, 2013 by sjordan2

[Scott - Elm City Hobbies]

I am surprised someone like Scale Motorsports, or KA Models hasn't come out with a PE Detail set for this kit. Not that there is anything wrong with the kit, I have one of the new re-issued ones in the stash, but just to add to some of the details. I would surely pick one up!

[sjordan2]

I am surprised someone like Scale Motorsports, or KA Models hasn't come out with a PE Detail set for this kit. Not that there is anything wrong with the kit, I have one of the new re-issued ones in the stash, but just to add to some of the details. I would surely pick one up!

It would be great if someone created an accurate mesh set, including the addition of the mesh stone guard for the carburetors.