GeeBee Posted March 16, 2013 Author Share Posted March 16, 2013 For the time I have spent in the hobby room today, it really doesn't seems like I achieved a lot ... got the steering wheel and the column fitted, painted the rear view mirror flat white, the instructions say to paint it satin black, but BMC changed them to white plastic in the autumn of 1964, also masked the body up to paint the interior matt white, took longer to do the masking that it did to actually paint it ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 dont you love those ejector pin marks? at least they are a little inconspicuous up on the headliner...but right next to the molded in sun visor! great build by the way, i just always get bitten by those dumb pin marks too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peekay Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 Beautiful clean work - always enjoy watching your wips. I spent a lot of time in Minis in the 60's and that interior is pure nostalgia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeBee Posted March 18, 2013 Author Share Posted March 18, 2013 Today the interior mirror was finished off using a small piece of BMF to replicate the mirror face, then the mirror was fixed onto the inner roof panel, before the interior goes in the bonnet needs to be held in place by a couple of pieces of masking tape, then you can turn the bodyshell over and fix the bonnet hinge into place, the only part that needs glueing into place is the part of the hinge that fixes onto the bonnet itself, the other side of the hinge is held into place by the interior pod, before commiting any glue to hold the interior into place, as always I did a dry run, and made a few marks on the inside of the body using a pencil, this gives me the locating points were the glue needs to be applied, with the interior in place (without being glued) I tried the chassis/floorpan to see if everything lined up, luckily it did, so the chassis and the interior were removed and a few spots of 5 minute epoxy were applied to the marks I have marked out with the pencil,the interior was now fixed into place permantly and held in place while the glue set, once the glue holding the interior into place had dried, the masking tape holding the bonnet into place was removed, one nice thing about this version of the Mini, is the bonnet can be opened and the way the hinge is held into place, the bonnet stays open on it's own ...... Looking inside once the interior fixed into place, the dashboard lines up perfectly with the bottom of the front window sill, Revell have really worked hard engineerring this model to fit together so well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeBee Posted March 18, 2013 Author Share Posted March 18, 2013 Got the wheels and tyres fitted before I finished in the hobby room, the tyres are a great fit, I'm pleased with the way the Alclad went on, second time lucky, used 5 minute epoxy to fit them to the axles, and I was pleased to see that all four wheels sat on the floor .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Smith Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 Looking very nice. I really like the colors you have chosen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 The green on the interior now looks good ... with the interior mounter in the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeBee Posted March 19, 2013 Author Share Posted March 19, 2013 The green on the interior now looks good ... with the interior mounter in the car. It's powder blue, not green Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 I meant the green "metal" trim on the interior sides. It seemed weird with the blue interior when sitting alone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Whalen Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 Hi, Haven't been on here for a while - the build is coming along well - as expected! I was surprised that you painted the inside of the body after everything else. I usually do the inside first and then mask the inside so the window areas are uncovered - that way there isn't a build up of paint along the edges when the tape is removed. Thanks for the invite - won't be at the Birmingham model show this year as I'm away so will have to find some other time to pop round. Cheers, Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dublin boy Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 Looking good as usual Geoff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul H Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 Good question, and I'm not sure if there is anything that the Tamiya kit offers over the newer Revell offering, apart from being a Cooper S, I suppose if I was being a rivet counter, I would say the Tamiya version has more prototypical front and rear brake hubs and discs, but there really not seen once the model is put together, the Revell version is a little bit more sturdy in that direction, the hubs are slightly out of scale, but will hold the wheels a lot better once there glued on. I have a further 7 Tamiya Mini kits to build, plus a further 2 of the Revell one's, you may have worked out that I like Mini's ..... Ha - yes, I had noticed from this and some of your builds on another forum! Really enjoying the updates on this, and as the photos on Revell's website aren't the most flattering (tbh looks like it was just thrown together in a hurry.....) it is good to see the full potential of this kit being properly realised. E.g. the wheels and tyres look so much better than I expected based on Revell's pics - is it just the Alclad, or have you also used a wash to bring out the detail on the hubcaps / wheel trims? Also good to hear about the wheel fitment, as the loose wheel to hub mountings was the one thing that really annoyed me about the Tamiya I built a while back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeBee Posted March 22, 2013 Author Share Posted March 22, 2013 the wheels and tyres look so much better than I expected based on Revell's pics - is it just the Alclad, or have you also used a wash to bring out the detail on the hubcaps / wheel trims? They didn't look brilliant when they were on the chrome sprue, as the chome has gotten into the holes in the wheel trim, stripping the chrome, doing the primer/gloss black and then the Alclad showed up the holes a lot better, as the black stayed in the holes and the alclad stayed on the trim, the rest of the chrome looks pretty good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeBee Posted March 22, 2013 Author Share Posted March 22, 2013 (edited) A bit more done today, got the chassis/floorpan fitted, and a very good fit it was too, just a few clamps were used while the 2 part 3 hour glue went off, fitted the front & rear valances and the exhaust system, the rear valance needed a bit of masking tape to hold it in place while the glue dried, the front one fitted that well it didn't need holding in place, I'm not too bothered by the slight gap at the rear as the bumper will cover it, there's no way to fix it on before hand, as the chassis wouldn't fit in. Tried a bit of wax on the body, Edited March 22, 2013 by GeeBee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 Looks super. I love real Minis and this one is beautiful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modelmartin Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 I am enjoying seeing your build of this kit. I am a long time Mini enthusiast. I have built 5 of the Tamiya and 5 of the the Fujimi Rover Mini. I will have to get several of these. Just judging from the pictures, I like the Tamiya interior sides, wheels, tires a bit better. I like that Revell put more in the engine bay. It will make a great side by side comparo! It will be interesting to see what variations they may make in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doggie427 Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 Wonderful work Geoff. Neat, clean and exactly right. Lovely choice of colors and finishes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unipart Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 Superb work, Geoff. I got another Revell Mini in Ireland. Will start soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beeRS Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 Nice work Geoff. I have a Tamiya Mini in my collection waiting to be built, but now I think I'll have to get the Revell one. Its a niice kit and your doing a great job on it. By the looks of your prifile you're not a million miles away from where the 1:1 cars were originally built. Looking forward to seeing this one completed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeBee Posted March 24, 2013 Author Share Posted March 24, 2013 (edited) . By the looks of your prifile you're not a million miles away from where the 1:1 cars were originally built No, not far at all, and spent some time at the factory at Longbridge many years ago ..... infact Q gate, where I was based is the only part of the factory still standing, well not a great deal done since the chassis/floorpan went in, but hopefully I will spend some time in the hobby room later on today, but yesterday I got the roof panle fitted, and now it's really looking like a Mini now ..... the fit of the roof was that good, I really didn't need the masking tape to hold it on, looking at it now, I'm really glad I stripped the chrome off the wheels and went with the Alclad. Before the roof panel could be fitted it needed to be masked off so the rain gutter rail could be painted body colour, it was masked off using Tamiya masking tape, then burnished down and the Fiesta yellow was airbrushed using my Paasche F1 airbrush, it really is a great airbrush for doing these small detail jobs, Edited March 24, 2013 by GeeBee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unipart Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 In the April 2013 of Mini Magazine, there are 7 pages on "The story of Belgium's Seneffe Plant", place I knew well when I worked for British Leyland. Building and parking are still there. Is there any BL factory extant today ? Michel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Smith Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 That's looking nice Geoff. I wasn't sure about the Revell tire/wheel combo, but they look great on your build up so far (the tires looked oversized or funky on the Revell models). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeBee Posted March 24, 2013 Author Share Posted March 24, 2013 Not a great deal done today, but after watching the F1, I did a little bit, cut the chrome lamp surround off the sprue, touched up the marks where they were cut off the sprue with a little Alclad, and fixed them into place, on the Tamiya version, the chrome ring around the rear lamps are part on the lens, and are a PITA to cover with BMF, the Revell version is totally different, the chrome part goes onto the body then the lens fixes onto that, leaving the chrome ring showing, also gives the lens a chrome backing making the lenses look a bit more realistic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeBee Posted March 24, 2013 Author Share Posted March 24, 2013 That's looking nice Geoff. I wasn't sure about the Revell tire/wheel combo, but they look great on your build up so far (the tires looked oversized or funky on the Revell models). They looked a little strange to me when I saw the pre-production model at the IPMS show, the tyres looked like they had way too deep a tread pattern, looking at mine, I think they changed them in the production models Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeBee Posted March 26, 2013 Author Share Posted March 26, 2013 Got the rear lights fitted today, plus the rear number plate light and front headlamps, apart from the number plate lamp which needed it mounting tab trimming down a little, everything else fitted fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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