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here is the base kit i am using, it has some race car parts like rollbar, racing front seat, some augmented instrumentation, stuff like that:
now the body take a bit of getting used to, just like its 1:1 prototype. it remains relatively untouched forward of the back of the door, but from there back it looks like someone swapped in a Marlin fastback in slightly less spendor sizewise, tapering back to a very seventies looking Kamm back with Ferrariesque overtones. Kind of like a fine wine but i digress. actually though, it does take some getting used to and i am not positive i am quite there yet.
heres a shot of the virtually unchanged from stock front end, with emphasis on the wobbly web style wheel...they are metallic black over gloss black and i still need to "chrome" the outer ring around each wheel. should stand out a lot more then:
heres where things start going all sideways...roof looks very grafted on but has a certain grace to it. the wheel tucks into the wheelwell nicely, i am going to have to do some major doing to get the car to sit down on its suspension like this though. i have build two tamiya minis and both ended up almost looking like 4X4s, which was ok for the one because it was a rally car and it was ok for the other because it ended up in the air in a garage diorama where its suspension should be relaxed anyway. but again with the digressing...
and here you can get a look at the rear end with the very pronounced Kamm back effect. the design especially in the back looks very european to me, and this was a pretty significant variant on the typical mini cooper design:
so i plan on painting this tamiya mica red with a red clear coat afterward for no other reason than i really like that color and it will contrast nicely with the black shiny wheels.
this body and the Traveller body i still have from ScaleKraft are both excellent. the kits they were included in, for roughly 60$ if i remember right, had interior panels, vac formed glass, wheels (these wobbly webs for instance), some very nice looking weber carbs to put on the standard tamiya motor, and short of having to trim flash out of all the windows (not a major undertaking, kind of a relaxing evening kind of thing) there wasnt really any cleanup necessary on the body. as you can see i have primed it and while i havent looked at it super close, in my fitting session i dont recall seeing any pinholes or blemishes or anything. the kit included a new hood to fit the body and i couldnt understand why because the tamiya hood fit pretty perfectly. then i noticed the hood is relieved underneath whereas the tamiya one is very shallow. i am assuming that is to allow clearance for the weber carburetors. we shall see.
thanks for looking and of course any questions cheerfully addressed!
however the rally valve cover is different than the stock..
