1/43 Heller Alpine A310

[Spottedlaurel]

This was started as a quick, simple Christmas build. Just finished it this morning - at least it didn't stretch out to Easter....

An older release, moulded in caramel styrene. Unfortunately the roof had suffered a bit of damage at some point but I thought I'd persevere with it, if nothing else just to keep in the habit of building something.

This was the inspiration, an early 1:1 I saw in France a few years ago:

I had a generic metallic bronze aerosol in stock that replicated it pretty well.

I haven't done many 1/43 kits, but it's so easy just to lay a bit of brush paint down and keep it moving along. The interior was quite nicely detailed with a separate gearlever. I had to trim a fair bit off the front of the dashboard to get the body fitting nicely.

The bronze went down nicely, finished it with automotive clearcoat from Halfords which I didn't worry about polishing. The diecast A310 is by Majorette at 1/55, I picked it up at a recent toy fair.

Some of the parts were very small, like the lights. The decals just about worked, one of them split in half but was easy enough to align. Brightwork was done with a Gundam chrome marker, I thought it worked well for such slender trims and definitely something I'll use again alongside BMF. Wheels were given a coat of semi-gloss clear to give them a more aluminium look.

The bronze looks good in the sunlight which has just appeared here, it's definitely something I'll use on a 1/24-25 '70s build. I never did properly rectify the roof issue, that wasn't the purpose of this exercise. I also got a bit of fogging on the glass from having to superglue the floorpan to the bodyshell, as there was no positive attachment. I lowered the 'suspension' by adding spacer blocks, as it would have sat a bit high and I had the same issue with a Heller princess I built several years ago.

They're not something I want to build in great number, but I would like to find one or two more in the range as they offer some interesting subjects which aren't seen as larger scale kits. Will have to look out for them on this year's French holiday.

Thanks for looking.

[Dann Tier]

So cool!!  I wish it came in 1/24.

[PappyD340]

Very cool indeed!