Anglia105E

I can see that you are a man who knows his numbers Les . . . Previously I was attempting to match the FV8910 number to a specific motor car, but now thanks to MCM member Skip Jordan, I am aware of the car being in the Toyota Automobile Museum, and you can just make out the FV8910 number plate behind the front bumper . . . Here is an even better photo . . . David

That is a possibility Les, because I don't suppose they had ' personal ' registration numbers in the late 1930's, although F V 8 9 10 is a sequential number (8, 9, 10) . . . interesting ! David

Many thanks Skip for that important piece of information . . . I had not realised that particular car was the one that Gunze Sangyo based their PIII kit upon. Do you have any idea where the registration plate ' FV 8910 ' came from ? I see the box art on the Entex version of this kit does look almost exactly like the photos that you have posted, which is great thanks ! David

Here is a link to the Cortina under glass topic David . . . David W.

Yes, I am rather pleased with how the figure is transformimg . . . One interesting fact, apparently Freestone and Webb were recognised as having two distinctive body styles, one was ' Top Hat ' and the other was ' Razor Edge ' . . . so this Phantom III that I am building has a Freestone and Webb body. David

Thank you David, and I can't actually remember if this topic found it's way to the "Under Glass" section . . . I must check ! David

While waiting for various parts and assemblies of the Phantom III to dry, I wanted to do something with the figure that will go with this car . . . I would like to think that if Gunze Sangyo had included a figure with this kit back in the day, then this would have been a typical subject to find inside the box. He is an Edwardian gentleman in 1:16 scale, and this figure was 3D printed for garden railways and tramways. One thing I did not like about the figure was his HAT, which I regarded as rather comical and made him look like a garden gnome ! So I set about converting his hat to a Top Hat, which I have done by cutting an oval out of thin card and super glued it to the top of the silly hat . . . Then I cut out a strip of thin card, which was wrapped around the existing hat and glued on below the upper rim of the new hat. The gaps were filled with Mr Wite Putty R filler and Humbrol grey primer applied over the white card areas. Today I applied a thin coat of Vallejo flat flesh acrylic paint to the face of the man. Once this figure is painted Vallejo beige brown for his hat, coat and trousers, darker brown for his leather gloves and leather shoes, with a white shirt, crimson waistcoat and a grey beard he will look much better I feel . . . This man will be Mr A. J. Webb, who was Arthur Webb of the partnership that was the founder of Freestone and Webb, the famous coachbuilders from North London . . . From 1923 to 1958 the partnership of V. E. Freestone and A. J. Webb produced some of the finest designs for Rolls-Royce and Bentley bodies, although Mr Webb died in 1955 . . . David

Thank you very much for your comments Douglas . . . Your story is fascinating, and I am pleased to hear that you are returning to scale model car building after all these years . . . Just like you, I stopped building model cars when I was about 13 years of age, and then started up again at the age of 63. During the past 7 years or so I have turning out many models, and I must have spent a great deal of time and money on this interesting hobby. I have tended to concentrate on Rolls-Royce motor cars, sometimes exclusively on the Silver Cloud, but I have built three 1953 Hudson Hornets, the 1963 Ford Consul Cortina, a 1968 Lotus 49B as driven by Graham Hill, a 1968 Pontiac Parisienne 5.3 litre V8 (Canadian), various French classics from the 1950's and most of the Rolls-Royce Phantom range from 1927 - 1937 . . . I hope your Vauxhall Victor Estate goes well as a build, and the FROG kits are really nice actually . . . Their 1:16 scale kits are now very rare, especially the Vauxhall, and you do have to pay a lot of money for them on Ebay. David

Thank you Dennis, and this is beginning to make sense to me now . . . Excellent photos of yours, and they were just what I needed, so thanks again for taking the time, cheers ! David

Well, at the moment Dennis my immediate concern is the door posts for this model car. I have studied the instruction sheet, and examined the relevant parts, but the way they seem to suggest fitting those parts doesn't look too strong to me . . . The base of the door posts puzzles me a bit, and the method of attaching the outer door pillars also. I want to get this part of the build right because this is critical to the fitting of the door hinges. The door posts don't seem to reach the underside of the roof, where there are two square sockets. Don't worry if you can't see what I mean. Maybe if you could take a couple of close up photos of the doors to door post fitting, from slightly different angles? Please don't disrupt your daily schedule for this Dennis, but this would help me figure out the issue . . . David

As regards the wheel covers Dennis . . . This is what I discovered during my extensive research. The owners of the real full size Rolls-Royce Phantom III motor cars, between 1936 and 1939 liked to keep their wire spoked wheels clean, but the tedious job of cleaning those wheels was a headache for the chauffeur / mechanic . . . So, they fitted the wheel covers to not only look stylish but primarily to keep the maintenance of the wire spoked wheels down to an absolute minimum. I was hoping to photograph my completed model both with and without wheel covers, until I realised they were not in the kit box from Gunze Sangyo . . . To be fair to Gunze Sangyo, this is probably because the Freestone and Webb coachbuilders version did not necessarily have wheel covers, unless the owner buyer specifically requested them to be fitted. Just one question for you Dennis, do you have any more photos of your Entex Phantom III kit please ? The photo that you posted is high resolution and very good, thanks . . . David

Thanks Trevor . . . Yes, you are right about the tool kit, it does indeed contain a pair of spare valve springs ! There are several specialised tools in there which are exclusive to Rolls-Royce motor cars . . . I found it to be a particularly fascinating aspect of the Phantom III ( there are many others ). David

That is interesting that you should mention the wheel covers Dennis, because I fully intended to fit the wheel covers using micro magnets, so that I could remove the covers to reveal the black wire spoked wheels foe some photographs. Then I realised that there are no wheel covers included in the Gunze Sangyo kit . . . Does your Entex kit have the wheel covers in the box? Usually, I do fit the wheel covers to the Phantom II cars that I have built previously, and also to the Phantom I cars. The Phantom II and Phantom I models that I have built were 1:24 scale and also 1:32 scale, so not the 1:16 scale kit that you have there. I reckon the micro magnets could be fitted into the hubs, and also into the wheel covers, so the idea could work in theory ? My micro magnets that I have will probably be used for the four doors of this Phantom III . . . David

Thank you Dennis . . . Your ' barn find ' restoration project looks really good, and I can see the model as it might appear when fully completed. I like the colour scheme of red and cream, which corresponds to my chosen colour scheme of black and cream . . . Your version has white wall tyres, which is what you would expect to find in the United States of course, whereas my version will have the standard tyres more typical in England. I reckon you can restore that Rolls-Royce Phantom III without too much difficulty. and this will turn out very nicely I am sure. The Entex kit, the Revell version, also the Anmark and Gunze Sangyo versions of the kit are basically all the same, with just some slight differences with the instruction sheet and the colour of the plastic parts on the sprues. These 1:16 scale kits are now getting quite rare, and they do go for high prices, usually from Ebay sellers in France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the USA . . . I like the level of detail, and the quality of the parts, as well as finding the assembly process more like building a real car than say in 1:24 scale. There seems to be a large amount of reference material out there on the Internet for this car. which I am using to good effect. Not many of these have been built, or at least not many model builders have posted their builds on forums as far as I can see. David

As I became fascinated by the design and functionality of the tools tray that is located within the recess of the luggage compartment lid, my plan today was to dry fit the parts that make up this assembly . . . The tool tray itself will be glued into the inside of the boot lid, and there are two hinged panels that are held in place by the tool tray. One of these two panels serves to cover the set of tools when lowered, and the other larger panel covers the whole boot lid area. This larger panel then becomes the boot floor or decking, and also lays flush with the floor decking deeper into the luggage compartment. The boot lid, and the two hinged panels have plastic hinges, as opposed to the metal hinges supplied in the kit for the doors and bonnet panels. I shall need to paint the smaller of the two panels flat green acrylic, where it covers the tools. You can see four sink marks on the panel that must be filled and sanded before painting. During the time that I spent examining these component parts, I was reminded that Rolls-Royce have always presented us with some brilliant design concepts, and of course their exceptional engineering can be observed throughout the entire construction of the motor car. Somehow I took over 90 photographs of just the process of test fitting the boot lid and tools tray, but here is only a small sample of those photos ! David

Your advice regarding the painting of the tool kit is most welcome, and I would say there are probably half a dozen methods that different model builders might use for this task . . . The method that I did use seems to have worked quite well, and the paint had dried overnight, so that was before I received your comment. Unfortunately, the outside temperature here is 6°C and down to zero, so I cannot spray any paints at the moment . . . I only have normal cotton buds, so not those wonderful Tamiya pointed ones, which I must get soon. Also, I find that the Vallejo airbrush cleaner that I use for cleaning anything with Vallejo acrylic paints does not seem to work very well for me. This means that I generally use Isopropyl Alcohol instead. The following photos show the matt brown applied to many of the interior parts, and this is being allowed to dry overnight. I do like the colour as well. I have applied the brown Humbrol enamel as a thin coat, because the texture of the carpet flooring and also the leather seats has been nicely manufactured by Gunze Sangyo . . . The wood finish that I shall aim for later will probably be burr walnut rather than mahogany. David W.

I spent some time the other day considering the interior colour for this Rolls-Royce, and I was looking at several specific brown shades . . . My final choice came down to Humbrol Matt Brown 186 . . . The carpets, front and rear seats, door interior panels and the division will all be brush painted, with the woodwork being either burr walnut or mahogany, and the headlining will be a creamy beige colour. Some of the Phantom III cars had leather for the front seating and cloth for the rear seating, while other cars had leather for both front and rear . . . I have done quite a lot of work on the rear tools tray today, and although the Sharpie areas came out okay, I then realised that the recessed areas around each individual tool needed to be green also. As the point of my Sharpie pens will not fit into those tiny areas, I used Vallejo Flat Green acrylic to fill the recesses directly around the tools . . . This was painstaking intricate work, which demanded the utmost from my 70 year old eyesight and the not so steady hand ! Here are some photos of the result, along with a photo of the actual tools tray of the real car within the luggage compartment. David

Your Talbot Lago Record Cabriolet engine looks really good on the revolving turntable Ismael . . . Nice detail work. I have also purchased a revolving turntable from Amazon, which is 10 inches diameter, and a 15 inch diameter circular mirror from IKEA . . . The turntable is great for displaying scale model engines, cars, figures and buildings, especially for use in YouTube video filming . . . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEvoLzd3CgM David

Yesterday was all about the ignition plug lead wiring, which is turning out to be a bit of a headache ! Two packs of plug lead material arrived in the post, so I decided to have a closer look at the task in hand . . . This is 0.4 mm plug lead and grey in colour, as supplied by Hiroboy and the Zero brand . . . Following several hours of considering the prospect of drilling 52 holes of 0.4 mm each, and also discovering that none of the micro drill bit suppliers have any stock of the 0.3, 0.4 or 0.5 mm drill bits, my thinking turned towards an alternative solution. The Gunze Sangyo kit for this Rolls-Royce has a length of black vinyl tubing, and by cutting tiny pieces of this tubing and fitting them tightly over the connections on the two distributor caps and the two ignition coil connections, I can insert the 0.4 mm plug leads and super glue them in place. This procedure could be repeated for the 24 spark plugs and the 24 connections on top of the distributor caps. Many reviews for the micro drill bits are saying that the fragile drill bits break very easily, and within a very short time. This put me off the idea of drilling. These 24 plug leads will have to be routed through the two aluminium tubes and the two aluminium conduits, before they exit at the spark plug end. Here are a few photos of what this might entail . . . David

Thanks David . . . The sink marks on the doors don't appear to too bad now that the coat of grey primer has dried overnight. Several of my reference photos show a green baize base to the tools tray, just like you would see on a snooker table or a pool table, so I might choose green rather than a matt black base as suggested on the instruction sheet. Outside temperature is down to 6°C maximum during the day, and will continue at this level for a few more days yet. No spray painting this week ! David W.

The lower body of the Rolls-Royce Phantom III clips nicely onto the rolling chassis, and may not even need any glue later. The first of the following series of photos shows the spec sheet behind the model, which represents the colour scheme in which this car will be painted. While the temperature upstairs in my loft was between 12°C and 14°C this afternoon I applied some Tamiya Surface Primer Light Grey to the body parts . . . This was when I noticed that there are some nasty dimples on the outer surface of the two rear doors, and to a slightly lesser extent on the two front doors. These will have to filled and sanded before the second coat of primer is applied. It is a shame that Gunze Sangyo allowed these parts to go into production in this state, and it seems to be where the hinges are fitted on the inside of the doors. While the paint was left to dry overnight, I turned my attention to the radiator and grille assembly . . . I was pleased to find that the Spirit of Ecstasy mascot slides into a slot on the top of the chrome radiator grille, so that I can swivel the mascot rather than have it fixed in place. The mascot can then be turned as on the real car, to allow the bonnet panels to be lifted open. The radiator fits well into the grille, and prevents the mascot from coming adrift. Two short lengths of cooling hose were connected between the radiator and the water rails that run along the top of the cylinder heads. These are red rubber piping that has been painted satin black, and I shall make up some jubilee clips to go onto the hoses, which might be made from BMF or similar. The tool tray that fits into the boot / luggage compartment / trunk, will be painted matt black at some point, and each one of the tools then has to be painted individually . . . It might be easier to use Sharpies to colour the tools rather than trying to paint them, as this will be very intricate work. Just to see how this might look, I applied some silver Sharpie to one of the spanners, and this is before I apply the matt black base. David

You are absolutely right David, and I detected a change in my overall feeling for the ' car ' as the rolling chassis was standing square and true. Here is a link to my YouTube video which shows the rolling chassis from all angles . . . The rotating turntable is from Amazon, which is mains operated and 10 inches diameter. The 15 inches diameter mirror is from IKEA . . . Lighting is natural daylight plus one overhead flourescent tube light. The video is best viewed full screen, and this one has no music, or talking or captions. This slowly revolving display stand will be used later to display the finished Phantom III and will feature background music, carefully positioned lighting and a plain black background ( or white ? ) . . . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEvoLzd3CgM David W.

I have now reached the stage where the rolling chassis is standing nicely on all four tyres, and also the exhaust system has been fitted. The lower body has been test fitted onto the rolling chassis . . . The upper body was also test fitted, in order to give me some idea of the overall size of this car. The exhaust downpipes that connect the exhaust manifolds to the front silencer are lengths of red rubber piping . . . These two downpipes have been painted gunmetal enamel, with a thin coating of bronze Sharpie along the upper front section. Now that the rear leaf springs have had a black enamel wash applied the brown leather appears less glossy, and not so bright. Further applications of the black enamel wash have included the engine underside, the rear axle and differential, and petrol tank underside. According to the instruction sheet, there are 294 parts in this Gunze Sangyo kit . . . The instructions require the cementing together of the chassis to the lower body, but this has to wait for the body parts to be painted. Today I washed the upper and lower body parts, so they are reay for grey primer, and I just need the outside temperature to rise a few degrees . . . currently we have 12°C here in England, which is pretty good for mid-February. David

Thanks a lot Trevor . . . This one is very special to me, and I hope to do a good job on the build. David

Pleased to hear that you like the look of the chassis so far David, and I am happy with the appearance of the structure. While the strength of the overall chassis is good, I have to say that the method of attaching both front and rear wheels as designed by, engineered by Gunze Sangyo is not the best. I would have liked this stub axle arrangement to be significantly stronger, and it just seems rather weak at this point. Funny that you should suggest having adjustable tie rod ends (or track rod ends if you like), because that thought was running through my mind as I was putting together my amateur modification. Certainly, you could have tie rod ends that turn in 1:16 scale, as they might in 1:12 scale. David W.