Anglia105E

I shall give the Tamiya grey primer some thought and consideration, based upon your ' professional model builder ' advice !!! I was led to believe that 2K paint products are dangerous, and require wearing a mask that has an oxygen supply ? You are right about the masking Michael, because I shall need to glue the window glass in place, inside the roof part, and then carefully mask off the windows while I am spraying on the Tamiya primer and top coat. The wheels and tyres will need to be covered with paper, particularly at the front end while paint is applied. Sounds like you have enjoyed an interesting working life making money from your hobby, which is something I could not do successfully. David

I don't know about ' Hybrid ' vehicles Bill, but I remember well the Ford Anglia, Ford Cortina, Ford Corsair, Ford Escort, Ford Consul, Zephyr and Zodiac, also the Ford Consul Classic and Capri . . . Happy days ! David

Yes Ulf, I think the Russian made Frog car model kits are by Novo . . . The NOVO company was British, but they had the products made in Russia, using old FROG tooling moulds . . . We do need a good 1:24 scale Fod Cortina, maybe Ford Escort and others. David

Thank you Michael for your comments, and also your questions . . . In order to assemble the body, the two side panels have to be glued to the edges of the floor and chassis assembly, then the front panel and engine bay have to be glued to the side panels . . . The engine bay includes the front outer wings, and then the roof that includes the window frames must be glued in place. Only this way can you line everything up correctly and squarely. At that point, the gaps where the body panels join together have to be filled and sanded before painting can begin. This would mean that the window glass part would not have been glued inside the roof. As regards the primer Michael, I was only going to use Halfords grey primer with cellulose automotive paint, and only Rust-oleum primer for Rust-oleum paint, so in this case I am using the Tamiya Fine Surface Primer White, which a professional model builder who lives locally tells me is the best primer in the world. The topcoats will be Tamiya TS-10 French Blue, so I am keeping to paints from the same brand for both primer and topcoat. How about this kit for the Opel Ascona https://www.scalemates.com/kits/belkits-bel-020-opel-ascona-400--1170892 David

I like the wheels on your Superbird David G., Are they Ro-Style wheels? . . . and that interior of yours is a really good realistic finish. That is one HUGE car, and the rear spoiler is beyond huge. Orange over red primer makes perfect sense to me too. American cars around 1968 - 1970 are my favourites . . . Large and attractive designs, BIG everything (especially those V8 engines). David W.

Many thanks Sonny . . . There were only two of these kits on Ebay when I decided to bid for this one, and the other one has now sold. The Buy it Now kit went for £149.99 and I got mine for £123.00 . . . You are right in saying that Frog have got the proportions of the Ford Consul Cortina body accurate, which is most important to model builders such as you and I. I do not understand why the box art shows the two door car, but I was really pleased to find that the contents are actually for the four door car, as there is no other 4-door version on the market, in any scale . . . Initially I was looking for a 1:24 scale model of the Cortina, but they are all based on the Lotus, which is great if you like the Lotus Cortina and what a great car that was. As it turns out, I am enjoying working in the larger 1:16 scale and I don't intend to have the model motorised. Although the method of assembly is rather unorthodox, which makes the painting process more challenging, I am confident that I can put this together by applying some logical thinking. David

Thanks Ray . . . This is one of the most interesting kits that I have had the pleasure to build, and I intend to make the most of every day building the model. David

Thank goodness this one is 1:16 then Les . . . I forgot to mention in the introduction to this topic, that although the box art for this FROG kit clearly shows the two-door version of the Cortina, the body inside the box is actually for the 4-door version of the car. This is precisely what I needed, as my Dad's car was a 4-door Cortina . . . All the 1:24 scale Ford Cortina MK 1's and the 1:32 scale models are the 2-door Lotus version. David

This is the fourth batch of WIP photos, that shows the difference in colour between the Rust-oleum Spa Blue on the left, and the Tamiya TS-10 French Blue on the right . . . The French Blue is very close to the actual color that I remember for my Dad's car, albeit 53 years ago now ! The chosen paint colour for the interior upholstery is Vallejo Prussian Blue acrylic, with some Humbrol Silver 11 enamel for the ancillary engine parts, and Humbrol Matt Black 33 enamel for the engine, battery and radiator. David

Here we have the third batch of photos, which is all about the mock up, and for me to understand how this kit fits together . . . David

Here is the second batch of photos as the build continues . . . Halfords grey primer has been applied to some parts, and the panel lines have been scribed on the side panels. The registration number plates have been printed and mounted on the license plates, while the petrol filler cap has had the chrome plating removed, as this part needs to be the body colour. David

This excellent vintage kit by Frog was manufactured in 1962, so it is 60 years old . . . These kits rarely appear on Ebay, and when they do come up they fetch high prices. Rightly so, because there can't be many left out there. Luckily, I was able to win the recent Ebay auction, despite finding myself up against several determined bidders who were clearly going to bid high. The price shot up during the final 60 seconds and I somehow came out on top. The kit according the listing on the large instruction sheet has 81 parts plus a small decal sheet. Following my careful inventory of the actual parts in the box, I counted 80 parts in total, so only one part missing which is a front side light. The kit box was in poor condition, and the previous owner of the kit had part built the model by assembling the rolling chassis, including the electric motor and steering. I was aware that this model can be motorised, but I shall not be making use of this feature. My Dad, who passed away back in 2005, used to own a 1963 Ford Consul Cortina MK 1 deluxe, which was a 4-door car and finished in Ford Light Blue . . . During 1970 my Dad taught me how to drive in this Cortina, as I had reached 17 years of age. I passed my driving test at the third attempt and the Cortina was a joy to drive. This is why the following build is very important to me, because I have fond memories of my Dad's car. You may have seen my previous topic in another section ' Rust-oleum Issues? ', which explains why I was so concerned about which paints to use for this rare vintage kit, and having some considerable trepidation regarding the possibility of modern paint products attacking the 60 year old expensive plastic. Thanks to many fellow MCM Forum members offering sound advice and words of encouragement, based on their years of experience, I have decided to go with Tamiya lacquer aerosol cans, rather than the alternatives which included Rust-oleum products, automotive cellulose paints in custom mixed cans and Zero Paints products intended for airbrush use. The method of assembly for this kit is somewhat unorthodox, in the sense that the body parts have to be assembled separately, rather than having a one piece ready made body shell . . . Consequently, the filling of the joints, sanding, primer and paint application will have to be done after the body parts are glued together, and not before adding other parts such as chassis and interior to the body shell. This will be my first time building in this way, and also my first time using Tamiya paint products. I shall be using Mr White Putty 'R' as my preferred filler, and also Tamiya Polishing Compounds, Coarse, Fine and Finish grades. Here are the first batch of photos to show what we have on the workbench . . . I hope this turns out to be an interesting build ! David

Hi David G., and thank you Noel Smith . . . I am the other David in the UK . . . This is a good effort David, and it is nice to see someone having a go ! I was going to mention that the only real donor model is not a kit, but a diecast from Franklin Mint, and this car is a 1955 Silver Cloud I with the straight 6 -engine, rather than the V8 in the SC II after 1959 . . . The Hubley / Minicraft / Revell / Entex / Masterkit version has 26 parts in the box ( I counted them ). I agree that you can make this into a nice model, but it does require a HUGE amount of work, including scratch building of course. The Revell kit for the Silver Cloud has grey parts that need to be chromed, while the Minicraft kit has chrome parts but the chrome is too heavy. The Revell kit does have nice rubber tyres, whereas the Minicraft kit has horrible tyres that have more plastic than rubber. The straight-6 cyl. engine can be extracted from the FM diecast, or there is one on Shapeways designed by myself. ( Minicraft V8 engine is a joke ). Take note : the Spirit of Ecstasy radiator grille top mascot is WAY too large in all of the kits . . . This needs to be significantly smaller, so either a resin cast part or the Franklin Mint part is correct, but always missing from Ebay sellers. Also note, the boot lid reg. number plate plinth that is fitted to all British Silver Clouds is not included in the kit box, and the FM diecast doesn't have it either for the American models. Good luck with this build David G., and I am not the expert, but I have built eight of these Rolls-Royce models, and the most recent one took me 7 months to build and paint, so any questions are welcome. There was a Hubley promo in blue plastic, as well as the Hubley kit, also in blue plastic. David

Not sure if this will help you Jeremy at this stage, but when I carry out two-tone paint jobs on my 1:24 scale Rolls-Royce Silver Clouds, the tape that I use is a specialist automotive tape . . . The tape is orange, 6 mm wide, shiny PVC type surface to it, and it bends around corners. This tape is primarily intended for coachlining work between two colours on full size 1:1 cars, like Pin Stripe . . . . Here is a link to an Ebay seller for the product . . . https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175544494533?hash=item28df4469c5:g:0HoAAOSwMEBjpHEy&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4CkrGR1SKtrhjGMbAhjZ6yenoDF9UPaABPLqc93VP4ZJh1Z4l87mRh9AAWAFRhnsWAjCeVEqbbdOn92g1n8x7xa9Z5fxEZDZm8atZXFpjXg9rwE3AUcftyfkvT5p3UJ5wwZXyuPVPU6ttVXnX4vGuJmCYKwxpvUGmI9QPsYL8SSyzqMjHvpH0N1%2B9HMVsO6tdq0f5hJZh8%2Bq6IkEVfvl0wli8QtHHkJRE6Ku9cfBh%2BrVg5BVFvl7G%2Bcvb5%2Ft8oI3ZWLgvwgwHFaFJsUgeUCLUllZNaG9Rh4yVFtXffrUCBzD|tkp%3ABk9SR4bTuImbYg# Two photos of a previous masking job. The tape is also available in 3 mm width and different colours. David

I did pass through Telford on my way to Cornwall, which is a trip that I make once a year, every year. This year during May it was a train journey rather than a car journey, so I didn't see Telford . . . As detailed above, I shall do some Tamiya lacquer paints testing next week and once I have compared the results to the Rust-oleum testing, maybe I can have a look at acrylics. Your contribution is much appreciated Noel, and I think taking my time to get this paint application right for this particular model car is most important. Shortly, there will be a WIP topic to show the build process so far. David

Cheers and thanks David, David

Just ordered these two products from Ebay . . . Tamiya TS-10 French Blue and Fine Surface Primer White. Testing of the Tamiya paint products is scheduled for next week . . . Watch this space ! David

Many thanks for your input and words of encouragement David . . . Next week I shall be testing Tamiya lacquer paints from spray can, which will be my first experience with these products. It will be interesting to see how the Tamiya compares with the Rust-oleum. David

Oh I see . . . That's okay then Joe, because my can says ' Painter's Touch ', so no primer in there presumably. The Spa Blue Gloss over the Plastic Primer White seems to be stable after 4 days since application, and it hasn't eaten the 60 year old plastic ! The surface for this test is the underside of the engine bay, which will have a further week of curing to be safe. David

So true Les ! Absolutely . . .

That is a fascinating website Les, and I see it is from Australia . . . While researching Rolls-Royce motor cars I found several good sources of information from sites in Australia . . . The chart for 1964 Ford England PPG is particularly helpful, which is Imported Car Colors 1963 - 1965. I shall study this one closely ! Many thanks, David

Hello Noel . . . Yes, there is a Hobbycraft in Chesterfield, and I used to see Tamiya aerosols there when I visited the store. Now that I no longer have a vehicle of my own, I checked the Hobbycraft website before getting a bus to Chesterfield and despite wording my searches in many different ways, there are no Tamiya spray paints coming up on their product list, which seems odd. The funny thing is, now that you mention it Noel . . . I haven't been to a model show during the past 7 years while I have been building scale model cars seriously. Several times I had a look at the Telford show online, and thought about driving down there. Maybe I could take the train ? Certainly, it would be very interesting to meet the people who really know their stuff when it comes to model building and painting, as well as seeing a vast range of products that might not be available locally. When it comes to the three types of paint . . . so enamels, acrylics and automotive, I tend to prefer enamels. I understand that the auto paints, and particularly cellulose are not ideal for plastic model car kits, and I have very little experience of acrylics, so I usually go with Humbrol in small tins. Now brush painting is all very well, but of course we cannot hope to achieve a good finish on a scale model car body using that method, which is why I have to deal with the aerosols and airbrush. Thanks for the details, especially regarding Richard Middleton at IPMS and I shall take a look at their website. David

Okay Chad, your interest is much appreciated . . . The photo of my Dad's car is the only one I have, and it is from 1970, so the colour has faded quite a lot. The blue in the photo is much lighter than how I remember the colour of the actual car. For this reason, I cannot show the photo to a paint supplier, as it would be of no use really. I do agree with you that from the PPG 12949 code, and also the BY code, at least one of the paint suppliers should have a mix. This is assuming that Light Blue was the correct colour . . . and it does seem to be the most likely, based upon info gathered so far. David

I am torn between giving the ' BY ' paint code to Zero Paints, or giving it to Autopaints Brighton who can mix the colour in cellulose. Both suppliers would mix a product that would result in a matt finish. This is why I favour living dangerously with the Rust-oleum Spa Blue Gloss. David

Thanks a lot Joe . . . Certainly, the more modern paints are not the same as the older versions. Someone suggested that the Rust-oleum Spa Blue Gloss might even have a primer already as part of it's formula, and consequently if the Spa Blue Gloss was then applied over the Plastic Primer White, this ' might ' cause an unusual reaction ? (That's not what it says on the tin ! ) I thought about the Tamiya TS-10 French Blue and the TS-23 Light Blue, but cannot find a supplier for those paints. Also not sure about acrylics. Some WIP pics will be posted soon ! David