MGB Roadster

[Bainford]

I finished this one up a while ago. It's the Airfix 1/24 MGB Roadster. A straightforward kit that goes together well. One of those rare trouble free builds, this one is built largely box stock with some interior detailing; carpeting, seat piping, gauge bezels, column stalks, mirrors, etc. Paint is Humbrol #47 enamel. The ride height was lowered about 1.5 scale inches. Unfortunately the glass exhibits quite a bit of optical distortion, especially noticeable on a topless car. The window and the frame are molded as one (a peeve of mine) making it difficult to improve the glass with sanding/polishing. In fact, I broke mine trying, but a forum member came to the rescue with a replacement (thanks Matt!). The kit wheels are also slightly oversized, another pet peeve of mine, throwing off the look of the finished product somewhat. But those two minor issues aside, it's a great kit that builds into a nice little MG. It even took first in class at our little peer-judged annual model show.

Comments, critiques welcome.

 

[bbowser]

Looks great, nice color.

[rightrudder]

Super nice! Lovely color, and the piping on the seats is a great touch.

[Hard_2_Handle_454]

Pretty cool.  I wish I had the money to get one right now.

[Kah puts]

I say jolly good build on MGB there mate.

[Erik Smith]

Great looking model. Nice work on the wheels, the spokes look quite realistic  

 

[ChrisR]

Looks great!

[Gramps46]

Your "B" looks really good.  We had one and it was my wife's favorite car.

[afx]

Very nice Trevor.

[rrb124@sbcglobal.net]

Nice B! Not  often seen  color. You nailed it. Great trim. There's a lot of it on a B.

[MeatMan]

Very well done!

[Classicgas]

Very cool and well done. Is the kit curbside? I gotta source one of these. How did you do the seat piping?

[espo]

Great clean looking little roadster. 

[Spottedlaurel]

Very nicely done. The interior detailing finishes it off perfectly.

My stepdad had a 1:1 and I built the same kit as a replica for him. For some reason I forgot to lower it, which I still regret.

[Rick L]

Two thumbs up! 

[Gluebomber]

Really nice build, Trevor.  Your pictures made me think I was looking at the real thing!

[Ace-Garageguy]

Beautiful job.

Nice cars to drive, simple and reliable, quick enough to be entertaining.

The overhead shot showing the white piping on the seats is particularly realistic.

How'd you do it? Is it shown on the build thread?

Edited February 19, 2022 by Ace-Garageguy
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

[JJ Deuce]

looks sharp!  The wheels look great to me.  I always liked the Bs

[Lobo2me]

Beautiful! Great job!! Put the top up and go for a spin (not on the ice)!!!!

[Bainford]

Many Thanks, Guys. I really appreciate the kind words. It was a fun build. I've got another in the stash and one of C1s GT bodies, so looking forward to doing one of those, soon.

Edited February 19, 2022 by Bainford

[Bainford]

5 hours ago, Classicgas said:

Very cool and well done. Is the kit curbside? I gotta source one of these. How did you do the seat piping?

Much thanks, Lee. The kit is curbside and goes together really well. For a chrome bumper car you will want to lower it at least a scale 1.5 inches, but for a rubber bumper car the ride height OOB would be pretty close. Rubber bumper parts are in the kit.

See below for seat piping info.

Edited February 19, 2022 by Bainford

[cobraman]

Very well done !

[Bainford]

3 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Beautiful job.

Nice cars to drive, simple and reliable, quick enough to be entertaining.

The overhead shot showing the white piping on the seats is particularly realistic.

How'd you do it? Is it shown on the build thread?

Cheers Bill. Yes, from the days when sporting driving was done in simple machines. It's still my preference.

I appreciate the comments on the interior. For most of my building life I pretty much ignored interiors in favour of the more interesting things like engines and chassis. Somehow I've made a switch, and the last few years my builds have been curbside with all the work in the interior.

There is no build thread for this one. The seat piping was quite easy, actually. Evergreen .010" and some Tamiya extra thin. Any existing piping or raised edge is sanded off first. It went better than expected, fix a piece at one end with a little extra-thin and let it set, then work your way from there. The plastic strip softens quite a bit on contact with the glue, helping it to conform to corners without resistance. After applying, allow to set then use a sanding stick to thin it a little and smooth out any rough bits. Once painted and dried, scrape the paint from the piping. The problem with this method is it can only be done in white, or at least I haven't seen any suitable styrene in other colours. The .010" is a bit heavy for seat piping, especially in a small car, and indeed it is a bit 'in your face', but overall it has a nice look. Unfortunately a bit of rough handling pulled away the piping from the top corner of the passenger seat. I couldn't fix it without making a visible mess, but then I thought, "Piping torn away from the top corner of the seat, how authentic is that?"

[Kolu]

Thats a lovely model, lots of little detail work. Yes the old Humbrol no.47 is a good take on BMC Iris blue. Well done.

[TooOld]

Sharp little MG Trevor , great paint and very nicely detailed especially the interior !  I've got a couple of the Aoshima kits and never cared for the one piece windshield/frame either . I'm currently converting one to an MGB-GT .