1962 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud II by Minicraft Models: Finished

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

The 1962 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud II by Minicraft Models. The original kit was tooled and released by Hubley Manufacturing around 1960. It's been re-boxed and re-released about ten times by a couple of different companies since then. This version was re-issued by Minicraft Models in 1997. Though this version is labeled as a 1962, Rolls Royce manufactured the Silver Cloud between 1959 and 1962. One release of this kit was labeled as such. I purchased it at the most recent Desert Scale Classic model car show and swap meet in Phoenix.

In spite of being such a simple kit, there was a good bit of work behind getting it into this finished state. For those who may wish to see it, here is a link to the WIP.

 

 

The Spirit of Ecstasy mascot and radiator ornament is horribly out of scale to the rest of the car. Unfortunately, I could find no suitable replacement for it, so there it is!

 

 

The classic Rolls Royce lines flow like gently rolling waves of water.

 

 

One of the "fixes" I chose to make was to re-scribe the seams around the fuel door. They were originally cast as bumps rather than indentations.

 

 

The boot lid is supposed to be openable but there is nothing inside worth seeing.

 

 

The boot lid did require a good bit of reworking to get a decent looking panel line between it and the body.

 

And here is the inspiration for the build. I saw this 1959 (?) in Cottonwood, AZ a couple of months after finding the kit at the Desert Scale Classic in Phoenix.

 

 

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to post any comments you may have.

David G.

[PappyD340]

Looks great!

[Classicgas]

Well done.

[Anglia105E]

Well done with your gold Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud,  David.G.   . . . Nicely completed model, and I fully understand that you did have multiple issues to deal with along the way. As you say, there is no alternative Spirit of Ecstasy radiator mascot available out there, in the correct scale, so it is better to use the kit box part rather than not have one at all !

The petrol filler flap looks great, as does the area around the base of the 'A' pillar, which is particularly difficult and challenging, to say the least !

Apart from the boot carpet and spare wheel, the boot lid might as well be closed, despite the poor fit . . . 

The rear window surround rubber seal should be matt black and no chrome . . . Not a criticism David, just something that most builders get wrong !

" The classic Rolls Royce lines flow like gently rolling waves of water " . . . So true indeed.

Nicely defined panel lines and a beautiful paint job. You must be well pleased with this one.

I shall never understand why none of the big model car manufacturing companies have ever felt it to be worthwhile producing a really good kit for this motor car, such as Tamiya or Italeri, or maybe even Heller or Fujimi, Aoshima, Hasegawa, BelKits or EBBRO . . . Such a shame really, and I am sure the kit would sell widely.

David W.

[Yeah Nah]

Nice Rolls. The bridal car at my nephew's wedding a few years ago was one of these. 

[Spottedlaurel]

Well done for persevering with it, the finished result looks excellent. I dropped into your WIP thread every so often, this kit certainly seems like a challenge....

[Jim B]

Great looking Rolls.  Really well done.

[Phildaupho]

Your Golden Cloud is very elegant.

[bbowser]

Great job on a seldom seen kit!

[Kah puts]

I say jolly good Roller 🇬🇧👍

[David G.]

21 hours ago, PappyD340 said:

Looks great!

Thanks Larry.

20 hours ago, Classicgas said:

Well done.

Thank you Lee.

19 hours ago, Anglia105E said:

Well done with your gold Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud,  David.G.   . . . Nicely completed model, and I fully understand that you did have multiple issues to deal with along the way. As you say, there is no alternative Spirit of Ecstasy radiator mascot available out there, in the correct scale, so it is better to use the kit box part rather than not have one at all !

The petrol filler flap looks great, as does the area around the base of the 'A' pillar, which is particularly difficult and challenging, to say the least !

Apart from the boot carpet and spare wheel, the boot lid might as well be closed, despite the poor fit . . . 

The rear window surround rubber seal should be matt black and no chrome . . . Not a criticism David, just something that most builders get wrong !

" The classic Rolls Royce lines flow like gently rolling waves of water " . . . So true indeed.

Nicely defined panel lines and a beautiful paint job. You must be well pleased with this one.

I shall never understand why none of the big model car manufacturing companies have ever felt it to be worthwhile producing a really good kit for this motor car, such as Tamiya or Italeri, or maybe even Heller or Fujimi, Aoshima, Hasegawa, BelKits or EBBRO . . . Such a shame really, and I am sure the kit would sell widely.

David W.

Your support and encouragement with this build as well as your willingness to share your expertise regarding the subject were both instrumental in helping me maintain my desire to complete this one. Thank you David.

You are correct about the molding around the rear window. I think it ended up chromed because the Molotow pen was in my hand and seemed to take on a life of its own.

I agree. For their place in automotive history, Rolls Royce are criminally underrepresented in the model car world.

Thank you again.

12 hours ago, Yeah Nah said:

Nice Rolls. The bridal car at my nephew's wedding a few years ago was one of these. 

Thank you Garry. I envy them that opportunity, it must have been a beautiful wedding.

12 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

Well done for persevering with it, the finished result looks excellent. I dropped into your WIP thread every so often, this kit certainly seems like a challenge....

Thank you for your kind words Nigel. It certainly was a challenge.

12 hours ago, Jim B said:

Great looking Rolls.  Really well done.

Thanks Jim, I appreciate that.

11 hours ago, Phildaupho said:

Your Golden Cloud is very elegant.

Thank you very much Phil.

11 hours ago, bbowser said:

Great job on a seldom seen kit!

Thank you Bruce.

8 hours ago, Kah puts said:

I say jolly good Roller 🇬🇧👍

Thanks Glen, I'm glad you like it.

David G.

[ismaelg]

Nice job on a really elegant vehicle. The color suits it perfectly.  Somewhere, there is a picture of my dad and ~6 years old me standing next to one back in the mid 1970s.

[Tom99]

Very nice!

[slusher]

Gorgeous Rolls Royce, David!

[ChrisR]

Very nice!

[hct728(Bob)]

It's beautiful! Looked at my Entex issue, one of the better molded ones I think, but still a LOT of sanding needed to remove the seam lines and align the body panels as best one can. My compliments on dealing with the challenges and coming up with a stunning replica!

[karbuildr]

Excellent build, very impressive. Even more so because it's not a kit seen very often. Great color on a classic automobile.

[David G.]

22 hours ago, ismaelg said:

Nice job on a really elegant vehicle. The color suits it perfectly.  Somewhere, there is a picture of my dad and ~6 years old me standing next to one back in the mid 1970s.

Thank you for your kind comment Ismael.

21 hours ago, Tom99 said:

Very nice!

Thanks Tom.

20 hours ago, slusher said:

Gorgeous Rolls Royce, David!

Thanks Carl, I'm glad you like it.

19 hours ago, ChrisR said:

Very nice!

Thank you Chris.

18 hours ago, hct728(Bob) said:

It's beautiful! Looked at my Entex issue, one of the better molded ones I think, but still a LOT of sanding needed to remove the seam lines and align the body panels as best one can. My compliments on dealing with the challenges and coming up with a stunning replica!

Thank you Bob. Best of luck with your build, I hope it goes well for you.

12 hours ago, karbuildr said:

Excellent build, very impressive. Even more so because it's not a kit seen very often. Great color on a classic automobile.

Thank you David. I do wish there were more kit versions of these iconic cars offered. I'm glad to have had a shot at this one.

David G. 

[FLHCAHZ]

Very nice build!

[David G.]

22 hours ago, FLHCAHZ said:

Very nice build!

Thank you Chaz!

[mustang1989]

I went back and looked at the WIP and you're right Dave. It's about as simple of a kit as I've ever seen and I can see where it would give you issues but it looks like you weathered through it and got this puppy done bud. Good wrap up on this jewel. 

[David G.]

22 hours ago, mustang1989 said:

I went back and looked at the WIP and you're right Dave. It's about as simple of a kit as I've ever seen and I can see where it would give you issues but it looks like you weathered through it and got this puppy done bud. Good wrap up on this jewel. 

Thank you Joe.

Indeed, it certainly was a challenge but given the subject, I think it was certainly deserving of the effort.

It's such a simple kit that without all the repair work on the body I probably could have built it over a weekend instead of the 46 hours it ended up taking me.

Thanks again,

David G.

[Bugatti Fan]

Have followed the WIP on this one. A really nice result.

[David G.]

21 hours ago, Bugatti Fan said:

Have followed the WIP on this one. A really nice result.

Thank you Noel.

David G.

[HotRodaSaurus]

On 12/27/2023 at 3:59 PM, Anglia105E said:

Well done with your gold Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud,  David.G.   . . . Nicely completed model, and I fully understand that you did have multiple issues to deal with along the way. As you say, there is no alternative Spirit of Ecstasy radiator mascot available out there, in the correct scale, so it is better to use the kit box part rather than not have one at all !

The petrol filler flap looks great, as does the area around the base of the 'A' pillar, which is particularly difficult and challenging, to say the least !

Apart from the boot carpet and spare wheel, the boot lid might as well be closed, despite the poor fit . . . 

The rear window surround rubber seal should be matt black and no chrome . . . Not a criticism David, just something that most builders get wrong !

" The classic Rolls Royce lines flow like gently rolling waves of water " . . . So true indeed.

Nicely defined panel lines and a beautiful paint job. You must be well pleased with this one.

I shall never understand why none of the big model car manufacturing companies have ever felt it to be worthwhile producing a really good kit for this motor car, such as Tamiya or Italeri, or maybe even Heller or Fujimi, Aoshima, Hasegawa, BelKits or EBBRO . . . Such a shame really, and I am sure the kit would sell widely.

David W.

Fujimi did produce a couple of RRs.a convertible and a Phantom V, though not great reprisentations and usually motorised. I sold the Phantom V on ebay back in November, the image is still their as of 19 Jan.