1930 Bentley 4.5 litre

[Matt Bacon]

This is a bit of a "blast from the past" - it's a few years old, and there are some things I'd do differently these days. It's the big Airfix kit, built straight from the box for an "Airfix 1977" display at SMW '07. The only "tweaks" are a reworked instrument panel, replacing the thick transparent part with CD-case plastic lenses, and a linkage for the brake lever, which looked a bit silly just flopping about! I picked up the kit for under £30 in a Modelzone sale, and it was worth every penny - not sure about the £80 retail price, or what it goes for on eBay these days... If you like the look of it, but don't want to pay the steep price, the Heller 1/24th kit is virtually identical, just half the size, and is easy find as well...

best regards,

Matt

[Guest]

That's really cool, something you dont see very day. Great work!

[Chillyb1]

I agree, that is really cool. Looks like you did an excellent job on it. Though it seems the left rear tire is trying to jump off the rim. What did you use to wrap the steering wheel?

[simonr]

Beautifull work of art!

Simón P. Rivera Torres

[sjordan2]

Very nice. This is my most favorite kit I've built, though I struggled with replacing molded plastic with real wire mesh for the radiator and stone guards. Your instrument panel glass is far better than the kit version.

I suspected from certain clues in the kit, such as an odd construction inside the rear seat base that looked like it was supposed to contain batteries, that the kit was originally motorized. This was confirmed two or three years ago when I saw the extremely rare motorized version for sale on eBay (sold for well over $100).

The original 1:1 of this Birkin Bentley is now in the collection of Ralph Lauren.