Hi everyone.
Did I come to the right place?

Ok, I think I've got the idea..


Whaddya mean thats not what I'm supposed to build??

Ok, I'll try the whole car then.
The kit is the Revell 1:24th Mini Cooper.
As you can see I've done the wheels.
Good old Alclad Polished Alliminium.


Do you guys usually do anything with the tyres, or do they look ok on a finished build left as they are?

I've made a start on assembly.

I imagine the interior and underside will be the easier parts of the build for me, although being a "wingy thingy" builder I'm learning new techniques on just about every part of this build.
There are some excellent articles and threads here on Automodeller and I'm trawling through them picking up hints and tips on how to get that shiny finish!
Nige

Hey, nice lowered cockpit...uh, dunebuggy... uh or rally ...

I voted for this one to be built. Forget about shiny top coat, go with a NATO overall scheme.

Nige, for the tires you may want to do a tiny bit of sanding on the treads to rough them up a bit. On a real car even when the tires are shiny the tread being in contact with the road will always be scuffed up. As for the interrior, just remember in real life leather isn't gloss coated. On a leather interrior I like to lay down a satin coat on the seats and flat on the floor. Just some ideas, but mostly just have fun. Nuff said.

Hermon

Oh yeah, as with aircraft.....don't forget to Future the windshield and windows. Nothings sucks worse than spending all those hours getting everything right and then fogging up the windshield with glue.

Cool Nigel i am glad you started this build i voted for this one, I agree with Hermon sand the treads on the tires and a satin or semi gloss on the interior parts, also you may want to use white glue on the windows it won't fog the glass but it doesn't have the strength of super glue or liquid cement, good luck and i like the look of the wheels Alcad is great.

Excellent.
The Alclad painted wheels looks great. A little bit of black wash in the center of the wheel, would make them look even better.

Nigel,

'Bout spit up my coffee on that first picture! Many things crossed my mind, but I can't put it in print here.

Like the Alclad rims...and much like "birdie" tires, auto tires get the same treatment for the most part. Really looking forward to you highlighting the raised lettering on them. Oh yea.

Have you settled on an exterior color? Blue Angel Blue?

Mike

What?, that isn't the "optional" cooper interior?! Not sure where the motor goes or where the twin 50cals are...but I like it! P-40 sharkmouth paint job?
BTW...next time ya might want to put a superbird up for build, so you have something kinda wingy...well, car wise.
Welcome aboard, glad to have ya!

Ha... Ha... Ha...

Good luck, you have started off well.

Chas

Thanks for the hints and tips everyone.
I must admit I was sorely tempted to do a "what if?",,,

I'll give the tyres a scrub and I'm going to use a few different greys/blacks to give the interior a bit of life.
The kits going together really nicely so far.
Heres how far I've got.



I'm really enjoying it so far. As for a colour scheme I havent decided yet. Maybe blue?
Nige

I was wondering what you guys usually do with chrome parts?
Is there any special method for dealing with them or do you just treat them as normal plastic and paint over them?
I got the underside sprayed tonight and Ive dry fitted the body as well.

Nige

I just paint over it unless I want to mask off for a second color. If so, then I'll strip it off or sand it off.

Nigel, for my Deora, which had a lot of chrome parts, I used oven cleaner to remove it.

I would imagine that small parts would be fine if primed, but I'd hesitate shooting larger chromed parts without stripping first.

You should still consider Blue Angel Blue for your wingless ride.

Mike

Thanks guys.
Just confirm that what your saying is that oven cleaner will strip the chrome off the pastic?
Nige

Yep i use oven cleaner also to take the chrome off parts, i open a window for air put the parts in a plastic tub in the sink and give them a few sprays it only takes about 15 minutes than just rinse them off with some fresh water.

Looks good so far mate, what colour is it going to be?
Shame its not a proper BMC Mini though, but that "not quite a Mini, as its too big" BMW thing .
Andy

also agree with the oven cleaner tip. It lifts it off without damaging the styrene.
It's gnarly stuff, so wear gloves and eyes. If you have old jars with lids, you can pour it back into a jar and reuse it later.

Looking good so far Nigel

Hey Nigel , wheres the wings ?

Looking good so far . You can sand the tire tread with a sanding stick to give the tires that drive look giving them that realism feel .

Yes easy off will remove the chrome of the parts and many other things as well . Ex boyfriend found that the hard way when his car was painted with it !

Now everyone be nice to Terri .
Andy

Thanks for the advice on the chrome everyone.
When I strip any paint with it I usually use a sealable freezer bag. Keeps the fumes at bay
Colour scheme is undecided still, although I did have a walk round a car spares place yesterday looking to see what was on offer.

Mental note to self......
Never EVER P*** Terri off

Nige

That's a really nice looking build so far. Are you going to put invasion stripes on it?

'BMW in a party frock' we real Mini Cooper drivers calls 'em!!


I love these KSC threads - it's fun seeing people out of their comfort zone . it's good for us as modellers to try something different, and we learn as we go so keep up the challenge.

No invasion stripes I'm afraid
I have found myself noticing Minis all over the place this weekend , and yes your right,its not a "proper" Mini!
I remember blasting around in one of those when I was about 18, pool ball on the gear shift and everything,,happy days!
Thanks for the tip about the tyres everyone.
I think maybe they could stand some more sanding?

Everything has had a base coat of Tamiya "Nato Black", and when thats dry I'll paint some areas in different shades of black/dark grey and do some washing/dry brushing.

So far everything fits together really well. I wish Revell aircraft kits went together as easily

Nige

Coming along fine Nigel.

No worries there guy's , your cars are safe from me !

So far things are looking great . What colour will the body be ? I don't thin Revell kit's will ever just fall together