Sorry for the slightly blurry photo, but the Bentley has a diff and rear suspension!



One of the shock absorbers gave a bit of trouble as it did not want to sit in the mounting hole in the chassis properly. Had to drill the hole out again then it went in fine. I also had to remove the diff once and reset it as the nose of the diff drooped while it was drying and would have put everything out of alignment. I put it back in with a needle file supporting the nose of the diff and it is sitting drying even as I type.

If you are wondering what the clamps are all over the car's chassis for I am using them as chassis stands and can turn the chassis over whenever I need to and not worry about breaking pieces off anything.

Cheers
Warren

Time for another update.

Things move slowly when you have to do so much correcting of parts.

He now has rear brakes and wheels!



And a bit clearer photo of the diff..



The tail shaft has since been painted...

Then came a typical Airfix mistake I am afraid. The tabs on this part are supposed to line up with the cutouts in the chassis..



But as you can see the front cutout is way too far forward so I cut off the front locating tab and just cemented the part in the same orientation as the one on the other side of the chassis that fits fine.

And the supercharger can now supply air to the intake manifold...



This part also took much fettling as the front locating plug is much too big for the hole in the supercharger duct so it had to be hollowed out some more before it would go into place. That was after glueing the two duct halves together and having a large misalignment problem that took much filler and sanding. But that is why we build old models isn't it? But in this case it is the only game in town..

Cheers
Warren

Hi Warren.
Good to see you make progress an the Bentley, after that false start with the chassis. Are you going to do some weathering on the car?

Regards,

Robert Jan

Hi there.

No more than you would find on a car that had actually been used a bit, but not over-restored like most of them nowadays. Exhaust system will look used and things like that but in good repair and look like it has just been detailed.

Cheers mate
Warren

The Bentley has most of its front suspension installed now..



The stuff around the coil springs are cloth gaiters which help keep the springs clean. Not used much nowadays.

Cheers
Warren

This is really looking good Warren.

This kit shows just how much technology has moved on. When it was first released this wasn't just the best Airfix kit, it was one of the best kits in the world!

Several reviewers have really bashed this re-release, but they are obviously comparing it to Tamegawa kits.

I'm really looking forward to seeing it completed. I keep looking on the web for one but the prices are all far too high for my budget.

Parts that don't fit are really annoying, but a good modeler, like yourself, always finds a way

Hi Dave.

It would be interesting to see if these 'expert' modellers have actually built the kit. I have built lots of 1/12 scale Tamiya kits and this one may require more work but it is still a great kit that will never be repeated anywhere. A range of 1/12 cars from the vintage years would be great to see.

Cheers
Warren

I don't know if I would say that mate...

I am dreading the painting of the shiny bits ..

Even more annoying is parts that are not chromed properly!!

The Bentley's radiator shell is a good case in point. I removed the old discoloured, lumpy chrome by sanding then applied BMF. Does anyone have any idea on how to disguise joins on a flat surface when using BMF? It looks great a few inches away but get close and you can see all the joins.

I think it may do for this one and I will Alclad the next one.. Maybe I will remove the BMF and Alclad it anyway.. Sigh..

Well the BMF is fantastic but I don't know how to hide joins on flat parts so I removed it all and put the chrome bits I need at the moment (gearlever, had brake, what looks like a wheel mallet and the radiator surround) in diluted bleach and the chrome disappeared very quickly. Then I found there was a weird coat under the chrome that looked something like what they used to call shellac. Humbrol Acrylic Paint Thinners removed that. Then I painted all the pieces with the Alclad Lacquer Gloss Black and it looks stunning! Very very smooth and shiny. If only I could get the Lola's paint to come out that well.. We will see.

I am now leaving them to dry a few days and then I will mist on some Alclad II Chrome Lacquer and hope for the best.

Cheers
Warren

Finally some pictures!!

First up the Bentley's interior has started to take shape.



The steering is in as are some more detail parts on the engine..



Then to the chromed pieces. I removed all the chrome using household bleach diluted with water. It did an excellent job and not a trace of the kit's chrome was left on the parts.

Then I applied the gloss black Alclad II Lacquer undercoat which came out amazingly shiny in itself. I wish Tamiya gloss acrylics would come out as shiny on my Lola!!
After letting it dry 24 hrs I misted on Alclad II Chrome ..





The parts need their final buff but it is much better than the original chrome finish.

The exhaust system is together..



Only the halves are glued together at the moment. It needs the join seams removed and some hgh-temp enamel.. Just kidding as I don't think the engine will ever run..

I have also assembled the bonnet pieces, which are workable,and have started with the rear seat area.

Next big problem is finding the right colour green for the body work and hopefully it will adhere to the kits plastic properly. The Humbrol acrylic I bought is hopeless for some reason. When yuou try and spray it on it just forms tiny droplets everywhere just like normal water would. Same as if you brush it directly on plastic it is like water and doesn't cover at all where Tamiya acrylics have no problem covering the same plastic. Won't be buying them again..

Cheers for now
Warren

Wow, on so many levels! Love the replacement chrome. The detail is amazing, but it does cause some questions. Exactly how tall were Bentley drivers? It looks like the pedals are over 4 feet away from the seat. And I'll bet it's happy times for the passenger with the fuel tank in his lap...

Well British Racing Green for the colour, of course. No clue who makes a good one tho.

Warren - I use Humbrol Brunswick Green enamel for BRG

Mark - that's the oil tank, the fuel tank is between the chassis rails at the rear - still wouldn't want it on my lap !

Definitely BRG Mark.

I was thinking the same thing about the seats, but remember they are only small seats, not high back buckets like you get nowadays.

And as Dave said that is the oil tank.

Cheers
Warren

I won't be buying acrylics, but their enamel may be the way to go.

Humbrol 239 is actually British Racing Green... I will have to try the enamel.

Cheers
Warren

I believe I have found the solution to the paint problem. It is not the paint but the plastic that is the problem. I took the Humbrol 239 Acrylic and painted part of a ship stand that came with the Trumpeter HMS Belfast and the paint performed perfectly after being brushed on.
Even though I have washed and wiped over the plastic many times I have still not cleaned it thoroughly enough by the look of it. I have soaked it in dih0washing liquid and water for a few hours, rinsed it and am letting it air-dry. Then I will see how the paint goes..

Cheers
Warren

Might want to swab it down with alcohol, not the good stuff , isopropyl or rubbing alcohol. It's a good degreaser.

Tried that mate and no good.. But I may have come up with a solution..

I am testing it on one of the cycle wings at the moment. I sprayed it with Tamiya X-5, Green, which has no trouble sticking to the plastic. Then when it dries thoroughly I will try spraying the Humbrol BRG over the top of that and see what happens. I tried brushing on a test piece and it worked well.

I think the problem is that the plastic is so old the Humbrol doesn't like it.. although Tamiya acrylics have no problem covering it...

Until tomorrow
Warren

Love the look of the Alclad chrome. Did you spray the Alclad black base directley on the plastic or did you prime it first?

Hi Jesper.

No, sprayed directly on the bare plastic. Best shine I have ever seen from a gloss paint.

I am going to use it as the main coat one day. I think my JPS Lotus's will look awesome with a coat of this to set off the gold trim.

OK. Progress..

The exhaust system is now installed after half an hour of clean up of the seams left after glueing the various halves together.

The front half..



And the fishtail exhaust..



The fishtail has to get its final coat of paint.

And here is the re-chromed handbrake.. upside down as that is the way the Bentley is sitting while the exhaust system dries..



All the parts that need to be painted BRG have been painted with Tamiya X5 as a base coat and hopefully this will let the Humbrol Acrylic 239 cover the plastic properly.

Fingers crossed

Cheers
Warren

Well I have finally had enough of the Humbrol paint with this car. It is the right colour but more often than not it stuffs up when you spray it on. So I have done the last coats I am doing and whatever finish ends up being there that is it.

I got so peed off with one coat on one of the bonnet pieces I wiped it off with a tissue while it was still wet and gave it another coat.

We will see how they look in the morning.

Cheers
Warren The Frustrated.

And yet another coat.. I am going back to my original mix as the Humbrol paint is just rubbish. It is like spraying pure water on this old Airfix plastic.

So now the body is next. I have test fitted it and both sides are warped. I fixed the worst side and now will use the back of the body to hopefully line everything up.

A few hints though as I found out the hard way..

1. Don't install the seats until AFTER you have the body in place. Even then they may not fit properly..

2. Leave the piece that goes under the back seat until after the body is fitted. It is going to take a bit of fettling to get it to fit properly..

The join between the two body halves is bad. Not even close to a good fit so you are going to have to fix it up before you paint the body. Therefore as I found you need to glue the two halves together before you install the body on the frame. I have a different way to hide the join by applying a small strip of scrap PE to form a small raised strip across the join like the real car had.

Also, don't forget the body is made of fabric so it is not supposed to be shiny.

The one shining light of excellence I have found is that the new decals I received are excellent. The ones for the gauges are printed in reverse so you put them on the glass they are perfectly clear through the plastic. No decal setting solutions needed.

Will try and post some pictures later today.

Cheers
Warren

FWIW, I recently had problems with Humbrol Acrylic on Airfix plastic. Mostly a pilot induced oscillation I'm afraid, I forgot to clean the plastic and the paint was a bit dodgy to begin with. Some places the paint went on just fine, other places it acted like there was a water drop or something on it wouldn't stick to that spot... The cockpit well worked OK, but the control panel and the seats fought me and won. I'll be finishing them off by hand..

Finally got some piccies.

As I was preparing to attach the metal strip to the seam on top of the dashboard area there was an ominous crack noise and the seam broke. After much colourful language I got the clamps out and realigned the two halves again and glued it up using CA glue and accelerator. I then flowed lots of extra-thin stuff into the joint and hopefully it will stay together this time. I will also reinforce the area underneath with plastic card and the brass strip on top should help a bit as well.



Now I have to paint the body again!!



Then we have the dashboard. Note how nice the decals are for the meters..





Then we have a few pictures of other parts ready to attach..





You won't be able to see the blemish on the bucket of the headlight once the mesh etc is in place.

Thet's it for now

Cheers
Warren