discussion SimonT - 4x4 1/24 Esci Range Rover

[SimonT]

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This has been sat in the stash for over thirty years (as can be seen in the condition of the box)

I think it is time to give it a go......

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there should have been a shot of the black sprue but I appear to have accidentally deleted the picture

The black sprue mainly contains the chassis rails and door cards

The kit has no engine and some of the other areas are a bit simplified

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the many years in the stash being subjected to extremes of hot and cold have rather warped the chassis rails

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chassis rails , along with a lot of the other parts, suffer quite badly from sinkage even though when I purchased the kit it was a fairly new release

both chassis rails are now cleaned up and sink marks filled

I also cut out the solid plastic that tied the rails to the tie bars for moulding purposes

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differentials cleaned up and sink marks filled

the horrible silver-grey plastic suffers the usual problem with this colour - mould lines never look to disappear even once sanded making cleaning up a bit of a chore

In addition to the above I have also joined the two halves of each front seat - the seats don't bear much resemblance to reality so will probably get a makeover

The finished vehicle, always assuming it does make it to the finish line, will be painted in Sand Glow a classic Leyland/Rover colour

I happened to have a mini in this colour for a short time and bought four spray cans - the car was broken for spares shortly after I bought it but I still have the paint

That's all for now folks

 

[minitnkr]

Special operator's transport?

 

[SimonT]

Hi Paul - no, just normal civilian 4x4

 

[rtfoe]

Wow...Simon, this is classic. If you think the kit suffered from the hot and cold storage, the real thing suffered in our climate especially the fittings and roof ceilings that melted and hung like deflated tents. With new material the newer models now don't suffer the same Salvador Dali effect. :tears-of-joy:

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Steve O]

All the best with the build Simon, looking forward to it.

Steve.

 

[Steve Jones]

Will it be what it looks like now - covered in rust with gaping holes in the wing. Or will it be the factory look??

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(For discussion purposes only)

 

[Jim R]

Hi Simon
This is right up your street - a kit with plenty of problems. In the mid 1990s I owned a black Range Rover SE. When it was going it was wonderful except that you needed your own oil well as it's 3.9lt engine was so thirsty. It was however the most unreliable car I have ever owned!
Jim

 

[Si Benson]

Looks like fun! I remember that silver grey plastic from the tracks on the italeri blazer, spent ages cleaning them up as like you say they show marks that aren’t there! (an esci rebox?) ...
When I see you write things like ‘no engine’ and ‘oversimplified parts’....I get the feeling you may be tweaking:smiling4:

 

[papa 695]

Just pulled up a seat Simon

 

[SimonT]

Richard, SteveO :thumb2:

SteveJ - hmmm, barn find does sound tempting. No holes in wings though as most of the outer panels are aluminium

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bonnet, bumpers, tailgate, window frames, wheels are all steel and rust nicely

rest just fades and gets dirt streaked and moss etc

Jim - I hadn't realised they were so unreliable until I started reading up on them recently

Si - blazer is an old Esci kit. Hate silver plastic - airfix used to use it a lot on plane kits. No, not making an engine for this one. One or two tweaks though, see below

Ian - welcome


Morning all,

did a bit of work on this one last night

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not very good phone photos but I have replaced to moulded springs

sawed, chiselled and ground off the solid moulded kit parts, added a lower spring seat from tubing, damper from two pieces of tubing and brass wire spring

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more bad photos showing the added tie bar bushes, retaining nuts and studding which were completely missing from the brackets

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chassis assembled with axles and bumpers - it had a rather horrendous twist to it so weighted it down, soaked joints with cement and am hoping that it will dry reasonably straight

 

[Jim R]

Hi Simon
As always your scratched detailing is great to see.
Jim

 

[Tim Marlow]

Love the work on the shocks, looks great....a real lift to the standard.
Agree ref silver plastic. I’m Currently building a Honda 750 from Tamiya and some bits are in silver....exactly the same problem, seams don’t go with scraping and sanding, and it is quite hard to work as well....

 

[SimonT]

Cheers Jim

Thanks Tim - it is definitely the worst plastic going yet manufacturers still keep using it. Is the Honda on here somewhere?

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warp factor six Mr Sulu - this is the gap at the rear of the side panel when the front is held in place!

Barn find will be much more fun to build so that is the way this will be going

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which is why the front footwell and sill now look like Swiss cheese

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as does the side of the bonnet

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bonnet also given a dent

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and chopped the interior side panel so that the door card could be fitted to the removed door

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side trim plates installed on the floor pan - a bit of help required to overcome the warping

I removed the door speaker from the left door and opened out the hole

thinned the sides of the hole from the back to get a more scale thickness and drilled the four speaker mounting holes

I shall fit some wires and leave them dangling


Thanks for looking in

 

[rtfoe]

Hi Simon, good move making it a barn find. Nothing is better than making a bad kit look worse :smiling4::tongue-out2: ...just kidding. The warped chassis and fitting can be attributed to a bad repair to an accident vehical. With your extra professional touch I think this will really look the abandoned beatened up icon of British 4x4s.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Mickc1440]

That's some nice progress, really like some of the barn find models that have been done recently do I'm sure this will be up there with them.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Hi Simon
This is coming along well now. Like the barn find idea as well. The warps and poor fitting panels are probably an accurate rendition of the original LOL. Sandglow is particularly horrible, but iconic of the time....
I learned to drive in a sand glow Austin Maxi, which had possibly the most awful gearbox ever made.....
The Honda is not on here yet, though I do have pictures. I haven’t made a bike before and wanted to be sure I would continue before starting to post. I have now completed a couple of sub assemblies so it will be coming to a forum near you soon...
Cheers
Tim

 

[Jim R]

Hi Simon
I do like the idea of a neglected vehicle. Off to a great start.
Jim

 

[papa 695]

Nice work so far Simon

 

[SimonT]

Richard - I think you are probably right, bad kit made worse :smiling5:

Mick - don't hold your breath

Tim - :smiling: it is certainly warped. Sitting heavy objects on it has helped a little but the entire thing still has a horrible twist. May need to resort to the boiling water

Jim - ta

Ian - thanks


Managed a bit more.....

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wheels cleaned up - about the only bits of the kit which are not warped or suffering sinkage

Could do with some better wheel nuts and a valve though

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dash is provided with parts for left and right hand drive - nice touch

Pity they all suffer from a lot of sinkage

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ground a few more holes in the floor pan - left front footwell and the rear load bed based on pictures of a 1:1 restoration

then stuck the chassis to the floor tub - needed some persuasion to stay put

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after the clips came off - it still has a longitudinal twist so a dunk in boiling water could be imminent

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some crusty damage added to the scuttle

missing screen rubber added from micro strip


Thanks for looking in

 

[papa 695]

Nice update Simon, it looks like It's putting up a bit of a fight.