Very British 2 Belkits MG Metro 6R4 Tony Pond

Finally, modelers could get their hands on a proper plastic Metro kit, thanks to Belkits’ great release. The MG Metro 6R4 was a very unique car in many sense, it was the smallest Gr.B car and had a normally aspirated 3 liter V6 engine stuffed in the mid-rear of the tiny car. All of its’ development was done by Tony Pond who drove the car to a respectful 3rd place on its’ international debut, despite tackling flu through the entire 1985 RAC Rally. Although the car was somewhat outclassed with its’ 400 HP engine, next year Pond achieved some great results with the car, like his fourth win on the Manx. The car also brought some good results for other drivers on international and national level, Jimmy Mcrae, Malcolm Wilson and David Llevellin achieved some great results with it.


The Belkits kit is really well done in every respect. Proportions are spot on and the level of details are superb! Both the interior and engine room is well detailed, some can build a great model straight out of the box! The only drawbacks are the tyres which has a particular half-fit on the rims with some rather poorly represented Michelin gravel tyre patterns. I corrected the rear edge of the rear fenders which are a bit too rounded but that is the only thing, the rest of the body is superb! Strange thing what I found, that none of the two released kits has the option the represent the most successful driver of the car, Tony Pond… I built the Triumph TR7 of Pond before and named that thread Very British, so this is the Very British - 2. Hopefully there will be more :)



When I received the kit, I had no doubt that I want to build a car, driven by Pond. My only question was whether it should be the RAC or the Manx car. I have the excellent decals from Decalcas for the RAC version and I made the decals for the Manx myself. I also knew that I wanted to make the car with the tarmac wheels fitted which - in my opinion gives the best looking Metro. I already purchased the excellent tarmac wheels from KMP Models. Those wheels look really great, I strongly recommend the investment to someone who wants to build the tarmac spec car. I started the build three weeks ago so I managed to advance a bit. I scratchbuilt the engine pulley cover to represent – first of all the offset of the pulley cover according to the nature of the V6 - and the earlier spec alternator configuration as my reference showed. I also modified the interior in some places according the contemporary photos and cut off the molded on details in the engine bay. Since I want to build the car with an openable rear hatch to show the engine bay, I needed to eliminate the rear cross member from the kit and transform the rear part of the wheelarches. The fiberglass lower part was represented with rough, thick acrylic paint dabbed with flat brush to achieve the texture. Lot’s of people doing it with kevlar, but in reality there was no visible kevlar texture on the early cars. Even the back of the seats were a type of gelcoat covered kevlars with no texture. I hope to get the rear hatch hinges fixed soon and get the engine in the chassis. This is how the build so far:

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I'm delighted to see you building this kit into a masterpiece.
I have this kit in my stash and the details look great.
Belkits have managed to get Nigel Harris name wrong on the decals which is a disappointment.
The blue colour seems to vary from photo to photo.
I have purchased Tamiya LP6 which looks a good match.
Great choice with the Tony Pond car. He was a great driver and loyal to Austin Rover cars. He did the development on the 6R4 so it's a shame his name wasn't the kit subject.

Thanks Kaj45rpm! Yes it's too bad that Pond's car is not included in the kits.

About the blue, as you said there are different shades showing up and I haven't decided about the color. I have to buy and see that Tamiya LP6 you've recommended. Here are some more clear photos of the base of the engine so far, still long way to finish it though, lots of cables, hoses, manifold and the intake trumpets with the airfilter need to be added:


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Wow!! Good start with a lot of tips to use in my models: thanks for sharing them!!

wow! great meticulous detail.. granted you don't have the time the engine; and get a friend with a hoist to help stab it, but still very time consuming AND rewarding..
and i love all the scuff marks on the floor board.. anyone who's been in a racecar knows it can look new and pristine outside (at the start), but right near that clutch and brake pedal has a hole almost worn through to play fred flintstone..
can't wait to see completion.

Thank you JesusM, you are also an ispiration for me :). You are right ctesla about the floor of a racing car, I was driving myself in rally for some years, so I experienced the wear and tear in the interior of the car. Those remaine my inspiration sources :)

I advanced a bit with the engine, I put the injection rails and the excellent Scaleproduction intake trumpets in place. Next thing will be the wireing and plumbing the engine.



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Some advance in the interior, dash is finished. Still long way to go, seats, seatbelts, rollcage, doorpanels and the intercom needs to be added:


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Looking good in every aspect!
Going to follow your build as I got the decals and left hand dashboard for Per Eklund's Metro from the 1986 RAC .

/Niclas

Great model building right there.

Love this combo man/machine, love this build !

Thank you Chris, Pond is one of my favourite as well, he was an extraordinary driver and a humble but funny person as well. Little advance on the engine of the Metro, I added some tubing around the injection system from 0,3mm lead wires and detailed some liquid containers. Still long way to go though... :)



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Very good update: the detail done is very real!!!

Thank you Jesus! :) I really appreciate your words! Litte advance on the engine-bay, I installed the engine into the chassis, glued the exhaust drums in place. I made the airfilters from dense resin-foam material, called epowood to show some texture. I'll have difficulties to apply the decals on the top but l plan to use lot's of decal softener to settle it properly. The other updates, including the scratchbuilt oil container and oil filter are being mounted.


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Wooow....beautiful!!!!

Looking good, following with interest and look forward to seeing more progress....

Thank xou Jesus and Steve! I also hope to progress more with the car, I would like to see it on its wheels soon :) Little advance with the engine bay I glued in the air filters and added some more details.


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Little advance on the interior and engine bay where only few things left to add.


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Sublime details. Looks fantastic. I can't wait to see the bodyshell. It's a great GpB kit. Hope the RS200 & Ascona 400 are just as good. Happy days for rally fans.

After a very long time I managed to get back on AF .. and I see that you always work in a fantastic way!
I wait to see the Clio!!

Thank you Luca and Kaj45rpm! I can't wait to see the body either. Luca, I will start the Clio soon, I promise you :). I made some progress on the car, the engine room and interior are practically finished, I only need to add the intercom. Strange thing about the rollcage that it is molded on the "A pillar" on the front and missing the vertical part of the main center arch. It will not be too noticable since all the interior is black. I finished the brakes, painted and riveted the front bumper with 0,5 Top Studio rivets. Next step is the bodyshell.


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Beautiful engine, brakes and bumper. Very good detail!!

Thank you JesusM! :) I finally managed to paint the body, after lots of time spent on masking. It is difficult to find the correct color for the Metro, almos all photos show different shades of blue. Tamiya TS44 - which is recommended in the instructions is too light in my opinion so I mixed it 50/50 with Tamiya TS93 Pure Blue. This is how it turned out:



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I managd to make some progress over the weekend, I replaced the photoetched grills with a finer mesh. I changed the tow-hook to a brass wire and assembled the front bumper with a Gurney flap added to the edge of the front and rear wing - as my references show them. I applyed the kevlar decals on the skid-plates and toned them down with some black color airbrused - the technique I learned from JesusM's excellent Lancia Delta build. I also glued the rear hatch hinges, this is the first hinge I ever made on a scale model. A bit thick in my opinion but the next one will be better :) I started to put some decals and decided to represent Tony Pond's last victory and eventually his last rally on the 1986 Manx Rally. I will use all the three decal sheets I have, Belkits, Decalcas and my homemade Manx decal, to best represent the original car



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Very nice build, with a great eye for details. Looking forward to see the finished result

Good progress and happy that something done by me is valid for you!!

Corrado, there is a great set of photos of this actual car on https://oldnewsclub.com/the-legendary-mg-metro-6r4-group-b-rally-car/?amp
Car was for sale at a Bonhams auction for £500K

Impressive work my friend.

truly a remarkable job,as always ....
This kit, in the engine compartment, is really disappointing .. but you did an exceptional job.
Bravo!

Thank you guys for your kind comments. Kaj45rpm, it is a very useful link for reference, thanks! :) Not much time recently for modeling but I managed to put the decals on the Metro. As I want to represent the 86 Manx winner car of Pond I used the kit"s decal, the excellent Decalcas 85 RAC decals and the ones I especially made for the Manx. I would like to thank you again for the print Petteri!!!, I don't know how I could manage my builds without those excellent prints from you! :) I hope to assemble the chassis with the body soon.


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Finally I had some time to finish the Metro. The Belkits Metro is a really nice kit, well proportioned and has plenty of nice details. With the use of the wide variety of recent aftermarket parts, one cane build a nice representation of this iconic and unique Gr.B "little Monster". The victory on the 1986 Manx rally was the "swansong" of Tony Pond who actually developed the car and delivered its biggest success on the 1985 RAC Rally with a remarkable 3rd position. My build is a tribute to Tony Pond's last rally. PS: I am still looking for the two lost Michelin Bibendum for the front bumper :( and since I love those 6 spokes white wheels I did't put on those black brake cooling discs.I also modified the height of tte suspension, lowered the front and raised the back a little, to give a bit more "attack" stance to the car, which was so typical of the asphalt spec Metro. Hopefully I can make some better photos soon :)



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Beautiful and very well done with great details!! As always!!

Fantastic! Looks like I could jump in and drive it away!

Mike

The finished model is superb. Belkits have released a great GpB kit but you have taken it to the next level. A wonderful tribute to Tony Pond and Rob Arthur , great rally ambassador.

Thank you Jesus, Lemansnut and Kaj45rpm for your kind comments, I really appreciate it! The Belkit Metro is really good kit and with few changes here and there and with some extra parts one can build an excellent model. The only drawback of the kit are those bad tyres and wheels and the tendentially thicker photoetch parts.

very nice build. looks very realistic. well done!