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Old 03-06-2007, 12:15 PM   #1
klutz_100
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At Sixes and Sevens: Super 7 Group Build

One of my all time favorite TV shows is a 1960’s UK series called “The Prisoner”.
It was a cult show then and still has that status today with many fans around the world still debating the “meaning” of the show.



The hero of the show was Number 6, a secret agent who quits and is immediately kidnapped and whisked away to a secret location known as The Village where they try to discover why he resigned.

From my perspective another hero of the show was always his car – a Lotus Super 7 . The show was a major feature of the opening title sequence and also appeared in a couple of the episodes.



The Prisoner series was instrumental in boosting the popularity of the car which has become as iconic today as the TV show.

This fame was in fact a quirk of fate as the Prisoner's car was originally slated to be the Lotus Elan but when writer/director/producer/actor Patrick McGoohan went to the factory to collect the Elan he saw the Super 7, fell in love and the rest is history...




The Prisoner's series II Super 7 was British Racing Green with a characteristic yellow nose and a red interior. I will be basing my replica on Tamiya's great kit and the build will be almost entirely OOB with just a couple of minor modifications to bring the basic kit closer to the TV version.

For trivia fans, you should know that there were actually 2 different cars used in the series. The original car was sold after shooting the opening sequence to a new owner in Austraia where it later was written off in a crash. During later shooting of the series they realised they need the car! Lotus worked over night to transform another version into a look alike and if you watch the show carefully you can spot the differences. The Prisoner's registartion number – KAR 120C – is now owned by Caterham cars and used on demo models. The Prisoner's car had Lotus Elan wheels instead of factory wheels.






I usually leave the body until much later in my builds so that I can keep test fitting without worrying about damaging the paintwork but with this car many of the parts are fitted directly to the body so this time I stared with painting the body.

The only prep was required was to sand the body lightly and wash it. Very sharp molding. The dash cowling is a separate part and didn't fit too well at first but gentle bending with my warm hands soon fixed that (I hope!).

Body color is TS43 over grey and white primer. The paint was decanted and 3 mist and 2 normal coats were put through my airbrush and dust and stuff was sanded out between coats. The final wet coat was put on straight from the can (I've found that I get a better wet coat this way)




Yellow nose is Tamiya Chrome Yellow over base coats of Chrome Yellow.

All aluminium parts at this point are painted with Vallejo Air Aluminium (I love these paints). Interior color is the custom mix recommended by Tamiya.There is no clear or polishing to the final coat.





First minor modification is of the kit radiator fan. I'm hoping that the nose cone will be removable and this may be visible. The kit fan has horrid blades so I cut them off and made new ones with slips of brass sheet.






Enough words for now - enjoy and thanks for looking in!
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