Revell Monogram 1:24 Cord 812 - WIP

[AmazonSprite]

Inspired by some threads that were posted a month or so ago on the Scale Auto Mag forum, about the builds of this kit and the resin transkit sedan version, I decided to buy one too (courtesy of ebay). The impressive bit though is that I've actually started building it - most of my kits are gathering dust and will be built 'one day'.....

Anyhow, as I hate painting the bodies, I thought I'd get that over and done with first, especially as I had both the time and also good weather (I have to spray paint in the garden) at the weekend and I'm also not that good at it either .

It's a multipiece body, so firstly the rear wings had to be glued on. Strangely, the join is on the apex of the wing, not where it would bolt-on, leaving me with plenty of sanding to remove the resulting ridge.

Wing join from outside:


and from underneath:


The next issue is that the rear valence is supposed to be part of the body, with the bumper irons poking through it. The kit has the valance as a separate piece, to be installed after the body is on the chassis.

Rear valence in place:


Chassis / bumper irons:


As I wanted to avoid this extra panel gap, I decided to cut the irons off (to be glued back on later once the body is on the chassis), so that the valence could be fitted before the body is painted:


and here's how it fits:


Body after painting - a couple of coats of primer & sanding, followed by lots of topcoats (almost a whole spraycan!):


Just after this though, I noticed that I'd missed the underside of the vents around the bonnet so I had to add another coat, which didn't look as good as that shown in the pic . However, plenty of rubbing compound dealt with the overspray & orange peel, and after a quick polish and wax:




The paint is not perfect (needs a bit more compounding & polishing) but this is the first time that i haven't left it as it came out of the can, and I'm very pleased with the results - it has a lovely deep shine and smooth glossy surface that has been lacking from my previous models. Since those pics, I've also managed to get the polish out of the panel gaps! I didn't use any filler but the joins for the wings are invisible , and the valence join is only just noticeable, but nothing like as prominent as it would be if it was fitted later, and the bumper will hide it.

And here's how the bumper irons fit:


I've already started assembling the engine, and hope to have some updates soon!

[klutz_100]

I'm glad I am first to post here because this kit has a lot of sentimental value for me. It was the first model I built 2 years ago.

Although I screwed it up bigtime, it got me hooked into this hobby. Sadly, at the time I had never heard of modelling forums and so had no WIPs to follow - what a shame I am still today impressed with how BIG the damn thing is! It's by far the largest of the 5 models I have built to date.

The fenders took me DAYS to get right and I gave up on trying to keep the headlights open and puttied the covers in place Best of all? I misread the instructions and have the only redwall tyres in auto history

Here's mine (I've never shown it publicly before )

[willimo]

Looks really cool. Your skills are fantastic so I'll be really interested to see this come together by your hand. My dad has this kit built up (with no paint, from a while back) and I've been jealouse because I've not found one to build up myself. I'll be watching this build - super cool.

Also, is that a Midget/Sprite build up I see in the background (puttied body, plans)? THAT I'd LOVE to see, because I've got a 1:1 waiting to become a racecar.

[quadzero]

for someone that hates painting the bodies, you sure did a nice job on this one. I really like the looks of this car and looking forward to seeing the rest of this.

[AmazonSprite]

Thanks for all the positive comments guys - much appreciated

Originally Posted by klutz_100

I am still today impressed with how BIG the damn thing is! It's by far the largest of the 5 models I have built to date.

I didn't think it was that big a model but I've just compared it to a few other 1:24 /25s, and it's the same size as a Tamiya Volvo estate....

BTW, what happened to the pic of the one you built? It looked great to me!

Originally Posted by willimo

is that a Midget/Sprite build up I see in the background (puttied body, plans)? THAT I'd LOVE to see, because I've got a 1:1 waiting to become a racecar.

It is indeed - a conversion of a Gunze Sangyo 1:24 Frogeye Sprite into a Sprite Mk2, to match my 1:1 in my sig. At the moment, it's just a paper, masking tape & blu-tack mock-up stuck on the Frogeye body, while I sort out the shape. However, I have another Frogeye model that I'm building, with an engine & all opening panels (the Gunze kit is a kerbside), which is also at the mock-up stage. The Mk1 will be my first proper attempt at a scratchbuild / kitbash, and will be built first, as I hope to build the Mk2 with the same opening features. More pics here

Originally Posted by quadzero

for someone that hates painting the bodies, you sure did a nice job on this one. I really like the looks of this car and looking forward to seeing the rest of this.

Thanks!! I'm starting to like / not dislike painting the bodies, as I now know that I can do it without messing it up!!! It's all thanks to forums like this though, which have inspired me, and showed how to get it right In the past, I'd just spray straight onto the plastic, with no primer and very little prep work, and then not bother cutting & polishing afterwards, but then I don't clean & polish my 1:1 cars

Here's a few more pics showing the body trial fitted on the chassis, with the headlight covers and interior tub installed:




Still undecided about the interior colour though - the current options are black, tan or red.

[klutz_100]

Originally Posted by AmazonSprite

BTW, what happened to the pic of the one you built? It looked great to me!

Hmm...don't know why that happened I've re-published it on PhotoBucket.

BTW your whitewalls certainly look better than my redwalls

[AmazonSprite]

Finally an update! My website has been offline for a while so I haven't been able to post any pics until now. I'm afraid that there were none of the engine build-up, but it's rather simple and all parts fitted properly.

Engine & gearbox:

The cylinderheads are chrome, but some silver / aluminium paint toned them down nicely. The paint was also rubbed through on the highspots, to add texture & make it appear more interesting.

Underside & front suspension:


And a few assembled views:

The side trims on the bonnet are a pain to fit, as the cut-outs for them don't quite line up with the ones on the main bodyshell, so this requires attention BEFORE painting the body / bonnet



Still undecided about the interior colour - it's shown here unpainted and I think it looks good as it is!

And finally the underbonnet:

[Martsmodels]

Nice one Paul!! I look forward to seeing more of this. I have AMT 1/12 in a pile in the spare room but haven't started it yet. Where are you getting refs of the Lycoming V8 from? - I can't find any of this installation.

The paint looks outstanding but I can't determine the colour on my computer screen - is it black or darkish brown?

I thought of doing mine a sort of root beer brownish colour.

Is the Royale finished?

Cheers - Martin

p.s. yours looks great Steven - just pretend they have red snow in Warsaw!!!!

[AmazonSprite]

Hi Martin,

I don't have many engine pics, but I'll email you what I have. Thanks for the compliments about the paint - I hope I'll be able to paint the bodywork of all my future models to at least this standard! The colour is a Halfords black spraycan (IIRC, a BMW shade) - it could do with a bit more polishing, as there are still some swirls / fine scratches that are visible under a bright light, but I can't find anything in between normal rubbing compond and a wax polish to sort this out. However there's still a few details & other assemblies to sort out whilst I try to decide on the interior colour, and then it should soon be finished.

Oh, and I do want to finish that Royale first! It won't be as nice a build as the Cord, since it has suffered quite a bit of damage whilst I've been trying to build it, including a slow motion style plummet off my desk so I go through stages of cursing it and losing interest before going back and sorting it out. However, there's not much left to do now, and it will look fine when displayed on a shelf

Paul

[andrew landon]

do you think you could send one of those extra kits over here?

[klutz_100]

It's coming along great Paul!

Originally Posted by Martsmodels

Steven - just pretend they have red snow in Warsaw!!!!

Not any more since the Berlin wall came down

[AmazonSprite]

Can't believe how long ago it is since I started this kit..... Anyhow, progress has been erratic for various personal reasons, but here's how it looks at the moment:



Roof and windscreen are just resting in-situ and still need to have the glass fixed in place.


The red interior was an absolute pain to paint, as for some reason the colour pigment always thinned out on the high spots of the seat ridges. In the end, loads of thin coats were required in order to hide the brush marks. The end result looks fairly decent though, as it accidentally adds depth to the seats! The next red interior that I did was spray painted (Tamiya hull red) and that works like a dream - wish I'd tried that here!


The view of the engine isn't great, so I haven't wired it. Still needs the exhaust downpipes and the horns fitted. Next time I'll make a better effort to get all the dust off before taking pics too


Once the underside of the wings is painted, the body and chassis will be fixed together permanently (all is just trial fitted at the moment), and then the exhaust can be fitted. After that, it's just a case of rear bumper & lights

[AmazonSprite]

Almost a year later.... with the exception of the roof*, as of late last night it is now finally finished!

(*glazing & rear side window frames need installing properly)











Unfortunately the bonnet doesn't open wide enough to take a decent pic, but the engine itself as provided in the kit is actually quite detailed.


Anyhow, hope you like them & I will try to get some decent shots outside later today, to post in the completed section.


And finally, the chaos zone that is my work desk... Now that the Cord is out of the way, I have no excuse for not getting on with my other projects.

Most of these were started after the Cord, hence the slow progress! The Porsche in the first pic is almost complete - just needs a final polish and then the badging decals applied & numberplates attached.