Return of the Zombie Cossie

[RallyRaider]

This Escort will be a replica of the car in which Tommi Makinen picked up his first WRC win. It was guest drive on the 1994 1000 Lakes rally in Finland, he went on to win the event for the next five years straight! Will be using the Tamiya kit and LauBak decals. I've already got about three or so 'progress' threads going at the moment so was a bit sheepish about starting another one Oh well here it is anyway.

First pic is of the underside, showing the new exhaust. The Tamiya kit is for 1994 Monte cars where a side exit exhaust was used, on the 1000 Lakes a twin, rear exiting exhaust was the go. I've also built up the wheel arches with putty so the interior won't show through.



Here are the 15" gravel wheels and tyres replacing the 18" slicks from the kit. Suspension has been raised just a little bit - 1mm at the rear and 2mm at the front. Also visible are the opened up jacking points on the doorsills and the cooling vents on the roof, the latter so the vents can be displayed in the more common open position.



That is about it for now, off to do some priming

[chrismcgee]

very cool, i love the escort cosworth. my best friend owned a tuned one which had 360bhp and was awsome to drive in. silly git sold it for a TVR Cerbera.

cant wait to see more progress

[flyonthewall]

Another model on its way from the rally model master - sweet!

[Veyron]

You have my attention...

[mel79]

I'm going to follow this progress with great interest!

I've been thinking about doing this same project myself, but I have yet to order the decals and a Monte version of the Escort. Too bad Tamiya has rereleased only the Repsol and Michelin versions...

I was thinking about the Museum Collection set for this car, but I heard that they are not too good (the blue isn't metallic and I guess they are very tricky to apply too). I had completely forgot Laubak made decals for this car too, thanks for reminding me

-Mikko

[robrex]

Wow, lucky I didn't miss this thread. Looking good!

[RallyRaider]

Originally Posted by mel79

I was thinking about the Museum Collection set for this car, but I heard that they are not too good (the blue isn't metallic and I guess they are very tricky to apply too). I had completely forgot Laubak made decals for this car too, thanks for reminding me

-Mikko

Yes Mikko I have the Museum Collection decals and they are not good at all. The only part of their sheet I'll be using is the seat names and maybe some other small pieces like the "Michelin men". The rest is woefully innacurate and being of the 'high-tech' variety, impossible to place over complex surfaces.

Thankfully LauBak's sheet is much better, although not 100%

[tonioseven]

Looks to be another excellent build from you!!

[RallyRaider]

Originally Posted by tonioseven

Looks to be another excellent build from you!!

Thanks for the confidence Tonio and everybody, I only hope I can actually get this one finished before my interest wavers!

I had to share this discovery with everybody, look at the finish on the exhaust. It is painted with GSI Creos Mr Super Metallic Plate Silver (bit of a mouthful). This stuff is liquid chrome, even better than Alclad IMHO. It is a system that includes its own sealer, or at least that is what I figured it to be, since the instructions are in Japanese. This picture doesn't fully capture the mirror finish, I'm very impressed!



Next shot is of the primed and partially base coated bodyshell. Before painting I scribed the panel lines down very deep, a technique I have heard mentioned before on this forum. The result is clearly defined panel lines with no painting or wash. I hope the effect doesn't diminish after a proper gloss coat, decals and clear, will have to wait and see.

[freakray]

Woohoo!
Great to see a progress thread on this one Phil, you've had me curious about it since you mentioned it to me last week.
I found(?) another way to build up the wheel arches, I will have to snap some photos and send them to you to see what you think.

Ray

[_835_]

Just to put my 2 cents, and to get advertise of build progress in mail box :-p

Go phil, go... no doubt, another great model coming.

[Hiroboy]

Loving it so far.

[Orion37170]

looks good so far!

[RallyRaider]

Originally Posted by freakray

I found(?) another way to build up the wheel arches, I will have to snap some photos and send them to you to see what you think.

I'd be interested to see your method Ray. I had to build them up like that on the Escort because the normal way of adding inserts after fitting the chassis wouldn't have worked. The inside arches of the chassis come right up to the exterior and would have left no room for an overlap. The more techniques to choose from the better off we will all be

[ImolaEK]

That looks very very nice man. I love your exhaust. Very good job soo far. Fantastic!