Austin Healy Sprite mk1

This is the Austin Healy Sprite mk1 (otherwise known as the ‘bug eye’) released by Gunze. It is a basic curbside with not a lot of detail, but it builds up nice. This is the first model that I have finished, but not the first I started (that honour belongs to my mp4/5b). I finished it a little while ago but didn’t get round to posting any pics. I stuffed the paint job the first time I did it, and then stuffed the body when I stripped the paint work, so I bought a new kit.
It was painted with TS58 pearl light blue and cleared with TS13, and then polished with micromesh and tamiya compounds. All the chrome was stripped and redone with alclad so I could get rid of the mould lines. I used some sakatsu rivets for the dash details and windshield spray nozzles. I am very happy with how it turned out, although at some points it was quite frustrating.
The pics aren’t that great as they lost a lot of detail when I resized them, and it looks better in person. Also the panel lines look a bit strong, but in reality they are ok. However, the panel gaps are quite large and probably the worst part of the kit. I hope to print some custom plates to go on it at some point in the future.

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f188/scudera1/Austin/IMG_7619_edited.jpg
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f188/scudera1/Austin/IMG_7618_edited.jpg
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f188/scudera1/Austin/IMG_7617_edited.jpg
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f188/scudera1/Austin/IMG_7614_edited.jpg
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f188/scudera1/Austin/IMG_7613_edited.jpg
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f188/scudera1/Austin/IMG_7612_edited.jpg
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f188/scudera1/Austin/IMG_7611_edited.jpg
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f188/scudera1/Austin/IMG_7609_edited.jpg

Lovely machine, superb work, TS-58 really suits it.
There is no way you can look at the Sprite head on and not smile right back at it. :)

That looks great :sunglasse

Don't see that many built; I did the competition version a bit over a year ago, fun kit to build even with it's idiosyncracies. It's actually one of my personal favorite models.

Very nice! Which scale is it, please?

Nice job! I really like that color on it.

very clean build, I like it

thats cool. never seen one of those models before.

Your first/second model?! Wow, fantastic job and a lot of detail for an early build - I love it that way, too ;)

This is very funny because I just pulled this out of my stash the other day. I guess I'll put it back now for a while :)

Were the metal parts a b**ch? I see you left the holes on the bottom sill where the chasis mates, I was wondering if it is possible to prevent that somehow?

Wow - looks great! I've just started on one of these, but with a few tweaks (engine & all opening panels) & shall be aiming to build it as well as you have built yours! I also want to convert another one to the Mk2 version, to match my 1:1.

DasWiesel - it's 1:24

Were the metal parts a b**ch? I see you left the holes on the bottom sill where the chasis mates, I was wondering if it is possible to prevent that somehow?

This is is the all plastic version, as it has plastic rear bumper irons, rather than photoetch ones. The hole on the sill where the chassis slots in is actually the jacking point, and on the 1:1 would be covered by a black rubber bung.

Great build! The rivets as details look just perfect! It's a super clean build. I've got one in my stash, too, waiting an F20C, but my kit came off ebay without a chassis, so I've been sitting on it. Gorgeous work! The paint is great and the build is just immaculate. Great job for your first and a half try.

The hole on the sill where the chassis slots in is actually the jacking point, and on the 1:1 would be covered by a black rubber bung.

Or not, being a British car you've invariably had to service it on the side of the road and probably lost the rubber cover in the ditch :lol:

Sweet. Thats got to be one of my favourite models in a long while. Very clean build and nicely detailed.

being a British car you've invariably had to service it on the side of the road and probably lost the rubber cover in the ditch :lol:

Cheeky!:nono: But probably true....

Superb little model.Brilliantly built for your second model.

Thanks for the comments guys. Yep it is the plain plastic kit in 1/24. But the model is smaller than most 1/24 because the car in real life is small. Most of the ref pics I have have the jack insert as matt black so i did it the same as the chassis and then stuck a small PE bolt on the end. I think it looks good.
The body also has a horrible seam that runs along the wheel arches. Some real cars have it, but it is molded badly and would be a real pain when painting and polishing so I got rid of it.

Lovely job ,stunning little car built this one myself
years ago well done.
Keep um coming.

sweet build!

i love how the paint just sparkles. :D