Mini Cooper-A surprise gift for Dad.

Another project, yes. But this one has a back-story to it. Let me explain:
A few months ago my father started to notice that almost every day during his commute he would pass a red Mini Cooper. After a while he started seeing them even more. My mother and I also took notice, because it seemed like wherever we went, there would be a red Mini. It started off as a joke, but then we took it more seriously-they were EVERYWHERE. Seriously-we couldn't run to the mall, go to work, or visit friends or family without seeing one. Then we went on vacation, and again, red Minis were abundant. It still goes on today. Red Minis are a dime-a-dozen and we can never get away from them.
This has evolved into a joke with my father that the army of red Minis in town are stalking him, and my mother found the perfect opportunity to have some fun with this.
The two of us were in a local hobby shop last week getting supplies, and I found a Mini Cooper model kit (With the box art depicting a red Mini). We decided that it would be the perfect 'decoration' for my father's desk at work, so that he could always have a Mini stalking, I mean accompanying, him.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070274.jpg
So that's how this started. I've now dove into the kit and primered most of the parts. The upper half of the dash has to undergo some bodywork (dashwork?) before it can be painted, but the rest of the kit seems to be good. It's by no means Tamiya quality, but I'll be focusing on basic techniques like washes and weathering to bring it alive-after all, his friends, co-workers, and former CEO who shares his office, will see it. It will be painted as the box shows it, with a red/white exterior and grey/silver interior.
Updates will follow as painting begins. I hope to have the rest of the parts (sans dash) in primer by tomorrow, and then mid-week paint can fly.

What a lovely story and a great gift idea. Will be interesting to see what weathering you do on it.

Interesting story indeed :)

I'm curious how it will look in the end? Are you in a country where custom license plates are legal? If so you could put "STLKR", hehe!

Interesting story indeed :)

I'm curious how it will look in the end? Are you in a country where custom license plates are legal? If so you could put "STLKR", hehe!
Yes I am-in fact, all of our cars have personalized plates. Thanks for the idea!

:useless:

Pictures tomorrow. Just a verbal update for now.
I primed all of the remaining parts and painted the main part of the dashboard and the wheel backs. The rest of the parts will be painted in a couple of days.

What a lovely story and a great gift idea. Will be interesting to see what weathering you do on it.
I'll be sticking to basic weathering, to replicate a fairly new car.
Update numero uno. Almost every part that should be is in primer, leaving just the upper dash and mirrors. Hopefully tomorrow I can get to more painting-the dash front and wheel backs are already in silver. Here's a couple of pictures to tide you all over until the colour comes.
The dash, with fresh putty.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070290.jpg
And the parts, on my model railroad turned painted parts storage.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070289.jpg
With my father gone for a couple of days on a business trip it's the perfect chance to work on the Mini-as soon as he's back I have to hide the body and any other recognizable parts.

I could have sworn I had more matte black and german gray spray cans, but I guess I didn't...Safe to say I didn't get to paint much. Also, my father got back earlier than expected so I couldn't get the body in white primer.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070311.jpg
Hopefully more soon.

Some mini progress on the Mini. I have more german gray paint now, so I can work on the interior. The paint seems darker than the last cans I had...strange.
Anywho, the interior is painted. The dash is a two-tone silver/gray combo, should look pretty good once the tape is off. The interior, like the rest of the model, is simple and to the point.
Pictures:
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070328.jpg
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070327.jpg
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070326.jpg
As with the other parts of the model, washes will be used to highlight the details and hopefully bring it all to life.

Very small update for today. The dash is now two colours-German gray and gloss aluminum. The panel lines will be washed to make the whole piece look more realistic.
The wheels are also coming along-The insides of the back halves have been painted matte black to give the appearance of them being hollow. This is one area where the kit can be improved-not only are the wheels closed, but there are no brakes at all (Runaway Mini!:runaround: )!
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070332.jpg

I hope revell and amt knock off this "closed wheel" trend that they are on. It sucks.

Now for some progress.
The rest of the black parts were painted today since I finally got a hold of more paint. They're drying now, so I can get to work with them in the next day or two.
The chassis has had the exhaust painted, along with a few bolts. Once everything is assembled, the whole chassis assembly will be lightly weathered.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070345.jpg
I've also worked on the wheels a bit. This is a mock-up to show how they will look when done. I still have to sand the tires, wash the spokes, decal them, and assemble it all.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070346.jpg
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070347.jpg
More when something happens. :wave:

Here's the latest. I've started assembling the chassis and done some weathering. The front suspension has to wait until the interior tub is installed, which is next on my 'to-finish' list.
I rounded up a few parts and got to work last night.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070354.jpg
It all went together pretty easily, so after letting the glue dry overnight, I grabbed a few paints today.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070357.jpg
Note that the 'gold leaf' is all I had, which meant that I had to be very careful when drybrushing it on-real dirt doesn't sparkle like this paint does. The white and black were mixed for a standard grey, while the aluminum was carefully applied with emphasis on areas where there would be more chips, like in and around the wheel wells. A lot of our roads are construction sites, so I gave the front of the chassis a slightly heavier drybrushing of aluminum as if rocks were kicked up in such an area by the car ahead.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070358.jpg
In real life the weathering is a bit more subtle and thus more realistic-it really shows up in the pictures.

It's coming along nicely! I like the weathering!

Time to show you all what I did this past little while-which isn't much.
First up, the wheels. The one on the left is how they look right after paint. You can still see the mounting tab remains, which have to be sanded down and maybe touched up a tad with white paint. Decals were applied, and then given a coat of Micro-sol to help them settle down. Once everything is good and dry the wheels will be cleared to seal in the decals-TS13 will do the job nicely.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070547.jpg
Since the front wheel wells are part of the interior tub, they had to be masked and painted matte black to match the rest of the chassis. The underside of the tub, as you can partially see, isn't exactly show-worthy, but who cares? :lol:
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070549.jpg
Next, I taped the tub to the chassis and weathered the front wells, being sure to try and blend it all together.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070550.jpg
A couple of days ago I was browsing the paint rack at the local hobby shop and came across this-I grabbed it with the Mini in mind, and today gave the chassis a light drybrushing of 'dirt'. (You can see it in the previous and following photos)
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070551.jpg
This is where the assembly sits now. Next up the front suspension has to be weathered and put in place, so that the tub can be glued in place. The camera always seems to make the weathering stand out. To the naked eye, it all looks very natural.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070553.jpg
More sometime...hopefully sooner rather than later.

Small update-the body is in white primer now. Note the panel lines; this is one of the kit's strong points. They're nice and deep, which should allow me to skip any washes to darken them. The roof and bumper can go into paint soon, but the main body needs a panel scriber to touch up one small panel line around the hood. I have more to show, but am going to hold off until I can get a few last things taken care of.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070558.jpg

Nice progress.
Be sure to fit the grill to both the body and bumper before you paint.

Thanks for the tip, Ferrari TR!

Time for the latest on the Mini. Tonight I had some time so I sat down at my desk and got to work. First up, the front suspension was weathered and installed, along with the interior tub. There was a slight gap, so clamps were needed to hold the parts together while the glue was drying.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070584.jpg
With that set aside, I pulled out the dashboard and started to detail it. The main gauge decal was applied, and the vents were painted black. The steering column was also installed.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070586.jpg
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070587.jpg
Moving back to the interior, the seats have wrinkles molded in, and I wanted to highlight them. Last week (or the week before, I forget), I mixed up a wash for the recesses. I wanted to go with thinned smoke, but the jar's lid had fused itself on, so I had to settle for black instead. Looking at it now, this should work better as the wrinkles will be more visible once the glass and roof are installed.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070590.jpg
That's it for now. The interior is close to completion, and the wheels as well. All I need now is the time.

More paint has been flying! The roof has its first coat of white now, which will be wetsanded and painted again. After that clear can come, and it'll be set aside to cure.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070658.jpg
While the white was out, the hood also got a coat. A while back, while out running errands with my father I parked next to a red Mini which happened to have two white racing stripes on the hood. I casually mentioned that, to which my father responded along the lines of "I like them". That of course means that his mini Mini will have stripes. After a wetsand and second coat, the stripes will be masked, and the body will be painted.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070663.jpg
The front bumper however, could go straight to red since the stripes don't continue down onto it. Clear is up next, followed by polishing.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070661.jpg
That's all for now, but with winter coming fast I'm now trying to wrap this up as soon as I can.

Looks great. Nice write-up too.

Looks great. Nice write-up too.
Thanks!

Today I had a bit of time to get some paint out again. The Mini's hood and roof both received their second coats of white, so they're now waiting on masking and clearing, respectively. The front bumper was able to go right to the clear coat, but a minor problem showed up. The clear went on too heavily at first, 'eating' into the red paint a bit. It pulled it from some points and high spots, revealing the primer underneath. (The picture seems to exaggerate the damage)
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070685.jpg
With that said, it actually won't be that hard to fix. The bottom lip has to be painted semi-gloss black later on, so the spot of primer showing through will be covered. The 'mesh' has to be painted as well, so that's not a problem either. The others can simply be drybrushed red, as they'll mostly be covered by details yet to come. When it's all done, it shouldn't even be noticeable.
Once I get this Mini all sorted out, I also have a Thunderbird to build for my mother. I found it at my favourite little out-of-the-way hobby shop, on sale for only $3, so I grabbed it since she loves her 'Birds. But with winter coming soon, the Thunderbird will probably have to wait until early 2009.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070682.jpg

Time for some progress. I've decided that I want this done in time to present it as a Christmas gift, so I need to make use of the little warm weather remaining. Today was decent, so I quickly got everything ready. First up, the racing stripes on the hood were masked off with 6mm wide tape strips.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070708.jpg
It was given a quick mist of white to seal the tape and set aside while the roof and bumper were given their turn with the spray cans.
The roof was given two mist and two heavier coats of clear. I think one more will be put on whenever I can paint next, and then it'll be polished before it's masked for the matte black trim.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070711.jpg
As you can see there is a bit of orange peel (the camera makes it slightly worse), but it's nothing serious.
The bumper was given another good coat of clear, but when it was placed down on the counter it promptly flipped and smudged a tiny portion of the clear on one side. It'll be wetsanded and touched up.
And now, the most important part of the build; the body is red! :grinyes:
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070713.jpg
It was given a few coats of red, and looks pretty good. It'll be wetsanded to remove a tiny bit of dust and the orange peel, before a final coat is given. After that it's clear, polish, and then the matte black trim will be masked for and painted.
Now we're getting somewhere.

The Mini is back!
The weather outside has put an abrupt halt to any further painting, so for now I have to keep busy with polishing and detailing.
The front bumper was polished tonight and is ready for the matte black trim (whenever it stops snowing that is...)
You may remember that the front bumper suffered some minor bubbles in the last clear coat, after it fell over while drying. A little wetsanding took care of that and everything was good to go.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070870.jpg
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070872.jpg
Here it is after polishing.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070873.jpg
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070875.jpg
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070874.jpg
It's still nowhere near perfect-this one part seems to be the cursed bumper...but it won't matter. Once the red is touched up and a bit of weathering is done it shouldn't look any different than the rest of the body.
Next up I hope to wetsand the body soon to prepare it for the final red coat, and once that's done the tape can be pulled off and the whole thing will be cleared. The roof needs one more coat of clear before I polish it, and after that there isn't all that much left.

Very nice! Cant wait to hear about his reaction :D

UPDATE:
In case you didn't figure it out, the Mini was not completed for Christmas. December saw the coming of -40 degree weather which put all painting to a halt. However, I've been making some good progress this week, and some warm weather is expected to come any day now, so the Mini is back on track.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070979.jpg
Here's where the interior and chassis stand as of now. The door panels have been detailed with silver and glued in place. The shifter has also been finished, and the e-brake handle (not shown) is ready to go in. The dashboard is awaiting some possible final detailing, and the small gauge which sits atop the steering column is ready to go. The upper dash still needs paint, but it's simply a case of spraying on some matte black. Nothing too complex.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g112/Twentyspics/P1070980.jpg
The wheels are all decalled, and once some paint is touched up, the fronts can be clear coated and fixed to the backs.
The body has been wetsanded to take care of some minor trash and orange peel, so when the nice weather comes it'll be given one final coat of red, followed by clear. After polishing it, the bumper, and the roof will be masked for the black trim. The mirrors are still awaiting paint at this point.
Once all of the final details are taken care of the Mini can be put together and given to my Dad. Hopefully it can be done soon, or if not there's always his birthday at the start of March.

Looks really good, nice idea for a present. I was thinking of doing the same for my dad but with a model ship.