Project Lotus Elise 1:18 scale...
Discussion
I have always wanted someone to produce my little baby (see pic below) in 1:18 scale in the colour I want, but no luck 
I have therefore decided to take an old Chrono model I have of the same car in yellow and work some magic on it. Here's the little model in 1:18 scale...
The first task is to take it all apart. The body work comes away from the chassis pretty easily with a few screws, as do some of the internals. Some items, like the inner door panels need a little assistance to pop off the locating lugs, but thankfully they come away in one piece. The hardest part was the front headlights which were firmly glued in place. I might have to mould some new parts for those.
Ever wondered what went into a diecast model?
So the first job in hand is to strip the paint from the main body casting, getting back to bare metal and then looking at making some changes to the casting. For instance, I want to drill/file out the front vents and engine cover vents which are solid metal to allow me to locate some fine mesh to replicate the real thing, just need to find a good source for this, so if anyone knows of a very good modeling resource that stocks this kind of thing, then I'd appreciate the nod, thanks.
You'll notice the front headlight indents are looking pretty untidy after the trouble I had with removing the plastic part, will have fun with this later.
To be continued...
I have therefore decided to take an old Chrono model I have of the same car in yellow and work some magic on it. Here's the little model in 1:18 scale...
The first task is to take it all apart. The body work comes away from the chassis pretty easily with a few screws, as do some of the internals. Some items, like the inner door panels need a little assistance to pop off the locating lugs, but thankfully they come away in one piece. The hardest part was the front headlights which were firmly glued in place. I might have to mould some new parts for those.
Ever wondered what went into a diecast model?
So the first job in hand is to strip the paint from the main body casting, getting back to bare metal and then looking at making some changes to the casting. For instance, I want to drill/file out the front vents and engine cover vents which are solid metal to allow me to locate some fine mesh to replicate the real thing, just need to find a good source for this, so if anyone knows of a very good modeling resource that stocks this kind of thing, then I'd appreciate the nod, thanks.
You'll notice the front headlight indents are looking pretty untidy after the trouble I had with removing the plastic part, will have fun with this later.
To be continued...
A hint of "Oh sod it, where's the soldering iron?" on the lights? 
Usually my old ones were in this state by the time they'd been crashed a few hundred times and I'd got to the strip it down phase
Looks like a fun idea, just wondering how yo are going to get the decals and the new lights sorted out.
Usually my old ones were in this state by the time they'd been crashed a few hundred times and I'd got to the strip it down phase
Looks like a fun idea, just wondering how yo are going to get the decals and the new lights sorted out.
Just completed the first pass for the stripping of all the metal parts. I've given the body a quick run over with some 400 wet-n-dry to remove any remaining paint that was not removed with the Nitromoors stripper. I can clean up the smaller, harder to reach bits with an electric modelers drill/sander in due course.
The first change I have already made is with the side indicator lights that appear just behind the front wheel arch. You'll notice on the unstripped pictures above that these are actually painted onto the finished model, and once all the paint was stripped off, there was a small bump to resemble the indicator light.
I've therefore decided to sand this right back to smooth off the bodywork behind the front wheel arches as shown below. I shall be making some plastic lenses to match the greyed out versions I have on the real car. What I'm going to use for this has not yet been decided, yet another fun job sourcing material for that little project later on
I haven't worried too much with cleaning around the lights or grills as these will get more work done to them further into the project.
Another decision I have been running through my head is the plan to fix the doors in place, so I can improve the interior detailing by removing the huge hinges created to make them open on the model. I will also be able to clean up the shut lines too which are pretty poor at present, but more about how I'm going to do that another day.
To be continued...
The first change I have already made is with the side indicator lights that appear just behind the front wheel arch. You'll notice on the unstripped pictures above that these are actually painted onto the finished model, and once all the paint was stripped off, there was a small bump to resemble the indicator light.
I've therefore decided to sand this right back to smooth off the bodywork behind the front wheel arches as shown below. I shall be making some plastic lenses to match the greyed out versions I have on the real car. What I'm going to use for this has not yet been decided, yet another fun job sourcing material for that little project later on
I haven't worried too much with cleaning around the lights or grills as these will get more work done to them further into the project.
Another decision I have been running through my head is the plan to fix the doors in place, so I can improve the interior detailing by removing the huge hinges created to make them open on the model. I will also be able to clean up the shut lines too which are pretty poor at present, but more about how I'm going to do that another day.
To be continued...
autoart said:
Another decision I have been running through my head is the plan to fix the doors in place,
I will also be able to clean up the shut lines too which are pretty poor at present, but more about how I'm going to do that another day.
To be continued...
for the trouble youre going to with this model i would say that is an excellent idea, as with all cheap models the shut lines are terrible at the best of times and to get a great looking car these will improve the finished job.
autoart said:
I shall be making some plastic lenses to match the greyed out versions I have on the real car. What I'm going to use for this has not yet been decided, yet another fun job sourcing material for that little project later on
To be continued...
To be continued...
For your side repeaters how about small pieces of toothbrush handle sanded to shape and then polished smooth - I'm sure I've seen smoked grey toothbrushes and you'd have plenty of material for little outlay.
Interesting idea... I'll checkout the brushes next time I go shopping.
Currently working on the rear engine cover. Bit of a bastard to cut out the sections where I shall be putting in the wire mesh that was kindly donated (see above), taking a little longer than expected to file down and make it look good, but better to take my time than rush this project, more pics soon I hope.
Currently working on the rear engine cover. Bit of a bastard to cut out the sections where I shall be putting in the wire mesh that was kindly donated (see above), taking a little longer than expected to file down and make it look good, but better to take my time than rush this project, more pics soon I hope.
Gassing Station | Scale Models | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff