MikeA

Thanks Michael. Much appreciated! I built the DS back in my comparative youth in the 1980's and have kept it, mostly due to a lifelong passion for Citroens. My memory of the build is that it was fiddly but only the windscreen was horrific for fit. Back then I didn't worry about rechroming - I suspect Humbrol silver would have been my only choice anyway. It was my first try at upholstery, substituting tissue paper for cloth. The paint finish is a bit gnarly, so it lurks in the back of the cabinet avoiding close inspection. Thank you too Ray - it was very much like working on the real one at times! Upside down under the dash etc..... Cheers, Mike

After finishing the Ferrari GTO 250 a couple of years ago I was intending to work on a Pocher Aventador. However the opportunity came up to purchase a Heller Traction, which has been on my radar since the late 1970's. To hard to resist. The kit is well known and not without its challenges. Over 1000 pieces, which is not a count of screws etc as you get with Pocher kits, and almost no concession is made from the real thing to scale size. It is a kit engineering marvel and extremely satisfying as a build - although sometimes equally frustrating as with many older Citroens. Very few additions or changes to the kit were made. The small list includes: the carpet, courtesy of dolls house self adhesive carpet, the upholstery, courtesy of MFH self adhesive cloth, some MFH machine screw heads around the window frames, a luggage net handmade from model ship rope, a scratch built windscreen opening mechanism, bolting the entire front end together rather than using glue, the replacement of most of the soft rubber pipes and wires with more suitable material such as solder wire, bicycle inner tube for the mudflaps, whisky bottle foil and masking tape for the cloth dust seal along the edge of the engine bay scuttle, aftermarket hose clamps, and the replacement of the bonnet hinge rubber with nitrile glove material. I chose to model a car built in mid to late 1950, which allows the combo of the early curved bumpers and hub caps, with a mid period dash board and upholstery. I tried to build it as a well maintained daily runner rather than a showroom car. The model is just over 600mm in length. The main challenges were the interior headlining and the bonnet. The headlining is supplied as a very floppy 0.2mm thick vacform piece. I was determined to use it as the kit designers intended, which was fixed around the rear window and above the side windows, but suspended from the roof. It took a month of head scratching to work out a process and the actual fitting ended up taking 10 minutes. Double sided tape, flexible superglue and the use of two lengths of ribbon to act as extra hands whilst gradually working from the rear to the front is a summary of the process. The bonnet issues were so frustrating that I set the almost finished model aside for nine months this year and glowered at it when walking past. A combination of warped pieces and a strange hinge arrangement based on a flexible rubber strip was the problem. It's still not perfect, but I can live with it. On with the photos. The first few are of the engine before the front end body work was added. i have also included a photo of the underneath taken whilst fitting the wheels - the strange wheel angle is fortunately just a parallax issue. The distraction from large scale planes will continue as I have some Pocher kits needing attention. Once I've got this one safely tucked away on stands and in a glass case, i will be starting on the beautiful monterey blue Aventador roadster with a Tommaso transkit and some scratch built extras. Compared to the Citroen, however, it should be relatively straightforward. Hope you enjoy the pics. Comments and feedback welcome. Cheers, Mike

I missed this build, but just chiming in to say that this has got to be one of the most gorgeous looking Spitfire models I have seen. That combo of the low back, full wings and completely over the top front end just really pops. The conversion work is absolutely first rate where it is not possible to discern the chopping and different materials involved. Very very impressive! Mike

Wow! That is spectacular. I just cannot imagine how you managed to keep your sight intact doing that finish. Well done!

Beautiful kit and beautiful work on it! When I did the Papyrus Hunter years ago, I used the Flightpath set which from memory included the extended engine nozzle and sensor details etc. Looks much better with the correct length. I had done similar detail to yours in the nosewheel bay area as well as the radar within the nose cone but, despite that, had more than sufficient hidden space to put enough weight in the front. And definitely get the brass G-Factor legs if you can - they are well worth it. Cheers Mike

You can install the main wheels at the end by simply not finishing off the central spar between the wheelbays until near the end of the build. This is very easy if using the Aires wheelbay as it is set up to allow for this. With the kit one, it does require some microsaw surgery to the spar to separate the particular section where the landing gear slots into, and a careful repair to the resulting seam on the cover panel along the centre fuselage once the gear is fitted. The nosewheel is easier in that you can assemble it into the bay early on as required by the instructions, but do not fix it in place and do not fit the retraction strut. This allows the nosewheel to be rotated up into the bay during construction. At the end it's just a case of dropping the gear into place, fitting the strut and careful application of glue to the supporting tabs on the nosegear to fix it in place. It's a great kit, despite some heavy handedness and uneven approach to panel lines. Probably one of the more relaxing builds I have done. Have fun with it! Cheers, Mike

Beautiful work! The riveting turned out really well - not too overpowering on a shapely airframe. Mike

Yeah fine. This one was already off the charts and now it is heading who knows where! An absolutely gobsmackingly great model and the diorama is looking to take the presentation to another level entirely. Already looking very moody and really looking forward to the updates. Cheers Mike

Weathered - way more fun.......

Don't envy you with that masking! That dayglo has a nasty penchant for going everywhere..... FWIW, when I built my Papyrus Hunter from the Revell kit earlier this century, I did manage to install the nose gear towards the end of the build - from memory it involved a slight trimming of the main gear leg on one side and a slight enlargement of the hole in the nosewheel bay where it slots into. The resulting enlarged and not so positive fit on that side was subsequently resolved with epoxy followed by a layer of white glue to smooth the joint off. Despite superdetailing the nosewheel bay, I don't think it's been looked at in the intervening years - the topsides are too pretty. Cheers Mike

Very impressive weather beaten look! Very much the workhorse. Cheers Mike

I also found that the Aires cockpit, aside from the fit problems, did not really seem to offer much if anything over what could be achieved with a combination of minor scratch building and the Eduard PE set for the Italeri kit. An aftermarket bang seat is worth it though. The Aires wheelbays on the other hand are phenomenal, although as is commonly the case with jet wheelbays, little can be seen once built up. Cheers Mike

Wow! That is absolutely gorgeous! Mike

That has turned out beautifully! For all the comments elsewhere about the panel lines, the empennage looks particularly great. Love the back story to this specific airframe as well. Mike

Mine is an A R Harris Company Ltd "Portable Spray Painting Outfit" , Model 602, from Christchurch, NZ, dating back to 1979. Strange name but does the business. Light duties compared to most as I only complete one model every couple of years, but still regular use. At least one new hose and a new moisture trap over the years, and I keep having to reattach its rubber feet, but still going strong. Cheers, Mike