I can't believe it has taken me a month to complete this kit. In mitigation, I did spend a few days having a break in Cornwall since my last post. In theory, the assembly of the kit should take only a few hours to complete, painting the various sub assemblies at different stages of construction obviously lengthens the process; however, by far the most time consuming element of the build was cleaning up the white metal parts. You may think that white metal is quite soft, in the case of this kit it is very HARD, consequently, cleaning up all the flash was very time consuming, especially on the smaller, more fiddly parts; with the material being so hard, at least the files did not get clogged.
The majority of parts are designed to be screwed together with self tapping screws, supplied in the kit, but with some of the larger parts, such as the body halves, I also used epoxy resin to hold them together and seal the joints. Some of the holes did not line up too well and a bit of persuasion with a drill was required.
I initially spray painted the bodywork, but possibly due to the heat in my spray booth (greenhouse) the second coat of primer started to dry on impact with the surface, leaving a rough finish. I foolishly then applied the satin black topcoat, hoping this would hide the imperfection in the primer, it didn't! There was nothing for it but to rub down the paintwork with wet and dry abrasive paper (used wet), to restore the surface, I then brush painted the top coat, having already used up all the spray paint.
The roof and the seats were finished in matt acrylic paint. After painting I added clear glazing material to the windscreen and rear window as well as front and rear lights and some authentic Donegal number plates. The plates were made on the computer and printed on photo paper, which was then protected with artist's spray glaze and glued on to small pieces of black Plastikard.
The car is left hand drive (it's an American kit). I did consider converting it to right hand drive, but as it has working steering gear, too much work would be involved for what after all, is just a scenic item. It must have been imported from the USA or Continental Europe, rather than being assembled at the Ford Plant in Cork!
The majority of parts are designed to be screwed together with self tapping screws, supplied in the kit, but with some of the larger parts, such as the body halves, I also used epoxy resin to hold them together and seal the joints. Some of the holes did not line up too well and a bit of persuasion with a drill was required.
I initially spray painted the bodywork, but possibly due to the heat in my spray booth (greenhouse) the second coat of primer started to dry on impact with the surface, leaving a rough finish. I foolishly then applied the satin black topcoat, hoping this would hide the imperfection in the primer, it didn't! There was nothing for it but to rub down the paintwork with wet and dry abrasive paper (used wet), to restore the surface, I then brush painted the top coat, having already used up all the spray paint.
The roof and the seats were finished in matt acrylic paint. After painting I added clear glazing material to the windscreen and rear window as well as front and rear lights and some authentic Donegal number plates. The plates were made on the computer and printed on photo paper, which was then protected with artist's spray glaze and glued on to small pieces of black Plastikard.
The car is left hand drive (it's an American kit). I did consider converting it to right hand drive, but as it has working steering gear, too much work would be involved for what after all, is just a scenic item. It must have been imported from the USA or Continental Europe, rather than being assembled at the Ford Plant in Cork!
 Body parts and completed chassis. |  Painted bodywork, seats and dashboard/windscreen. |  On the road at Culdaff, note the Donegal plates. |
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