Hasegawa 1/24 Lamborghini Miura P400 SV

[Guest]

My all time favourite dream car, the Lamborghini Miura SV. Some would say it's the most beautiful car ever made, which is a bold statement, but seeing some of my research pictures I certainly wouldn't argue.

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I searched for a while to find the right kit as I've read the Italeri has some shape and detail errors. The Hasegawa ones are apparently better but harder to find. My wife ended up buying this through Amazon at a bargain price as a Fathers day present, and I patiently waited for it to arrive from Japan.

It's been sat waiting for me to finish my Hind, and progress will likely be slow as I have a much bigger and more important project on the go right now - fitting a kitchen for my mum, but I've managed to make a start so I thought I'd get a couple of pictures up. Box was slightly damaged but everything inside was fine.

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Plenty of parts to go at, soft rubber like tyres, nice decals and "chrome" type adhesive stickers too. Thanks to some advice I've stripped the chrome plating from the wheels as they need to be silver, matching the lower section of the bodywork, for my chosen colour scheme.

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The bonnet grilles roughly centre of the shot look particularly fun. They are really fine and surrounded by all types of runners and gates so will take some careful clean up.

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First job was to remove the mould lines from the body. These were quite small and placed where they'd be easy to remove so no real drama. I also roughly trimmed some of the mould lines and pin marks inside the shell too. These will all be covered up but I wanted to be sure they wouldn't interfere with fit later down the line.

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Then the distinctive side scoops were added and sanded as flush as I could. I used some Mr Dissolved putty to fill the hairline gap that remained. That was sanded once dry then overcoated with surfacer 500 which will ensure a seamless blend into the body once sanded smooth.

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I've also made a start on putting the dashboard together. This is two parts so again I'm filling and sanding the seams that aren't present on the real thing.

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I also really think it's time I invested in some decent sprue cutters. The super cheap Modelcraft economy ones I've been using up to now have a really thick jaw so I struggle getting into tight spots with them. I know I can hack off a chunk of sprue and trim later but that isn't always possible, and with the hard plastic of this kit I'm worried about snapping something. My son lets me borrow his Citadel ones which are far superior, but I think I ought to get my own!

Anyway, that's it for now and I'll update as and when I get time off from the building work to get some bench time in.

Thanks for looking,
Andy.

[Guest]

I've seen a few videos that mention red plastic being particularly troublesome. The colour can apparently leach out of the plastic when using solvent paints and bleed through to the final finish. No problem if I were painting it red, but I'm not. I don't know if it's true but rather than take the risk I started off with a black base that will visually absorb any colour leaching through.

The whole thing was given a sand with a 1000 grit Mirka Abralon sanding sponge to key up the surface and refine any sanding scratches from previous work. It was washed in warm water with Stardrops and white vinegar, rinsed thoroughly, dried, then given a final wipe with a water/alcohol pre-paint cleaner we use at work. After a blow and a wipe with a tack rag it received two light coats of Mr Finish Surfacer 1500, thinned with MLT. I laid an old tack rag on the bench to try and catch any dust that got blown around.

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Lovely smooth finish, no doubt helped by Barry W's tip of giving it a final mist coat of MLT.

Once dry it will get a light sand then the outside will get two more coats of Surfacer 1500, mixed closely to Specral Grey shade 03, which is the recommended ground coat for my chosen final colour.

[Dave Ward]

I one spent a month or so re-enginining a Lamborghini. I had the engine removed, and all the mounting points measured - as well as measuring up the flywheel & gearbox mating faces.
I designed new plates, to mount the box, machined a flywheel to suit the clutch etc, and our fitters shoehorned the new engine into place. Sadly the gearbox & transmission weren't up the large amount of torque the new engine generated!
If this sounds a bit unlikely - it was a Lamborghini tractor! Tractors were how they made their money ( and still do ). We removed their 4-cylinder diesel & replaced it with our turbocharged 4-cylinder diesel. The project never went anywhere ( like about 75% of our projects ).
That was a period that I remember fondly, - it was a real thrill to go to work! I designed all sorts of installations, from gen sets, to canal boats, and APU units for the Challenger tank.
Dave

[Guest]

Yes, I'm sure not everyone knows about the companies history. I believe he started by salvaging/converting ex military vehicles.

Sounds like a very interesting job John, no wonder you enjoyed it so much!

[minitnkr]

A beautiful car. Excellent coachwork so far. Looks very "today" in primer. Back in the late 50s/early 60s we put small block Chevys in everything imaginable due to their high HP/torque per pound. From Ford pickups to Jeeps. My fave though was 'Studilacs'. Cadillac V8s in 53-54 Studabaker Commanders. Amazing torque, stable over 100mph, and looked good. Didn't stop well, but nothing domestic did then. One of the guys did a late 50s Austin Healey with what we called a "square4", Chevy modified to a 4" bore & stroke, scary fast. Later, it was 350 Chevys in Jaguar coupes/sedans. Those could stop too, and were more comfy. PaulE

[Dave Ward]

Andy,
that was the really rewarding period. I was promoted, and went on to designing the engines themselves - much tougher, needing teamwork, and a lot of sweat!
Dave

[Guest]

That's true petrol head stuff Paul, everyone deserves a V8 in their life at some point.

[stillp]

Yes, I'm sure not everyone knows about the companies history. I believe he started by salvaging/converting ex military vehicles.

They still make military vehicles. I believe Ferrucio Lamborghini only started making cars because Enzo Ferrari wouldn't sell him a car because he was too 'uncouth'.
Pete

[Guest]

This should be good :smiling3:.

[Guest]

They still make military vehicles. I believe Ferrucio Lamborghini only started making cars because Enzo Ferrari wouldn't sell him a car because he was too 'uncouth'.
Pete

There's a couple of different versions of that story. The other is that Lamborghini in fact owned and raced a Ferrari, but after repeated issues with the clutch he confronted Enzo about the matter and was pretty much told to buzz off and go back to his tractors.

Either way it seems Enzo was the reason we have Lambo cars today.

[stillp]

Either way it seems Enzo was the reason we have Lambo cars today.

There's a restaurant just outside the Ferrari test track and frequented by all the Ferrari F1 drivers, which always has a Lambo parked outside!

[Guest]

I'm trying to decide on an interior colour for this. Out of the 150 made around half had the black interior the instructions call for, but I'm thinking it might be too bland and indistinct. They've tried to mix it up by calling for a mixture of RLM66, flat black, and the amusingly misspelt "semi gross black" but I'm still concerned it might just be a sea of blandness.

Another popular choice was senape, basically a hideous tan colour that only a mother could love, mostly found on the US cars I think.

That leaves me with brown (no!) , blue, or white (with black carpets). The white is currently my favourite but I'm having a hard time finding out if it was ever used on a factory car with my favoured exterior colour (of which only 6 were made).

More research needed, but I may just end up going with what I fancy and blow the realism :flushed:

[Tim Marlow]

I think the best approach with car kits, unless you want a dead scale copy job, is to think how you would spec it if you bought your own one new....

[minitnkr]

I've heard the same story Peter.

[minitnkr]

I remember when you could do that. Mernan Chevrolet in the summer of 63 w/a friend who was ordering a 64 Chevy Biscayne as a graduation gift from his parents. The salesman laid a form in front of him with all the options listed. There must have been over 200 of them, including 6 differential ratios, two automatic transmissions, three standard transmissions w/a choice of two gear ratio sets each and 4 different engines with a myriad of performance options. Naturally he chose the 427cu, in. 425hp engine, 4speed close ratio trans w/4.11:1 diff. All other options were "DELETE" or cheapest choice so to fall w/in parental budget. I believe it was less than $2700. Good days. Today it's "I got three colors on the lot in the 30 to 40 grand range". PaulE