1985 UK car park (1/43 scale)

[mg ork]

So here is the Sierra Xr4i then, resprayed in the original cardinal red colour.

A mammoth amount of work had to be done on this model to make it look like the real thing.

Surprisingly, when you consider the amount of work which had to be done, vanguards actually got the main body almost spot-on. By that I mean the wheel arches were a tad low (or exaggerated) hence using a swan morten blade I got rid of the excess and the wheels now show up nicely.
Vanguards have captured the jelly-mould style superbly IMO.

So all the changes then, gotta start somewhere so I'll start at the front...
- the front nose for it to fit flush needed the side edges filed/sanded so as to make it a bit smaller.

- as for the headlights, they were pretty poor; too thin and not pushed back far enough. On the real model I'm sure the nose would go over the headlights, eg if a new headlight lamp had to be put on you'd take the nose off? Well with the vanguards model the nose goes on first and then you place the headlight in, which didn't look good as headlight wasn't positioned behind nose so to speak and this showed. So the actual headlight lenses I've made are from thin acetate paper sitting behind nose, sanded slightly for hazy effect and touched up with black pen. Back of the nose was filed/sanded to make nose thinner so headlights not appearing to be positioned too far back and are slightly bigger than original vanguards version. The sockets behind lens needed drilling, and for the shine I've used boco kitchen foil, the inner lights blunted after being touched up by grey/black pens and outer lights purposely left untouched for the exaggerated shine from foil.

- as mentioned above, wheel arches corrected by getting rid of excess.

- what ruined the initial model mainly was the bumpers; all four were too big, very clumsy and not the correct shape, particularly the front bumper which had the most amount of work done to it. The side bumpers had to be reduced height-wise. The red strips were not thick enough hence corrected after a couple of layers of waterslide strips were added for each bumper.

- side indicator lights got rid of using dremel and replaced with slightly bigger more accurate looking one.

- the grille panel just below front window was initially too low so it was cut off from dashboard unit which it was attached to, and repositioned slightly higher.

- custom made wipers and numberplates to sync in with rest of collection.

- reason I didn't retain original reg number A123 SFB was because I got rid of sunroof as I fancied one without it! Not rear bootlid log missing.


vanguards ford sierra xr4i resprayed red 1/5 by mg-ork, on Flickr

vanguards ford sierra xr4i resprayed red 5/5 by mg-ork, on Flickr

vanguards ford sierra xr4i resprayed red 3/5 by mg-ork, on Flickr

vanguards ford sierra xr4i resprayed red 2/5 by mg-ork, on Flickr

vanguards ford sierra xr4i resprayed red 4/5 by mg-ork, on

[Mark1]

Nice, 2.8i v6.

[mg ork]

Thanks, you certainly know your fast classics!

[mg ork]

Here is the mk1 fiesta then, an X-reg 1.1L, finished in dark blue.

The original model from minichamps is not far off from being spot-on. They've got the size and shape of the model 100% correct and the wheels being delightful, not far off from being perfect. The only thing I had to do to the wheels was exaggerate the holes with a dart.

Changes then:
- I got rid of the sunroof which was just a personal preference. Did this by putting original sunroof back on, and then filling the surroundings using filler, and sanding appropriately until roof smooth flush.

- unfortunately the back was a separate unit with the back window integrated as one which was annoying for respray purposes. Also, the back lights were attached to the back unit so they had to be carefully taken out. Then I attached the back unit back onto the model, filling the holes, most noticeably just under the rear lights which was a small error from minichamps, and sanded/smoothed accordingly. Holes not visible anymore, just like on the real thing. The edges of the lights were smoothed out aswell by filing/sanding as they became a little bit rough after taking them off the back unit.

- front headlights are from vanguards as I just prefer these over minichamps; just think on this particular model vanguards version has more detail.

- bumpers are thicker ones, compulsory on the later mk1 Fiestas.

- custom made wipers and plates, to sync in with rest of collection.

- notice again bootlid logos missing as not had them made yet.

minichamps ford fiesta 1981 by mg-ork, on Flickr

minichamps ford fiesta 1981 by mg-ork, on Flickr

minichamps ford fiesta 1981 by mg-ork, on Flickr

minichamps ford fiesta 1981 by mg-ork, on Flickr

minichamps ford fiesta 1981 by mg-ork, on Flickr

minichamps ford fiesta 1981 by mg-ork, on Flickr

[Mark1]

Looks good,there used to be so many of these on the road, I had an xr2 in black.

[Tim Marlow]

Looks good,there used to be so many of these on the road, I had an xr2 in black.

I had an XR2 in metallic dark grey…..later swapped it for a three series BMW.

[Mark1]

I had an XR2 in metallic dark grey…..later swapped it for a three series BMW.

Mine went sideways into a central reservation at 60! :smiling4:

[Code no 10]

That is superb build. FHB!. With the right "grainy" filter on the photos, I would really believe those were the actual 80s cars taken with a film camera.

[mg ork]

Thanks for the comments. This was actually quite a straightforward conversion as model-makers originally did a very good job, the only annoying thing was the integrated back window, had it not been for that it would have been a far easier conversion. Wouldn’t mind doing another one of these in nordic blue or red...

My sister had one of these when I was little, it was rough like no tomorrow and often wouldn’t go into 3rd gear, but then again she was driving on an L plate taking lessons.

[mg ork]

Here is the Triumph TR7 then, finished in an awesome metallic pharaoh gold. Really love this colour especially on this particular model, the metallic paint really clings on to the bodywork and it's almost got a pearlescent type look to it.

Vanguards have done a really good job on this model, so much so that on the actual body I did nothing - oh, apart from adding chromed surroundings at the rear window as for whatever reason this was missing.

A couple of other very minor changes:
- custom front number plate to sync in with rest of collection; unfortunately vanguards had number plate painted on bumper which didn't look good.

- custom made windscreen wipers.

- front foglights replaced by better detailed ones taken from sierra xr4i front bumper!

- initial wingmirrors were a tad too small so replaced by more suitable to 1/43 scale larger ones.


vanguards triumph tr7 gold 5/5 by mg-ork, on Flickr

vanguards triumph tr7 gold 4/5 by mg-ork, on Flickr

vanguards triumph tr7 gold 3/5 by mg-ork, on Flickr

vanguards triumph tr7 gold 2/5 by mg-ork, on Flickr

vanguards triumph tr7 gold 1/5 by mg-ork, on Flickr

[Mark1]

Another blast from the past, I had one of these in yellow many years ago,friend of mines dad had a black tr8,it was he's pride and joy.

[adt70hk]

What a trip down memory lane this thread is!!! Thanks for sharing such great work.

ATB.

Andrew

[mg ork]

Thanks for the comments, yes I can imagine the tr8 or 7 being anyone’s pride and joy! These cars are a trip down memory lane which is the main reason why I try to get them as close to 1:1 as possible - you don’t often get to see these on our roads anymore sadly.

[mg ork]

Here is the Escort then, converted into a 1.1L, 1981 model.

Model makers here are minichamps, and unfortunately they didn't do a fantastic job and quite a lot of work had to be done to correct the body work.

Changes then:
- the front of the model at the edge of the bonnet above grille and headlights appeared to have a dent, wasn't smooth in a straight flush line and had to be corrected with a combination of dremel work, filling and sanding and a lot of trial and error was required until I was happy with it. Unfortunately due to the white colour of the model, correction not fully visible, however it is noticeable more to the naked eye.

- front valance trim was wrong shape and not pushed back far enough, hence I had to saw it off, reposition it slightly further back and tilt it so it has a more "curved effect". Also, more meat added at the very bottom of valance trim and shaped accordingly like on the real thing. As valance trim had to be repositioned, holes filled in via using filler and sanded accordingly.

- much like on the Marina, side wings were not pushed in enough at the bottom so same methodology was used to correct this; chipped away at metal using dremel, and filled/sanded accordingly until happy that bottom of side wings were pushed in accordingly.

- side windows were way too narrow, so had to be carved bigger using a combination of swan morten blade and file. Side windows re-done using thin acetate paper.

- rear lights had to be sanded/filed slightly so as to fit flush into sockets. Inside of lights painted matt white to exaggerate effect much like on citroen. Front headlights are vanguards cortina mk4 spares, reshaped appropriately for a mk3 escort. Indicators remain from original minichamps model.

- front and back window trims are chrome, used chrome pen for this. Surroundings are black waterslide decals as on the real thing front and back window trims (from L to ghia) are chrome and black.

- custom made plates and wipers to sync in with rest of collection; model also converted to RHD.

- wingmirrors are from vanguards as original minichamps ones too small for 1/43 version.

minichamps ford escort mk3 1981 by mg-ork, on Flickr

minichamps ford escort mk3 1981 by mg-ork, on Flickr

minichamps ford escort mk3 1981 by mg-ork, on Flickr

minichamps ford escort mk3 1981 by mg-ork, on Flickr

minichamps ford escort mk3 1981 by mg-ork, on Flickr

[Mark1]

Looks good :thumb2: