TOPIC:

Wheels need some rework on the edges ...





Three springs on the Motor pod are all the suspension the car has...







Bodywork sprue is complete....





"Glass" sprue is missing a small rectangular light (i'll fake it with a CD case), but the windscreen has had it I think - melted, opaque, fingerprints ...




Seems to have a vacformed window though? Wing sprue is complete & untouched, but I hate the idea of using it ...




Chrome sprue is intact -wipers, door handles, bumpers etc ...





Tool/linkage bag - note Nichimo spanner & injection moulded box wrench with adjuster

Sorry JR, I love bizarre cars like the europa or the AMC pacer.
Yours is more a die cast. Amazing.

After a couple of months of not doing anything much at all, I've been able to do a bit of work on the Europa ... possibly fruitlessly, but more on that later



Rear window glued back in ... note new red leatherette on bench:






Damage from previous owners attempt to glue in, other side is worse. Also note poor fit






Gluing bonnet in:





Note moulding flash on front wings...





... more flash on rear end ...





... on front ...






... and mismatch between front spltter tabs & the slots they're supposed to be fitted in on the bodywork ...





... and the almost complete absence of anything to hold the doors in





... More to follow

Regular masking tape holding the doors on while the glue sets, Tamiya tape used to seal gaps while epoxy (applied from the inside) sets...





White putty to fill gaps/damage...





Engine cover being glued on...






White primer sprayed ...





Sills masked...





Sills sprayed Audi Silver...




... and unmasked ...





... and masked again for the main body colour:

Time to think about colour ... I don't like the boxart scheme & I hate spraying white ... luckily the kit comes with a 2nd JPS (John Player Special) transfer sheet - just using the lines from it will hopefully end up looking like this:



(photo from www.influx.co.u...us-europa/ ).



Paint was BMW Black Sapphire Metallic...





... and is a bit more spangly that I'd anticipated ... it also came out quite shiny ...





... at least until I sprayed clear on it





Bonnet is ok, although it would benefit from rubbing out/polishing...






... but roof & a lot of other areas have suffered badly with bloom








This was my own fault - I thought I'd get away with the high humidity as it was hot, but apparently not

I'll try a further coat of clear (on a less humid day) will cover it up; I'm not overly hopeful, but might as well give it a go, as the alternative is to go straight for stripping all the paint off & trying again

I thought you had been a bit quiet of late good to see you back at it JR and at your attention to detail best

Looking forward to progress on this!

I am wondering why they went to the trouble of moulding the doors, bonnet etc separately. Is it supposed to have opening doors? Or maybe it is a converted static model?

Martin wrote:

...
I am wondering why they went to the trouble of moulding the doors, bonnet etc separately. Is it supposed to have opening doors? Or maybe it is a converted static model?

It's the latter - though saying it's "converted" is a bit of a stretch, I think they just left out the interior, suspension, engine & chassis sprues That also meant leaving out the door, bonnet & engine cover hinges too. The manual shows they should all be held on with tape on the inside.

Looks like I got away with it

My cunning plan now is to put it away, get on with all the spraying on all my other projects, then get everything out again for rubbing out, detail painting, fitting greeblies, & applying decals/transfers when the weather gets cold again.

The weather is not the right one to color anything... A special room would be the best. I have also stopped paint jobs. Either you have to much wind, or it is raining and too hot and after all the humidity is too high

Nice work after all! Looks very nice