Tamiya Escort Cosworth Michelin Pilot 24153

Yesterday I moved one of my escorts from unused to part started.

Sprues and box art




I bought the first kit around 6 years ago but unbeknownst to me the decals weren’t too good and they are cracked, the wheel and interior decals on a separate sheet are worse with more cracks and basically unusable so that messed that one up before I even started it. Don’t know if you can see them, the sheets also marked at the bottom.



I bought a new kit this year with the best decals I could find and put it in the cupboard with the other kit.

Since then KMP have released replacement decals on a preorder. I was delighted and knowing my bad application of decals I ordered 2 sets straight away.

Problem, After googling for a pe set which I’ll order shortly. I found that the paint I’d bought previously could well be a different shade compared to the new decals. Bit of a shake and matchup it seems they are.





So here’s the dilemma, buy the paint to match the new ones (£14 minimum or £40 ish with the paint and pe set) or just use the old ones hoping they don’t die on me. If they do die I’ll have to buy the paint anyway and if I just used the new ones I could potentially sell the other kit with the original set and the new spare set could also be sold separately for a ridiculous price when the preorder has ended. Also with the DMModels escorts coming out at the end of the year i feel it could boost the price for the old ones.

After routing around in the cupboard I found a set of decals for a repsol variant too, didn’t even know they were there, not sure if they are complete as they have a cut up sheet in the bag.

So I’ve moved forward with the escort.

Firstly I primed and painted it but I was worried that having a dark primer would change the overall colour.




So I painted it white and then yellow again




A few days drying and on with the blue. Decanted for a tamiya spray can and put through the airbrush, found a build online and tried to get the masking line in pretty much the same place.




Today I’ve painted the wheels, dashboard, brake discs, red things for inside and the roll cage.





That’s all for now.

Cheers

Those colors really "pop". It's going to look great !

Cheers Sam, I hope so

Keep going Ash!

Nice work - and yes, it’s the decals that make or break these cars. Best of luck Ash.

Thanks people.

I think my braincells are going - I know I have had one of these Cosworth Escorts, but I can’t remember what happened to it.
Proof that I had one is that I used the OZ wheels on this hybrid Mini ! 🥴

So they are! Ha, I’ve got some of those
What kit is the mini? That greens nice too.

Going to give it until Monday then clear it ready for the decals.
The pe set I mentioned earlier I haven’t bought. Looking at the set and comparing it to the actual build, the only thing you can see are the grills on the front. 30 quid + postage for 2 small grills isn’t really worth it, I’m sure I can buy some sort of metal sheet from somewhere for way cheaper than that and so the hunt begins

I have considered buying detail kits from time to time, but the cost often outweighs the need.
Both of those cars are sold and long gone. I can’t remember the manufacturer of the Mini, but it was a kerbside kit - as was the green Mustang in the form of a click together promo that I got from the local Ford dealer.

Wow I wouldn’t have ever known it was a thing from dealers without you saying.
Kerbside being the type of cars I build with no engines just interior and body?
If so an engine is a daunting thing. I don’t have many but there’s a camel peugeot in my cupboard and I was tempted to do it but it has an engine. Something like this I’d rather put on the shelf as 2 separate pieces, Instead of hiding it in the engine bay. Which would include trying to make some sort of stand for it to sit on. I’ll deal with it when the time comes

I completely understand why you prefer to build kerbside models Ash, particularly when building rally cars - knowledge of the engine is essentially superfluous and it’s driving skills that are the key, closely followed by recognition of the different liveries. We all recognise Colin McCrae’s Blue Subaru, but how many know the BHP of the engine? Not me, for sure.
I see no problem if you glue the bonnet down on the ‘Camel’ Peugeot, and treat the car as a kerbside.

After about two hours searching for a photo that I knew I had to back up my story that I got my 1/25th Mustang from a Ford Dealer, I eventually found it. It was still on the card in my digital camera. Doh!
I bought two for about £4.99 each, which I spied in a glass cabinet in the Parts Department in 2016. Just supplied in Red plastic with black tyres, in simple clear poly bags.

You need a proper hot rod kit Ash with what my Missus calls "a big stupid engine sticking out through the bonnet" God help us all...lol

The V8s are easy enough to do the plug leads.

The peugeot will probably end up with the bonnet glued and there really wasn’t any need to prove your story, I believed you. I bet they no longer do this like that which is a real shame as Alpha Model did a really nice rocket bunny Yaris and we’ve been toying with the idea of a Corolla and that would have been a lovely Brucie Bonus.
Shay Ive got a charger with a huge blower on the top but I’ve built it, It’s an AMT fast and furious one.
I do have a mongoose dragster another Amt or revell kit and that’s more engine than anything else

My old man bought Saab 900 back in the day, I got a plastic nice model in about 1/16th I think.

Promo, that's where the kits came from.

Wow, you learn something new everyday.

I had a google yesterday, I was very surprised at how many different’ dealer promos’ for sale there were out there but It’s not something I’ve ever thought about.

Unfortunately I didn’t see any model kits only diecast

I was speaking with someone within a group who suggested I flat down the blue and redo it because the finish wouldn’t be very good.

So I did, there’s a join line due to a taping error but I think I’ll be able to get rid of it, the finish is far better now, the blue had 2 days drying and still wasn’t dry and according to what I’ve read it’s supposedly less than a day.




Cheers

Drying times vary with different paints and manufacturers, plus room temperatures. Best advice I have had was if in doubt - give it a week !
Looking good Ash.

I gave it 5 days then tried to get rid of the join lines I’ve created. Seems to be ok but I guess when it comes to laying the large decals I’ll find out.
(Add pic here once taken.. memo to self)
Decals.. For some strange reason I’ve been wanting to get a bit of colour on the wheels and so I did. These are aftermarket decals and I’ve only ever used the included ones or some replacement kit ones.
What I didn’t realise until I went to take the first wet one from the backing sheet. The decals are covered in film, I assume it’s to stop the colour bleeding and pretty similar to what happens if you made your own and used the micro scale decal sealer stuff (dunno, never used it) anyway you have to cut the decals from the sheet following all the curves etc. so now I’ve got a square decal to go over a round portion of the wheel and because it’s one piece it covers the wheel nuts so I’d be unable to paint them. The decals are quite thick so I was able to cut around the edge and make it circular then once it was dry I cut out the middle the best I could with a sharp blade. Lucky save but lesson learnt.

That sounds about right Ash for AM decals.

Most AM decals are in fact one big decal in effect.

You need to cut as close to the decal as possible in order to cut away as much clear as possible.

The decals have been tricky, the ones you’d expect and also I made a mistake on the rear, meaning to put the p&O decal on the bumper first to make it easier to match up the Mobile on the rear I got tired.. forgot and boom, out of line and stuck fast.
If I strip it and start again I’ll no doubt get the things in the right place but I could end up messing them up in places I haven’t done too badly on so it’s best to leave it. Decals are really thick, I’m hoping the clear makes it look better, we will see.








I cut the pilot one in half but the light pod will cover the cut

Just saying ;
I’ve plonked on decals on real rally cars and I recall one instance when I had less than an hour to fit them before the car had to go - and it was all done by eye, no measuring up. Believe me Ash, not all decals are perfectly in place.
I once checked out a Toyota rally car on display at the NEC, and the decals miss-matched on all of the panels.

Lovely job there Ash!

I can believe that Ron, only with my error it’s too noticeable.. for me anyway. Hoping the clear hides some of the lumps and bumps but
I could do with some easy cars.. easy in that they have no rally markings on and straight forward paintwork. I have a couple of porches but I’m not a fan of Porsches in general so I don’t know why I bought them. The purple one I built years ago still looks like it did when I built it, just a bit dusty.

Thanks shay

Next up is a Brian James trailer. Not decided on the colour combo but it’s probably going to have some blue which I originally bought for this escort as it’s going underneath the car when it’s finished