Fiat 132 Abarth Rally 1:20

I bought this kit and started it about three/four years ago but it never got beyond what you see now.

Hopefully that's about to change.

A good one to get back into Al.

Bring it on, You did the ecsi kit years ago I seem to remember?

Sure did Shay, together with the Escort, still got them too!............. for now that is. Early attempt at weathering.

I decided to break from my traditional approach of building the chassis, running gear and interior first in case there are any issues with body fit, as the body fit on this one is perfect.

Tamiya supply 'to cut out' masks for most of the lower yellow portions of the body.

HOWEVER.... they are bit of a joke. The wheel arch ones are too slim. To cover the lower edges of the arches means too much blue above and leaving the correct amount of blue above the arches, means a blue lip to the arches and the OLIOFIAT decal bending over the top of the wings. (see photo)



Hope that makes sense.

So I decided to do my own masking, kicking off with Tamiya 'bendy tape'





I've recently been having trouble with gloss clear coat, using UPOL on my slot cars. 6/7 coats and barely a shine...... SO I switched to Halfords automotive clear coat and bingo, two coats produced a nice shine on this one:

I’ve found with the Halfords Lacquer that the high gloss goes off after a year or so.
I might try polishing them up one day.

Finished the masking and now ready for two light clear coats followed by the dark blue.

The eagle eyed may spot that Tamiya got the shape of the wheel arches wrong. The ref photo shows them to be flatted at the top. Tamiya's are more rounded.

I always polish out Halfords clear, it's very "hard" for the want of a different expression, it takes more effort than doing it to a solid halfords (colour coat only)

Al came up with Pro Matic years ago, it's a trade only product over here but you can get it retail in the UK. It's also single pack and is much nicer than Halfords.

Al: Why did you stop using it, I can't remember.

I'd forgotten all about Pro Matic Shay. It's cheaper too. Must get some soon.

Well it's out the paint shop for now. (clear gloss yet to apply)

It may look simple but it was quite a complicated masking job. There are a few minor 'bleeds' (despite clear coating frist) most of which can be hidden underneath decals.

Overall I happy enough with it though.

Very tidy

Thanks Ron.

It's not the best paint job I have ever done but I'm calling it good as I'm going to spray it with some good old rally grime!!

Polish something out for a change Al boy, Turtle wax Scratch remover will do it with a bit of effort, it's a pain in the arse but it's worth it, you already have one muddy version!

I like it Al. I think they look better a bit dirty myself.

Like myself Al, you’ve dipped your toe in rallying, and no doubt spent some time in a club room bar - and you know those lads who clean and polish their cars rarely do well when it cones down to the nitty gritty.
They were more concerned about not scratching and bending their cars to take them to the limit.

I call this ; the morning after the night before.
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Jasus lads I just meant shiny like it was brand new, they weren't even very shiny when they were tested "out of the box"

What engine was in that Fiesta Ron? If it was pre XR2, I suppose you could mate up a 1600 crosflow to the 1300S/Supersport gearbox. I know RS Turo CVH engines, even Zetecs and 5 speed boxes can be made to fit at a price. If I kept my Supersport, it would be worth 35k! Madness

I remember you saying before that you had a Supersport Shay, nice, but the red Fiesta was originally a van which I fitted windows to - and the engine was a 1300 Kent OHV. A fitter and I at the Ford dealership where I worked bought an insurance write-off Supersport between us - I got the engine, and he got the wheels and interior for his converted van. I can’t remember whether it was this one or my other blue Fiesta that I fitted the aftermarket head, manifold and carb tuning kit to.

Tunable little engine Ron, I had much the same mods, the thing flew, 2 litre Sierras only got past it at 100 when I ran out of gearing, you could wind those things off the clock!

Fond memories that are sadly fading into the past.
Kids today don’t seem to be interested in the real world anymore preferring to get their driving kicks on game consoles - and leasing new cars rather than buy older cars to tinker with.

Well talking about old cars, old rubber bits have been doing my head in recently going hard and brittle Ron, MX5 bits had to come down from Northern Ireland, golf bits were easy of course..

I'm 550 Euros lighter in the wallet dept, but both jam jars are running perfectly.