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Ratch

Jesper will record his progress in this thread

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and was Jerusalem, builded here
The new No. 2
Airfix Club 500287
IPMS 10983

jhl1908 · Posted: Sun 19 Apr 2009 00:24 am Post subject:

My Wallace and Gromit Anti-Pesto-Van is ready to get started.
And the timing is perfect, with World Snooker Championship just started, my favourite background to building models!

But maybe I just need to see “The Curse of the Were-rabbit” one or two times just to get in the mood.

All the best from Jesper.
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Badwolf · Posted: Sun 19 Apr 2009 19:17 pm Post subject:

Cracking choice!

I'll be following this build with interest, I love Wallace & Gromit!

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"It's life Jim, but not as we know it!" - Dr McCoy
Airfix Club 564448

jhl1908 · Posted: Mon 20 Apr 2009 10:38 am Post subject:

Yesterday I ”forced” my self to watch ”Curse of the Were-rabbit”. Snack

+

+

=

I think I’ll try to make some screen-grabs on the PC to help me painting and detailing.

Regarding details, I just can’t believe the windscreen wipers are moulded on the main bodypart.

Jesper.
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Disorder · Posted: Mon 20 Apr 2009 16:23 pm Post subject:

The sacrifices we make for our hobby.
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Regards Paddy

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There's no point in being a complete fool about it.

jhl1908 · Posted: Mon 20 Apr 2009 20:14 pm Post subject:

A spread of the parts:

And if you think it looks small on the previous picture, then compare it with my 1/24 2CV!

Let the carnage begin!
Heavy Metal

All the best from Jesper.
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jhl1908 · Posted: Mon 20 Apr 2009 21:10 pm Post subject:

I found this review:

http://www.modelingmadness.com/reviews/cars/spahrap.htm

Jesper.
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Ratch · Posted: Mon 27 Apr 2009 14:28 pm Post subject:

Have you had the sprue-cutters out yet Jesper

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and was Jerusalem, builded here
The new No. 2
Airfix Club 500287
IPMS 10983

jhl1908 · Posted: Mon 27 Apr 2009 14:44 pm Post subject:

Oh yes, Ratch.

But no pictures yet.

It is a nice and very “play friendly” model.
But it is not a real scale model of the van from the movie.

I will try to make some changes to make it more like the “real” thing.

My biggest hurtle so far is the need to make new working door hinges.
The kit has nice and robust hinges, but they are totally wrong and not anything near the real hinges.

All the best from Jesper.
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Ratch · Posted: Mon 27 Apr 2009 15:10 pm Post subject:

Sounds good

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and was Jerusalem, builded here
The new No. 2
Airfix Club 500287
IPMS 10983

jhl1908 · Posted: Sun 03 May 2009 18:33 pm Post subject:

W&G Anti Pesto Van.

I’m mostly working with corrections at the moment.
I haven’t taken so many pictures yet, so I will save them to a later post. With before and after pictures.

Rightful or not, I’m not totally happy with this kit.
In my opinion you will have a hard but not impossible task transforming it to a”studio” like model.

Airfix has done a lot to make the finished model sturdy and tough for children to play with.
But by doing this they have made some compromises.

I won’t claim it is my goal to make it as correct as you can, since many details are altered during the movie, and you don’t get a good view of many of them.

Pros:
You get a nice BIG, easily build model, if you do it straight out of the box.
The figures have a great likeness with our cheese eating friends.

The major parts are really good, with only minor sink marks and a smooth finish.
I think it’s perfectly safe to just give the parts a good polish and a clear cote.

Opening doors, and a “wind me up hand” in the front.

The floor and walls in the vans storage room is nicely detailed.

You get a set of paint/brush/glue to build the van and figures; useful if you are new to model making.

Cons:
The plastic is not that easy to work with, it’s rather tough to cut and sand, but that of course make the model more durable when played with.
The bumpers are totally missing any bumps and dents as shown in the movie.
That is really unfortunate since you can’t make them yourself without destroying the plating.
Witch are far too bright anyway.

The door hinges are sturdy and solid but far from real hinges in appearance when the doors are open.

The gas/brake/clutch pedals are wrong and need to be replaced with some scratch build substitutes.

You have to make new door handles.

Gear knob is wrong shape.

Many of the corrosion and rust spots on the van are not placed as the ones in the movie.
The windscreen wipers are moulded into the main body part without any attempt on details.

I don’t like and has never liked Airfix’s numbers only painting guide.

There are no accessories inside the vans storage room.

Many ejection pin marks, but luckily the major number of them are on the inside of the main body parts and are mostly easy to remove.

I wish Airfix would have made the kit without paint/brush/glue. It only adds around £10 to the price and you don’t really want to use them anyway.

Conclusion so far:
Airfix have made an impressive model with great potential, aimed at the younger marked.
But if you as a senior modeller wish to make a more authentic looking model, you need to do much work yourself.

It is a shame Airfix haven’t paid more attention to making the details true to the van in the movie.
How hard can it be to make a gear knob round or make other details look right?

As a great W&G and Aardman fan, I must confess I wouldn’t be without it.

All the best from Jesper.
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jhl1908 · Posted: Sat 09 May 2009 22:15 pm Post subject:

Today I have made some new pedals.

A grab from the film: Airfix’s interpretation: My new ones:

I have decided to paint the van. At first I was quite happy with the thought of a polished clear cote.
But with all the work on the door hinges and handles, there is too much work removing all the small scratches to make a paint-less model look good.

I found the 1270 “Warpac cockpit blue green” from Aero Master coming really close.

Work continues…

Jesper.
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Disorder · Posted: Sat 09 May 2009 22:29 pm Post subject:

I don't even put this much detail into real subjects

Excellent job

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Regards Paddy

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There's no point in being a complete fool about it.

Badwolf · Posted: Sun 10 May 2009 12:09 pm Post subject:

The new pedals look good, a big improvement on the kit pedals.

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"It's life Jim, but not as we know it!" - Dr McCoy
Airfix Club 564448

jhl1908 · Posted: Sun 10 May 2009 19:24 pm Post subject:

Door hinges:
When the doors are closed they look OK, with just a little sag.
But when you open them, you can see why the hinges need to be re-made.

I’m making new hinge parts from sprue. I don’t know how good they will work yet.

Window wipers:
Before and after removing. The lack of details made me do so.
I’ll make new ones from soldered wire or something like that.

Jesper.
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Ratch · Posted: Sun 10 May 2009 19:37 pm Post subject:

I think the door hinge is a compromise Jesper between the real thing and what works at that scale (in a not too complicated manner)

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and was Jerusalem, builded here
The new No. 2
Airfix Club 500287
IPMS 10983

jhl1908 · Posted: Sun 10 May 2009 19:57 pm Post subject:

You are probably right, Ratch.
And it makes the hinges a lot more play friendly. I can imagine Gromit getting in and out MANY times in the hands of younger model appreciators.

The funny thing is, the rear door is made with hinges that works and are true to the prototype.
But personal alterations aren’t that what modelling is all about?

Make the model as you want it.

Jesper.
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TimJ · Posted: Mon 11 May 2009 15:46 pm Post subject:

I'm interested to see how this goes as I used to own an A35 van back in the '80s and have been thinking of buying the kit.
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jhl1908 · Posted: Sun 17 May 2009 21:18 pm Post subject:

I haven’t done that much lately.

But my latest addition is making rubber mats from white glue poured over a corrugated surface and after drying separated from the surface,
cut to shape, painted black and attached to the floor of the van.
The dirt is made with watercolour pencils and a wet brush.

Jesper.
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jhl1908 · Posted: Mon 01 Jun 2009 14:22 pm Post subject:

Now I’m nearly done painting the figures.

I can’t understand why my cameras white balance isn’t better even after adjusting it.
But here they are:

- Jesper.
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