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Tamiya 1/24 scale chopped
Fiat 1000 SS Rally Coupe

by Andrew Riddle

 

 

Description

The thing I like about car modelling is the radical chopping that can be done.

When I happened across this nice little Tamiya kit of the Fiat Abarth 695, I got to thinking.

Never one to assemble a car kit as per the instructions I've introduced some changes in favour of improved rally performance...


Construction

First, a sporty looking car needs a long bonnet. So, with razor saw in one hand and putty tube in the other, the surgery started. I cut off the windscreen section forward of the scuttle and halfway back through the roll-top roof. After much trial and error I decided on the distance to move the windscreen to the rear (about 18 mm) and then proceeded to glue it in place. Having filled the resulting gap with some chunks of plastic, I set about 'bogging' the joint. I used Tamiya putty, but next time I'd use CA glue and bicarbonate of soda as this sets virtually instantly and fills gaps nicely.

 



A roll cage of copper wire was soldered together, carefully measured to clear the seats which have been moved back to where the rear seats would normally be. The drivers would have to be very small of stature or their heads would receive a hammering on the rear window!

The interior lining is thin sheet styrene painted an aluminium colour. The seat belts are made of the narrowest ribbon available at the local fabric and craft store. I chose a bright orange for a splash of interior colour. With some narrow strips of coffee tin foil wrapped around as various buckles, they look quite convincing. The dashboard is finished as per instructions with the kit speedometer decals adding a nice touch.

 



My brother, Anthony, donated the wheels and tyres from a 1/25th scale Citroen 2CV. Because they are of a larger diameter I lifted the suspension with blocks of plastic, although the tyres are still virtually touching the wheel arches. This car is perhaps set up for a hard top rally stage. I also steered the wheels as this gives a car so much more animation.

Disk brake rotors were made from the metal parts of some clothing buttons which are already finished in a nice bronze colour. A bash cage made from copper wire protects the rear mounted engine. A chrome piece of an old ball point pen was then added to the end of the muffler as a nice big exhaust pipe. It would scale out at around 100mm in real life - probably overkill for such a small 2 cylinder air cooled engine!

 

Painting and Weathering

After priming the car for painting I first painted the roof, bonnet and sides white before masking the stripes and side number disks with strips of Post-It notes.

The blue colour is Model Master Acryl 'True Blue Pearl" airbrushed straight from the bag. I then fixed the driving lights which come from a Ford Hot Rod. Letraset rub down number were applied after finding the right font.

 

 

I used Bare Metal foil for the first time, on the window trims, which look very pleasing. A good spattering of mud was dry brushed on after fixing on the bumpers. Finally a stretched sprue aerial was added.

Voila! A Subaru munching beast to scare the pants off the WRC brigade!
V...V...VAROOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
 

More Pictures

Click the thumbnails to view larger pictures:

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