[driver#8]

One thing that’s bugged me forever is the shape of Scalextric’s MGB. It’s so close to being a really good looking model that it hurts. Also, given that Airfix has had a perfectly good 1/32 mould in stock since dinosaurs roamed the Earth, it’s slightly inexplicable.

Here’s a real B:

And here’s the Scaley one…

What happened at the back end?? Anyone? It looks like the Batmobile! Yes, it’s a bit tubby all over despite the FF motor but to be honest I can live with that. Slot cars are a compromise between scale and practicality. But the rear end? No.

As this one has proven hopeless for racing I’ve decided upon reconstructive surgery, so the first job is to reclaim that gentle slope down from behind the cabin to the rear lights. In all this took about 10 minutes and while I was worried it might wear through the plastic and require filling it’s actually fine.

Instant improvement to me. Now, this surgery has made a mess of the finish so Old Faithful will need a change of clothes. I’ve got an Airfix kit and my plan is to fit the convertible hood and repaint it as Major Dalby’s car from one of my favourite movies, The Ipcress File.

 

[driver#8]

Here's Major Dalby's mount, by the way, played impeccably by the late Nigel Green... whenever one of my younglings is particularly rabid, I can't stop myself from saying: "Listen to me, Palmer... lis-ten to me..."

While I am only lukewarm about the recent ITV remake - in which the corporate teal hues of the network drench every scene as some sort of subliminal marketing device - they did very well with the cars. They just switched them around a bit, so Harry Palmer gets the white MGB instead of the dour navy blue Zodiac Mk2 pool car he trundles round in during the original 'anti-James Bond' spy movie.

Which reminds me... must pick up a Pendle Zodiac.

 

[driver#8]

Yes, it’s a bit tubby all over despite the FF motor but to be honest I can live with that. Slot cars are a compromise between scale and practicality.

Actually, before Simon reads this and thinks that I'm going to let him get away with his designers' mania for bathtub chassis and super-low sills, à la Ford Capri, the tubbiness of the 'B' is nothing to do with the motor, is it? That barely peeps above the bottom of the tray.

No no no. This one is tubby in order to accommodate a full interior. Dobby the Designer clearly thought that this one would be best as a shelf queen, resulting in a lot of lard mounted where you least want it, a magnet dependency and an expanded waistline. Bad Dobby. Naughty Dobby. Dobby will have to punish himself most grievously.

And yet the Capri has a tray interior. Which makes it all the more bewildering. Bad Dobby! Dobby will have to shut his ears in the oven door!*






*Making the assumption that everyone has seen Harry Potter. I do not advocate self-harm, even for Dobby.

 

[Wankel Ickx]

I won't lie, the Scaley 'B never caused the tiniest flicker on my radar but I can imagine many salivating at the prospect but.... Blimey! How do you get a shape that outta whack??

Rhetorical.

 

[42redcat]

Full interiors don’t have to be heavy; you just have to make them thin.
Mike

 

[driver#8]

Well that escalated pretty fast…

I’m actually quite encouraged by this dismemberment. If the front and rear scuttles aren’t moulded to the chassis then I think it could be possible to reduce the tubbiness and make the car handle better. Sadly it won’t be ‘legal’ to race at our club with these mods, but it would be nice if it handled a bit on the home track.

I guess you’re right about weight, redcat, but I always prefer a tray to keep it simple and clear if the motor. On this occasion I’m torn between reusing the stock interior or not. Meanwhile it’s off to dip the red bits I go…

 

[KensRedZed]

One thing that’s bugged me forever is the shape of Scalextric’s MGB. It’s so close to being a really good looking model that it hurts. Also, given that Airfix has had a perfectly good 1/32 mould in stock since dinosaurs roamed the Earth, it’s slightly inexplicable.

The reason the Airfix mould isn't used is because it's way too narrow. The wheel width is 41mm outside to outside of the tires at best. Might as well race a roller-blade. Try one and you'll see.

 

[driver#8]

You just need to Walkinshaw the mould a bit - cut straight down the middle and tease it out a few scale inches!

Mind you, few cars are as tippy as the Scaley one…

 

[driver#8]

I wonder how many 1:1 MGBs are in a similar state to this at any given moment in time. I know that angling is the world’s most popular pastime, but fiddling about with a filler-riddled ‘B’ must be right up there.

I did some work for RM Auctions a few years back, and I remember the auctioneer saying that you could set your watch by a ‘B’. At any point in time, regardless of whether the economy is in boom or bust, a decent example is £12-15k. They were in the Eighties and they are now.

 

[driver#8]

Having made a mess of my lovely ‘limited edition’ (yeah right, one of only 4,500…) bodywork, it’s time to mess up the chassis. At the front and down the sides I just sanded it for a 1mm gap all round. At the back I cut away everything apart from the chassis posts and exhaust pipe which, thankfully, sits right on a body mount post.

Now that’s all done, I can attach the front and rear pieces directly to the upper bodywork and have a car with body float, plus I can then sand some of the excess depth off the far panel to make the rear end less tubby-looking and have the exhaust sit lower than the bodywork, like on the real car.

All sounds straightforward - and it should be - but the rear panel did split in half in the meths when I was stripping it. A minor complication.

I’m going to Araldite the body into a single piece and let it set overnight, then sand the rear body to the depth I want and use filler to get rid of the trench between the upper and lower body panels. Hopefully then it’s time for paint.

 

[KensRedZed]

Having made a mess of my lovely ‘limited edition’ (yeah right, one of only 4,500…) bodywork.

Is that one of 4,500 per hamlet, village, or city?

 

[driver#8]

I’m not sure - but a note to any traders out there, if you’ve still got a ‘one-of-only-4500’ MGB still sitting on the shelf at £65 (or one with a swap meet decal at £95) after all this time then perhaps take a hint.

Whether the results are good, bad or indifferent, at least this ‘Limited’ MGB isn’t going to be sitting on eBay for ever more waiting for someone with more money than sense.

 

[KensRedZed]

I picked this up at a flea market for $40 Canadian funds. It was a good price for a new Scalex car. The yellow colour helps distract from the errors in the body. Looking forward to your corrections.

 

[driver#8]

I really didn’t intend for this to become such an odyssey but was up with the lark this morning sanding and filling the rear valance so the ‘B’ has a slimmer and smoother derrière. Also tidied the chassis around the exhaust and painted it.

Final smooth-down and a shot of primer at lunch, I think. Meanwhile, I am being tempted towards throwing out the front and rear lights and fitting an MRRC 10k slimline ‘home’ motor, and towards a lexan tray interior.

 

[42redcat]

Looking good! That bird’s nest of wires cries out to be simplified, though.
Mike

 

[driver#8]

Yes I think the 10k motor without lights, found a Policar guide adapter to use as well. Looks quite narrow but I guess a standard Slot.It universal will fit it.

As you can see - test fitting the hood from the kit has been a success!

Now to fill the holes for the original roof before priming proper can begin…

 

[justDave]

Starting to look more and more like a “classic” MGB…..

 

[driver#8]

Ran out of automotive plastic primer. Fortunately, our little local model shop was open - he’s done odd hours since Covid as he has to do other jobs to keep the shop going - so I’ve used Humbrol primer. Went on beautifully. Grey rather than white to soak up the red of the plastic.

 

[GRUNZ]

Very nice job. Quality post!

 

[driver#8]

Threat of rain so I rushed on and did the top coats this evening, keeping paint and body on top of the boiler before and after each coat to fool the paint into not going orange-peely!

BMC Old English White costs a bomb but I’ve used Škoda Candy White as it’s a bit creamier. As the much-missed Martin Field used to insist, pure white didn’t exist as a paint before the late ‘70s.

Now I can relax a bit as it’s all indoor work from now on!