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An MGA was the second car I owned and thus I have a soft spot for them. A car with a genuine racing parentage with those parents having always held a fascination for me, in particular the 1955 Le Mans cars. The introduction of the SCX rally cars provided a fairly quick means to provide such a model. The picture below shows almost the standard car, the non-standard part being the etched wheels.
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This will be a fairly swift build if I can get the paint on before the weather breaks, with probably less than half a dozen progress entries. The first of the entries involves the strip down and one small mod.
My first action was to determine how easy the plastic (from which the body is made) is to work on. The fact that in a few places paint has been applied was encouraging. My test medium was Cyano adhesive (Superglue) and proved positive after light abrasion of the surface.
Armed with the knowledge that the project was practical/possible, a rapid strip down was made, rapid that is, except for the last bit.
Most attachments were made by means of the usual method, a plastic spigot melted with a soldering iron. A brief test with a scalpel showed that the melted spigot was easily chipped off and the attached part removed. The order was lighting assembly, bumper, sidelights, cockpit assembly, rear lamps, fuel tank cap, wipers, mirror and screen. The operation was not rushed, and took perhaps an hour.
Less easy were the headlamps which were almost certainly Superglued in place. I hate wasting parts, so even though I was not going to use these parts I wished to keep them in good order. The lamps were detached by a gradual process with removal of material from behind the lamps. Once the lamp mounting boss on the inside was removed, pressure on the remaining parts of the lamps was sufficient to remove the lamps. One rim was split (separate 'chromed' parts) but both lamps were left with about 1mm of the original mounting spigot intact.
The one part left undisturbed was the grille. Most of the slats on the right hand side required removal, thus it was felt preferable to support the grille during the removal process. With a few holes drilled, shaping was started. One of the grille mounting spigots was located in the area to be removed, so as work progress, removal of material became more and more gentle. Eventually the spigot was detached, and finishing was done with extreme care. On completion, the grille was removed, and the supporting bodywork cut back a little. The images below show work to date.
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Body interior;
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I feel no need to modify any part of the actual chassis.
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Comments;
The body on this car is very strong. The force exerted to finally remove the headlamps was very great indeed, not so much as a crack was made.
As built the performance is effective with good grip from the tyres. My test track is non-magnetic so I can't comment on this aspect. The move to the narrower Scaley tyres has been detrimental to performance.
The next progress entry should hopefully take things up to the stage where the body is ready for paint.
Peter.
This will be a fairly swift build if I can get the paint on before the weather breaks, with probably less than half a dozen progress entries. The first of the entries involves the strip down and one small mod.
My first action was to determine how easy the plastic (from which the body is made) is to work on. The fact that in a few places paint has been applied was encouraging. My test medium was Cyano adhesive (Superglue) and proved positive after light abrasion of the surface.
Armed with the knowledge that the project was practical/possible, a rapid strip down was made, rapid that is, except for the last bit.
Most attachments were made by means of the usual method, a plastic spigot melted with a soldering iron. A brief test with a scalpel showed that the melted spigot was easily chipped off and the attached part removed. The order was lighting assembly, bumper, sidelights, cockpit assembly, rear lamps, fuel tank cap, wipers, mirror and screen. The operation was not rushed, and took perhaps an hour.
Less easy were the headlamps which were almost certainly Superglued in place. I hate wasting parts, so even though I was not going to use these parts I wished to keep them in good order. The lamps were detached by a gradual process with removal of material from behind the lamps. Once the lamp mounting boss on the inside was removed, pressure on the remaining parts of the lamps was sufficient to remove the lamps. One rim was split (separate 'chromed' parts) but both lamps were left with about 1mm of the original mounting spigot intact.
The one part left undisturbed was the grille. Most of the slats on the right hand side required removal, thus it was felt preferable to support the grille during the removal process. With a few holes drilled, shaping was started. One of the grille mounting spigots was located in the area to be removed, so as work progress, removal of material became more and more gentle. Eventually the spigot was detached, and finishing was done with extreme care. On completion, the grille was removed, and the supporting bodywork cut back a little. The images below show work to date.
Body interior;
I feel no need to modify any part of the actual chassis.
Comments;
The body on this car is very strong. The force exerted to finally remove the headlamps was very great indeed, not so much as a crack was made.
As built the performance is effective with good grip from the tyres. My test track is non-magnetic so I can't comment on this aspect. The move to the narrower Scaley tyres has been detrimental to performance.
The next progress entry should hopefully take things up to the stage where the body is ready for paint.
Peter.
