Heller's 1/8 Citroen Traction Avant

[Deleted member 3568]

Hi all well some of you may know I sold a couple of my ships so got 400 quid burning a hole in my pocket so I've ordered this and roys dvd to build it by.

 

[eddiesolo]

Sounds like a good one Ken, knowing you it will be something different.

 

[dougie]

Did you make all the 400 from the ships? Nice one mate, that's a great effort!

 

[Deleted member 3568]

Yep Dougie the La Reale and the Royal Sovriegn (still to finish) and a commission for the Airfix Wasa.

 

[Deleted member 3568]

Yep Si it is either going to be languishing in a shed or barn or in a garden with a tree growing out of it.

 

[eddiesolo]

I like the sound of it, and at that scale the weathering and detail of a wreck should really pop!

 

[Deleted member 3568]

Hi all well it arrived today, and it is mahoosive


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there are 3 or 4 sprues to each bag, in the pic below the rule devides the 2 kits, in the 1/12 kit there is 1 sprue in each bag apart from the black sprue which has 2


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Just to give you an idea of how big this kit is, that is a 1/12 kit box on top of it


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one tip i've already learnt is dont take the stuff out of the box till your ready to build it (unless you have a degree in astrophysics) you wont get them all back in and close the lid.

 

[papa 695]

Very nice Ken. It should keep you busy for a while

 

[takeslousyphotos]

Good choice Ken...... I"m sure you`'ll do a blinding job....... and congrats on the sales. Well done that man.

 

[Deleted member 3568]

Hi I've been given a superb idea for this, I am going to have it in a barn being readied for a mission by the French resistance with the cross of lorraine and a tricolour on it, the possibilities are endless, need to find some 1/8 figures and things like bren guns or make them from scratch I've been doing some research and this was available in blue irise (which is apparently a course metallic where the flakes aluminum were bigger than modern colours) if I can find I will do it that colour or ac615 blue marine which it was also available in, since I'm on hols from Monday I won't be starting it for a while (lots of other stuff to finish first) but (assuming I can get internet) being on hols will give me lots of time for research.

 

[Marc Stock]

Sounds great ken. Will be watching this with interest

 

[Deleted member 3568]

Hi all well I've made a start on this mammoth build (and thats without putting it in a dio) tbh once I looked at the instructions, without roys dvd I would have closed the box and put it away again.


I've read loads of reviews on this and they've all said the engine is badly warped and had to use some reinforcing or some such to make it square, I recon I've been lucky as mine has been a perfect fit (so far) I've even taken pics inside so you can see I've used no tabs or reinforcments ats all (I just hope this continues for the rest of the kit.View attachment 122369

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[Deleted member 3568]

Hi all been working on this engine (there are more parts to just the engine in this kit than the whole Shelby kit)


to give an idea just how detailed this kit is, that little nut is a separate part (I had to use my PE pencil to attatch it)and that tin of humbrol is one off the normal sized ones, just to give an idea how small that nut is.


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with the under coat on I can see a few bits of filling I've missed.

 

[tommy1drop]

Going to be following this build Ken

 

[Deleted member 3568]

Hi all filled the little gaps, now on with the rest of the engine.


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[monica]

nice start so far,ken,o_O


and grats on the sale as well,nice to have a few bob ,

 

[Deleted member 3568]

] Hi all another update, if you will indulge me a bit also a little tutorial for my brother(who was asking about rust effects) Jim here's one its called the salt method, I realise you don't have an airbrush (this is how its usually done) so as an experiment I did this with a brush, and I must say I'm very pleased with it.


First of all you paint your rust colour on the part.


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By the way you need course sea salt and normal dinner time salt(to give different textures (table salt is too uniform))


so you get some water on your brush and put it where you want your rust then sprinkle the salt on.


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allow the water to dry then apply your top colour (this is usually airbrushed on as the salt is very fragile and easily knocked off) but I found if you thin the paint to the same consistency you would to put it through an airbrush and use the softest brush you have it can be brushed on.


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allow it to dry


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then brush it off


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I have an assortment of brushes which I didnt clean off properly so the pain has hardened the bristles and make them ideal for this task, the more rust you want to show the harder you scrub, this is not finished yet needs a few washes but need it to thourgly dry first the give it a coat of matt varnish so that if the washes dont look right I can get them off without ruining the effect I already have.


Here endeth Jims lesson.


Since I can find no definitive reference on the engine colour (every pic I've looked at it's been another shade of green) but since I'm using CAT's info for the body colour that is what I will be using for the engine colour. The last pic shows how big the engine is thats a 1/24 car .


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[Robert1968]

Hi Ken just caught up with this one and boy that's a big engine ( is it for a tug boat maybe?


This Citroen is gonna be ( excuse my French ) bloody huge


Maybe it can pull Scotts Dora ??


I'm in and watching


Love the salting method for the rusting effects


Robert

 

[Dave1973]

Excellent work with the salt, looks really authentic. I'm loving this build!

 

[Dave Jay]

Just seen thid mate and its impressive, that engine is huge and I'm loving the salt method on the manifold, I've read about it but never seen it done, going to gice it a go someday.


I got a little distracted by the Camaro in the pics! Would love to build one of those one day!


Looking forward to all your builds both present and future.