Scale Auto Replica's
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Trabant 601 Deluxe
The thought of building another Trabant hadn't really crossed my mind, I've already build the saloon version, see here http://geoffbrownsmodelling.webs.com/revell-trabant-601s and also built the Universal (Estate) version, see here http://geoffbrowns-model-making.webs.com/revell-trabant-universal and I also have the Van version of the 601 on the go, http://geoffbrowns-modelling.webs.com/
But this one came my way free, so how could I refuse ?, the only problems was that the bodyshell and all the other body parts had been spray painted in a light blue, and not very well at that, so the first job was to remove the paint without damaging the plastic underneath, so for this I went to my trusted method of using Fairy Power Spray, this time it took a lot longer than normal, but not knowing what type and brand of paint was used really didn't help matters any, but after a few days more Fairy Power spray was re-applied, and left again for a few more days, after that a good stiff brush was used to removed the last of the paint and the plastic was back to it's natural state, a few stains wouldn't come out of the plastic, but this will be covered using plastic primer, As I have built a couple of the 601S models now, this one will be built as a 601S "Deluxe", so this one will be painted in Geniune Trabant Papyrus white with a Panama Green roof and chrome bumpers, these will be done using Alclad lacquers.
Photo's Above :- (Top Left) Model as it arrived, (Top Centre)Bodyshell being stripped, (Top Right) Body after being in the stripper for a few days, Photo's Below Left & Centre :- Front & Rear lamp housings fitted, Photo Bottom Right :- Front seats with backs fitted and gaps filled with 2 part polyester bondo
Photo's Above :- Showing the bodyshell in primer, Photo far right shows the body shell in a lighter grey primer, as the body will be painted in Papyrus White, while the roof panel was left in a darker primer, as that will be painted in a darker colour, (Panama Green)
Photo's Above:- Front & Rear bumpers painted in gloss black enamel, as this is a "Deluxe" model, they will be done using chrome Alclad lacquers
Photo's Above :- Front & Rear bumpers airbrushed using Alclad Chrome lacquer
When it comes to the inner wings and bulkhead I deviate slightly from the instructions, when it come to section 6 & 5, i do things a little different, mainly because plastic cement works much better on bare plastic plus I want the inner wings and bulkhead to look like they have been welded together, pretty much how they would have been done at the factory, if you do it the way the instructions say, there will be a join line between all of the parts, plus it makes it easier to paint them as a complete unit.
The inner wings are held and clamped in position on the chassis using spring clamps on the mounting points, while the bulkhead is fixed temporary into place and held with the same spring clamps on their mounting points, liquid cement is applied to the joint between the three parts, no cements is applied to the mounting points and it is best to put the chassis upside down while the cement dries up, otherwise the cement could run down the joint and fix the parts to the chassis, the parts need to be removed from the chassis once the glue has dried up, the glue joint can be strengthened once the parts have been removed from the chassis, what were left with when the parts have been removed from the chassis can be see on the right of the above image, Parts B110 (Front Spring Support) and A10 (The Front Suspension spring) can be added at this time.
