Beetle, done

 

Back in January, I mentioned I'd bought a battered Matchbox VW Beetle, mainly because I felt sorry for it. At the time, Paul B pointed me in the direction of repro engine bay covers. I bought one, and it then sat around for months, until I got around to finishing the project. 

Drilling though the rivet, the model came apart, and I decided to try to strip the old paint off, before a respray. Well, half an hour in full-fat Nitromors didn't shift it. That stuff was put on properly!

In the end, I sanded what I could and then sprayed the car with Halfrods paint. Anoyingly, I didn't have any satin black, but the matt isn't particually matt, so that would have to do. I'd reached the stage where I wanted to finish this more than I wanted it perfect. If I change my mind, more paint won't be hard to do. 

The whitemetal engine bay lid isn't a bad fit. Not worse then then the Lesney original. I don't pretend this is a full restoration. If I wanted that, I'd find the proper plastic polish, something else that has hidden itself. A quick go over with Brasso improves the glazing a lot, but (again) it's not perfect. 

What it is, is back in one piece. As Voltaire said, "Perfect can be the enemy of good" and in this case, it doesn't help that the camera is a bit cruel. The model looks OK, and most importantly, is finished. It's easy to end up with half-built projects because they aren't going to be perfect, but sometimes, ir's better to push on and get the job done.Well, that's my excuse.