Fixing the pink Mini

 

Long-term readers may remember a pink Mini I built for a friends' daughter a couple of years ago. Well, it's still around, but the wing mirror had been knocked off on one side. 

Looking at the damage, they obviously weren't strong fittings as bought, because I'd added a length of plastic rod through the middle to add extra strength.

Tasked with fixing this on a patio table while being plied with cookies, I drilled into both mirror and door (I had been warned about this so took a small toolkit) and fitted a short length of brass wire instead of the plastic. 

Plan A had been to refit with superglue, but on the offchance I could use something stronger, I took a tube of epoxy along as well. With a sharpened matchstick, I managed to mix up a tiny amount and quickly, and neatly refitted the mirror using it. In the sunshine, the glue set fast in 10 minutes as promised on the pack, and the mirror now seems as well fixed as ever. 

Only time will tell if the young driver manages to detach it again though. Still, being paid for repairs in cookies isn't all bad.

Painting a Mini - In the pink

What did I buy on my first visit to Tornado Books and Hobbies?

Pink paint. Tamiya pink paint.

Well, it's not a colour I tend to keep in stock. I don't think I've ever painted something properly pink. Flesh colour, but not proper pink.

Anyway, I wasn't entirely sure of the paint codes, but reasoned that the firm wouldn't make different shades with spray and brushable versions.

That they produce it at all in impressive - I wonder what Japanese modellers use it for?

Anyway, the body received a coat of white primer and then despite it not being the ideal temperature to spray things, I heated the up the metal with a hairdryer and shot some pink in all the shuts.

It seemed to be covering well. Better still, the paint dried quickly. I'd allowed for coats to harden overnight but the stuff was handlable within minutes.

Covering the basic body worked well, but I was worried about the plastic bits. Out of curiosity, I hand-painted them without stripping the purple paint away. It was buffed with a fibreglass pencil to reduce the colour a bit and provide a surface to key to, but after this, a couple of coats did the job. I was impressed and relieved! OK, you can see a slight shade different on the wind mirrors compared to the doors, but it's a not enough of an issue to have me digging out the Superstrip.

Around the top edge of the body, there is a chrome strip. My bow-pen did a reasonable job here. Not perfect, but good enough for what is a toy. The silver paint might be going off and didn't flow quite as well as I might like, but it stayed where I wanted it and that's good enough. I'm sure the new owner won't be too worried.

After that, reassembly was (to quote Haynes), the reverse of the above. As I couldn't heat-seal plastic parts in place, there is a lot of epoxy glue holding them in instead. This is a toy to be played with and if possible I don't want bits falling off.

I'll admit to being quite pleased with this. The colour is great. The paints, a brand I've not used for many years, worked really well. I hope its new owner likes it as much.

Painting a Mini - Disassembly

I've been asked for a model Mini as a Christmas present for a friend. It has to be a convertible, and the new owner loves pink things. She also doesn't read this blog, so by writing up the job I'm not spoiling a surprise.

The best I could find was this 1:24 version. Sadly, they only sell purple, so I needed to do some work.

Taking the model apart was interesting. On the positive side, the main bits are screwed together. Finding the last pair are under the rear wheels which have to be pulled out on their axle to permit access.

There are a few more screws for the doors and windscreen. Most of the other bits are clipped in place and come away with a bit of waggling.

Worst are the lights which are heat-sealed inside the body. Carving away the heated "mushroom" and then poking out worked pretty well. At this point, I realised that I needed to work in a box are things like the front spotlights are very tiny, easy to use and difficult to replace. I piled them up on the seats hoping all the bits would stay together.

Next, the metal bits found themselves in a bath of DIY store paint stripper. I'm pleased to say this worked a treat and the shell was quickly reduced to bare metal. The trick is to be patient. Let the stripper do its job, the poke at the metal with an old toothbrush.

Wear thick gloves too. I started with nitrile ones and my fingers started tingling. They don't offer enough protection it seems.