Sprite and Midget
I thought I'd have a crack at this above - an Austin Healey Sprite as run at Sebring, and also as to right a 62 Midget with an Ashley hardtop as well, to make a racing pair....
So, here we have an Airfix 1/32 Sprite shell, from the static kit. I picked up an already-assembled static kit and stripped it down. It's obviously an early one, as it's in the nice powder blue plastic - and going to stay that colour, as it's perfect ! And the Midget - this is an F&F Models resin one, lovely starting point with a bit of fettling.....
Just a comment on the mods so far to the resin Midget shell - compared to the Sprite, it was about 3mm too high, so I took 1 mm off the dashboard / scuttle on top, and 2 mm off the bottom edges of the sides. The sill panel lines then needed redoing higher up, plus the rear panel line of the door moving forward. The grille was nice, but far too small, so I've knocked it out, and enlarged the aperture (scratchbuilt grille to come). And finally, the resin thickness was very uneven - paper thin rear needing reinforcing, but 6mm thick sides (that's 8" thick in real money, like an armoured tank!), so filling and grinding aplenty went on.
These cars are TINY, so I'm going for using for using Carrera Go! chassis as above, with a smaller motor; the axle/contrate/rear wheels bit will be cut away, and the motor and its mounts as a separate piece, then the pieces attached to a new chassis pan, with a drive shaft in between, to get the motor as far forward as possible to allow an interior to be fitted as well. Wheels - nice wires for the Sprite, came from a Gunze Sangyo Cadillac. Minilites for the Midget, using the backs of the wheels from the Carrera chassis, plus casting better Minilite inserts, copied from a Revell slot car (Cortina). Tyres are modern reprints of Airfix/MRRC MG 1100 ones, i.e. 13-inchers.
Here is the finalised verion of chassis, with the Carrera axle / contrate section at the rear, the Carrera motor module at the front, joined by a scratched driveshaft made up of brass tube, plus a wheel bearing in a mount to hold the shaft, and a section of electrical wire insulation to hold the shaft bit to the motor shaft.
Here's the Sprite components now. Interior cut down from the static kit and a driver made up from spares box bits, a bit of spare wheel, and painted off in assorted enamels / acrylics. The shell has had interior door detail added, and kit windscreen attached, plus made-up side window frames. All other bits added - lights, slot car spare fuel filler cap etc. White racing roundels done by masking off & spraying with white enamel; numbers made up & printed off on to decal sheet (along with a Sprite badge and number plate).
Finalised chassis pans to the right, with the Carrera rear axle and motor separated, and a drive shaft between made up of brass and aluminium tubing, with a bit of wire insulation plastic to join up. Note also the front axle steering units; there was nothing available to fit the narrow width of these tiny cars, so I've scratchbuilt, using some Airfix bits, and Scalextric guide blades, plus odds-and-sods. Wheels - for the Midget, the rotation screws are being hidden behind Minilite inserts; for the Sprite, I've split the front wheels in half, the front half hiding the screw through the inner half, and all held together by the tyres.
Midget - bits done & ready to paint On the body, windscreen frame made from a modified Lindberg Sprite one. In front of the shell, made-up new, bigger radiator grille, slot car spare headlights, and made-up indicators. Rear view mirror inside / behind the windscreen aperture. Along the front, fuel cap, made-up rear lights, assorted glazing - and a made-up roof ( an Ashley fibreglass hardtop ), done by making a basic shape from laminated-up thick plastic sheet, then carving to shape, scoring in the bootlid panel line, and adding window framing, rain guttering, hinges and handle.
A view of the interiors - until the lids go on and they disappear ! I made the Midget interior by replicating the Sprite one, with some detail differences like the MG badge on the glove compartment.
Finished Sprite, with lid on - to make the lid, I used the clear soft top that came with the kit, but much modified, lengthened, top section filled & rounded off, catches added, rear window cut out, framed, new glass, added lipping etc, painted off-white. Then a general tidy-up and cleaning, finishing off with the last details - the windscreen wipers - and by glossing up with Klear
Finished Midget - shell painted off with matt white enamel undercoat, topped by off-white Vallejo acrylic. Bare-metal foil for the chrome bits. Final build bit - windscreen wipers - done. Racing numbers are generic decals. Chome work protected with gloss varnish, and a couple of coats of Klear to gloss the body and seal in the decals.
