Well i've finished...(almost) so thought I'd put a few notes up here on how it went and will post a few photos in due course.
Toylander - Land Rover Series 1
? Bought kit June? 08
? Started build May 09, completed (95%) Sept 09 (didn?t do much during July & Aug)
? Body tub ? easily and quickly assembled. MR MDF was a joy to work with?..so much better than normal MDF.
? Had to trim a few mm of back of ext (side) panels to get all to line up at the back ? think due to me using 20x20 batten
? Dry fitted trim, axles, brakes, steering, bonnet, tailgate etc.
? Removed all, filled body with plastic padding, sanded ? repeated a few times
? Ordered paint from the Paint man ? Wolverhampton ? prompt delivery
? Bought rollers and new (Hamilton gold brushes) rollered 1st primer coat on but too much orange peel, sanded down ? silly. The 2nd coat with a brush (better finish) Wet n? dried down (friend in 2cv club (former Citroen dealer) told me key was to add little fairy liquid into water) Then undercoated, x2 and wet n?dried between coats. Then glossed x2 and wet n? dried between coats.
? Metal parts were all rattle can sprayed. (sprayed filler pieces to windscreen silver not black ? think they blend in better) Wheels (was lazy here and only painted one side ? started with brush ? too many brush marks so sanded down and spayed with rattle can primer etc. Brush applied gloss coats x2 wet n?drying between each.
? Assembly ? thought I?d have it done in a day?..ha ha! Started Friday night ? 80% completed sun night (enough for an under the cover of darkness drive down the road!!) ? didn?t rush too much as was worried about bashing and scratching paint. Wiring looked very complicated?..BUT worked through it slowly and it was fine- in fact fairly simple. Installed two motors with speed controller under accel?r pedal and installed cut out switch (am subsequently paranoid about pushing it) Put batteries in, jacked up car, switched on and to my amazement everything worked!
? Next two nights spent assembling the windscreen, bonnet hold down catches, number plates?..
? Not quite finished?..but the wife was back from her business trip and so I had to leave the garage and spend more time in the house!
? Following weekend ? the unveiling ? Our son (2 ?yrs) thought it was great ? we took it to the Stray, 240 acres of grass park in Harrogate ? plenty of space to let him loose, plenty of admiring looks and complimentary comments en route. We had a great time.
? (At time of writing) Still to spray side and rear sills silver and paint the front and rear circular indent black, fix on rear handles, fix front escutcheon to bumper and fix alumin angles to back vertical corners.
? In summary ? I really enjoyed the build ? the tub came together very well and quickly as did the assembly ? The painting (or rather the wet n? drying between coats) was tortuous and seemed to take for ever. Decided not to spray as I didn?t have any spray equipment and comments on the forum were that it was easier to touch up hand painted paintwork (although spray gave a better finish) Spoke to Richard whilst painting he told me cost of sending off to be sprayed ? if I was doing it again ? I?d send it off to be sprayed! All that said ? I?m quite pleased with the overall paint finish. I studied the instructions before starting the build (time well spent) they appear quit involved ? but when you get into it are really quite simple and easy to follow.
? Would I do it again ? you bet?.! (but if you?d asked me whilst I was painting it I?d probably have said no) Just as we?ll I?d build another one as my wife bought me the wheels, draw bar and axle to make the trailer! ? think I?ll have to earn some more brownie points before I?m allowed back out into the garage to start that build.
? I ordered the land rover scaled badge from Gavin (having seen dales? photos) ? It looks great ? so will fix it on this w?end.
? Issues
? The parking brake dowel comes off the end of the plate (not sure what to do about this, may be weld on an extension dowel) Need to make a fabric cover/protection to go on tow bar otherwise tailgate bashes against tow bar when open (or chain stays ? but I?m less keen on these)
? Got a bit of a clunking noise from offside motor(chain) spoke to Richard who thinks it is most likely mis alignment of wheel and motor cog, I?ve had a tinker and improved it but its got worse again so think I?ll have to have another tinker ? may be motor slipped a bit? Richard also kindly supplied a new chain link in case mine was faulty ? will try that.
? I think I wasn?t supposed to screw down and paint over the rear seats?..well too late now! Means getting to chains has been more difficult ? but just have to do it from below.
Photos to follow.
