I wanted a stylish car to sit outside my 1930's dollhouse. I searched high and low for a 12th scale car kit. These are thin on the ground. My husband finally tracked down my Bentley Boomer on the internet in a shop in Auckland, New Zealand. See link to Airfix site below. I think they would be easier to find in the UK. This project was a bit daunting for a girl but not a miniaturist! There were lots of parts so my strategy was to start on page 1 of the instructions and work my way carefully through them. I did not remove any parts from their sprues until I was ready to glue them on. Most important! However, in retrospect, this was flawed thinking. Read last paragraphs. Now I want to make another one so I can make a perfect 12th scale car kit - Bentley Boomer. The usual miniaturist's fixation on perfection.
This 12th scale car kit is very detailed. Under the floor pan are axels, differential, gearbox, and all the bits I recognized from my fathers hobby of restoring old cars. I recognized the driveshaft. All these things fit together and move. My only beef at this stage was the recommended glue did not hold all that securely. I eventually resorted to (don't tell dedicated model builders this) my sticky glue and superglue to maintain my sanity.
The dog ate my bonnet!! Image my horror when I found chewed up scraps of green and grey on the floor under the table. The worst thing. I knew the chances of getting another piece the same would be nil. No model manufacturer is going to send me one half of the right hand bonnet. First I cut one out of tin but couldn't get the air vents looking neat enough. So I resorted to the Cricut machine, designed the piece to the exact measurements and printed it out in card, three pieces, which I laminated together. Once curved into shape and painted only a fussy nerdy modeler would criticize it.
Returning to the starting point of assembling this kit - If I did it again I would assemble the engine and supercharger as in the first pages. But I would glue together the cab compartment to have on hand. I would also assemble the front radiator assembly. At the point where you glue together the framework I would then dry fit these units onto the framework. For some reason, probably my own inexperience, the radiator assembly would not fit into the slots on the framework properly after I had glued on the motor assembly. It kept popping up. This created a design problem at the end of the job, as you could imagine. Once everything was glued in place and it was time to position the cab compartment, do you think this would sit right. A lot of swearing went on at this point. Now, although altogether and finished I can still see it sits a little crooked. Rats! The wheels were a challenge. Careful painting was required. In assembling the wheel component, trying to fit 4 little pegs into 4 little round holes that you cannot see is challenging. And you have to do it four times!!
The good thing about a miniaturist making this kit is the vision of an expensive looking set of luggage sitting behind the seats and my previously made golf clubs poking nonchalantly up there as well. It's the vision that keep us going isn't it?
For those who would like a link to the model site, click HERE
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