Date: Thursday, 18 October 2007, at 8:30 a.m.
So I started work on the Citroen today. For those of you who have not seen this kit before, here are pics of the kits instructions & contents.
Date: Friday, 19 October 2007, at 9:04 a.m.
I'm going to try something different with this build. I'm going to try and post progress shots every day until it's done. We will see how this goes! First installment, basic engine done.
The silver part is the front of the engine and actually is the transaxle. It's painted Tamiya Metallic gray. Engine is custom mixed Tamiya flat & gloss green to give it a semi gloss look. Valve cover is painted Krylon Ultra Chrome. Various other things on the engine is picked out with gold & black to add visual interest to the engine. I still need to paint & install the starter and exhaust manifold and do a little touchup with green to clean up some departing lines. Then step 1 of the instructions will be completed. INTERESTING NOTE: The fuel pump (part number 114 if you can see it in the pic above) was actually on the glass tree. So I painted the bottom of this part aluminium and left the rest of it clear, just like back in the old days of fuel pumps! Neat little enhancement to the kit.
More tomorrow
Date: Saturday, 20 October 2007, at 10:52 a.m. I have the floor flocked and the seats painted Testors Fabric gray. The rear seat is funny in that the cusion goes on the floorboard while the back is glued inside the body. We will see how it goes together.
Another look. The front seats are 4 piece in that the cusions & backs glue to mounting brackets that attach to the big black bar you see. There was a big "Heller" molded to the floorboard in the rear section that needed to be sanded smooth. There was also a lot of pin marks on the firewall that I sanded down. Engine is complete for now, here are some outside pics of it.
Exhaust manifold is painted Tamiya gun metal while the exhaust pipes are Krylon Ultra chrome.
Nothing major has cropped up yet as far as building it is concerned. It needs a bit more cleanup than I'm used to (I have been building Fujimi & Tamiyas recently) but the cleanup is not to unreasonable yet. Well, this is it for now. I'm off the the MAMA meeting!
Date: Saturday, 20 October 2007, at 4:19 p.m.
Got some more painting & interior work done.
The seats are "finiky" to put together. Interior door panels are painted with Dupli-color gray primer. Pay particular attention to the instructions for the rear suspension, it is very easy to assemble it wrong (don't ask me how I know). The rest of the exhaust system painted Krylon Ultra Chrome.
That's it for now :-)
Date: Monday, 22 October 2007, at 4:23 a.m.
I have the major components of the front suspension assembled. I think Heller made this overly complex. Check out the drawing below, each axle/spindle is 5 parts. The 2 piece spindles are especially finiky. Again, if your putting this one together, study the drawings and double think how you are putting it together. I had to redo the spindles because I put them together wrong the first time.
This front suspension assembly goes together on the engine. What I did was to assemble the axles/spindles first then put part #23 on the engine. There are 2 holes at the top of #23 that fit into parts #24 on the engine. These are the black things pointing out from the engine in this pic below. I glued part #71 onto #37 & let it dry. I positioned #23 on the engine, then glued in each axle shaft. After I had them installed, (the axles angle "down"), I glued on part #37, trapping the spindle piviot points between the two parts. Here are some pics of the final assembly.
As far as I can tell, this is the only place that the front suspension/radiator, and front fenders attach! The engine slides into the front of the body and sits on 2 motor mounts. (Part #38 in the pic below.) I do hope the tops of #23 & #37 will glue to the body someplace! I'll let you know more about this later.
So it's critical that you get parts #24 & #38 assembled properly because if not it's going to make the front of the body off (I think). Here is the body painted with a few coats of Tamiya Gloss black.
I'm not sure if I want to try another few coats or not on it. I'll let ya know. This morning I hope to get the rest of the front suspension assembled. I'm painting the shocks red for some contrast (hey, they are Monroe shocks okay?) That's it for now, thanks for looking!
Date: Monday, 22 October 2007, at 8:40 a.m. Shocks, splash pans, and wheels painted. Here you can see the 2 individual oil (?) lines that run up to the transaxle. Radiator & suppport bracket is all I have left in this step to do. Here is the step I skipped.
Once I get the body completed, assembly should be pretty fast since I'll have most of the sub assemblies done (interior, engine/front suspension & rear suspension/exhaust). Then it's just a matter of putting on the chrome and finishing up the front fenders & hood. Thanks for reading!
Date: Tuesday, 23 October 2007, at 10:05 a.m.
I'm 5 days into this build so far and am now playing around with the finish. I went home last night and shot some more Tamiya black over the body. While it was drying I noticed some bubbles on the drivers side. Drats! This morning I did some wet sanding on the trouble spot and almost got it cleaned up. Another go round with the sand paper and another shot of black and I should be good. I gave the wheels a shot of Tamiya clear to give them a little shine this morning too. I'm hoping that I can get the paint staightened out this evening so that I can put the flocking on the inside of the roof tomorrow. I'm going to use the same silver/gray flocking material I used on the floor to simulate a headliner. I still need to shoot the dash gloss black and get it detailed before I can start the final assembly. Anyway, here is my inspiration pic, I hope mine turns out kinda like this one!
Date: Tuesday, 23 October 2007, at 8:28 p.m.
Well, I was able to fix (kinda) the bad spot on the paint, so I'm calling the finish "done." I may do a bit of polishing with rubbing compound a bit later but for now, stick a fork in it.

Before I sanded/painted

After I sanded/painted. It's not perfect, but it will do. This is just Tamiya gloss black sprayed out of the can, no clear or polishing at all. Not bad.

Tomorrow I really screw it up by putting gray flocking on the inside of the roof :-) (I HOPE not!). All in all it's building up nicely, nothing too major to complain about (except for the 14 piece front end!!!) and the fact that the instructions are a bit vague in places. Pretty nice kit if I do say so myself. Thanks & Later
Date: Wednesday, 24 October 2007, at 5:38 a.m.
I have the headliner flocked, the rear seat ready to put in, and the dash & inner fenders painted black. I have to decide if I want to flock the bottom of the door panels. I did see an interior picture of one that showed the carpet there. I will probably flock that tomorrow morning.
Next will be putting in the rear inner fenders, the dash, door panels, windows, etc. so that I can put the chassie inside the body. After that I can put the exhaust system/rear suspension on and give you all a picture of it sitting up on its (rear) wheels! Maybe by Friday. This build is a bit longer than my usual ones. Thanks for looking. Date: Wednesday, 24 October 2007, at 6:08 a.m. About 5 minutes worth of work. Date: Thursday, 25 October 2007, at 8:35 a.m. Good morning all, I didn't get too much done today, wasn't feeling all that well, I might be getting a cold or something :-( Anyways, I did manage to get the wheel wells in the back of the body.
I also got the rear glass installed.
While inspecting the rear window area I discovered I needed to cover up some gray paint that was showing. After I did that with some gloss black brush paint I started looking closely around all the other window openings and there are some more I need to clean up before I put the side panels & side windows in. I've also decided to put the front glass in during this step instead of waiting to the final assembly. I can just see myself dropping that window glass inside the body and not being able to get it back out. So even though it's not much, at least it's something more that is done today and not having to be done tomorrow! That's how I build these things nowadays, I try to get something done every day, even if it's just doing some detail painting on the dash or attaching 1 or 2 parts. Well, more tomorrow! Thanks for reading.
Date: Friday, 26 October 2007, at 8:15 a.m.
Good Morning all. Well, now I'm getting into either some fit issues or quirkiness of the kit, I'm not sure which. Yesterday I test fitted the chassie to the body and discovered I didn't have any room to put it in. Seems like I had the bottom seat cushion not centered & the wheelwells were not installed right. So I removed the offending pieces and positioned the chassie inside the body & glued in one of the wheelwells. I positioned the other wheelwell for alignment purposes but did not glue it in at that time. This morning I put in one of the side windows (rear) to help position one of the side panels. I put some glue on it and I now have it drying with clamps holding it in place. If this works, then I will do the same for the other side and then position the rear wheelwell and glue it back in. The wheelwells need to be installed perfectly because the rear shocks glue to them and the rear shocks are what set the ride height of the rear suspension.
So, if your building this kit what I would suggest is to use the chassie as a reference point for the back wheelwells and put them in first. After the wheelwells are in properly, put in the side panels, then slide the rear seat back assembly inside the body. Once all of that is done, you should be able to put in the dash & side windows then position the seat cushion on the floor and put that in. Tomorrow I'm going to attempt putting in the other inner door panel. By Sunday I should be able to put the other wheelwell in. Along about Wednesday I might be able to put body to frame :-) More coming in the next few days, thanks for reading.
Date: Thursday, 8 November 2007, at 8:14 a.m.
Back to the Citroen! I did not have too many problems with the drivers side inner door panel, I guess the first one I put in had some warpage issues. No matter, I now have both of them installed. All side windows are installed and the back set is glued in. I had a bit of a problem with the back seat. This part is composed of 2 sections, the seat back & the rear package shelf. It took me three trys to get the parts to glue together and stay. Anyway, it's in and I hope it stays!. I may put a small piece of tape between the body & package shelf to make sure it stays where I put it. The contact points where you glue the rear seat back in is kind of vague.
The dash decal and detailing is done. I just need to put the clear plastic lens over the instruments. I wish the chrome strips came out better, but they are very light outlines on the dash and are hard to detail. Especially with the raised portions of the dash instruments and the Citroen Chevron in the middle.
Here are a couple of shots of the body with the windows & interior panels in place.
Tomorrow I plan on finishing the dash and getting it installed in the body. Installing the windshield & chrome window frame. Then I can mate the body & frame together! Saturday I might just bet it sitting on it's wheels! We will see. Thanks for reading!
STRONG>Date: Friday, 9 November 2007, at 8:35 a.m.
I finished up the dash today and have it installed in the body. I decided to paint the whole center section of the dash silver then highlighted the Citroen chevrons with red. I know it's not proto-typically correct, but lets say this owner wanted some "bling" on the inside of his ride :-)
Next is to put the review mirror in (it sits on top of the dash panel) then install the front windshield & chrome surround. THEN I can put the chassie inside the body, it's getting close! I'm hoping to get this done in time for next weeks MAMA meeting in Greenbelt. Wish me luck!
Date: Saturday, 10 November 2007, at 6:58 a.m.
The Citreon is sitting on it's wheels! And I think it even sits level! It's not exactly perfect since I got some of the interior components (rear inner wheel wells!!) not quite right. But it's close enough that I'm not going to try and fix it. If your building this kit, I would suggest putting in the wheelwells first and making sure they are square, because they really effect the placement of the rear suspension.
Still lots to do, but this makes me feel a lot better about my Next Saturday Due Date!
Update Today January 4, 2008
After looking at the parts and the body, I discovered that I needed to paint parts #79 & #80 body color black. Unfortunately I had ran out of black and by the time I got some it has been too cold/wet/windy to paint them. I also forgot to put the seat cushion back on BEFORE I glued the chassie to the body. So now I'm trying to figure out if I can get it in by shoving it through the front windsheld area. I don't really want to remove the chassie from the body because this would mean having to remove the engine also. I'll let you know how this turns out. Thanks for your interest!