Where do I start. I suppose I best tell you why I'm making a mini cooper first as I am usually a modeller who focuses on aircraft and not on cars. Now the Morris Mini Cooper Mk1 is a classic British car that has never seemed to leave our minds, when many countless other cars have. The reason I have left the aviation world for a week to do a car model is one of my best friends who is a keen mini fan. I was very stuck on what to get him for Xmas this year. Thinking I couldn't lose with a mini, I thought I might as well get some modelling in as well!

 

So as I had a few days to spare I decided to get to work making my first mini cooper. Now I could not stray too far from the aviation world and came up with a very good idea (in my mind).

 

Why not combine my mates passion (minis) and my passion (aircraft) and slam them head on in a model!

 

And so I came up with the Morris Mini Cooper Mk1 in Hawker Hurricane markings from the aircraft - AEK. This aircraft was used in costal defence and training. Plus on top of that I chose to add some D-day stripes with poetic liscence - sorry for those who love accuracy!

 

The kit came with one black sprue (with all the engine bits on), one white sprue (with most of the external bits), one crome sprue, one transparent sprue and the main shell of the car wrapper seperatly. There were two instruction sheets one in japanese and one in British, both were very well laid out with photos illustrating all the main bits. I used the japanese instructions to doodle the markings out on the mini.

 

I started by painting all the bits that could be painted on the sprues. There are lots of little parts to this model and better results can be found by painting on the sprue and tidying up later!

 

After I had painted all the small bits, I went on to paint the main body work in the camoflage colours. Next came the assembly on the engine which went together rather well without a lot of hassle and the was the first day done!

 

The first bit of trouble happened on the second day when I attempted to put the brake discs onto the rest of the axel. Now the instructions claim you should place them on and twist to lock into place. This did not happen, ripping the engine apart did however occur. So once I had put it back together, I took the disks apart and put them over the axel and glued them back into place! Once I had done that it was time to slot the engine into the main chassis which looked simple but was not!

 

After quite a bit of struggling I managed to get the engine to play ball and it was in and fitted. Then it was easy from that point on, simply adding all the bits to the engine that I had already painted and touched them up once glued into position. I even attempted to do a little bit of scratch building on the engine, running some electrics around the engine into the spark plugs.

 

Next was the back wheels and then the exhaust assembly which was very easy. The kit was so well manufactured that it slotted together very well. Then I flipped the model over and started working on the inside of the car fitting the handbrake, gearstick and pedals. Next came my second addition to the kit which was my own masking tape seat belts painted black and added to the back seats (later to be added to the side door frame for the front seats).

 

After that came the steering wheel (which would not stay still - so a cocktail stick was required to hold it in place), then the dashboard (with decals added) and finally some car mats made out of wet and dry paper.

 

Next I painted the inside of the body work and the rims of all the windows in crome. The side panels were added to the bodywork and bonnet put on the model open, to display the engine. Then I added the windows which were a perfect fit! and then I added my seatbelts to the side panel.

 

Another day gone and time to hit the hay! The next day brought the pleasures of the final assembly. The wheels were glued onto the chassis and then came the last bit ... and the final bit of trouble! Fitting the Bodywork was the most frightening part of the model. You have to slot the back of the chassis into a small slot in the body work and then squeeze the front of the car (trying not to damage my beautiful morris engine) into the body work. Eventually I did it with sweat pouring down my face at the fear of failure. The one side of the car had a huge gap so I wrestled with it again and it clicked into place.

 

Then came the roof which again fitted perfectly. Next the number plates had to be put together which was nice and simple and then all the chrome bits needed to be added, all of which went on fine except for the wing mirrors which had no holes to be put in, so after 15minutes and a lot of cramp in my hands, they were on!

 

Next came the decals before touching up the model for its finishing coat of Klear floor polish (which comes highly recomended for models).

 

The decals were taken from the Airfix Hawker Hurricane M11b kit and went on really easily with little in the way of problems.

So one more model down... all I have to do now is get it into a display case and I am done! I doubt the wife will be so easy to shop for, for Christmas!