Heller 1/43 Renault 5 Turbo

[TomW]

So something small, French and mad........


.......It can only be the Renault 5 Turbo :




This kit depicts one of the road-going homologation versions that Renault had to produce to allow it to compete in the FIA Rally Championship. Truly mad in that special french way, they started with a fwd small hatchback, bored out the engine to 1498cc then bolted on a whacking great big turbo.

Then because that wasn't really good enough for handling purposes they moved the engine to where the rear seats used to live to make it a mid-engined monster. A layout that provided such good traction and flickable handling that later Peugeot and MG Rover copied it for their attempts at Group B rallying.



Sprue shots (well just a sprue shot 'cos there aren't many):




The Humbrol tinlet is to give some idea of how small this is, not as small as James' Lola but preety teeny all the same and with only 30 parts it shouldn't take long (famous last words)


Regards

Tom

[flakmonkey]

Ah, the French and their '80s turbos. The word you're looking for, Tom, is not "mad". Suicidal would be my choice. I had a Renault 18 Turbo which would behave just like a normal car until you met one of two conditions; rain or a corner. Corners in the rain were doubly fascinating. Turbo lag being what it was in the 80s, and the French were masters of turbo lag, the power would come in from nowhere in something like 0.001 seconds, transforming any passengers you might have into screaming, flailing, panic stricken shells of their former selves. This would, of course, happen even faster mid bend or in the rain. Renault presumably fitted a special sensor to detect these hazards and engage kamikaze mode on the engine management unit.

[JamesPerrin]

At least they put clear warning stickers on the doors.

[splash]

Nice, I thought my 1/43 mini was small.

Regards
Splash

[TomW]

So, only 8 days late in starting this GB project I blame the turbo lag


Actually it's a little surprising how simple this build is compared to some I've worked on recently, I only started at 10 this morning, haven't been flooring it, quite the opposite really, just proceeding at a suitable speed and progress has been swift.

I started with a bit of pre-painting:









and now 5hrs later this is where I am:









The seats are really meant to be that colour :




The bodyshell isn't fixed in place yet and neither are the seats, I want to do a little drybrushing inside to lift some details before I close everything up. Oh and I've Kleared the glasswork ready for fitment later.


Regards

Tom

[Dirkpitt289]

This build is coming along nicely

[flakmonkey]

Don't forget the brown stains on the passenger's seat cushion.

[splash]

It's looking good, they are great these little Hiller kits, I must look out for more.

Regards
Splash

[TimJ]

Nice work so far.

[Jagewa]

Nice work, looks like you're speeding along now.

Cheers
Jim

[JamesPerrin]

Nice work, looks like you're speeding along now

Has is stalled Tom? Have you tried pumping the gas pedal?

[TomW]

Still making slow progress on the little Renault.

The bodyshell is complete and I'm all set to start the painting stages, Next week will hopefully be a bit quieter on the work front so I should, fingers crossed, have more time for the bench.

Photo's:








Regards

Tom

[JamesPerrin]

Looking neat and tidy.

[JamesPerrin]

Not long to go Tom, I know you said you add made some progress so you shouldn't be far from finished now.

[TomW]

Not long indeed James !

Firstly have to apologise for not being a very active member of this GB, it started well but I'll admit to losing interest in this build, I guess that cars don't really do it for me on the modelling front, probably because of the access I get to them in real life, being a motorsport marshal means I play with racers most weekends , whereas planes I don't get to interact with very often, hence why I model them more frequently.

Very nearly there with the little Renault now, just a few little touch-ups to go. Apologies for the less than stellar photo's, I've reverted to the spare camera whilst the mains batteries charge up. Better ones will follow tomorrow evening:










Regards

Tom