Making a mini me for my 210 (Stanley)

[Cleopatra Jones]

Got tired of not being able to find a tiny 210 and anyone who modifies probably won't do what I need so I'm taking this project on myself 😬 I started with trying to find a car that was as close to the 210 as possible. Not easy when you have a 2-door obscure, red-headed stepchild of a Datsun. I went with the Nissan Sunny 1000. It's fairly close but the front end will need a bit of work unless I can figure out a way to hide the pointed front. Once I get it where I need it to be I'll be making a grille, bumpers, taillights, door handles, side mirror, license plate lights and hopefully a wheel swap. Here's the model:

 

 

 

 

 

Look how cute with the little muffler 😄

Edited August 2, 2020 by colourbox

[Cleopatra Jones]

Got all the plastic bits off. Had to use a drimmel to get the "glass" out. It was in by rivets. My husband rigged his up in the kitchen cause it's one million degrees motherland hot outside.

 

 

 

Glass removed

 

 

 

Got a test car to see how the paint stripper we have will work. Seems to be doing the job. Just sprayed it 10 minutes ago and it's already bubbling up.

[Cleopatra Jones]

Using this CitriStrip to remove the paint the from car. Working pretty well. Had to hit it a second time.

 

 

[MikeRL411]

Try Tomica Limited Vintage series, they just might have a 210 by now.  They have my 411 so you just might luck out/

[Cleopatra Jones]

I looked and they don't have any. No one does. The only 210 I found was a round eye hatchback. Boo.

[Cleopatra Jones]

So abandoned this for a few days to collect all the other stuff I will eventually need. Transfer paper for emblems, paint, lacquer, etc. I'll get into that later. So all the paint stripped off quite nicely.

 

 

The side vent on the front door window had a molded vent in the glass so I can't make it flat. I used alcohol and a pointed q-tip to rub off the blue paint between the front and back windows and the chrome coloring around the vent window.

 

 

 

This is a trial I'm doing here but I've got some tiny pieces made up in clay to see how they turn out in a mold. I'm going to be calling some 3D print shops tomorrow to see if I can get a grille printed out. If it's not too expensive I definitely want to go that route. These pieces I made up once cast in plastic will need to be sanded down so they look better. Might do a test run tomorrow.

 

Edited August 10, 2020 by colourbox

[Cleopatra Jones]

My test pieces worked. They weren't that pretty but I wasn't going for perfection. I wanted to see how well the mould would come out. I left this project for a bit while I tried to work some things out and figure out better ways of doing things to this. I was also collecting paint, primer, decal paper and other materials needed for this which I will show later. I've also been testing different clays. I had to go for a harder one so I'm trying that out now. I may have to do this in wax but I'm trying not to if I can. Meanwhile I'm back to grinding the front end down.

 

Trying to square off the grille area which is going to take forever or at least it seems that way.

Edited September 7, 2020 by colourbox

[]2eDeYe]

Following along. Great work so far 🙂

[datzenmike]

Keep at it Kimberly, I like what I see. I tried something years ago using JB Weld.....

 

 

 

A 510 limo...

[Cleopatra Jones]

I used JB Weld to plug up the tiny holes left after I took out the fender mirrors, door handles and windshield wipers. That stuff works quick! You gotta be fast with it especially at a small amount. Good stuff! I'm still grinding away on the front end.

[Cleopatra Jones]

I'm going to repurpose some of the parts that were on the car.

 

The taillights I'll use as the rear side markers (I have to cut off the pin that pushed into the car), I'll figure something out with those wipers cause they're on the opposite side but they're so small no one will notice if I turn them around and the fender mirror which I need to make a base for.

 

Already made the teeny tiny door handles.

 

I had ordered two of these cars in case I messed up. The second one finally showed up. The guy I bought it from on ebay put the wrong address on the package so it kept getting routed all over the place. Thank goodness there was a tracking number so I was able to have the post office update the address. I'll try and pull the wheels off of it and see how easy it is or isn't. I was going to buy one of the VW Golf cars as they have the type of rims with wheel caps that look closer to mine. Jury is still out. I may just fake it with the decal paper.

[Cleopatra Jones]

Work on this has slowed down because I'm finally working again.....from home. Yay! I got a grille and bumpers I think I'm ok with. I started painting them.

 

 

I found this guy on ebay that will print and laminate tiny license plates at the scale you need. It looks fantastic! It's so small though I couldn't get the camera to focus properly but it is perfectly legible.

 

 

Next I need to get rid of the center line going down the hood since Stanley only has two lines on his hood. When I get that done I can start painting the car and getting the pieces glued on.

Edited October 6, 2020 by colourbox

[Cleopatra Jones]

Getting it ready for primer. I started sanding down the center line and was afraid of going too far so I stopped. it's still kinda there but I don't care. Good enough.

 

Primer is on

[Cleopatra Jones]

First coat. Now that's it's starting to dry I can see it's going to need another coat. I'll do that tomorrow.

[Cleopatra Jones]

Finally starting to paint. I switched from oil to acrylic cause oil takes too damn long to dry. I need this to be done before I die. I accidentally brushed my finger over the signal lens paint on the grille so I need to clean it up with some black paint. I used the oil to paint those lights and that's when I discovered oil takes forever to dry. I'll be spray painting the interior a little later. Finally found a store that had some brown paint I was semi happy with. I'll post a pic of that later. I also painted the wheels black to get rid of the white walls. Here's the progress on the front so far.

 

Here's the wheels

 

Interior painted. Picked up Krylon ColorMaxx Satin Brown Boots. Honestly, I don't know who comes up with these names.

Edited October 25, 2020 by colourbox

[Charlie69]

Nice work. 

[Cleopatra Jones]

5 hours ago, Charlie69 said:

Nice work. 

 

Thank you! It's been a challenge working in 1:43 scale. I have to keep reminding myself it's not going to be perfect.

[Cleopatra Jones]

Here's a preview before I start gluing on bumpers and decals. I still need to get a good set of taillights to paint. Only one came out decent.

[Cleopatra Jones]

Teeny tiny taillights. I wish the paint went on smoother but then the camera picks up everything. Not really all that noticeable to the eye.

[Cleopatra Jones]

I have committed to gluing pieces and parts 😱 Wiper blades, rear side markers, emblems, wheel decals and side trim next. Still trying to figure out how I'm making the side mirror and what I'm doing about the side trim.

 

 

[fiveoneO]

That's awesome! Nice work

[]2eDeYe]

Looks awesome 

[Cleopatra Jones]

3 hours ago, fiveoneO said:

That's awesome! Nice work

 

23 minutes ago, ]2eDeYe said:

Looks awesome 

 

Thanks guys! I need to find the time to find a place that can maybe print the teeny tiny emblems to put on the grill and back 1/4 panels. Found a couple places that might be capable. Haven't had the time to get in contact with them. Then I was sitting here thinking why my dumb ass just didn't do decals for the grille and taillights. Would've been cleaner. Got me thinking about trying it on the other car I bought in case I messed something up I had a backup. I might still try it and see what it looks like after I get this one complete. It's coming along though.

[datzenmike]

[Cleopatra Jones]

Edited November 12, 2020 by colourbox