Styrene

Styrene

Friday, December 20, 2013

Jordan Highway Miniatures 1/87 1934 Ford bus



Do not worry, eventually I will return to planes.
Is that these vehicles are so cute! Irresistible.
 As usual, remarkable level of detail, fair price, logical engineering, nice subject, etc etc.
What else could you ask for? Oh, I know: that 1/72 scale airplane manufacturers could produce something similar -that is not a killing machine-.
Sigh.
Here some images of the building process:
The contents:
 The instructions. They are of the type you have to read. Text, by the way, is an ancient instrument used to transfer information. You would call it the smartphone of the day; but opposite to what smartphones do now, they DID have information to be transferred and DID transfer it. You can use this so called "text" by means or "reading", another arcane and lost-in-time practice that for reasons of space we should discuss on a later day.
 Some of parts showing the exquisite detail:


No engine with this one (other kits from this company have them) but nice undercarriage detail anyway:
 The method offered to simplify and accurately align the seats is very smart: one  very thin connecting sprue keeps the seats together as you glue them. Then you trim it away.

 More details: contrary to the common custom among airplane model manufacturers that enclose the most fragile of parts on a net of very thick sprues making their removal without breaking them virtually impossible, this manufacturer found (go figure!) the right way to do it:
 The louvers' are thinner than the furrows of my fingerprints:
 A few components removed, cleaned-up and glued together. Took about 35 minutes.
More sub-assemblies are completed, and at this stage some painting will be done:
There is a minor issue in the kit with the rear mudguards that create a gap, and scratched liners had to be added:
 The interior is painted:
The undersurfaces are painted flat black, later receiving metal drybrushing. The tires are also later drybrushed in grey:
 The main color is airbrushed:
The undercarriage already en place. Instructions are deficient regarding the exact position of the front axle, which must be deduced and falls short of it's height (i.e. the front wheels touch the fenders):
 I got two sets of lights with my kit, hurray!.
Be very careful separating them from the sprue, they are thin and fragile. The optics even have a pattern engraved on them!!:
 The parts before dealing with the windows: you can see the doors, bumpers, license plate and the lights "lenses" have been masked:
The transparencies are measured, cut from the provided sheet and glued in place:
Almost ready, but again -as with the Ford Calliope- I forgot that the roof is a different color. Will have to wait, mask and paint it before completion:
The rear axle -as it is the case also with the front one- hits the rear fender and has to be very slightly supplemented, a fact you discovered when you try to glue the body.
The decals are superb and varied, and the model builds to a very nice little thing:
















A fine kit with superb detail at a very reasonable price that is fun to build.
Mr. Jordan, would you please, please, manufacture 1/72 scale Golden Age planes?
Please?

3 comments:

  1. Cute as can be! Sort of like a yellow Tardis on wheels!
    # ;^)##

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi ! Great work!
    Did you by any chance, build the transit bus from Jordan?
    I am having issues with the chassis too narrow for the body...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nope, did not build that one nor I have a kit to check the possible issue.

      Delete