Fujimi 1/24 scale
Vintage Mini Cooper

by Brad Huskinson

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Description: Fujimi 1/24 Vintage Mini Cooper
 
Kit #: 12220 OOP? (Note: Current FUJ12229 might be same/close?)

Scale: 1/24

Price: OOP?

Review Type: Build

All parts were removed from their sprues with sprue cutters and cleaned up with sandpaper, scrapers, and sanding sticks.

I used both Tamiya Thin and CA glues depending on whether or not the parts have to/had been painted.
As I always do, the chrome was removed from all parts. Those I wanted chrome were airbrushed with Molotow Chrome. It is much more realistic looking however, you have to be very careful not to handle it for at least 48 hours or it will quickly get dull.

The end of the upturned exhaust pipe was removed and replaced with aluminum tubing. I thinned the end of the tube with a round file creating a much more realistic scale thickness to the pipe.

Bare Metal Foil was used for all window trim, door handles, and the heat shield against the chassis/exhaust system.
The plastic in the wheel wells was sanded down so, with the lowered stance, the wheels would fit and give a truer body panel thickness appearance.

I fortunately did a lot of pre-fitting before final construction. The body sat very high off the ground and looked as if it were an all wheel drive car. Definitely not the look I wanted to achieve. I eventually had to place the chassis mounts much higher inside the body.

The other area that really took patience was the front and rear window frames, which had oversized rubber molding. I painted them flat black and then cut many skinny strips of Bare Metal Foil for the chrome trim. I redid this several times to get it right.

A Harder & Steenbeck Evolution was used for all priming and painting steps. If you spend any time with John Miller, you can’t use anything else. Gravity Colors Grey Primer was used throughout the build. I find that this primer works great straight from the jar at 18 psi with a 0.40mm tip.

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Thumbnail panels:

The top of the Mini was masked and sprayed Tamiya White, which was decanted and airbrushed.
I have always liked the sage color of old Minis and Land Rovers. I didn’t see much in model colors that struck me, but I did find the perfect paint in a Rust-Oleum Satin Sage: $5.99 at the hardware store. That's enough to paint about 25 Minis!

Thanks for reading along!

Brad Huskinson

For more on this review visit Modelpaintsolutions.com.

Text & Images Copyright © 2019 by Brad Huskinson
Page Created 20 September, 2019
Last updated 20 September, 2019

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