Monogram Countach Build Chronicle.
I am a big fan of this car. I think it is one of the best looking cars on earth. I picked up this kit on e-bay for just a couple bucks without instructions. I found the instructions online. I also found many photo's online using google image search. I've decided to build this pretty much with what is in the box. I may or may not add spark plug wires. I will try and get some photo's up tomorrow, but for now I will describe how I am building this kit. Alot of deviations from the instructions have had to be made, for reasons of painting and fit.
First up, the body panel parts that are connected to the chassis, don't particularly fit with the body very well, especially in the rear. So I cut these three pieces off of the chassis with a razor saw, and then glued them to the body using Tenax 7R. After it had dried, I flowed some more tenax into the joints to make sure I had an extra strong bond. From here, I added the rest of the parts to the body, such as the front air dam, and the rear wing.
The interior has required very little cleanup, and everything fits EXTREMELY well. The main interior color I have chosen is Tamiya XF-18 Medium Blue, shot through my airbrush. Which is a U.S. Navy aircraft color. I used Tamiya flat black for the black accents throughout the interior. I painted everything seperately before assembling everything. On the dash face, I painted the centers of the guages in flat black, and then used Citadel Color Mithril Silver, to paint dry brush the needles, and then paint the bezels, as well as the shifter bezel, after flowing thinned Tamiya Flat black into the recesses in the shift gate. The interior fits VERY well and VERY tightly into the body.
With the other body panels glued onto the body, it is going to be difficult to glue the rear fender wells onto the chassis and have them slip into the body, as shown in the instructions. so I have glued these pieces into the body, using Testors liquid cement. Here also I reinforced the joints with a second application. It was a bit difficult to get them lined up, but the chassis fits right in, with a very slight gap, that will close up when the chassis is finally glued into place.
After painting the interior section of the body the appropriate color, I will be slipping the itnerior into place, which fits so tightly no glue is needed, and spray everywhere inside with Tamiya Flat Black through my airbrush. I need to get this all over in there. The windows are ebing left off completely. The goal from here is once everything has dried completely. to remove the interior, and mask the window openings from the inside, and then spray the body with the final body color, which I have not quite decided on yet, but it will be some kind of blue. I am considering Tamiya Navy Blue, very seriously. If I do this, I may decide to put some Navy aircraft decals on this car, to give it a custom personality, since it will be painted in U.S. Navy colors.
I am hoping to have pictures of the interior and the inside of the body up by tomorrow(March 31st). All masking will be done with Tamiya masking tape, except in places of irregular surfaces if needed, I will be using Silly Putty. That is all for now, so keep an eye out for pictures tomorrow.
Tools and parts used:
Monogram Kit # 2769
Model Maker by hobbico gravity feed airbrush, and if I can get it repaired a Precision Aire XFS Professional gravity feed. Tamiya and Citadel Color paints. X-Acto and Hobbico knives, Loctite gel control super glue, tenax 7r, and Testors liquid cement in the glass bottle. The brand of razor saw I cannot remember, but it is wickedly sharp. It has a fixed wood handle and came with an orange plastic miter box. Central Pneumatic airbrush compressor from Harbor Freight.