A work in progress . . . or not

This forum is where we are supposed to show off finished model projects, but I see people posting pics of work in progress, and even photos of things they are just thinking about getting around to. Well, two can play that game, so here are some details of a "work in progress" which isn't actually in progress at all at the moment, but I haven't given up hope.

About a year ago I posted pics of the ATC Models Rolls Royce Silver Seraph received from China.

The Seraph was a short-lived stopgap model, the last "true Brit" Rolls design, introduced during the complex negotiations with VW and BMW for the takeover of the Rolls and Bentley brands. It never really caught the public imagination very much, and has been somewhat neglected. I went online to refresh my memory of the car and discovered that back in 2011 an Italian company called British Cars had spent seven months converting a 1999 Seraph sedan into a one-off estate for a Swiss customer.

I've seen a number of one-off or limited-edition wagon conversions of high-end sedans where the rear pillar and glazing arrangement looked a little awkward, and stylistically not entirely in keeping with the rest of the body, but I thought this one looked pretty convincing.

More pics and background details here:

Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph Estate

That got my creative juices flowing and another Seraph was ordered from China. As soon as it arrived, I worked out a plan of attack

and went for it.

I was worried that everything in the model might be solidly glued together, making it impossible to disassemble, but they had fitted it all together with a soft glue, the texture of chewing gum, and with a little gentle persuasion all the bits (including lights and trim) could be gently separated without damage.

Next problem was stripping the body. Isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) has been recommended for stripping resin but I tried in on a hidden area and in a couple of minutes the resin softened so much you could dent it with a fingernail. Hmmm, scary. Cellulose thinner is a rather more ferocious material which can melt some plastics, but I tested it and it was fine. Applying it carefully with an old soft toothbrush and rinsing off immediately, I had the model stripped in no time.

The boot/trunk was then sawed out. Not a thin skin but a great solid block of resin. Cautious work with a fine jeweIler's saw removed it safely.

The next step was my usual trick of gluing in a central brass strip to support the new rear roof, but the resin roof was so thick it forced the central support to sit too low, so I had to add packing above it to get it up to roof level.

I always find forming a complete roof in one part is tricky because the curvature of the roof and pillars makes it difficult to make allowances for the roof width and pillar depth, so I tend to do it in two halves which can then be adjusted during fitting. I tried out my half-roof design using paper, then made two identical roof/pillar pieces and test-fitted them.

But I then realised I had a problem. If you look at the pic below you can see that the rear pillars expand towards the base with increasing horizontal curvature. The dotted line on the right shows that there is also a pretty severe vertical curvature.

If I used brass thick enough to make properly robust pillars (I like my models to be bulletproof) it's just too hard to hammer it into those wrap-around curves, it would just crease and buckle. So I decided to narrow the pillars, then I would overlay them with outer skins made from much thinner material. But just thinking about making a tidy job of that me pause. Tell the truth, I paused somewhere around Christmas and haven't unpaused since. Once you retreat from a problem it's easy to lose momentum and just wander off and not come back.

As it happens, I am going into hospital next week for a fairly minor procedure but I have been told that my usual everyday activities of cycling, trampolining, bungee jumping and kickboxing will have to be suspended for a little while (otherwise I will bleed to death) so the enforced inactivity may be an opportunity to kickstart this project again. On the other hand I may just sit and watch endless videos of the Arkansas State Police performing PIT manoeuvres on YouTube. Terribly addictive viewing.

But I do hope I can actually progress this project before the weather gets too cold and the rather expensive spray cans of authentic paint freeze solid and stop me in my tracks. Again.