MiniArt 1:35 Bantam 40 BRC British Staff Car

[FishBowlMan]

Although I've been itching to start one of my aircraft, I needed something that I could build in the lounge for a few hours while watching the 6-nations rugby without it needing to be painted from the off.

As I've got Tamiya's SAS jeep built and awaiting primer, I thought I'd start on the MiniArt Bantam 40 BRC British Staff Car and have a dual painting sesh down the line.



I've never built a MiniArt kit before - I've recently started modelling again after a 20 or so year break - and as their 1st kit was released in 2003, they're a new company to me. I bought this kit recently as I wanted to see how the build compared to Tamiya's SAS Jeep - for one thing, do I prefer building a complicated kit, or will I find assembling lots of detailed parts too much hassle?

I have just built a Miniart kit and they are really nicely done if a bit fiddly on some of the smaller details.

You're not wrong about the fiddly bits, mate! Here are the sprues, with an awful lot more parts than Tamiya's Jeeps:



All the sprues and decals came in one bag and the clear parts (windscreens) are slightly scratched due to all the plastic rattling around together.

First impression is that there's an awful lot of flash on this kit. Kind of reminds me of some old ESCI aircraft I built as a kid Some parts, the chassis for example, are going to require a ridiculous amount of cleanup. Shame really, as the kit is otherwise nicely moulded with some lovely details.

There are no numbers on the sprues themselves. I've never come across this before. Is this common on modern kits? There is a numbered sprue diagram on the obstructions, but its annoying having to keep flipping between the pages when trying to locate parts!





I like the way that even though the first half of the build deals with assembling the chassis, suspension and engine, step 4 randomly gets you to assemble a seat. I guess they either don't want you to get too complacent, or they ran out of room on page 2 of the obstructions and couldn't fit the drawing anywhere

This is not going to be a speedy build! Hey ho! I'm in no rush.

[FishBowlMan]

Got the chassis, engine and suspension together. Quite fiddly, but a pretty decent fit. Removing all the flash was a ruddy nightmare though.








Next up are the details for the bodywork and interior parts, or as it is going to be known, YAMFRS - Yet Another Monster Flash Removal Session!!!

[FishBowlMan]

Assembly of the bodywork is now complete, including a blu-tac assembly of the figures to check any fit issues with the seats etc.

I'm going to prime and paint in 2 separate parts so I can get to the engine and radiator detail.









There is some lovely detail in this kit, along with some very fiddly parts that were very awkward to clean up before assembly. Not looking forward to attempting some other kits from my stash that have a lot of photo-etch.

[chief5437]

Great progress mate. I'm thinking that yours might be an early release of theirs, judging by the kit number. Maybe that's why there's a lot of flash? The dingo I'm doing didn't have any flash at all! Go figure. Looks like it'll build up into a nicely detailed car though. Good luck with the rest of it.

[FishBowlMan]

Thanks, Chief. You're probably right about the age of the kit - also I think they've used the same moulds for a Russian and US version of the Bantam as well. I have another MiniArt kit in my stash and that looks a lot cleaner. Despite that, I'm very impressed with the build of this one.

Model is primed using Vallejo Rotbraun RAL8012 surface primer. No particular reason for this colour - I have a bottle of it and thought I'd try it out.

[FishBowlMan]

The Vallejo primer sanded quite nicely, but I regret using the dark red-brown. For the topcoat, I used Vallejo Sand Yellow - 70.916, and it took forever to cover the primer - not helped by the fact that I couldn't get the paint to spray consistently (probably as much to do with my inexperience at using an airbrush as anything else).






Still, you live and learn. A bit of tidying up and try and work out how to paint the engine and other mechanical bits. Would you folks paint by hand or mask and spray? Any guidance most welcome.

[T3hGuppy]

Looking good dude.

I didn't have problems with flash on my kit but have another on the way so will have to see.

Great work so far dude.

[FishBowlMan]

Looking good dude.

I didn't have problems with flash on my kit but have another on the way so will have to see.

Great work so far dude.

Thanks, mate. At least the flash was pretty easy to remove. I read a couple of kit reviews that mentioned it so was prepared for some scraping.

Hope your new kit is as flash free as your first one

[FishBowlMan]

Not a lot of progress recently - work has gone ballistic - but found a bit of time today to start on some of the details on the beastie.



Tyres painted with Tamiya XF-85 Rubber Black. Engine and other running gear painted using a 60:30:10 mix of vallejo's Gun Metal Grey (70.863) : German Camo Black / Brown (70.822) : Black (70.950).

The plan is to give the underside a light covering of some greasy, oily, dusty stuff to tone everything down a bit, as well as the usual washes and dry brushing to bring out the details. The engine is quite a good subject to practice on, as I can glue the bonnet on if I'm not happy with the results.

[Mike00]

Looking good, waiting for the finish

[FishBowlMan]

Cheers, Mike. Don't hold your breath - its turning into a slow-burner!

[PaulAyrey]

Looks great so far!

[Topcat]

Got one about to paint the chassis to will use a sand primer then, nice.