Having bought a rather tired example of the JR21 FAB 1 off e-bay, first thing I did was take it apart & give everything a good clean!
I used T-CUT on the body & Clear Canopy - this does work on Plastic, despite what some may say, use it sparingly & buff it off straight away, gives a fantastic shiny finish.
A final quick polish with Mr Sheen gave a great shiny Lustre !
I then studied various Books & Web Pics of the Studio Fab 1 model making notes of what colour things were & placements on the Model.
The front Grille, front & rear Bumpers were painted Chrome Silver.
The White tyres were painted Matt Black with the Wheels Chrome Silver.
Lady P & Parker were painted with Flesh, and Lady P Blonde for her hair, Red for her Dress & Shoes. White for her Shawl.
Parker's Uniform had Gold Buttons painted & His Cap Peak Gloss Black.
I scratch built & Painted various Controls either side of Parkers Seat, from various left over Kit Parts - the Steering wheel White with Silver Indicator Stalks. The Dash Clocks & Dials were painted Matt Black then dry-brushed Silver to pick the detail out.
White Trim-Line tape was added to the seats, & a Silver Oblong plasticard piece was added behind the rear seat to the Parcel Shelf.
I added Four bits of Plastic Pipe to the underside rear, painted silver, for the exhausts, together with a Black plastic oblong piece for the Baffle Box.
Silver Mirror Card was cut to shape & glued to the Wing Mirrors, Silver Trim-Line Tape was added to the body lengths LH & RH side, & across the rear Boot Lid, with small square pieces added for the Cars Insignia Logo & Door Locks.
2 X Aerials were made from very thin plastic Piping, painted silver & added to the body rear.
With everything now done, I carefully put everything back together & the Model was now complete, looking very much like the Studio models you saw on-screen !
Very pleased with the way this project turned out !
Well, that's the nuts & bolts of it,
hope you like it !
Richard K.
Admirable restoration job, thanks for sharing Richard. Love those added aerials which give FAB1 some of that Corgi Batmobile vibe!
ReplyDeleteVery nice, especially the before and after shots. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteAn impressive restoration, Richard.
ReplyDeleteGreat job Richard. Wish I'd not sold mine now.
ReplyDeleteVery nice. All it needs now is the Spirit of Ecstasy on the front grille.
ReplyDeleteSeeing as you're being ignored, Kid, I, you're doppelganger from an alternate universe, agree with you about the Spirit of Ecstasy.
DeleteI had hoped Richard would reply Kid so sorry about that. Yes the Spirit of Ecstasy would be the final touch. The Big Red Toy Box may do a complete repro grille with one on. Must be hard to make from scratch.
DeleteNope, Big Red Toy Box do a repro grille without the Spirit too Kid! http://www.bigredtoybox.com/repro/tb/tbirds-jr21-fab1-rad-lite-lrg.jpg
DeleteHaving looked at a few online, I'm not sure the JR21 FAB1 had the mascot on the grille. I don't have the toy myself.
DeleteI don't know either whether the toy originally had the mascot, W, but I thought as R was adding other things it didn't originally have, the Spirit emblem would've been a good finishing touch.
DeleteI agree Kid. A good for final touch.
DeleteHi Everyone, Richard here who did the Fab 1 restoration, thank you all for the kind comments - it was a pleasure to share my model making & restoration skills with others.
DeleteSorry it has taken me a while to reply.
I had thought about a Spirit for the grille top, but I don't have the skills to produce anything like that, though with research I may have come up with one from a Rolls plastic car kit I suppose - though probably a bit of expense for such a small item.
As far as I know from my own research, the JR21 Toy never had a spirit on the Grille, probably as R ROYCE would have wanted Money for the Licence to use the Spirit.
Thanks again for the kind comments !!
Richard K