I used to be a big fan of The Man from UNCLE, and always looked forward to Thursday nights after Top of the Pops when the BBC first aired TV's equivalent to James Bond.
Over time, while I still have a nostalgic fondness for the series my interest has waned.
I've still got a few UNCLE items in the collection though, including the AMT Piranha, styled by Gene Winfield, the man behind the Star Trek , Shuttlecraft.
I have to say, it contrast to its sleek looks, its a hideous kit to make, and needs a lot of filing and fitting to get things to even remotely line up.
I made two versions; one in a metallic blue as it appeared briefly in both the Man from, and Girl from series, and one in a two tone, as it is now.
In it's defence, it's a sixties kit and things have moved on quality wise, and I did alter the door hinges to look more like the real thing.
The big issue for me is joining the top and bottom sections together which don't fit well leaving gaps, in-spite of clamping them together, and the windscreen which acts to hold the windscreen struts to the body.
Anyway here's some old photos of the result.
Neat Photos! I drew the Piranha a while ago.
ReplyDeleteWould've loved to have this collection of source photos at the time.
Thanks!
Cheers Scott.
DeleteIt's certainly a great looking sporty car, if a little small I believe Robert Vaughn complained about the lack of space, and Stephanie Powers struggled to get in and out dressed in those sixties mi I skirts.
I had an issue of the comic (not that one). Beautiful car!
ReplyDeleteI've probably got around a dozen UNCLE Gold Key comics, and the comic album , Baron. Usually a nice photo on the front.
DeleteAn adorable vehicle, which I had never seen before, as I never watched the TV show. Never saw the AMT kit in stores, either - they must have been snapped up as soon as they hit the shelves, otherwise I would have bought one. SFZ
ReplyDeleteUNCLE was a very popular show back in the sixties, Zigg When Vaughn and McCallum visited the UK during it’s run, I can remember them being treated like rock stars!
DeleteNice work! Those window struts seem to be a universal problem. I had similar problems when I restored my Husky Piranha...
ReplyDeleteIt was a lovely looking car, sadly under-used in the series, but then it did have a number of design flaws - one was that you couldn't wind the windows down, hence the ridiculous scene in The Karate Killers where Solo has to hold the door open to shoot at attacking autogyros. (Otherwise that's one of the best opening scenes in spy-fi).
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely Anon. Another problem was the car's lack of head room, which meant having the addition of raised bubble sections on the upper part of the door glass.
DeleteBeautiful build Scoop! I honestly don’t remember the car even though I was a fan of the show. In my defense that show came on like 100 years ago and I barely remember yesterday!
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