As tinting the windows reduced transparency somewhat I cut down the lefthand door window to keep the cabin interior visible.
Some changes made to the kit:
This Heller kit was first released in 1979 and depicts an early Mk.IV Mini with British Leyland badges.
On the outside a Mk.IV differs from earlier models by its black front grille, newly styled wheels and larger tail lights which now include a white reverse light on either side.
The kit I built was a first release with bright blue plastic parts and decals with french license plates and BL badges.
Despite its diminutive size (length is just over 7cm overall) the kit is well detailed (there is even a rudimentary engine provided) and was easy to assemble.
As tinting the windows reduced transparency somewhat I cut down the lefthand door window to keep the cabin interior visible.
Some changes made to the kit:
The Heller kit instructions are for a blue car with blue-gray interior, however Mini's can be found painted in almost any color of the spectrum so I picked my own colors.
I decided to do a 'sparkly' variation on the 60ies bright-blue-with-white-roof Mini Cooper color scheme, using Revell Car Metallic Pearl over satin white for the roof and Tamiya Acrylic clear blue over flat aluminium.
I also tinted the windows by spraying a thin even coat of clear blue on the insides.
After the clear blue on the body had cured I carefully scraped away the blue coat from all silver trim parts.
I applied flat clear varnish to the plated wheels and applied gloss clear varnish to the other plated parts, the head light lenses and the whip aerial.
Finally I ran an ultra-fine black marker along the door seams. I won't be using markers again for darkening seams as the tint is not black enough, but I usually use acrylic paint in seams so I risked marring the acrylic blue.
I never bothered to apply the kit decals, the model looks fine without license plates and badges.
Date finished: August 23rd, 1986.
| Paints used | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| body | base coat, body trim | Tamiya Acrylic XF-16 Aluminium | |
| top coat, window tint | Tamiya Acrylic X-23 Clear Blue | ||
| roof | base coat | Revell 301 Satin White | |
| top coat | Revell Car Metallic 390 Pearl | ||
| cabin interior, seats | Humbrol 96 Matt RAF Blue | ||
| floorpan, radiator grille, tires | Humbrol 33 Matt Black | ||
| indicator lights | Tamiya Acrylic X-26 Clear Orange | ||
| tail lights | Tamiya Acrylic X-27 Clear Red | ||
