A Capri gets a new hat!

Introduction

 

The shop was asked if a model of a Ford Capri was made as one was wanted as present for an elderly gentleman.
The Ford Capri was a very popular 2 door coupe made by Ford Europe and first introduced to the UK market in 1968.
It has become a classic car cherished by enthusiasts all over the World and produced until 1986 for the UK which resulted in several facelifts in all those years of production.

So when the request for a model came our way, we needed to establish which version Capri was wanted.
Sometimes this is not that easy as maybe Grandma is buying a model for a grandson as a present and all she knows is…it is a Capri!
The customer went back home with some suggestions from me about what colour and registration was the real car and from this I could work out which version Capri we need to look for.

Well, the colour was very close to the bright green used by the Kawasaki Motorcycle Company for some of their bikes, a sort of bright dayglo green. It was also established the model needed to be a first edition so classed as a Mk1 Capri which is distinctly different from a MkII.

So now we know what we are looking for but could we find a model in the same bright green?
Well, we were very lucky in finding the right model in the same bright green made by Cararama (formerly Hongwell) so a lot of head scratching was saved as we could not have any hope of mixing up the same colour ourselves.

 

                                                  

The Cararama Ford Capri.

 

This was going to be an easy commission as we had found a model in the right colour but, there was a catch!The model had to have a black roof and the number plates needed to be personal to the owner.

The pictures show the roof is not black so some painting would now take place. I found an internet picture of a real car to show the black roof and would just copy this as best I could.

 

 

 

How it looks on a real car.

To make this painting job easier it would have been nice to have some sort of reference point so I know how far down the black needs to come onto the body side, but no reference exists!

 

 

 

 

 

No reference points.

It was now down to me to have a good eye and a very steady hand aided by some masking of the lower  erea.
This black roof on a real car is usually made from Black (or grey or brown) vinyl sometimes with a light padding material between it and the surface of the roof. On the model it would amount to nothing more than matt black Humbrol modelling paint.

 

 

 

The number plates.

The customer wanted special number plates that had the initials and the date of birth of this gentleman, so it meant something special to him.
The initials were JM and 1954, his date of birth. This would be achieved by using the tried and tested dry transfer lettering method, applied to black sticky labels and then just affixed too the model as you can see in the next picture.
Picture 6, At least we have the registration.

 

 

 

 

Missing detail.

Ultimately I could have added the fine chrome trim along the bottom edge of where the vinyl finishes on the side of the body by the rear side window but on showing the model at it was, the customer said fine as it is as the gentleman is quite old and may not even see t detail so I did not add this and signed the model off as now finished.

 

 

 

 

 Its finished.