MG Metro 6R4 Group B
Regarding the next car I introduce you, I decided to get into this mess when I saw a project of a user of the extint "Docslot" forum. It was a car that already knew about and had seen pictures in magazines but was thanks to the work of that guy when I decided to build one.
The car that I intend to reproduce (as far as possible) at 1/32 scale is the Austin Metro 6R4 rally car, which was developed by MG to the mid-80s to participate in the category of group B of the World Rally Championship . Motorsport British Leyland had abandoned the development of the Triumph TR7 rally car and began developing a new model to compete at the highest level in the rally championship. That model was based on the Austin Metro fitted with a V6 engine in central position (obtained form remove two cylinders to the Rover V8 engine) and was added four wheel drive. The first prototype was tested in February 1983 and continued to develop over the next twelve months, appearing in competition for first time at the York National Rally 1984.
The car may like more or less, but as their group mates at the time, does not leave anyone indifferent .. I personally think one of the most extravagant group B, with those body extension and wings but has so much charm, especially with the "Belga" decoration. Another fantastic decoration of the car is this, with Didier Auriol´s at the steering wheel racing in the 1986 Tour de Corse. The photo of this later decoration is taken from the forum Forocoches
It is one of the decorations but I´m going to make a easier one, which is this:
Is the car of a English pilot called John Price, who currently runs with him in the British Rally Championship, although the decor is of the 2005 season.
I chose this decoration for two reasons, it seems relatively simple in terms of painting, but mainly because there are plenty of artwork on hiswebsite, so I can see the car from all angles without escape or a detail, and that´s allways a thing who help in the reproduction of any model. I leave the link to the website http://www.johnpricerallying.co.uk
Apart from this last site, the number of photos you can find on the internet of this car is enormous that greatly facilitates the work. To reproduce the car start from the MG Metro slot model made by Scalextric UK, which as you know is this
As you can see, the car looks like the original as an egg to a chestnut .. well, not exactly, after much investigate I suspect that the version reproduced in its time by the Scalextric UK people was this:
that was the prototype that Austin Rover built in 1983,led by Tony Pond, while the car I want to do is the evolutioned version that participated in the World Rally Championship in Group B. In this sense, and within what can be said that it was fairly well reproduced in general terms ... but in detail ... Well, I don´t want to pick on the original slot car because I really like the models Superslot made at the time
First thing I did was to adapt the chassis, for it used the Citroën Saxo one (from Ninco), shortened to adjust the wheelbase, and fitted a pod to attach the SCX RX81 engine to provide four wheel drive to the model as the original car:
The union to the body is made by three pins, two in the front and one in the rear. The front axle support is made by modifing the original one added side carbon fiber bolsters reinforced with bicomponent glue and smoothed to fit the hub caps inside. The support of the guide is done by exploiting the original model that I glued in place, reinforced with a piece of carbon fiber. In the rear of the chassis I have pasted a silencer simulation made with evergreen rod and exhaust pipe.
The photo below shows the front attachment lugs and the piece of plastic for the back screw. Also be seen near the windshield a piece of plastic in "L" shape to hold the interior of the model who will show later. My intention was made a interior able to dismantle like Scalextric Audi Quattro one, for example.
The most daunting work that had this model was, as you can imagine, molding forms the body, especially the hood bulges and rear wheel arches. After a few globs of putty and a bit of molding the result was this:
I opened the holes for the headlights and rear lights and vents for ventilation of the engine on the tailgate too. The rear wing supports are made of two strips of evergreen attached with bicomponent glue. Also modified the skirt and front wheel arches, slightly higher in the original car. Maybe the changes are not well perceived in the following photos because they are not of good quality.
In the previous photos, and with a coat of primer and more sanding can be seen in slightly better detail. The front spoiler is almost finished, with central air intake open (but in the photos does not aprecciates well) and ducts to cool the brakes. Also hit the front wing the same way that the rear wing.
Here's another photo battery with a second coat of primer and more defined details. Little bit to add, just a lot of grit and patience ...
Continuing with the body went on with the headlights, the front made with a transparent CD case and the rear with a pilot picked up from a crashed car.
Finally, to finish the body olny must detail a few things and give their corresponding sandpaper hands. The car was practically in the paint room.
Anyway, at this point and after looking closely at the car I realized that something was wrong, and after saw it many times I was sure, the original car was wider than it was doing to scale, primarily in the rear. So I had to widen it. Extend it with evergreen plastic strips of a millimeter to either side glued with cyanoacrylate:
I made a few holes to strengthen the evergreen strips with bicomponent glue. As I did not trust much of the hardness of the cyanoacrylate, although I had sanded the sides of the car for better stuck, I practiced some 1.5 mm. diameter drills on the sides and filled them with bicomponent glue to hold them as rivets, poured the glue and applying heat with a hair dryer to assure that the glue penetrated well into the holes. Thus I was sure that the plastic sheets were not going to detach from the sides. The result:
Also shorten the rear bumper that was a little long in comparison with the original car. Now the result of the work on the body convinced me, more in accordance with the original car. What a difference two millimeters wider!
Looking back and rewatching the car I saw another failure, the rear bumper was slightly higher than the model, so I supplemented it with two pieces of evergreen stuck under it. The technique is the same as used above to wide the sides of the model, small holes and bicomponent glue to reinforce the area.
The outcome after these changes and following the appropriate coats of white paint, red paint and masking tape to leave the car as best as possible was this:
Among putty and sanding of the body and between coat and coat of painting I took the opportunity to improve the interior, which was like the other slot car all the time, easy, rather easy. To give you an idea of what it was like here's a photo of the interior but from another Metro because I did not take photos to the original one:
As shown, the pilot emerges from the seat, not a separate piece of the tray, except the helmet, the rest you can see ..... Anyway, I took those "precious" seats it had, and made him the back cuting out it from a piece of evergreen 1 mm. thin, previously drawn the back on a paper to see if the shape and size was appropiate:
To the original drivers tray I cut out the part that goes behind the seats to raise it a bit and make room for the mechanics of the car, this is because the original car had a chassis like EXIN Renault 5 or Ford Fiesta, and the new chassis fitted had the engine higher so hitting the drivers tray avoiding the proper fit. I changed the original anti-roll bars for a homemade ones with round evergreen profile. It´s apearance was much more real.
and dashboard was modeled with wood repairing putty (Nural 41), which weighs little and works very well.
The original car's dashboard had a very curious feature that can be seen in the previous photo, is that although a dashboard had the clocks on the left, the steering wheel is set to the right, where the glove compartment .. If you see a photo of the car of Tony Pond can be better appreciated. The result, after their respective coats of paint, and nearly everything in its place was:
The fire extinguisher is made of a evergreen pipe with the ends covered with putty, and the spare wheel is one cutted in half with the tire stuck, lack of gold paint as the other tires. The drivers are two of the spare parts box with the trunk supplemented to left them a little higher. And this is how the chassis was once painted the wheels:
The taillights were painted with red and silver indelible marker, and headlights with Humbrol silver enamel for inside attached to the body with adhesive. The result after all pieces mounted with two coats of "Bosque Verde" varnish looks as follows:
When I have enough practice in those duties I will do the decals, but I know that I'd rather take a long time to make them I will finish the car and leave it mounted.
| Chassis | Citroën Saxo Ninco, adapted |
| Wheelbase | 74 mm. |
| Dimensions (L x W x H) | 114 x 60 x 44 mm. |
| Weight | 103 grs. |
| Motor | Scalextric RX81 |
| Front tires | Scalextric narowed |
| Rear tires | Ninco 19 x 10 mm. |
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