Escort Cosworth 'Michelin Pilot'

[John Tapsell]

I've just been given an old Tamiya Escort Cosworth. It's part built and part painted but seems to have all its parts.

I quite fancy refurbishing and finishing it but I need some advice. AFVs are my usual interest so my knowledge of car modelling is limited.

I want to strip off the Humbrol enamel paint from the body parts and start again - any suggestions about how I can do this?

The kit decal sheet is unused but long past redemption, so can I purchase a suitable aftermarket sheet and where from? I'm undecided about whether to stay with the kit scheme or chose an alternative (of which I'm sure the aftermarket guys offer a good range).

Any advice welcome.

Thanks,
John

[peterc]

Hi, to strip the paint , submerge the shell and parts you want to strip in Brake Fluid, yes i said brake fluid, it doesnt harm the plastic.

As for the decals you can get all sorts of sponsors , dont have company names to give sorry

Another thing you could do is what i started to do was make it road going , i used the interior out of a Maisto Escort Cosworth










just to give an idea

the exhaust i made from ally tube




hope this has helped

[ptcruiser]

Hi John
As per Peter's comments with the paint stripping, but IIRC the usual culprits still come into play ie Mr Muscle, Fairy Powerspray and bleach.

Which version of the Tamiya decals do you have? Michelin, Repsol, Mobil? There are a LOT of aftermarket sheets and other toys available from the likes of Renaissance , Studio27 although some are getting a little more challenging to find.

Rich

[rallychef]

Hi John,

here is a link to some decal sets, can recomend them, as used them in the past.

www.domino.be/main.php?action=zoekuitgebreid

regards Ian

[John Tapsell]

Peter, it's definitely a rally version I want to build but it's a nice job you've done on yours.

Rich,

I've got the Michelin Pilot version (Blue and Yellow scheme marked for the '94 British Rally Championship/Malcolm Wilson). I like the scheme, but the decals have gone wrinkled and need replacing.

My first choice is to simply replace them like-for-like, but I wouldn't be averse to using an alternative scheme if one takes my fancy. Thanks for the links.

At the moment, I'm just doing some research into what's out there.

Ian - thanks for the link - oh choices, choices...

Regards,
John

[Deleted]

I use Mr Muscle John, works for me every time, however, I have had good reports about Persil Power Spray.

[rallychef]

Hi John,
It's taken me a while to find these, here are some pic's that might help insire your build. Taken more years ago than I care to remember......Malcom Wilson and Robbie Head testing the car prior to the season start. As my user name suggests, I was chief bacon buttie maker.

















Take a close look at the final pic, the name on the tyre wall has been scrubbed off the tyre, but may not be to the sponsors liking

Pic quality not brilliant, days before digi camaras, so photo's have been scanned

regards Ian D

[Deleted]

May 7, 2011 20:50:06 GMT rallychef said:

... As my user name suggests, I was chief bacon buttie maker.

And he makes the most amazing mouth watering scones ...

[John Tapsell]

Ian,
You're a star!

They are really useful images as they contradict some of the painting instructions in the kit (although I appreciate this was a pre-season spec). Roll cage and interior is white but the kit says blue for example.

I spent most of yesterday afternoon trawling T'internet for decent images of Escort Cosworths in WRC schemes and got really frustrated. There are plenty of generic images of the vehicle but nothing in the way of detail. If it was an aircraft or a tank, I'd have come across several comprehensive walk-rounds. What do you guys use for reference material - where do you get it? Are you reliant on published works or am I just not using the right search terms?

Ian - at some point in the future, I may develop my project into an article for the IPMS Magazine. It ticks a number of boxes - refurbishing an old kit, an adventure into a new genre (for me), it's a car article (which we don't publish a lot of) and it's a great example of how our website can be helpful when you're stuck for information.

If it gets that far, I might ask if I can publish the photos above - but don't panic yet as I've got to build the darn thing first!

Regards,
John

[rallychef]

Hi John, glad to be of help, reference pics can be a problem, it’s the usual Google image hit and miss service, however I my first port of call is usually the Pirelli World Rallying yearbooks.

I just wish when I got involved in team catering some 25 years ago. I knew I was going to take up the hobby as my ref pics would have been much more detailed... hindsight is a wonderful thing. However, many tests were closed sites with no cameras or mobile phones allowed, especially ‘in service’ pics

We catered mainly for the test and development teams, as they did not tend to travel with a hospitality unit, my wife and I had a pub at the time and were involved in motorsport (the local motor club met in my pub), one day I got a call, Subaru were testing in Grizedale and their caterer had let them down, could I sort something sharpish, we did , and had the job until they stopped rallying a few years back. As we were ideally located for Kielder, the lakes forests and the south west Scotland complexes we soon got calls from other teams, and over 25 years have catered for Renault, Citroen, Skoda, ford and Subaru and many privateer teams. As well as covering the odd WRC event. As my wife is not so well we now only do some part time work for Ford (their test track is only a couple of miles from my new house)

As for the pics I am happy for you to use them, give me a shout and I will re scan them as I think there was some debris on the scanner, causing some specks on the photos.

Regards Ian