The Claptowte Railway - Ford Anglia 1959

[David1226]

The Claptowte Railway is set in the time period of roughly the third quarter of the 20th Centaury. Finding road vehicle appropriate to that era is not straight forward, as the majority of 1/24th scale diecast models are of more up to date vehicles. I have been aware, for some time, of a 1/24 1959 Ford Anglia, issued in the guise of the car featured in the Harry Potter films, and marketed as such. I have not been able to find a non-Harry Potter version. I know some of you already have this model on your own layouts.

The Harry Potter version appears to be a good model, but spoilt by the toy like application of a brown overspray, intended to represent dirt and weathering, picked up by various exploits in the plot lines of the films. This overspray is applied on a toy assembly line with no modelling artistry involved.

I decided that I would acquire a ‘Harry Potter’ Anglia and attempt to remove the ‘weathering’. My daughter was aware that I was seeking such a model and gifted me one as a Father’s Day present.




The model as received.









The base coat of paint on the model appeared to be durable and well applied. The brown weathering looked to be just a light overspray. I tentatively gently attacked the weathering with a cotton bud dipped in T-cut automotive colour restorer. The brown paint came off with a minimal amount of rubbing and with no damage to the original paint surface of the model. As a result, the whole model was cleaned off with T-cut.

The chrome trim on the sides of the car suffered slightly in the process, so these were masked up and silver plate paint applied by brush. I also painted the door handles, boot handle and windscreen wipers in silver. The name badges on the front of the car and on the sides, to the rear of the windows, were picked out in maroon. The last job was to print some card number plates on the computer and glue them on. The number plates match those of the car in the Harry Potter films, so there is some continuity.

I am pleased with the result and now have a superb little model of a car appropriate to the period that I am loosely modelling.


The re-worked model 1959 Ford Anglia.









David

 

[Rhinochugger]

My first car was a pale yellow 105E (I believe with the chrome waistline that is an Anglia Super with the 1200cc engine 123E) with a white roof.

Took it on holiday to the lake district, went over Shap in torrential rain and, in the morning, found the rear footwells full of water.

Inner front wings had rotted, and the water sprayed off from the tyres, but the rear footwells were lower ....................................

The dealer who sold it to me rectified the problem - t'was the garage where my father worked

 

[Gizzy]

My first car was a pale yellow 105E (I believe with the chrome waistline that is an Anglia Super with the 1200cc engine 123E) with a white roof.

Took it on holiday to the lake district, went over Shap in torrential rain and, in the morning, found the rear footwells full of water.

Inner front wings had rotted, and the water sprayed off from the tyres, but the rear footwells were lower ....................................

The dealer who sold it to me rectified the problem - t'was the garage where my father worked

My late father had a green one, from memory.

I think it was our first family car.

It was 3rd or 4th hand and even then, it was an old model....

 

[SeanW-RRH]

Your re-worked model looks fantastic!

As an avid die-cast car collector, I never like to see those factory "weathering" jobs. To me the worst are the "raced" versions of race cars.

 

[dunnyrail]

Your re-worked model looks fantastic!

As an avid die-cast car collector, I never like to see those factory "weathering" jobs. To me the worst are the "raced" versions of race cars.

Strange that I prefer such weathering.

 

[mike]

Nice job matey