Shh Don't Tell My Dad!

 I know I have been a bit quiet recently, that only means I have been busy. I am, again, building a gift for my Dad's birthday. It'll be his 60th this year so I thought something a little bigger this year. I have been quiet because I have been working on his gift and I didn't want to show it till It was time but I just can't hold off just don't show him this page till it's his Birthday *laughs*

I am going to build a series 3 Land Rover - Hampshire Fire Truck. Lets look in the box.

That's a lot of parts but this is going to be fun. I shall, as always, start with the chassis and interior. 

Lots of detailed work on these small parts. The dashboard looks great and the textured paint seats really pop. Interior detail is always the hardest to see when the model is complete and it requires close inspection to see it all. This is no different but when it is noticed, it will really make the difference. 

Next up the body work.

That's all the parts that require lacquer properly primed and sanded, next step colour coat.

 The colour is Coca Cola Red with a gloss white stripe. It looks pink right now but Zero Paints always require the gloss coat to really finish it off. So with that, how about that Diamond Clear coat.

Now the colour really pops. A nice red, perfect for the fire truck. It's had the chassis and interior installed and the details have been painted. The decals were put on prior to gloss coating so they shine just as much as the paint work. I'm still getting some 'orange peel' effect but I later learnt how to deal with that but while I built this model, the solution still eluded me. 

 Here we are with the roof installed. I am pretty pleased with it so far. I even managed to highlight the panels as best as I could. Next I need to paint and install the extra parts such as the ladders and pipes. 

 

And Voila! The Series 3 Land Rover - Hampshire Fire and Rescue Truck. Now that's usually as far as I go, apart from fitting my models into a display case but seeing as this one is for a special gift I added something special to the case. 

 

That's the model done. Complete with a brass etched plaque that reads "Series III Land Rover - Hampshire Fire & Rescue Truck

Built By Karl Oliver - Happy 60th Birthday Dad"

I'm hoping he will really like this. As always, a few errors along the way and things I could do better and have learnt along the way but it's always a learning experience. This was a fun model with a lot of extra parts and took quite a while to complete. But this is one I am very proud of.