Fujimi 1/24th Vintage Mini Cooper

by Brad Huskinson

(Editors note: MPS Car Model Czar Brad Huskinson is back from his Bullitt “Stang and Chevelle SS 396 with this awesome vintage Mini Cooper. When I saw this Mini I fell hard. Some colors just work on some models and such is the case with Brad’s Mini Cooper. Many Thanks Brad!)

For more of Brad’s top-notch work check out his site “SmallCars“.

Construction and Modifications

All parts removed from sprue with sprue cutters, and cleaned up with sandpaper, scrapers and sanding sticks.

I used both Tamiya Thin and CA glues depending on whether or not the parts have to/had been painted.

As I always do, the chrome was removed from all parts. Those I wanted chrome were airbrushed with Molotow chrome. It is much more realistic looking. However, you have to be very careful not to handle it for at least 48 hours or it will quickly get dull.

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The end of the upturned exhaust pipe was removed and replaced with aluminum tubing. I opened the end of the tube up more with a round file creating a much more realistic scale thickness to the pipe.

Bare Metal Foil was used for all window trim, door handles, and a heat shield against the chassis/exhaust system.

The wheel wells plastic was sanded way down so, with the lowered stance, the wheels would fit and give a truer body panel thickness appearance.

I fortunately did a lot of pre-fitting before final construction. The body sat very high off the ground and looked as if it were an all wheel drive car. Definitely not the look I wanted to achieve. I eventually had to place the chassis mounts much higher inside the body.

The other area that really took patience was the front and rear window frames, which had oversized rubber molding. I painted them flat black and then cut many skinny strips of Bare Metal Foil for the chrome trim. I redid this several times to get it right.

Colour and Markings

A Harder & Steenbeck Evolution was used for all priming and painting steps. If you spend any time with John Miller, you can’t use anything else!

🙂 (JM)

Gravity Colors Grey Primer was used throughout the build.I find that this primer works great straight from the jar at 18 psi with a 0.40mm tip.

The top of the Mini was masked and sprayed Tamiya White, which was decanted and airbrushed.

I have always liked the sage color of old Minis and Land Rovers. I didn’t see much in model colors that struck me, but I did find the perfect paint in a Rust-Oleum Satin Sage: $5.99 at the hardware store. That’s enough to paint about 25 Minis!

Brad Huskinson

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