What did you want to be when you grew up – a train driver? Astronaut? Back in 1970, the coolest job was to join a secret, high-technology international agency called SHADO (an acronym for Supreme Headquarters, Alien Defence Organisation) established to defend Earth and humanity against the mysterious aliens and learn more about them, while at the same time keeping the threat of an alien invasion hidden from the public.
Perks of the job were to work with women who wore purple wigs & silver catsuits and to drive around in the coolest, most futuristic cars ever. Have a look at this video, it’s even more brilliant than you remember.
The cars were designed by Derek Meddings and built by Alan Mann Racing who built Fords for the racetrack and also Chitty Chitty Bang Bang a year earlier. Based on Ford Zephyr chassis and using smaller 1300cc engines they were no ball of fire in reality but as a vision of the future the cars were perfect.
In the kit you get
- Resin bodyshell
- Vacform windows
- Vacform interior
- Resin driver’s head
- Resin wheel inserts
Bodyshell preparation is here, detail follows below.
As always with resin parts, wash them in soapy water to get rid of any mould release agents, then leave them them to dry. Choose your favourite primer and get to it. The paint I used was metallic bronze, so I chose a grey primer from the same paint manufacturer.
I use 600 grit wet & dry paper after the primer coats, then start with the top coats making sure each coat is fully dry before sanding again. 600 grit between top coats, and usually 3 coats is enough.
Glueing the windows in place is as per the other cars, the headlight covers can be a bit of a challenge so use some tape to hold them while the glue dries.
Paint the interiors to suit and glue the resin driver’s head in place.
Mark the chassis screw holes and drill them with a 2mm bit. Make sure there’s enough clearance between the chassis when it rocks and the car’s interior.
Then get on the track!
