Aston Martin DB5 with self-defence mechanisms

[KiwiZac]

Hi all,
As a kid I had Airfix's 1998 catalogue and, as a James Bond book and movie fan, I lusted after the 1/32 DB5 with the wild idea of adding my own cobbled-together Bond gadgets to it. I never entertained any idea of buying any other car model, only a silver DB5 - probably just as well, as 12-15-year-old me wouldn't have done it justice.

Unfortunately I never found the kit and moved on. Now, with the recent re-release of it as a Starter Kit

and having found it for almost half retail, I had to get it. Just as well it was half price as it's the 1967 mould and this

is NOT worth NZ$34.99.

So, armed with as many DB5 photos as I could download at work, I got started on my first ever car kit. The aim is to replicate the Goldfinger car with guns extended, tyre slasher out, and a suggestion of the other bits and bobs (except the bulletproof screen - my scribing game isn't up to that). As of this evening it appears thusly:


It's hard to see in the photo but, along with the scratched control panel-armrest, I carefully sliced the top of the gear change stick almost off and painted a red "knob" for the ejector mechanism.


The panel is from a 1/48 P-40 - not close to the real prop, but good enough for a closed-door, 1/32 scaled car. Likewise the rubber boot at the base of the gear stick is from a big Heller Super Frelon chopper.

I'm having fun! Humbrol #11 is not the match for Aston Martin "Silver Birch" I've been led to believe, so I mixed the two included pottles with a dash of Tamiya Sky Grey. I think it's turned out well. You can see the painted body in the background, I'll wait til it's done to share a better pic.

[zenrat]

That shows a lot of commitment doing all those mods in 1/32.
The sprues really show their age don't they.
I did a spot of googling and found this;

Which is in the almost correct car scale of 1/24.

[PR19_Kit]

The 1/24 scale version of the 007 DB5 had all the working parts too. You could even fire the un-knowing passenger out of the roof hatch with a working ejector seat! 

IIRC it was released in the US under the MPC label too, as I had one of those, and built it too. One of those unbuilt kits could be worth a fortune these days!

[KiwiZac]

The 1/24 is one I'd love to get, but as Kit says the price is rather prohibitive. Looking at a scan of the instructions it's a very nice-looking kit - it even has a pistol and ammo in a tray underneath one of the seats! Doyusha did one a while ago that comes with Oddjob and 007, that would be the one to have I think.

It's actually quite fun - doing the gadgets in 1/32 is a lot like adding detail to a 1/72 kit.

[KiwiZac]

Cheeky bump to say I'm going to try scribing the bulletproof screen and roof panel. Fun times ahead!

[Rick Lowe]

Zac, can I suggest you outline the panels with tape and scribe inside that?
It (mostly) worked for me with a recent build, but then I was only cutting lines into the paint for a black wash to highlight the panels, so may not work for your scribing purposes - but the idea is there FWIW.

Cheers

[KiwiZac]

A good idea, but I still chickened out. Rather than scribing I used black decal striping. The build will get finished after Christmas, until then:

[McColm]

I've got the Airfix 1/24 kit without the gadgets, it was found in a house clearance sale. I don't think the seller knew the true value for the model otherwise. £5 bargain!

[KiwiZac]

That's maddeningly good value. Great score!

[MiB]

And then?