Rallye cars: Back to the Audi S1

With a series of stalled projects now moving again (and which will all be documented shortly), it is time to get back to the rallye world. Initially I considered the Renault R5 Turbo from Heller, but on closer inspection the kit turns out to be very poorly detailed, and hardly worth the effort to assemble -- the photo below shows the entirety of this kit. This was an unpleasant surprise, frankly, as Heller has a reputation for well-engineered and very detailed kits, in particular of the Delahaye 135 or Citroën 15 which I have, and of the Bugatti T50 which I do not.



So while waiting for a more realistic kit of this little monster (Profil 24, are you listening?) I decided to look through the more detailed stuff on the shelf for the next project. The stash includes a good selection of resin (Audi S1, Lancia Delta, MG Metro, Porsche 550, Talbot Lotus, Toyota Celica) and styrene (Ford Escort, Ford Falcon Sprint, Lancia 037, Peugeot 206 and the aforementioned R5). The Lancia 037 would be a prime candidate but I am on a waiting list for an upgrade kit, so I decided to leave this on the shelf for a while longer.

Quite some time ago I ordered the Audi S1, in resin, from Profil 24. This kit has now been re-issued, and the nice folks at Profil 24 sent me a new hood to replace the one that was just a bit narrow due to resin not completely filling the mold, as well as a radiator which also had some flaws.



I figure it is now time to make some progress here, so the first step was to head over to the local pharmacy for some more isopropyl alcohol. I discovered the importance of this for removing mold agents here, a lesson that won't be soon forgotten. Next was some initial work to remove scarf, drill out holes, sharpen up dowels, plan for the odd pinned joint, and put a coat of primer on the engine components and the chassis. Photos to follow; this is going to be a very different build from a Tamiya kit, so stay tuned.