Here is the Austin Princess then, a November 1980 Princess 2 facelift 1700L model completed in snapdragon yellow.
The original model from vanguards wasn't a million miles away from being excellent, but quite a few changes had to be made to make the model look more realistic. Wheels are very good, top quality and very accurate.
changes then:
- Bottom of wings were a separate unit from vanguards hence had to be integrated on to the main model with a combination of dremel work, filling and sanding accordingly.
- side windows were initially too narrow much like on the escort and cortina hence made bigger using the same methodology. However, I ended up losing the 3d horizontal detail on the C-pillar, which usually sits in line with the bottom of the side windows. The existing 3d horizontal detail on the C-pillar was no longer in line with the bottom of the windows, therefore I got rid of this with a combination of dremel work, sanding/filling and sanding accordingly until the areas became smooth, then replaced the lost 3d bar(s) with chromed self-adhesive strips, one for each side.
- rear lights from vanguards were way too narrow, height-wise. Hence I made a couple of custom plastic ones, after shaping accordingly, spraying plastic primer grey and colouring in accordingly using transparent paint, chromed surroundings courtesy of waterslide
decals.
- a little bit more "meat" added to back of model, below bumper (much like the granada). Vanguards had this much too narrow and this was corrected using filler and sanding/reshaping accordingly. I have coloured the bottom of the rear black as I've googled quite a few of these very late Princesses, and it's quite common for them to have black just below the rear bumper.
- headlights sanded flat like on the real thing, I hadn't initially realised vanguards had these convex shaped.
The coachlines are light brown metallic like on the real thing, but barely visible due to partially the colour of the main model and also because they are supposed to be really thin. Sometimes, even on the real thing, depending on the colour of the main model the coach-lines do not stand out. Also, notice the rectangular blue logo on front grille missing as haven't had them made yet.