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I still can't do any more spraying on the Scorcher (too windy today), so I dusted off a 190mm HPI Mondeo body kit I bought a while back ... The most obvious thing is it's quite different from the 4-door saloon version Tamiya did - this HPI version is the 5-door hatchback ... and it's not very realistic.

I don't know if it was aerodynamic consideration that drove HPI to it, but it looks subtly wrong - the roof is too small and low, which means the front windscreen & side windows are angled in too flat, the lines rise too much over the rear wheel arches, and the rear window, although still huge, just isn't bulbous enough. Apart from the oval on the front there's very little to say it's a Mondeo... TBH it looks like something a smaller, a little curvier and a lot more French - put Renault Laguna badges on it & no-one would argue

Cut out, body post holes drilled to suit an FF01 chassis, lines marked & window masks on:




After 4 coats of PC-4 Blue (note where it's run under the masks):




4 coats of PC-6 Yellow, masks & outer film removed (needs the clips on the front posts moving down a notch):




This must be part of the reason Tamiya went with the 4-door version - it doesn't show how little there is going on at the back end of the chassis so badly ...




_Not_ what it's meant to be...

Must have taken nearly 3 hours to get all the decals on ...





My FF01 "collection" continues to grow ...




Note difference in height between Tamiya Mondeos & the HPI ... Tamiya bodies are scale models, the HPI is a bit of plastic with stickers on

Very tight job with the decals.

Sitting at the airport, waiting for my flight home gave me a chance to revisit some of the old threads I subscribed to. And JR, I must say this one does bring back some really good memories.

I had a FF-01 with a Nissan Primera body from Tamiya



And I always wanted a Volvo body, but the station wagon version. I almost had one too. But I remember taking this thing to the track, where all my friends ran TT-01s and TL-01s. At that stage I had 3 TA0 carbon pro editions with various oldies on, and the FF-01.

I put my FF-01 on the start/finish line, and we started a 5 lap practice race. By the end of the first lap I was 2 and rapidly catching the leader. Much to my disgust, at the end of the 2nd lap, the car stopped suddenly. After the practice had finished, I went to check what was wrong with mu car, and believe it, the ESC was cooking and cut out on thermal.

Long story short, with the sport tuned black Tamiya motor installed, the car was spinning around every corner, and this overheated the ESC. When I fitted a bigger heatsink, that car provided me with hours of fun...

Just thought you would like to know...

I did find somewhere that make a Volvo 850 estate /station wagon & the decals for it ... but lost the link IIRC the dtails weren't a patch on the Tamiay shell, but still ...

The FF-01 is definitely not the fastest way around a track, but it is the most fun - especially if you Banzai the hairpins

Nice cars, has me wanting a FF01. For the mudflaps on the rally Metro (realizing you finished in 10 months ago...) have a look in the kitchen department of your local department store.. can't really recommend anywhere as you're in UK and I'm in Canada. They sell silicone baking sheets/tray liners. The flat ones meant to go on a cookie tray are quite flexible and often an orange/red colour. A few quid for a 11x17(ish) sheet might have you a lifetime supply of mud flaps.