With a number of my previous builds coming to an end, I was delighted to find this was coming out. Due to circumstances beyond my controls, I have not been able to post this as quickly as I would have liked. So my first post covers the first delivery of issues 1 and 2, plus my second delivery of issues 3 to 6.



This is the contents of the first delivery.



Issue 1: the bonnet.



A nice start to the build, a good set of parts showing off the paintwork and a good indication of the detail in the build, plus a decent looking screwdriver.



Stage 1 requires this photo-etch grill part.



Which requires bending to a 90° angle. I couldn't find my dedicated photoetch bender, so I used my steel ruler. The unfortunate result is that the grill is not perfectly straight after the bend, but it's good enough.



The grill is then placed in this location in the top of the bonnet interior. The bent section is underneath the rear of the opening.



This is then screwed in from the underside.





This part of the hood latch is just pushed in.





And the second part is screwed in from the top side.





The vent cover is placed over the two posts. Care should be taken at this point as the metal component does not fit tight on the posts and will fall off if turned over.





The top (outer) bonnet skin is then placed over the top,



carefully turned over, and the parts screwed together.



We then start working on the left hinge. The hinge part in this picture is the wrong way round.



Here it is installed the correct way round.



The short spar is installed like this at the back of the hinge



And the longer one in this orientation at the front. This is the end of issue 1.

Very nice start. didn’t take long before some mods came out on this.

Mark

Issue 3: Front Left Wheel.



In this issue, we tackle the first wheel of the build.



The first three components, the tyre, and two components comprising a split rim.



However, before I go ahead and assemble them, a couple of tricks. As is normal for my car builds, I take the tyre and give it a light sanding on the treads.



I feel this gives the tyre a more 'used' look, and knocks down the mould line around the circumference.

Once I have done that, I place the tyre in a bowl of warm water to soften for a minute or two. This means there is less resistance to me squeezing the two wheel components together and I can get the three screws in easier.





With the wheel constructed, we move on to the hub and brake calliper.





We then construct the brake disc out of two parts. This will form a vented disc.



Note that the connection is so that the fingered part goes to the flat side of the other part.



And we end up with a vented disc.



Place the disc into the calliper so that the flat side of the disc faces the black disc screwed to the calliper. then place the tube section of the disc into the wheel. There is a keyed section so that the wheel and brake disk will only sit in the correct orientation.



This section of the steering/suspension will tie all the rest together. The key section will slot into the black section.

All this is connected by a screw from the outside of the wheel.







And the hub is secured with five screws.

That's it for this issue. Issue 4 we start the iconic dash.

Issue 3 - the first (front) wheel.



In this issue we build the first of KITT's iconic wheels.



For anyone who has done a car model like this before, this is a common sight. We have a tyre and two wheel components. The tyre will be sandwiched between the wheel components as they are screwed together.



But before I do that, I habitually do a little sanding on the tyre tread.



As you can see, this makes the tyre look as if it has seen the road surface, and has the added advantage of knocking down any mould line that may be visible around the tyre tread.





The wheel is then inserted, and screwed into place. Even though not strictly necessary, I still place the tyre in hot water to soften it for this operation. It allows me to squeeze the two parts of the wheel together more easily and allows the screws to cut the threads with less resistance.



We then start on the brakes. This component and the brake calliper are connected like this.







The disc, being a vented disc, is constructed from these two parts, ensuring that hey are the correct orientation.



The disc is placed in the calliper, and installed in the wheel so that the flat surface of the disc is towards the inside of the wheel (uppermost in this picture). There is a keyhole cut-out in the brake disk centre so that it will only go on the wheel in the correct orientation. Note that this is not because the orientation matters particularly, but to provide a positive connection so that the brake disc will turn when the wheel turns.

This part of the suspension and the wheel axle is then inserted through the wheel from the inside. This also has a keyed connection, but only to the inner disc and calliper, so the calliper does not move when the wheel does.





Place the plastic washer on the screw, and connect the part to the wheel from the outside of the wheel. This should mean that the suspension part and brake calliper remain still, whilst the brake disc and wheel turn freely. There should also be no side to side 'wobble' of the wheel.



The wheel trim is then attached with 5 screws, completing the iconic look of the wheel, and issue 3.

Issue 4 - Main Dashboard



In this issue we put together the majority of the dash. This will be lit later in the build.





Firstly, these two components are pushed together. They will combine to become the part of the dash with the ignition sequence lights and KITTs vocal synthesiser.



The ignition sequence lights are pushed into the top of the longer part.





And the unit is then screwed in underneath the top face of the dash.



KITTs vocaliser is then pushed in from the front.



The dash displays were then laid out. Each box and corresponding display in order.





Each display is shaped so it will only go in the corresponding box the correct way round. Each box has a small hole in the back, indicating that each box will be lit in a future stage.



With the display boxes completed, it's time to move on to installing them in the dash.







Keep following on, each box in order, until you get to the end.



At this point, we start working on items on the bottom row, working back towards where we began.



This set of lighted switches will be the first on this row.



These get placed here.



The box is placed over the switches and secured. The final box to be placed is the one that is angled in the middle.



This is what the finished dash looks like from the front.



The final construction this issue is on this unit that holds all the buttons and will be installed behind the steering wheel . There are two translucent components that I have already installed in this picture. I had some difficulty with these. They will only go one way within the main part, but I couldn't work out for a while, if the buttons were upside-down or not until I realised it was not possible to put them in incorrectly. The cause of the confusion was that the colours and positions of the buttons did not seem to match that of the pictures.



With that component sealed with the back plate, we are left with the steering column, steering wheel, and steering wheel icon for another issue.

That is the end of issue 4, the end of what I call the 'attractor' issues, and therefore the end of the card backed parts. From now on, we get bagged parts.

Issue 6 - Suspension.





In this issue, we start on some of the suspension. There are four connectors to add to a crossmember, the first of four wishbones to install, and a component to add to the frame part from last issue. We also get a second screwdriver.









All the brackets are labelled for the left (L) or right (R) and are easy to install.



The wishbone is the hardest to install for this issue. It requires two screws, one in each bracket, and mine had a tendency to twist as I installed the first screw which meant the second would not fit. I ended up slowly working both screws at the same time, turning the first a turn, repeating that on the second screw, going back to the first and repeating the whole process. This is possibly due to a slight mis-alignment between the two brackets for the wishbone, but once fully secured, it works well. I'm looking forward to finishing the suspension with the springs.



The frame from last issue is the last thing to be worked on for this issue.



And with that component added, that's it for issue 6. Up to issue 10 we have more suspension and frame parts, another front brake, but no wheel. So it looks like I'm going to wait until the next delivery after that for the next installation of the drilled discs and magnetic hub cap.

Issue 8 - More suspension and front left chassis beam.

Warning. This issue requires more than usual patience and an adjustment to the assembly order!





This issue we fit the front left suspension arm, complete the front suspension on that side, and add the front left chassis beam.





Firstly, we attach the lower suspension mounts. Ensure the closed in sections of the mounts point toward each other and secure them. These will trap one of the suspension arm connections.





Place the spring into its location, then secure the arm in place with two long screws. I had the same problems with the lower arms as I had with the upper ones, but once again taking things slowly and adjusting both screws at the same time ensured that the arms are at the correct angles to minimise any problems.





This pin is fed through the hole in the newly installed suspension arm and is secured in the top of the suspension component in the wheel we built previously.



I found this to be much easier after having taken the wheel off as there was a lot less weight to have to deal with whilst screwing these parts together. Ensure that the arm on this component is outside the suspension arms.



The other connector is assembled and secured with a screw in the middle.



And this is then used to finish connecting the suspension together. Note that all the screws have been inserted from the same side. This is noted in the instructions where they are all screwed in from the rear (The side opposite the steering arm on the suspension/brake assembly).



At this point I thought I was finished with the suspension and replaced the wheel. (This was NOT a good idea, as will be shown shortly.)





These two triangular pieces are now pushed in to corresponding holes on the assembly. Mine were not a particularly tight fit, so kept falling out. The left one will soon be secured to the chassis beam, but you may be better to leave the right one off for now.



The chassis beam is then secured with four screws. One type fixing the triangular section, a bigger screw at the rear, and TWO SMALL SCREWS UP THROUGH THE SPRING!

Unfortunately I could find no way to actually connect these screws as you can hardly see up to where they go.



So off comes the wheel again, I undo most of the work building the suspension and connect the chassis beam screws through this area without the suspension in place. Much easier. Then I rebuild all the suspension.



And this is how we end issue 8. With high blood pressure and an atmosphere with a definite blue haze to it.

Issue 10 - Steering and front brake lines.





Firstly this issue, we build the steering linkages and connect them to the suspension.



With the centre link placed so that the centre section bends upwards slightly, and the ends bend backwards slightly, screw the idler arm (the one with a round hole, marked 'R') on the right hand side so that it drops lower as it extends from the centre link. Connect the Pitman arm (with a square hole, marked 'L') on the left side.



Screw the two tie rods to the centre link so that the details point up in relation to the centre link and that they point slightly backwards as they extend out towards the sides. The holes for the screws should be on the underside of the tie rods when they are assembled in the correct orientation.



The steering system is then installed on the suspension and frame. NOTE: The suspension and frame needs to be upside-down in the following instructions, with the narrower section of the chassis beams away from you.

The Pitman arm is connected to the steering gearbox with a standard screw. The trailing arm is connected to the post on the other chassis beam with a flanged screw. The ends of the tie rods will fit into the loops in the steering arms that are part of the wheel hubs. The assembly is turned over and the tie rods are secured from above with flanged screws.

Providing the screws are not too tight, the steering can now be moved by rotating the column connected to the steering gearbox.



Next we build and install the front sway bar.



The two links are secured to the sway bar. This connection is of a keyed design which prevents the links from rotating uselessly when you try and tighten the screw.



With the chassis upside-down again, the sway bar is laid in this location with the links pointing up. The links are attached to the lower suspension arms. There is a small indentation which will accept them in the correct location.



The 'U' clamps are then secured over the sway bar and hold it in place. It is not clear if the orientation of the clamps matters at all. There is a raised detail on one side of each clamp, but no indication if this should be on the inside of each clamp, the outside, or if it goes to one side on each clamp - and if so, which side it should go. I decided to have mine with the raised detail on the outside of each clamp.



The final assembly for this issue is the front brake distributor and brake lines. Of the three pipes supplied, there is one long one and two shorter ones. According to the instructions, the long one goes to the right in the picture. This line will go up past the sway bar. The other two lines will go to the wheels.



The distributor goes this way onto the smaller pin on the crossmember. The longer pipe going towards the top of the picture.



The pipe going left is attached to the left brake like so. Ensure it passes between the crossmember and the upper suspension arm.

Although this follows the instructions, this orientation of the distributor looks weird to me. It seems to make more sense to have the longer pipe attached to the central point as then the other two pipes point towards each wheel. There seems to be no reason to have the connections front and back of the distributor when the two pipes go one to each wheel. So I may change that either before or when I get the next delivery. I also don't understand what the longer pipe is doing going toward the engine when there is nothing going back toward the rear brakes, but there is a definite notch in the crossmember for this so will wait for further information on how the rear brakes work.

Either way, that's it for issue 10, and indeed for this month.

EDIT: Whilst working on a later issue I realised that there is a detail about the steering that needs to be mentioned. When I originally did my steering, I left it with the connector horizontal, as in the picture below.



As you can see, the connector on the steering wheel is also horizontal, so the universal joint which will be used later means that, if not corrected, the steering wheel will be at 90° when the wheels are pointing forward.

To correct this, I removed the connecting rod between the steering gear box, rotated the steering rod until the square connection point had rotated 90°, then re-attached the connecting rod.



So your steering should look like this if it's properly aligned and ready to attach at the correct stage.

Issue 12, first wheel arch part 1.





The first thing we do this issue is attach the triangular bracket to the wheel arch. Ensure that the narrower end is to the outside of the wheel well.







We then build the battery onto the wheel arch. The base goes down first, then the main battery part. When placing this part, ensure the holes where the battery terminals will go face the arch. These are then secured from underneath with a single screw.



And the last thing for this issue is placing the terminals .

Issue 14, starting the second (right) wheel arch.





As we did with the left arch, the first thing we do this issue is attach the triangular frame, ensuring the narrow end of the frame is to the outside of the arch.







We then assemble and secure what looks like another fluid tank. Note that the base and tank have cut-outs which should go over the screws when they are the correct way round.



And finally, the cap goes on the tank. That finishes this issue, and indeed this month.