Land Rover Defender 110

[BlrwestSiR]

A couple years ago I came across a conversion kit made by C1 Models for the Revell Land Rover Series III kit. It allowed one to make a later updated version of the Defender as seen in the James Bond film Spectre. 

Here's a comparison of the stock kit body with the one in the conversion kit. 

The Series III body

The Defender body. 

The fender flares, roll bars and bash bar are all separate add-ons, much like they would on the real thing. 

[BlrwestSiR]

The biggest challenge with this kit is the lack of instructions. They include some for the assembly of the external roll cage and there's a short video on their website that shows how the suspension goes together. So there's no real information on what to cut/modify on the kit parts. There's also no engine included. On the actual vehicle, a Chevy LS V8 was swapped in place of the stock inline -6. One can either use the kit engine or source a V8 from somewhere else. I ended up buying a Revell 2005 Corvette to act as an engine donor. 

The first step is to cut down the floorplan to make it fit the pickup body style. 

I cut it way too short the first time so you can see where I glued it back together and tried again. 

Next, the central transmission tunnel is cut away between the front seats. Unfortunately I don't have a pic of this. 

Lastly, to fit the front shock towers, a couple openings need to be cut into the front fender linings. 

But before that, the shock towers need to be mounted to the frame. 

Fit the front axle to the frame but don't glue it in place. Then fit the shock towers the frame using the axle as a location guide. 

With the shock towers in place one can figure out where to cut the openings in the fender linings 

[DocRob]

Three car builds on LSM at the same time must be a record 
Great work with the Defender, Carl. Bummer that there is no thorough documentation with the conversion kit. Love your version, but don´t like LED lights too much on classic off road cars . I opted for very good conventional lights on my 1/1 scale Jeep.

Cheers Rob

[BlrwestSiR]

Thanks Rob, I think you're right about how many car builds there are being a record. 

As for the lights, I have to agree with you. They do look a bit out of place even if they're better. At least they're separate parts so I can leave them off.

[Martinnfb]

Nice work on this beast Carl. I’m glad you stared this dedicated thread. Will follow with interest. 
 

Cheers

Martin