Tour de Airfix: MINI Countryman for Mum

Sunday 28 March 2021

MINI Countryman for Mum

Since they were released, my Mum has always wanted a Mini Countryman. So, while I'll probably never have the funds required to buy her a real one, I thought I'd build her a mini-me 1:32 scale version.

Using Airfix's Mini Countryman WRC gift set kit as the base, I set about constructing as close to a road going version as possible, in a metallic colour that she would appreciate more than the bright yellow of the Mini Countryman WRC I built a few weeks ago, or the John Cooper Rally Team red with rally decals that the box art suggested.

I had thought that I would have been able to swap a few bits from the Airfix Mini Cooper S, I was building at the same time, as a copy of my old Mini 850, however, the rally seats wound not fit in the lower roofed Cooper S and its more traditional road wheels were really too small for the Countryman. So, more by accident than design, it was just the Cooper's rear view mirror and speedo decals which I transferred over, having been too hasty in joining the Cooper's body to chassis before spotting these still lying on the bench!

One additional and planned modification that I did make, was to covet the Countryman from left to right hand drive. Why are rally cars left hand drive these day's? This conversion was achieved by drilling a second hole for the steering column in the righthand footwell, a much simpler conversion than on the real mini! One thing I neglected to spot in doing this, however, was that I could not move the rev counter, but you can't have everything!

My Mum's current car is painted a pale metallic green, which having checked with her prior to the build, is a colour she would have again - I just hope my prior questioning does not make her think I'm buying her a full sized new car! I probably should have gone to the dealer to get a colour pot of this actual colour but having found a Vallejo green metallic, for probably a fraction of the cost, I thought how different can metallic greens be? With hindsight, very different! Then again, a sporty mini needs to have a bold, bright colour, doesn't it.

One reason why my Mum likes the idea of the Countryman, is because there is a better chance of her dog getting in the back than in, for example, the Cooper S. Bearing in mind that her current vehicle is a large estate car, it is fortunate that the Countryman WRC Mini comes with its rear seats removed, to both save weight and accommodate a large spare wheel! By not using the spare wheel nor fitting the roll cage, I found just enough room for a blu tac crafted dog!

This then just left a final coat of varnish and a set of personalised number-plates to finish the build. My only hope now is that it survives being parcelled up and Royal Mail handling to the other end of the country, as unfortunately lockdown restrictions will not be lifted in time for me to deliver it in person!