Ebbro Citroen DS21... The Green Goddess!

[jaymcminn]

I recently picked up the Ebbro kit of one of my favorite cars, the Citroen DS. I spent the better part of a week test-fitting, filling sink marks, priming, test fitting again, etc. Initial impressions of this kit are really good, but it is not something you want to tackle for your first kit. Or, like, your tenth. Observations so far:

Parts are very thinly molded. As close to scale as possible. Unfortunately this has led to minor warpage in the body shell at the A pillars. I mostly corrected it with hot water and the windshield unit forces it true when installed.

Opening doors are annoying. I trimmed down the friction-fit latches on the interior door panels to avoid paint damage in the future and installed neodymium magnets in the doors and sills to help them stay closed. Trimming the latches also helped the doors fit better. I rescribed the rear door line wider to match the front door gap. Fortunately 70s Citroen build quality can easily explain big panel gaps! 

All the chrome trim on the car is represented by finely molded separate pieces. Unfortunately these are subject to warping as well and, being chrome plated, these are much easier to break when trying to correct the warp. The plan is to not mess with them beforehand and rely on epoxy to install them.

Proportions are spot-on and the quality of the molds is very good. From my test-fitting, it looks like it will go together well in the end.

First round of pics are the painted and polished body parts. Paint is Tamiya TS60 Pearl Green over Tamiya grey primer. This pretty closely matches Citroen Argent Green. Roof is TS14 black and headlight buckets/wheels are TS7 Racing White. After applying TS13 clear, I polished out with Meguiar's Ultimate compound and polish. No sanding was necessary. The plan for the interior is cognac leather with dark green carpets. This will look great with the body color green on the interior door panels. Engine will get some extra detail but the DS engine bay is such a mess of tubes and hoses that going overboard won't make it look any better. It's going to get some weathering and oil staining as well. The plan is for it to look like a well-cared-for daily driver. 

Anyway, on to the pics! Allons-Y!

 

[Justin Porter]

This is really a kit that's quite high on my own personal "want to build" list. It seems like every build shows it as being fun to put together. Looking forward to yours!

[dino246gt]

Wow, that looks great!  Never built an Ebbro kit, looks like it's well made?

Love your paint scheme, looks nice!

[Matt Bacon]

Looks brilliant, Jason. I think DS's HAVE to be in some subtle, elegant and slightly quirky colour combo, and that one suits it perfectly. I slightly wish I'd bought the 21 instead of the 19, because I think it looks cooler, but on the other hand the 19 is the spaceship-groundbreaker. And with a 19, I can choose a fabric interior that looks like THIS:

None of your luxo-barge tasteful ruched cognac leather for me...

You've reminded me just HOW cool they are, though. Time to get building...

Thank you for this!

best,

M.

 

Edited February 3, 2023 by Matt Bacon

[jaymcminn]

1 hour ago, Matt Bacon said:

Looks brilliant, Jason. I think DS's HAVE to be in some subtle, elegant and slightly quirky colour combo, and that one suits it perfectly. I slightly wish I'd bought the 21 instead of the 19, because I think it looks cooler, but on the other hand the 19 is the spaceship-groundbreaker. And with a 19, I can choose a fabric interior that looks like THIS:

None of your luxo-barge tasteful ruched cognac leather for me...

You've reminded me just HOW cool they are, though. Time to get building...

Thank you for this!

best,

M.

 

That's some interesting upholstery. I think my grandma had curtains made out of that stuff in the 70s.

4 hours ago, Justin Porter said:

This is really a kit that's quite high on my own personal "want to build" list. It seems like every build shows it as being fun to put together. Looking forward to yours!

 

2 hours ago, dino246gt said:

Wow, that looks great!  Never built an Ebbro kit, looks like it's well made?

Love your paint scheme, looks nice!

It's a fun kit so far, but pretty challenging. Ebbro was apparently founded by the chief designer for Tamiya during the 70s "golden age" and there's a lot of that DNA in there. It's also needlessly complicated in places, but that just makes it even more fun. Umm, so far. 

[Spottedlaurel]

What a fantastic start. I'd love to give one of these a go, as a reminder of those I've seen on French holidays, however I'm not sure I could do it justice....

The later DS is one of the few old cars that my wife really likes, but I wouldn't be brave enough to own one at 1:1.

[thebavarian]

You did an awesome work with your painting. I like this two color tones of the old Citroën. In my stock there is waiting a DS-19 from EBBRO. 

[doorsovdoon]

Lovely colour. Good start.?

[jaymcminn]

Work on the body continues... I masked and painted the rubber moldings around the backlight and rear windows. 

Next was the brushed aluminum trim on the B and C pillars. It's a prominent styling feature on the DS and I wanted to do it justice. I wound up using Bare Metal Foil, which I "brushed" with 1500 grit sandpaper before applying to the body. Afterward I sealed it with Micro Satin. Then the chrome moldings were ready to apply. (First pic was taken with the flash to pick up the brushed effect, as well as every fingerprint and smudge!)

Doors and roof will not be attached until final assembly, but I did a test-fit and was pretty happy with it. The magnets hold the doors perfectly!

Next is removing parts from trees and preparing for a big airbrush session. More to come soon!

[Bainford]

Coming along very nicely, Jason. Been eager to pick up one of these kits, so I am keen to watch this build come together. Looks like a nice kit. Love the colours.

[jaymcminn]

On to the interior... The door panels are completely incorrect in this kit as they seem to be unchanged from the DS19 kit. Most notable was the lack of a driver's armrest. DS19s didn't have them, DS21s did. I sculpted one from styrene sheet and Tamiya epoxy putty. It was my first time using this stuff and it's excellent! In progress shot of the driver's door with printer's plate aluminum kick panel, sheet styrene tuck'n'roll insert and unfinished armrest...

Next I masked the door panels and sprayed with Tamiya Red Oxide primer. This wound up as the base for my "cognac" leather. I sponged some Vallejo black wash over the surface to add some interest and hit the leather pieces with a coat of clear satin. Carpets are a mix of embossing powders to get the dark green I was looking for.

The dash decals went down beautifully and a drop of Kristal Klear in each of the gauges reproduced the lenses. I used Molotow with a 10/0 brush for the dash trim. 

Next I installed the steering wheel and glued the dash to the front bulkhead. Note the metal transfer for the Citroen badge on the steering wheel! The bulkhead had a large box molded into the front, possibly for an aftermarket a/c system. I removed it and filled it with sheet styrene before flocking with embossing powder. Finally I attached the bulkhead/dash assembly to the body. 

So far, I'm enjoying this build a lot. It's challenging but a lot of fun. Big airbrush session in the next few days and then it's time to get the engine together!

 

[espo]

Been watching your progress on this build. While not a subject I would normally be interested in, I have been watching the way in which you are going about the build and detailing. Very impressive to say the least. I'll have to get some Tamiya epoxy putty like you used on the arm rests. 

[jaymcminn]

10 hours ago, espo said:

Been watching your progress on this build. While not a subject I would normally be interested in, I have been watching the way in which you are going about the build and detailing. Very impressive to say the least. I'll have to get some Tamiya epoxy putty like you used on the arm rests. 

Thanks! I'm a sucker for weird cars and the DS definitely qualifies. It's a beautiful car but there's an awkwardness to that beauty that makes it even more appealing. One of the fun aspects of the hobby for me is diving down the research rabbithole when building an unusual subject as well. I always like to try at least one new tool/product/technique on every build and the Tamiya epoxy putty is my new product this time around. It's easy to work, lightweight and sands beautifully. I can see getting a lot of use out of it in the future. 

[NOBLNG]

Fabulous detailing Jason. That looks like real leather in the interior…very luxurious.?

[89AKurt]

Looking really good so far!  Very interesting subject, to say the least.  Were they known as the plumber's nightmare?

[jaymcminn]

Yup, and it was all down to the complicated hydropneumatic system. Citroen invented it and the DS was the first car to extensively use it. Basically the system used high-pressure hydraulic fluid for the adjustable suspension, power steering, brakes and clutch actuation. This was all driven by a large belt-driven pump. There were dozens of high-pressure supply lines and low-pressure return lines, any one of which had the ability to deprive the car of basically all its vital functions just by springing a leak. Additionally the green "balls" which comprised the suspension could fail, causing the suspension on that corner to go completely rigid. 

The system was reliable when properly maintained and provided an incredible ride, however. Rolls Royce famously licensed the technology in the 60's for the Silver Shadow, and companies such as Mercedes and BMW followed suit. Citroen themselves used hydropneumatic suspension until 2015. 

[charlie8575]

This is an interesting build so far. I'd like to get one of the DS kits at some point.

Charlie Larkin

[Mattilacken]

Great build! A classic car for sure and one of few from France that I like

[jaymcminn]

On to the motor... The mighty beating heart of the DS21 was a 2.2 liter 4-cylinder making a whopping 115 hp. The FWD configuration is unusual by today's standards, with the engine mounted longitudinally behind the transaxle. The parts were airbrushed in Vallejo Metal Colors, which have completely made me stop missing Model Master Metalizers. It's insanely good paint and can even be used for brush painting small details. I used Metallic Grey, Duralumin and Chrome. Vallejo washes were used to bring out detail. The distributor was heavily modified with Albion Alloys 1mm tubing for the boots and Tamiya Epoxy Putty. I also inset the Albion tubing into the valve cover for the boots on that side.

Next I installed the engine/transaxle unit into the body shell and added the rest of the underhood detail. I scratched up a coil from styrene and the Albion tubing and used a "Wizard O" from Scale Motorsport and some black adhesive-backed material for the spare tire tie-down. I dirtied up the engine bay a bit with Tamiya Weathering Master. 

 

Next up, finishing up the interior and installing the floor pan!

[jaymcminn]

Well, this one is finished up. Honestly, once the floor pan and body shell went together it was just fiddly stuff. The side trim fit perfectly, I used 5-minute epoxy to attach the pieces for its relative strength and ability to position the pieces perfectly. The doors are an extremely tight fit and it's pretty tough to tell they're opening panels when closed! The foil wet transfers for the badges and fine chrome trim strips are pretty tricky... they are applied like waterslide decals but the adhesive is pretty aggressive and grips almost immediately. Keeping some soapy water on the surface gives you a few extra seconds to position them. As is usual with this sort of thing, I started to get the hang of it right about the time I was positioning the last one. 

Other challenges? Well, the inner headlamps are supposed to swivel like the ones on the 1:1. Since, unlike the 1:1, they don't swivel with the front wheels, I decided to glue them in place. The windshield wipers interfered with the hood fit until I widened the mounting holes on the scuttle and thinned profile of the wipers a bit. Honestly, I kept waiting for some major issue to crop up during the entire build process and it never happened. This is no "shake and bake" Tamiya kit, mind you, but it was really enjoyable to build and produces a fantastic replica.

A couple of pics below, with a lot more in the Under Glass thread coming shortly!

 

[peteski]

I was following this thread and have to say that you did a superb job on this model.  I also really appreciate describing your build experience.  I have that kit and what you mentioned will be very helpful to me.  Thanks!

[absmiami]

Well

done

[Kah puts]

Suck ley blur Mona me, dem is fine Citroen ?

[jaymcminn]

1 hour ago, Kah puts said:

Suck ley blur Mona me, dem is fine Citroen ?

Murky buckets!

[charlie8575]

Nice job. I'm very impressed with the Vallejo metallic finishes. I've used the burnt metal on some manifolds, and it looks very good.

Does anyone else ever hear the theme from "The Inspector" when they see French cars?

Charlie Larkin