Rolls Royce Corniche - 1:43 and 1:76 scales

It's not always as straightforward as it seems when designing products at different scales. I regularly get emails which broadly say, you've made a vehicle at a scale of 1:43rd, why don't you produce it at 1:76. The answer is always, yes we have the shape but that's all we have, to produce at different scales requires a complete set of new moulds. 

The Rolls Royce Corniche is a typical example shown here in its 1:43rd form

Rolls Royce Corniche 1:43 Indiigo Blue

When we designed this at 1:43rd we also made a decision to produce it with the hood up and down, it adds more cost as we have more moulds in order to accommodate the variations.

Rolls Royce CAD 1:43 Hood up and down

It also creates the need for more interior detail as it is exposed; as there is a need to show more accurate dahsboard and seat detail etc.

When it came to the 1:76 version, the decision had to be made on how we were going to produce it - having the two body variants is costly. It is only very occasionally that I would decide on producing both, in this case i decide to go with the roof up.

Rolls Royce CAD 1:76 Hood up - there are quite a few component simplifications

Rolls Royce CAD 1:76 Interior

Note on the 1:76 Interior how the seats are part of the interior. The seats can barely be seen through the window, so now it is no longer two separate parts, the draw of the mould means that the shape is flat to the rear so there is no detail shown there. 

Rolls Royce cars are big and when I designed the first two at 1:76 scale (Phantom III and Phantom VI) I didn't realise initially that they wouldn't fit our standard 1:76 plinth and case. It was only when I was looking at the CAD, that the penny dropped, the Corniche is slightly shorter than the first two. The Phantom III being 70mm and the Phantom V at 75mm - the Corniche is 68mm. The bigger cars means I can squeeze in the light detail, as opposed to painting them in. As a comparison a Triumph TR6 at 1:76 scale is about 50mm long.

The Corniche could be squashed into the smaller case, but then it would look strange against the other two Rolls, which will release in the new V plinth (incredibly - we now have 22 plinths!). However I made an error and initially approved the CAD with the hole in the chassis at the wrong distance, so this has had to be updated and I suspect you may see some 'witness' marks in the chassis.

Original chassis (L/H) with plinth holes incorrectly spaced - (R/H) and corrected.

As it will look in the V case.

Above all though what matters the most is how true is it to the real thing.

It is always easy for someone to be critical of your design, I usually respond by asking them to make the investment, so I can critique they offering, they normally refuse and get a bit upset. For this model I have had very few comments, which is the norm when one of models is well received.

Here are the 1st off shots of the 1:76 version - so decide for yourself!

Rolls Royce Corniche 1:76 scale 1st off shots March 2017