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  1. The last bits glued on and the last decals applied an hour before the end of 2023, so I'm calling the Revell 1:25 Foose Custom Cadillac Eldorado done. An interesting build (with several roof repairs!). My first real use of 2K clear gloss coat (which I'm still not convinced about, due to it looking like clear syrup covering the model due to it's thickness). But overall a good build, apart from Revel quality such as a slightly twisted chassis. But at least it's now done and dusted 🙂 IMG_6863-web by Brian Innes, on Flickr IMG_6872-web by Brian Innes, on Flickr IMG_6873-web by Brian Innes, on Flickr IMG_6875-web by Brian Innes, on Flickr IMG_6880-web by Brian Innes, on Flickr IMG_6883-web by Brian Innes, on Flickr IMG_6888-web by Brian Innes, on Flickr IMG_6889-web by Brian Innes, on Flickr IMG_6890-web by Brian Innes, on Flickr
  2. This is a project that I started a year or two back but stalled because I wasn't happy with my original paint choice. I wanted to break away from the box art and also the usual Corvette reds, whites and blues that are seen everywhere. After a lot of searching I found a green and gold combination that I quite liked and which looked like a reasonable match for Tamiya TS-52 Candy Lime Green and TS-75 Champagne Gold. The TS paints went on very well and I'm delighted with the finish. I tried to spray everything body colour at the same time, with the same number of coats, to try and get the best possible match. It seems to have worked out OK. The interior parts need careful masking, the remaining grey parts will be satin black. I'm not sure if that's correct but it felt like a good colour choice to contrast the green and gold. A few other parts, the chassis is just dry fitted to the underside of the floor, but it mates up beautifully. The floor is still in primer but the colour call-out suggests that it is grey so it might stay in primer. I've got to spray the other side of the rear wheel arches in body colour. The body side panels need chrome adding to the strakes. There is a lot of detail to pick out on the door cards and some large areas of satin black to spray. Compared to the 1:32 car kits I've been working on recently this feels pleasingly chunky and well engineered, I hope I've got enough mojo back to see this through to completion. The biggest struggle in my mind now is whether to build the carburettor or fuel injection engine?
  3. I'm a bit late to the party because my mental health has (for some reason) put me off posting, although it hasn't put me off actual modelling. I've seen that @Six97s is also doing a build of this kit. Although I'm not a massive Volkswagen fan I've got a soft spot for the Scirocco, particularly in later Mk1 form. This kit looks like it is an early Mk1 example, which is something I didn't even know existed until I started looking into the history of the real car (at some point Volkswagen facelifted the Scirocco with wraparound front indicators and more of a front air dam). This is the kit as it arrived last year. A closer look at the parts, the kit was part started, but all of that work needed undoing. Laying the parts out for inspection. The engine was glued together very badly but I managed to get most of it apart. Tyres, decals and axles. Parts still on the sprue. This is the majority of the racing parts, which won't be used in this build. Shiny bits. It's great that AMT provided two-part seats, less so that someone glued them together like this! First stage was to assemble all the body panels as it seemed better to get all these together and fitted neatly before painting. There were a few sink marks that needed filling and some faint seam lines to remove. I also decided to remove the US-specification side marker lights from the body moulding. Some Halfords filler primer was used to help tidy up the corners although the crease in the wings is now not quite as sharp as it probably should be. I debated going with a metallic blue of green but that wouldn't be right for this age of Scirocco, so I decided to stick with red, hence the red primer. The colour call outs also recommend "brick red" for the interior carpet and parcel shelf, so I'll leave those in the primer finish. Primer, incidentally, is Halfords red plastic primer. The part of any car build that I find most difficult is getting a decent paint finish, so that needs to be my focus before I get distracted by too much of the engine or interior build.
  4. Sitting here now my fingers crossed the missing parts should arrive, I thought It'd be good to start a build thread for my originally planned subject in this group build. We had an "in the year I was born" group build here two years ago, fabulously hosted by Rabbit Leader. I started, but didn't finish, a Roundtwo/ AMT 1968 Camaro. This will be my round two for the year I was born GB subject. Since I first saw the '68 Mustang Cobra Jet boxing, I knew I'd have to build the Tasca Ford super stock version of it. There's just "that something" in the vintage factory backed racing programs. Oh, it seems I have less time to write this now than I thought, so here are just some pics now and more to come later. Box pic recycled from previous posts Sprue pic #1 Sprue pic #2 Sprue pic #3 to be added here, when I get them! The decal sheet, with lots of to-be-unnecessary striping! https://www.scalemates.com/kits/revell-85-4215-68-mustang-gt-2n1--111671 Here's a link to the instructions and the kit's lineage. It does contain all the parts for the Bullitt movie car - except mine doesn't of course, yet... V-P
  5. The approaching (Ford) Mustang STGB got me taking a peek at another car kit in my possession. Sure, I should be finishing the Gulf War F-15C instead of this, but (and there's always the but) in no time I found myself removing the body side trim completely and making other small modifications here and there. Then it occurred to me (as I don't usually build outside group builds) that this might still make it to the Unarmed GB, how about it our dear hosts? No kit parts have yet been glued together or painted. My plan is to build her as a retro/resto street car, with a minimalist look but with one or two custom and street racing treats too. V-P
  6. This kit has been part of my life for a long time, it seems. I started the build thread back in September 2020; it's been a challenging journey in places, partly because of the design of the kit and partly because of the decisions I made during the build process, but I think the end result was worthwhile. Why did I get this kit? I've always loved 1960s GT cars - Jaguar E-types, Ferrari Lussos, Aston Martin DBs and the like - but I'd sort of forgotten about the Maserati until different examples popped up on Jay Leno's garage, Fantomworks and Chasing Classic Cars all within a couple of weeks. That prompted me to see if anyone made a kit and there were a few available on eBay. This kit was slightly incomplete but much cheaper than the "vintage" sealed in box examples. I didn't know what exactly might be missing when I bought it but I could see that all the major stuff was there and apart from the things I fabricated to enhance the kit I think I only had to make four bits; the tail piece of the gearbox, the two front wing grilles (I had one but it would have looked odd if they weren't a matching pair even though you couldn't ever see both sides at the same time) and the fuel filler neck in the boot. In terms of additions the biggest was reshaping the front grille, and that provided a convenient excuse to replace the solid moulded grille itself with something open. I'm not sure that the grille shape is entirely correct, but it's more correct (at least to me) than the way the kit was designed. I wasn't brave enough to tackle the windscreen shape, which is also slightly off from the real cars. I also added wires to the spark plugs (12 as this is a twin-spark straight six) and a few other under bonnet details. On the interior I slightly reshaped the seats and gave them runners, changed the steering wheel and indicator stalk for aftermarket metal parts, reworked the door cards, tweaked the handbrake placement and added seat belts. The colour scheme was inspired by a real 3500 GTI (body is Tamiya TS-58 Pearl Light Blue, upholstery is TS-33 Dull Red). Anyway, you didn't come here for a load of waffle, how about some pictures? A quick "before" a bare shell, if you like, pulled out of a barn and ready for restoration. Technically the script is wrong, the typeface should be slightly different and read "Maserati 3500 GT" while the spear through the trident badge should be script spelling out "Injetzione" (or something like that), but I had to make do with what I could get from eBay. Apologies for the improvised boot prop, not many people will ever see this view but it's quite pleasing to know that the boot is nicely finished. Build thread is here, if you're interested and haven't been following along. Thanks to everyone who has liked or commented on the build thread.
  7. I feel a bit bad about starting another build, but I'm struggling to find enthusiasm for the Airfix Aston Martin (it's the moulded plastic one-piece wheels and tyres) and having had a bit of a setback with my metal TVR (I wasn't happy with the paint finish). This kit has sat tempting me for a few weeks. The funny thing is that I came buy this almost by accident; I love classic 1950s and '60s GT cars, they are so stylish and redolent of a more glamourous age (a world that was probably mostly a creation of books, films and television). It happened that three of my favourite car shows (Jay Leno's Garage, Chasing Classic Cars and Fantomworks) all featured examples of the Maserati within a week or two of each other. That set me wondering if there was a model of the 3500 GT and it turned out there was; of course it was made ages ago and any sealed examples were silly money. This one was reasonably priced because it had been opened and parts cut from their sprues. However, the pictures with the listing showed at least enough parts to make a passable model (all the body parts, glass, wheels and tyres, I figured I could bodge anything else I needed even if it ended up as a kerbside model rather than fully detailed). This is what I saw when I opened the box; it seems very much of its time with the opening features, colour moulding and (although you can't really see here) all the engine parts were chromed. As I often do with build projects I've done a fair bit of internet searching to find out more about the Maserati 3500 series. This kit represents one of the later 3500 GTI cars, which were Italy's first production car with fuel injection (produced by Lucas in Britain). Being a low-volume car it seems that the history of most examples is known, the closest match I've found for the car represented by the kit is chassis number 101-2334, which was a USA-market 1962 3500GTI in a similar colour to the maroon plastic but with a slightly darker tan interior and wire wheels. The combination of maroon (which is sometimes described as red) with biscuit or light tan upholstery as depicted by the kit does not appear to be a catalogued combination; but that doesn't mean that it couldn't have been done to special order. I'm not sure whether to paint the body in a similar colour to the plastic (I have some suitable paint) or go for a colour change? I quite like the idea of blue with dark red leather. I've made a bit of progress on the build; cleaning up the body and assembling the engine so I'll post some progress photos tomorrow.
  8. Here's a project that stalled for a long time. In places it's been a pig of a kit, with parts that don't seem to want to fit together. On the other hand it's got lots of cool parts, there were enough engine bits to build a complete 426 Hemi (which is in a safe place somewhere and one day I'll find it) but I decided to go with a 440 6-barrel engine. Unfortunately the options didn't extend to the transmission, I'd rather have an automatic but the parts were only for a 4-speed. Anyway, despite my moans I'm please with how it turned out although it feels a bit strange not having anything left to do with it. Here it is. Under bonnet (hood) it's pretty much out of the box. Underside with a few added pipes and cables. Rear end got a licence plate. I'm not sure if I can recommend this kit but I think the end result was worth the occasional bouts of frustration. On completing this build I managed to find on eBay a Mongram kit of the related 1970 Plymouth Road Runner. I thought the Monogram might just be a reboxing but it appears to be totally different. Anyway, the price was right so I ordered it. It hasn't arrived yet, and I've no idea when it will get to the head of the build queue, but it seems I'm not quite done with American muscle cars.
  9. I don't know if there is a record for the longest time taken to complete a kit, but this has taken me over ten years to get to the stage you see here. The late 1960s Chrysler Corporation "B-Body", mid-size cars are some of my favourite cars; I have various models of this family of vehicles. Off the top of my head there were the Dodge Coronet and Super Bee; Plymouth Belvedere, Satellite, Road Runner and GTX. Plymouth billed the GTX as the gentleman's muscle car, with luxury trim as well as powerful engines. I think I picked up this kit through ebay; I always wanted to take my time and do a good job but I think I may have taken it a bit too far! Here's the box: Let's see the progress so far: The body is painted and has had one clear coat (this is just a mock up of final assembly) the lacquer went on a bit thick in places so I'll do a fine rub down and give it another coat. You can build the kit with the bonnet fixed open or closed, I think the final build will have to fix it in place unless I can work out how to make it easily removable. I am quite pleased with how the engine looks, the kit comes with two complete engines and various carburettor options and the associated manifolds. I've gone for the 440-cubic inch "wedge head" engine with 6-barrel carburettor. You can also build the same engine with a four-barrel carburettor and the kit also comes with a complete 426 Hemi and two four-barrel carburettors (which I've built up and put in a safe place somewhere, i.e. I can't find it). The plan was always to build this with the 440-6 option. It's a pity the kit only comes with a representation of the four-speed manual gearbox as I'd prefer to build my dream GTX, which would be a 440 coupled to the three-speed automatic. I'm even pleased with how the engine bay turned out. If I do another of these I may try to wire up the plug leads and add more details. Test fit of the engine in the engine bay. Underside view, apparently Chrysler didn't bother with paint on the underside apart from overspray, so that's what I've tried to replicate here. The back axle had a plated cover for the differential (I'm sure that's not correct) and I'd previously started to scrape away the plating. I've also spotted that I glued the leaf springs on the wrong way around as the damper mountings should be inboard of the springs and the current location fouls the wheels/tyres. A little gentle but persistent finger pressure eventually separated the springs from the axle. I'll try oven cleaner to remove the plating. The interior tub is pretty much complete. I used to (back in my teenage years) hate/struggle with interiors but this one has turned out OK. The centre console seems to have come out quite well with a fake wood finish. OK that's the recap, stay tuned for the next installent.
  10. Revell 1:25 '68 Chevy Chevelle SS 396 I am obsessed with American car shows, Fast ‘n Loud with Gas Monkey garage being my favourite. Richard Rawlings scours the ‘Interweb’ for old classic cars and re-builds them or flips them for a few dollars profit. The ’68 Chevy SS would be a prime candidate for the monkeys to get their hands on, and when this 1:25 scale Chevy landed on the doormat I was very happy! The 68 Chevy SS, SS is for Super Sport is powered by an all American 6.5L (or 396 cubic inches) V8. The Chevelle SS is a popular muscle car, and many have been restored or modified by their owners worldwide. This is a new tool kit to represent this car. The body shell is a single part incorporating the doors and boot with only the bonnet needing adding separately. All the parts are crisp as expected and there isn’t any flash on the review sample. The kit is over 7 sprues, 5 in white plastic, a chrome sprue and a clear sprue. The rear lights are done in a clear red, and the final bits are 4 rubber tyres with tread detail. Colours are referenced to the Revell range and they are listed on the outside of the box so you can check what you will need before you leave the shop. The box is the flimsy end opening Revell box. The instructions start with the V8 and transmission, the block and ‘tranny’ is in two parts, with the heads and ancillary parts added. As the bonnet is separate you can add some plumbing and wiring to the engine. The distributor is included and can be drilled out and HT leads from the dizzy to the plugs would be a simple addition. The engine can be built as a unit and added later to the chassis frame. The frame is a separate part to the floor pan, and it looks like you could build the chassis, and suspension as a separate unit before adding to the floor and body. If you have watched some of these car shows, they often build the rolling chassis before adding the painted and detailed body. The interior is built into a tub, and it is nicely detailed. You can follow the blacks and greys on the instructions or go all out with the colours of seats and trim with a custom look. You have an option with the wheels, original spec, or optional style. The are on the chrome sprue, and as with other newer Revell kits the chrome is nice, and not too bright and toy like. The tyres have a red line on the side wall, and you can have this on the outside or inside to hide it. The body is finished with the chrome bumpers, and the grill with lights. The Bonnet has hinges so you can glue it shut, or have it working to show off the engine. There is a nice decal sheet and it includes the lap-style seat belts for the front seats, and the racing stripes to go over the body in a choice of white to go on a black car, or black for a red car. There are various badges and details for the body, interior and engine bay along with a choice of American Ohio state plates, and different European registrations for an imported car. A nice kit of a ‘compact’ American muscle car, can be done stock, or as a full custom build with a nice interior and paint job on the outside. Another quality model from Revell Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or
  11. Right, this summer seems to run with a speed provided by a high-revving small block backed up with a Muncie four speed and a positraction 12-bolt. I haven't touched a model kit for a few weeks as, well you know, the summer in Finland is short... I was astonished to see we are actually so far that even this GB begins! Now do I have a backlog, I sure do... But here's the Round2 model kits revamped AMT Camaro from my birth year, 1968. The kit dates originally even further, as it's based on a 1967 model year version that was just tweaked slightly, as was the actual Camaro too, from its introduction year model. You can't help noticing it's a '68, can't you? You have the choice of building her "stock" or... ...with "street machine features". I will build neither, I believe, sort of... Here's a peek at the plastic. I fell in love with the first gen Camaros ('67-'69) when I first met one. I was 13, I was vulnerable... V-P
  12. So, 1st share.... I started this in about 2003 at a guess and its been in a box since then! Was rather dusty and needed a gentle clean (only partially done so far). All brush painted (I primed the shell with spray and trying to decide how to best finish it....) From memory although detailed it didn't all fit together and needed lots of little tweaks (it was no tamiya kit!)...
  13. My second Ken Schraeder build - this time the 1990 Lumina wearing Fred Cady decals. Far from my best and not visible in the photos thankfully - somehow I forgot to park the shell under my usual ice cream carton 'drying bay' as the Johnsons Klear / Future was going-off, so the d*mn thing does have a lot of dust particles and it bugs the h*ll out of me. Thanks for taking the time to look and / or comment, please feel free to hurl any abuse, ask any questions or offer any comments. Already got the next non-NASCAR build on the bench stand by for that very soon. AFN Ian.
  14. Wandering around the bench just now. This is the AMT kit of the Chevy Lumina, it's molded in a pale brownish grey (not unlike RLM 02), so priming and painting is a breeze. The BIG difference between the AMT releases and the more usual Monogram / Revell NASCAR kits of the same period is the scale; 1:25 as opposed to the more usual 1:24. Hence when I apply the decals they may look a little 'out' but I'm pretty sure that I can live with that !! As you see it here, it's wearing just one coat of Tamiya TS-26, more will follow. More soon. Ian.
  15. Volkswagen Scirocco 1:25 kit from AMT Some of you may know but I’m a VW fan, having owned many different Vee-Dubs over the years, and still have a Mk1 Golf GTi in the garage for summer fun, and in my time 2 Sciroccos have passed through my hands. The Scirocco was a replacement for the Karmann Ghia coupe and was launched 6 months before the Golf so any teething problems could be sorted before the Golf hit the roads. Although it is biased on the Golfs platform (chassis) it was modified extensively to give a sportier ride, with its front mounted engines, with front wheel drive and sleek coupe body penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro. When I saw the re-issue of the old AMT Scirocco I was very excited, I’ve a stash of VW kits ready to build scale replicas of some of my favourite cars from my past so I could now add one of my ‘Roccos’ to the fleet! The AMT kit comes in the normal AMT style box with a lift off lid, and a box full of plastic. Most is moulded in a light grey plastic, with a clear single piece glazing part, and a chrome sprue, with all sprues being bagged individually. The body comes as a single part with the lower front and rear valances to be added and a separate bonnet. The body is a nice casting and it looks in proportion and the lines look good to my eye. The kit is an early Mk1, with US specification side markers, if you are building a European model these will need sanding off the shell and won’t be too hard to do. The car has the single wiper moulded on the shell and this helps date the car to a 1977 model to convert to an earlier version this can be sanded off and twin wipers added. Construction starts with the engine, slipping my VW anorak on, it looks like the 1.6l petrol engine with the 4 speed manual gearbox. The shape of the engine looks good and the parts are well detailed, a quick look online will bring up lots of pictures to help you add detail should you wish to show off the engine on your model. This kit can be built as either a stock ‘road’ car or as a race car with wide wheels, stripped interior roll cage and body kit. The instructions now split the road and race builds and your spares box will benefit from some left over parts. The car only has a left hand drive dashboard so for a British car some cutting and modification will be required here. The parts for the interior are well detailed with the door cards and rear interior being well done, and the interior tub has ‘rough’ casting to represent the carpets, and the seats are textured to mimic the stitching and pattern on the fabric. For the race car a multi-part roll cage needs making up and a deep race bucket seat is needed omitting the rear and passenger seat. Construction then moves onto the chassis, this is a single part and the underside has all the complex pressings and mouldings found on the 1:1, there is some flash present on the review sample that will need some work around the edges. Again there is optional parts between the race and road here, the race car has a straight through exhaust, exiting at the side, with a more conventional rear exit with silencer exhaust for the road. Construction now starts on the body, under the bonnet the firewall and internal wings are built up, I would glue this into the body before painting, along with the front and rear valances I would also glue the bonnet in place if you want the model closed. This is where the body kit is added if wanted, with 4 wide wheel arch extensions and a big front valance with air dam and spoiler. Finishing off your build are the wheels, some nice VW standard alloys or a big wide set of BBS race wheels topped off with some nice rubber tyres, there are 8 in the box 4 narrow ‘road’ tyres and 4 wide tyres, they all have nice side wall and tread detail. A single decal sheet has the stripes, race numbers sponsor logos and VW badges for the race car along with some ‘Scirocco’ dealer plates all nicely printed and sharply done. Conclusion. It’s great to see this kit back, it will fill a hole in my collection. With the crisp lines of the Scirocco captured and the option of road or race versions should make it more popular. Bad points, other than no right hand drive dashboard nothing! Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for
  16. G'day all, Is there an accessory out there which converts AMT's 1:25 Chev Monte Carlo from a 1970 model to a 71/72 by way of modification to the headlights?
  17. Not one of my best but not too shabby. The Revell kit straight from the box, painted with Tamiya aerosol 'metallic orange' which is a shoe-in for GM's Sunset Orange. After the paint I airbrushed three coats of Tamiya X22 'clear' then polished it all with Turtle Wax. Nice easy build and looks really nice on the shelf. Next car build is already on the bench - another NASCAR - not far behind are a couple of Tamiya GT types. As ever all questions, comments and criticism are welcome. Ian.
  18. Hello, It took six months to finish this kit. This is a nice one. Not as good as Tamiya; plastic is a little thick, clear parts are like armor glass, chrome parts have some flash, rear window has a big gap, etc. But all in all it is an enjoyable kit. I removed chrome and painted with Alclad, which is a lot better than the kit chromes. For the first time, I used BMF and it was very difficult especially around windows. I guess it would have been better if I had used alclad for the windows too. Thanks for viewing.. salih
  19. 'Surf Woody' custom car 1:25 kit from AMT Here we have something completely different, a scale model of a car built by George Barris of Barris Kustoms in the USA. If you don’t know the Barris name you probably know his work including the original Batmobile (from the 60s TV series) and many more film and TV vehicles. The ‘Surf Woody’ was created to carry a motorised surf board with its twin rear wheels to help it drive on the beach and with this kit you can build one of 3 versions, the Surf Woody, Surf Hearse or as a Street Rod. The kit comes in box and is packed with parts, most of the kit is moulded in a bright orange with a couple of chrome sprues and the clear parts, remember it is an old kit so there is flash on the parts, nothing that will take too much to trim and sand clean. In the box you get a nice booklet showing pictures of the real car, a nice touch as details on the real vehicles are sparse as the real one seems to have vanished into a garage or barn presently. The build starts with the much modified Ford Cobra engine and there is a lot of chrome parts, I will be stripping the chrome and redoing myself as the chrome looks a little ‘toy’ like and some parts will need joining, the seams dealing with. The engine is a typical customised engine with a couple of massive supercharges poking out of the bonnet (hood) and with some help from the booklet you could add some detail to the engine with some HT leads and other cables. The instructions now move on to the tubular chassis along with the axles and suspension with some nice fine parts that will make a well detailed unit, including the Mercedes rear axle system and the front beam type axle. There are differences here between the 3 vehicles so you will need to make a decision on the version your building. The wheels are also built up in this stage, they all have ‘astro’ style rims with big duel wheels for the Surf and Hearse Woodys the wheels finish with some rubber tyres with white rings on the wall, be careful here as 2 tyres have tread for the front wheels, and there are 4 slick tyres for the back axle that are slightly taller too. Read, look again, and check you have the correct parts for the version you are building as the instructions are not very clear. Section 3 splits in two, depending on what you build, firstly the Surf or Hearse woody, the seats are very unusual being ‘Airfoam’ seats, basically lots of narrow horizontal cushions on a shaped frame that in the real vehicle ‘rock in a wave like motion’ possibly not great if you get car sick! You also get the luxury of a Sony TV, car phone and a Muntz 6 speaker stereo with tape player, but oddly no steering wheel or column? The roadster has more conventional seats and a steering wheel! Both versions have a chrome fuel tank made from a 10-gallon beer keg behind the seats. The main body comes as a single moulded part in the same orange plastic, there are some strengthening bars that need removing, 2 at the back and one at the front, don’t remove the one closest to the front as this needs to stay. In the nose is a headlamp pod that is built up and sandwiched between the upper body and a lower nose, if you are careful this can be made to rotate between the clean nose, or to show the horizontal fluorescent tube headlamps. Now the 3 versions split on the instructions to finish the upper body, both the hearse and the woody have a box type body that has some large decals for the murals on the sides, with the roadster getting a flat rear deck and low windscreen. You get a clear sprue, and a second that has a retro orange tint, both are the same so you can choose to suit your build. Both look to a scale thickness and they are bagged separately to save them from getting scratched in the box. A decals sheet is included and is well printed it includes some nice surfer murals for the surf woody, with some wood effect decals for the outside of the body, and other details and scrolls for the bodywork. The sheet gives details of where each decal should go, but take your time as some will need to be applied before putting the parts together, study the construction sequence again before making a start on this build. In the box you get a stand/ backdrop for your finished model, this comes flat and will need folding and sticking together to get the best from it, mine is just temporarily held for the photo. Conclusion Now this is something completely different, straight from the mind of George Barris, onto your model bench! Not the most straight forward instructions I’ve seen, so go through the option you want to build, and make a plan of action! One for someone who likes something unusual! Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for
  20. Built in a little over three weeks from opening the box. That isn't me showing-off, it's simply a reflection on how well this wee kit goes together and how much I enjoy the subject - Hey it's a first generation Firebird, what's not to love !! Enough words, here's some photos: Thanks for taking the time to look and/or comment. As ever all criticism, comments and questions are welcome. Next, a refurb... Jeremy Mayfields' '98 Taurus. Ian.
  21. Kit - 1:25 AMT/Ertl Paint - Body & chassis, Tamiya acrylic. Engine & details, Tamiya, Humbrol & Xtracolour enamels. Decals - Kit. Extras - None This was started in November 2012 and sent to the 'Shelf of Forgetfulness' when I scr*w*d-up the soft edge demarcation between the red/yellow and white on the nose, and it stayed there until three weeks ago after a chat about car modelling in general and NASCAR modelling in particular between a few of us on another (US based) site. Well here it is three weeks after that exchange and I'm quite pleased with the result. Make no mistake, this was always going to be a 'cabinet sitter', it'll never see a competition table and the nearest model club is an hours' flight away. No, this is my way to re-learn those very particular skills needed for NASCAR kits, and that-in-mind, this wee thing is 100% perfect. As ever, thanks for taking the time to look, please be free with any criticisms, questions or comments. AFN. Ian.
  22. Batmobile Tumbler Moebius Models 1:25 Before commencing this review I have to confess that I am of a generation many of whom still think of the Batmobile as a customised Lincoln Futura. My interest in the first round of updated Batman movies from Tim Burton was far more focussed on Michelle Pfeiffer’s catsuit than it was on the various vehicles involved, it was all just a bit too gothic for my tastes. Joel Schumacher’s hideously camp interpretation then managed to put me off the franchise completely, so I had until very recently ignored the latest round of films from Christopher Nolan.....That, as it turns out, was a bit of a mistake! So, while I cannot even pretend to be an ardent Batman fan, I really do like model kits, especially kits of armoured vehicles, which it seems is precisely what the current incarnation of the Batmobile is at its core. The new Batmobile (the vehicle is never called by that name in the films, but apparently it was referred to as such in the scripts) makes its first appearance in Batman Begins (2005), as the Tumbler, a slightly wacky prototype AEV designed to leap over linear obstacles at a single bound.....Which is as good an excuse as any to fit a flame nozzle at the back IMHO, a nice homage to the Lincoln of my youth. With the exception of this little touch, the current incarnation of the Batmobile owes just about nothing to the various rather glamorous designs that have come before it, this latest version appears to have been influenced much more by the F-117 than any previous Batmobile, or indeed car. It’s a brutal re-imagining very much in keeping with the darker nature of the Nolan movies, apparently the design brief was summed up as ‘A Lamborghini crossed with a tank’.....I reckon they pulled it off rather well! In The Dark Knight (2008) the vehicle almost plays a cameo role, putting in a couple of very dramatic appearances, before ultimately meeting its demise at the hands of an RPG armed Joker, spawning the Batpod motorcycle in the process. An up-gunned version of the original military design puts in another appearance in The Dark Knight Rises (2012) this time in the hands of the bad guys.....All in all it’s a very cool vehicle, a silly idea for an AEV, but just the thing for cruising around the streets of Gotham raising hell. It’s also just the sort of thing that’s begging to be made available as a kit.....Enter Moebius Models! The Kit The first thing to strike me about the Moebius kit once I’d rescued it from a veritable sea of packing peanuts, wasn’t the actually rather striking graphics, it was the sheer density of the thing. With my AFV kits I’ve become quite used to finding a few small sprues rattling around within the oversized packaging.....There’s absolutely none of that here! The compact tray and lid box is quite literally crammed with sprues, it actually bulges slightly when it’s full and the sheer amount of ‘stuff’ that comes out of it is very impressive, to me at least.....Within, we find a sixteen page colour instruction booklet, one bag containing six vinyl type tyres and a sturdy metal axle for the rear wheels, a second with a single transparent plastic sprue and six more bags that hold the main parts of the kit on fourteen sprues of black plastic. Moebius may have taken a step too far in the direction of authenticity with these mouldings, as the black plastic definitely seems to display some ‘Stealth’ characteristics, especially when you are trying to focus a camera on it! The instruction booklet is very comprehensive, offering detailed construction information as both easy to follow text and rather elegant drawings. Construction is broken down into ten numbered sections, each with several steps identified by letter. Section 1 details the assembly of the cockpit, with Step 1A being the assembly of the seats, progressing logically through to Step 1G the final assembly of all the cockpit components. Detail in the cockpit looks pretty good right out of the box, but I suspect hardcore modellers may feel the need to add a little more. I was somewhat surprised and a little disappointed not to find decals for the various instruments and displays, while the painting guide offers some generic advice, decals would look much better. I was also just a little sad not to find The Dark Knight himself in figure form. It appears that the model was intended to have a figure, as only one set of seatbelts is included for the passenger seat.....I strongly suspect the various after-market companies will fill these gaps quite promptly, if they haven’t done so already, but it would have been nice to have had the option to put Batman at the wheel OOTB. Construction moves on with the tub in Section 2, the front wheels & suspension are assembled in in Sections 3 & 4, with the rear wheels, suspension and transmission taking up Sections 5 & 6.....I’ve learnt to treat Vinyl tyres with some caution in AFV kits, but they seem to be the norm in vehicle kits, so I can only assume Moebius know what they are doing and that ‘Track-Melt’ won’t be an issue here. Sections 7, 8 & 9 primarily comprise adding the transparencies and armour panels to the hull, with Section 10 rounding off construction with a couple more panels and the various ‘aerodynamic’ parts. Moulding quality looks reasonably good, with no evidence of short-shot parts or overly prominent mould seams and although some flash is present on quite a few of the sprues, none of it should prove more than an inconvenience. The sprue-gates are of a reasonable size even on the finer parts and the ejector pins generally appear to have been sensibly placed so that they should not be visible once each sub-assembly is finished, however there are three that will need removing from each shock-absorber mount (Parts 25 & 26) and the back wall of the cockpit (Part 12) will also need some work. I have only discovered one or two very minor sink-marks, the most prominent example is to be found on the cockpit extension (part 20) but again, it won’t be at all difficult to deal with. I also noticed a minor but irritating mould defect on one of the rear lower panels (Part 32), it’s located on a mesh grille, but it’s not terribly prominent and if you are likely to be bothered by such things I suspect there’s a good chance you will be replacing the plastic mesh anyway. Other than these small issues, the details look pretty good, they’re definitely a little softer than some of the very newest of the new kits, but are still quite acceptable in my opinion. One or two of the larger parts have some quite finely cast detail appended to them, which might not always survive too well in such a tightly packed box, especially given multiple sprues per bag, although my example appears to have got through unscathed. The clear parts look to be just that, perhaps a little thick compared to an aircraft canopy, but they are supposed to be heavily armoured, so that really isn’t a problem at all. Two pages of the instructions are dedicated to the painting guide, very simply presented in the form of two labelled full colour photos of an assembled and painted cockpit tub and four more of a completed Batmobile. These provide generic colour references (black being prominent among them) and should be quite sufficient for most casual modellers, those who would want more can easily find stills from the film online. While the instructions are really very nicely done and might at first glance appear idiot-proof, these things seldom are and courtesy of fellow Britmodellers a couple of of errors and minor construction difficulties have come to light: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234951690-125-batman-tumbler/?hl=%2Bbatman+%2Btumbler http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234951883-moebius-batman-tumbler/?hl=%2Bbatman+%2Btumbler It also seems that at least some of these kits may have issues with mould release agent remaining on the parts, the review example doesn’t appear too bad (although I haven’t tried painting it) and a good scrub in soapy water prior to assembly should solve this problem in most instances. Conclusions Normally when reviewing a kit I would base my conclusions at least in part on how a particular model compares to the competition, taking into account relative price, quantity and detail of parts, decals and so on.....Of course with a subject like this, such comparison isn’t possible. So is it good value? Well this is certainly not a cheap kit, but it is the only option I’m aware of in plastic and the price falls well within the typical range for Sci-Fi models of this size & complexity. For your money you get a nicely presented and very full box. The quality of the parts within is by and large quite acceptable for a kit of this scale, although definitely not ‘state of the art’. I personally find the lack of decals and a Batman figure for the cockpit slightly irritating, especially given that it appears that the kit was originally intended to contain a figure. These minor gripes aside, the kit should build into a satisfactory model of the Tumbler OOTB with just a little effort and it will certainly provide an excellent platform for super-detailing if that is your thing.....So it all really depends on just how much you want to own a Tumbler! Sincere thanks to BM member Will Vale for providing backup photos. Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for
  23. Hi Everyone, Here is my completed build of the Ghosbusters Ecto 1A by AMT in 1:25 scale. I am dedicating this build to Harold Ramis who died this year. RIP Harold, you were a great Ghosbuster. Anyway onto the photos. Comments welcome. Thanks for looking. Rick
  24. Ferrari 250 GTO 1:24 Revell plastic kit The Ferrari 250 GTO was developed as a homogenisation car for Ferrari to enter the FIA group 3 GT car category, built between 1962-64 the GTO means Gran Turismo Omologata in Italian, or Grand Turismo Homologated in English, only 39 where built. The Tubular chassis holds the 3l V12 engine up front, driving the rear wheels through a 5 speed manual gear box. The car carries a Berlinetta style body, (Italian for sporty couple) that was designed using a wind tunnel and track testing; it was unusual in not being designed by a design house or an individual person. The 250GTO has become a big collector’s car, with only 39 genuine examples being build the demand is high, driving prices well into the millions, with one belonging to Sir Sterling Moss selling for $35million in 2012 Revell have given us a Ferrari 250GTO in 1:24, giving the option of chassis Number 3757 in its Le Mans 1962 colours, or later while owned by Nick Mason or a silver car, chassis 3851 as raced by Henri Orellier at Montlery in 1962. Construction kicks off with the engine, it’s a copy of the 3 Colombol V12 from the Testa Rossa with the engine being made from a number of parts, the block is in 2 parts with ancillary parts being added to it. I will take time to look at reference photos to get the parts painted and detailed nicely. The tubular chassis come cast as a big part, but take care my example has broken with one of the front rails breaking, The rear axle sits on leaf springs and you will need to get the drill out to open up some holes to fit it together, don’t glue the axle between the springs and this will help you line up the axle, prop shaft and engine later in the build. The front A frame suspension is added and here you need to add the real metal springs, and it’s held together with some small screws, careful application of glue should allow the suspension at the front to work but I wouldn’t be too heavy handed trying it out! The interior come next and the parts copy the real cars interior well, looking at the instructions you can build the body, engine, chassis, and interior separately, and paint them before bringing them together for final assembly. The body comes moulded as a single part, with the various doors separate. The shape looks good to the pictures I’ve seen and it captures the shapes and lines of the 250GTO nicely to my eye. There is a big mould sprue in the windscreen aperture that needs removing and you will need to be careful not to damage the body when chopping it out. The doors, bonnet and boot parts come on the next sprue, this looks well moulded and a quick dry run shows the parts are a good fit into the shell. They all have hinges to allow you to pose them open or closed on your build. The lower front valance is also a separate part, and looking it should be OK to glue this on before adding the chassis and interior which is good as the fit on a dry test isn’t great and will need some sanding and filling to erase the join, I will do this before painting the shell. You get two chrome sprues in the kit the first shown above contains details and parts for the body. I feel my review sample is a little heavy on the chrome and I will strip this and re-paint on my build. The second sprue contains parts for the Borrani wire wheels, each wheel is made up from 3 parts the wheels look nicely done and the parts look to be nice and in scale when built up, again I’m not sure on the chrome finish and I think I’ll strip the chrome and re-paint it for a better finish. Please note there are 4 parts that aren’t needed for this build on this sprue. There are 4 rubber tyres, I feel the detail is a little heavy on the side walls, but should be OK after a rub with some sand paper to weather them down a bit; the tread detail is nice though and again after a rub over will be great. There is a clear sprue in the box; it is bagged separately to protect it from scratching, with the parts not being too thick to spoil the look of the model. There is a nice decal sheet that will allow you to build one of 3 cars as mentioned above. Looking at pictures on the net they look correct. They are well printed and the colours look good and they should cover well. Conclusion This is a nice model of a very sexy car! I look forward to seeing this model on my bench. There is a variety of aftermarket bits and bobs to enhance your build should you want to, but it is well detailed out of the box. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit
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