Vehicle Content

I do love your choices of metallics! They always come out so believable, great work on the cima!

That's a great build, the weathering's perfect.

I just checked the contents of the Modeler's kit, specifically the clear parts. They cover the whole cockpit area, with *very* light engraved lines. So it does exist, that near perfect cockpit replacement for the Protar kit.. But it would make a 250$ kit incomplete.. Rob

Hi all Thank you very much. I sincerely hope that we won't be proven wrong in the end 😁 Small steps on the McLaren. I had actually planned to make more progress on the bodywork last week than was actually the case. The problem, however, was that the air deflectors in the area of the splitter on one side could not be installed. After a long search, I found the root of the problem: the splitter was slightly warped and had to be persuaded to stay in its intended position with a little force. As I wanted to avoid having to make 10 attempts because of removing the clamp too early and thus tear the glue joint open again (as is often the case with me), I let the glue harden for a little more than 24 hours this time. As the other construction steps are also in the area of the splitter, I could not continue here. Here is the current status, with the splitter installed and forced into shape. You can also see the air deflectors on the side where I was able to install them earlier Beforehand I finished the two headlights. Well.... at least that's what I thought. Them problem if you are working on a project for almost three years now it that you don't always remember exactly what had been done already three years ago... I was wondering because there was no painting instruction for the area behind the big transparent part. Neither could I find anything in the instructions of the PE set used. Today I studied Tamiya's building instructions once again and noticed that there are still two parts missing on each headlight which go behind the big transparent part... That's it for this week. I hope that I will be able to make more progress this week Urs

Well, despite the trials and tribulations you've produced a great looking car there. The photos are splendid and really show it to its best . The biggest problem is that it looks so good you might encourage others to make it.

From C1 following the characters Bodie and Doyle. How about Bodie's car. Was it a Capri ? Also as C1 are into Land Rover in a big way, How about Lara Croft's Land Rover from the first Tomb Raider film? The original is in the transport museum at Gaydon so no problem with finding a prototype to work to !

That's a nice addition to a great locomotive. The tracks would make it look very much "in context". The wood on the loco is stunning . I must admit though, that at first glance the tender looked like a Roman chariot, maybe for your next project re-do the tender the other way round with four horses pulling it, with a 1/35 Ben Hur onboard .

Sorry to hear about all the issues, the paint-job and details look really nice! And I especially like the exhausts, those are real masterpieces!

Beautiful result of a car I wasn't aware of that it existed 😉 The chrome trim came out very nice!

Beautiful! Very realistic!

Following on from my previous Corolla build and as a prequel to my future VR46 Fiesta WRC, I purchased this limited edition Hasegawa kit from Japan a little while ago. As there have been many other build of this vehicle I've skipped the box shots, and here's where I'm up to. Mostly parts airbrushed off the sprue which will need detail painting, along with the primed body shell. I don't know why the Corolla comes with a cutout for a fuel filler on the l/h C pillar as I've had to fill it on both kits and am yet to see a scheme where it features. The swage line midway through the cutout proves tricky when sanding. There is something that is niggling at me, which is the size of the bucket seats, these to my eye look undersize, but as I'm mainly going for the exterior overall look they will be installed as is. The eagle eyed amongst you will notice I've swapped out the kit five spoke wheels for some multi spoke items along with treaded tyres which I 3d printed. These, according to research, were fitted to the car on the Saturday, as the attached reference photo show. Sadly not many images of this car are available on the internet of truth. That's the progress to date. HERE is a link to a photo album of a Castrol liveried WRC car with some good detailed shots, but I'm not sure whether some bits have been upgraded since it first ran.

Ooh, watching this one closely Been thinking of building this one too

Background: I do love a big VIP-style Japanese 4-door, and though the F50 Cima isn't the prettiest, it does have presence. It also has a fantastically nice interior, which I've decided to try and accent on the build by not making it black. Fortunatly the real car offers a lot of lighter options. I could not find a VIP-bodied version of the kit (although the do exist, just out of production right now) so I have just stuck to putting new wheels on it and lowering it. Pros: Correct shape with clean sharp mouldings. Seamlines are so well hidden I didn't find them. Lots of detail on the interior and a decent enough chassis that's not just the common VIP one used on many Aoshima kits. No fitment problems whatsoever. Self-adhesive metal emblems provided and good quality decals too, along with window masks. Great clear parts. The chrome parts are well done and actually useful as-is. This issue of the kit has parts for both the president and the Cima, so you get two boots, bonnets and grilles. Cons: As is often the case for Aoshima, the mounting-gluing points for the front and rear bumpers could be bigger. Couple of small sink marks on the bumpers too. Verdict: A high quality kit, an easy enjoyable build. Build notes: Built in about 3 weeks in April/May 2025. I added some TV screens to the backs of the front seat's headrests, and I changed the wheels for Aoshima K-Break Hybreed Cross Nines. The stance has been lowered a little, other than that it's built out of the box. Much of the brightwork is Bare Metal Foil but some of it is Hasegawa self-adhesive chrome. The colour is Lexus Sunlight Green from a rattle can I had mixed, cleared with Mr Hobby Gloss. Although I wish it had some kind of VIP bodykit, it's very much the kind of car I'd like to own.

Background: For my 150th car build I thought I'd try something new - an open wheel racing car. The Leyton House livery does have a nostalgic feeling for me, from their time in F1. This F3000 car looks similar. Pros: The decals are very clean, sharp and apply easily. There is an engine. Once sanded of their seamline, the tyres are a nice realistic looking rubber. Cons: A laundry list of things that could be better. Anything that has two halves needs filler and sanding. Parts of the engine don't mate up quite as they should and for quite a few assemblies, parts need adjustments to fit. The engine cover does not sit perfectly on the body. The "windscreen" isn't moulded but has to be crudely cut from a supplied square of transparent plastic. The suspension parts are fiddly, fragile and frustrating and all that's made worse by the fact that the instructions for what rod goes where could be a lot clearer. The instructions are unclear or inaccurate in quite a few areas - both assembly and painting. Unhelpful mounting of some suspension parts to sprues means it's easy to break them when removing. The engine unit is nicely detailed but there are some other big things under the engine cover that are not in the kit - the big pieces of pipework being the most obvious. There's quite a bit of cleanup to be done on the mouldings. Many of the parts could do with more positive mounting points. I've used this word about Hasegawa of this era before: It's a scruffy kit. Verdict: I think the balance of Pros V Cons says a lot here: Super mediocre. Don't pay a lot if you're going to buy it. It can however (almost frustratingly given the result V kit quality) build into something that looks good - but unlike some kits it's far from effortless to get it there. Build notes: Built in just over 3 weeks in April/May 2025. I've added some seatbelts and a lot of engine details. Painted with Tamiya TS-41 Coral Blue, the recommended colour for their Leyton House F1 car. Building it partly reminded me of building an aircraft and some might say an open wheel race car is a kind of upside down aircraft. Anyway it's not an especially fun assembly experience and though it won't stop me building other open-wheel racers (I have 4 more in the stash at the time of writing), it will almost certainly stop me buying any more of them.

Some Youtube video I just watched about Shizuoka 2025, the commentator seemed to be sure that Beemax had acquired the toolings from D-Model for the Celica. Maybe I'll get the Yaris, but it's neither pretty enough nor ugly enough to be impactful. The new Tamiya Prelude I will certainly get. The RS200 I will await with continued patience.

Have always had a sweet spot for that 300C rear 🖤

He would say that this is the end of the construction, but I am still hoping for the tracks and then the whole project will be finished. And for now this is how the ‘Northumrian’ looks like. Enjoy watching, comments and suggestions welcome and even a suggestion on what to build next from the railway?

1957 Chrysler 300C Matt

I just LOVE that dashboard!

Thanks, I used spray on contact cement from 3m.

Thanks Florian. I have rings, will add them.

The Protar LC2 has not only a thick windscreen - the whole cockpit is awful, specially the windows! In this case the vac windscreen would not improve much.

That leather's laid in nicely. what glue did you use?

You nailed the weathering there, jeroen! Only minor criticism are the missing protecting rings for the lug nuts on the front wheels. Regards Florian

Well, Mr. Van Dordt is himself not too keen on washing the "fleet" (of one car) so I'm afraid he's setting a bad example 🙂