Alan R

Hi Andy, I feel a shop at Hiroboy coming up.... Cheers, Alan.

HI Spiny, I know what you mean about the cooling fan. I have already cemented mine on to the engine and I am reluctant to pull it off and thin the blades. I think that once installed in the body, you won't be able to see much anyway... Cheers, Alan.

Nice! Suitable grubby looking truck. Cheers, Alan.

Hi Andy, Nice looking shocks. I might use that trick on my Seven when I get around to building it. What diameter brass tube and rod did you use? Cheers, Alan.

I enjoyed the film. In fact I love all of the re-boot star-trek movies. Cheers, Alan.

Tell me about it. I have the 1/24th Samba bus. Way too big for an end-opening box. Mine's all crushed out of shape from just sitting on the shelf!

Hi Mr. Lin, I recently completed the enthusiast version of this car, and to be honest, the only difficulty I had was with the exhaust manifolds. The fit where they touched, if that makes sense. However, once installed and the body work was on, you can't actually see them anyway! I have built about four of the enthusiast models, mostly Porkers, and apart from unnecessary complexity, they assemble reasonably well... Good job really, as I have four more in the stash... Cheers, Alan.

Interesting. I'll keep an eye on this one. Cheers, Alan.

Hi Spiny, One of my pet peeves with tis otherwise excellent kit, was moulding the disc brakes on the chrome sprue! For: One. The chrome (and the apparent varnish on which it's plated) is so thick that you lose detail. Two. If you don't remove it, paint doesn't adhere well to the shiny surface! there are probably more reasons, but I have run out of rant-juice! I tend to remove the chrome there days , and if it's meant to be chrome, I use Molotow chrome. So very useful. I did this, this weekend on the brakes of the Bandai Lotus Esprit. You can see how they look on that build thread. The only "chrome" that may remain on any of my models is the satin chrome you sometimes find on wheels. It's usually scale-appropriate. As for the fuel injector/induction rail, I don't remember mine being that 'flashy'... Anyway, good wook. Cheers, Alan.

You don't happen to have a BMW Z1 front valance, painted in metallic blue lurking on your bench. Mine disappeared into the K-space... Cheers, Alan.

Ferrari Dinos are noisy! I remember one morning many years ago during a hot spell, so all the windows were open, someone turned up in a red Ferrari Dino, and left the engine running for a while. Enough noise on tick-over to wake the dead! They did have "silencers" of some sort, I have been lead to believe... The Dino is one of Ferrari's prettiest cars. Cheers, Alan.

Hi Spiny, To be honest, I'm not sure how I cope either. I sometimes wonder whether it wouldn't be easier just to concentrate on one model at a time. The problem is that my time at the bench is usually quite precious (and short!), so, while some part of one model is either setting after cementing or drying after some painting, I use the time progress another model along. Also, I get bored easily, so I like to mix and match so to speak, in order to keep my interest going. That's how I am currently working on three or four models at a time at the moment. Cheers, Alan.

Hi All, I have decided to enhance the already fine Tamiya Ford GT with some photo-etch from Hobby Design. Most of the grilles (for want of a better word) are actually clear parts with decals to represent the mesh of the grilles. I have been using the Hobby Design set to replace those parts/ So far, so good. Anyway, there are the next bits: The picture is a bit blurry, I think the camera got a bit confused. I have primed then in grey, ready to cover in Abbadon Black. These do look a lot better installed rather than the clear bits with decals. More to come. Thanks for looking. Cheers, Alan.

Hi All, Another update. Gosh! two updates on the same topic in one day, whatever next... I have been working on the transmission bits and brakes. The bits on the left are the hook-joint and drive-shafts. The brakes are nearly complete in this picture. The two spidery things at the top are the brackets that tie the whole transmission and frame together. Here's a better image of the engine and transmission. Somewhat sharper than the last one I showed. and the other side. Actually, since I took these pictures, I have finished the brakes and callipers, and the brackets and driveshafts have received their last coat of paint. I just want the paint to set properly before attaching them to the transmission. More soon. Thanks for looking, Cheers, Alan.

Didn't know whether to laugh or cry. In the end, laughter it was.... Cheers, Alan.

Hi John, The Aoshima kit looks good. If it's as good as the GTR, it will be a pleasurable build. Anyway, what's not to like about a car with that Sccoby flat-4 ... Cheers, Alan.

Hi All, Not all at the same time, but over the last few weeks... I love this car. I recently read a drive test in Autocar, and they loved it. Said it was a bit like a grown up MX-5. It was the perfect mix of handling with adequate power to really enjoy yourself... Another one that fulfils that brief. Very capable handling with enough power to really enjoy the experience... I have been waiting for one of these to turn up for a while now. Finally, one appeared in the Kingkit web-store for a reasonable price. Have you seen the prices some people are asking on eBay? Ridiculous. I now have three Fiat 500s to build, two original ones and the Fujimi new Abarth 500. Looking forward to this little project. Cheers, Alan.

Hi All, A two and a half year gap! I decided a few days back to try and make some progress with this. As an aside, as I am building my kits, I like to keep the small parts (bits) in little sealable pots so, in theory, they are less likely to get lost. Each model in progress has its own little pot, labelled with the model name. So, I got out the little pot of bits and started on the engine again. In the past, for some reason, I had detached the inlet manifold, carburettors and the air filter. Here, the manifold and carburettors have been reattached. Also, I reattached the exhaust manifold at the same time. This is engine as I had left it. There's a whole load of gubbins at the rear of the engine, none of which I know the function of... The raised parts on the cam covers had been dry-brushed, but had suffered over the years and was looking a bit 'tired'. So I whacked on some Citadel "Abbadon Black", which has a slight satin sheen to it, rather than pure matt. I then reapplied the dry brushed aluminium to the raised parts: I'm not sure you can see the improvement. Hand-held camera to blame... Gubbins attached. There is a drive-belt attached to some kind of 'thing'. Looks like a filter of some kind... ? Bandai, like a number of model manufacturers (Hasegawa - cough, cough) plate the disc brakes. This to my mind is rather too toy-like. So I dropped the disc/calliper assemblies into some caustic soda solution for about an hour. This completely removed the chrome plating. I then painted them grey, followed by Abbadon Black, and am now in the process of painting the hubs in aluminium, the callipers in metallic grey (XF56) and the rotors in a steel colour (Runefang Steel - Citadel) The brackets for the rear transmission, at the top of the picture will eventually be aluminium. Hopefully later today. The two small widgets at the bottom are the hook-joints of the drive shafts (or more precisely half of the hook-joints) More soon, I hope. Thanks for looking, Alan.

Hello All, Some updates on this. Not a lot, but here we are: All the drive train added. This kit like some other Aoshima car kits has a sort of working suspension. A bit of a gimmick, which adds a minor complication to the assembly process. From the side. Looks pretty good here. The next stage is to get the final colour on the body and get the cockpit completed. The wheels are on now, but sorry, no pictures. More to come. Thanks for looking, Alan.

Hi All, I have had this one on the back-burner for a long time. I thought that I had already started a thread on this, but it appears that I hadn't... I have had this kit for a very long time. The engine and transmission were already made and I didn't take any pictures. I chose to paint it yellow, thus: Here is the body, floor and bonnet (hood) clear coated as well. I used Zero Paints yellow (Similar to X-8 according to the bottle). I use ZP 1K clear coat diluted further with Mr Color Levelling thinners. Takes more coats, but I get a very good finish. The bonnet suffered a disaster that nearly ended up me chucking the think in the bin,,, I had just laid down the final 'wet' coat on the bonnet and was moving it to a better place to cure, when the bugger decided to drop itself onto the floor. However, in my panic to stop this =, I grabbed the part hoping to catch it before disaster struck, planting my thumb on the newly sprayed clear coat! After much cussing and ranting, I waited until the coat was set and sanded back the coat to get a smooth finish. I re-primed the damaged bit, re-painted that re-primed bit and re-clear coated it. It's not perfect, but it doesn't show too much, except under a magnifying glass. It's not show=good, but good enough. Front suspension. engine installed. From underneath,,, As is usual for Tamiya Kits, the fit is extremely good and generally simple. Transmission and rear suspension fitted. Again, a simple installation. From the side. A bit blown out... That's where it currently stands, more to come. Thanks for looking, Alan.

Hi All, Just a very minor update on the GT. I have embellished the dash-board with some photo-etch: It looks like the trim isn't attached all way round, but I don't think that's the case. I'll try to get some more done soon. Thanks for looking, Alan.

Hi All, Finally got around to updating all my projects. So this is where I have got with the Z1. The door assembly goes together quite well. Each door panel consists of three parts. The Frame, the door card and the door skin. They fit the cockpit well. So far, so good. The other side. Those decals don't look so bad when assembled into the cockpit... (I think...) From the front. Fitted into the body and attached to the chassis. The eagle eyed amongst you will have noticed that the doors appear darker than the bodywork. I don't think that I sprayed enough paint on the side of the body! I may try to correct that, but not at the moment, as I will explain later. It doesn't look quite so bad here. The camera lies... The engine compartment... Unfortunately, this is where I will have to park it for the moment. This is because I have lost the front valance and grille. I have contacted Revell and I am waiting a reply. I am not sure where the parts went. I fully expect that if Revell ever do send me the parts, the originals will re-appear So, for the moment, I have packed this lot carefully in its box. and hopefully, either the parts will turn up or Revell will send me the parts. So, until the next time, thanks for looking. Cheers, Alan.

Great models! Love them! Alan.

Ditto. Probably early 60s...

You have done a great job! I absolutely love it! You can't see any evidence of the crazing on the roof that you had during the build. Well done! Cheers, Alan.