Hayden

Really nice looking car well done, I am in the middle of making this kit at the moment, I am two months in so far but I am fitting a full photo etch kit with it and it is very pain staking, had trouble fitting the windscreen in under the wipers, I couldn't get it to fit so what I did was to fit the wipers and scuttle to the bottom of the screen first then fit it. I am hoping it will look as good as your one

I took this into work today and they love it, I've had pictures taken with it and it is being put on the company's Facebook, I have also found out that it has found its way onto twitter as well. Again I would like to thank everyone for there fantastic comments. Thank you all very much.

Thank you so much that means allot.

I agree I should of taken more pics of the build but to be totally honest I didn't think It would work out as well as it did, if you look back at page 1 I have edited a post and added some build pics and you will see the back of the van that I cut away and the front of the van where I added a bulkhead also you can see where I added 2 chassis rails behind the cab. As for the company name you can only imagine what comments I get when I visit building site . Just like to thank everyone for there comments.

thanks Sean i love the idea of the nissan micra, perhaps i could do something like that on my next build.

Here is closeup of the plaque, The decals are photographs from the original truck, they are then photos hoped and resized and printed onto waterside decal paper, it was a bit of an effort to get them right but it all worked out well in the end. http:// I havant yet taken it into work, This is the first place i have shown it but now it is complete i am aiming to take it in by friday this week.

Yes i do have some pics of the process but not many. This is the back of the van that I cut away. This is the bulk head I installed to the back of the cab and also shows the 2 chassis rails. Chassis rails installed to the original chassis of the cab. The dash was a left hand drive so I cut it all away and converted it to right hand drive. The rear axle installed to the chassis rails. Test fit of the flatbed and cab together, the rear axle was moved back another couple of mm after this.

Hi whilst i was looking on the internet for new kits to build i came across a 1/18 scale friction powered toy transit van and my mind started thinking, as i work for a tool hire company in hampshire i wondered if i would be able to build the vehicle that i drive for them, a transit flatbed with tail lift, never scratch built anything before so this was a new experience for me. This is what i started with. It offered a few challenges as the wheels on this are not correct and also a flatbed has twin rear wheels with the outside wheels inverted to give a deep dish look. anyway the idea was too totally dismantle this toy down to the bare bones and then start rebuilding by cutting the back away from the cab then building a chassis to the new cab allowing me to start building the flatbed. anyway after 6 months this is what i ended up with. Everything from the cab backwards was hand made from Plasticard,brass and aluminium As i said earlier the wheels offered its own challenge, i managed to find these wheels online and i was very lucky to get them as they are the right size and look and the guy i got them from only had 8 so i bought the 6 i needed, the back of the wheel was flattened down and then 1mm brass nuts where added to get the look i needed. All the lights are hand made as is the towing hook. Displaying the winch and shackle. The toy was originally a left hand hand drive so i converted it over to uk spec. The front wing indicators were added as the standard transit does not have them. The interior was resprayed and seat belts added along with a fire extinguisher. The tail lift was built from the original and the easiest way was to build each component to make it look right. I managed to make the tail lift work but only to fold down not to slide in the runners. Just a few bandstands added. Closeup of the tai lift switch and winch cable connector. Closeup of loading strap. Just to finish it of i had this case custom made and the silver plaque engraved to display it, to my knowledge this is the only one i have ever seen, perhaps i am the first. i hope you all like it as i do i am very proud of what i have managed to achieve. thank you all for looking and any comments are welcome.

The finish is just hand painted humbrol gloss enamel but i wet sanded each coat once it had dried and then let each coat dry under a cover to stop dust dropping onto the paint as it dried, unfortunately i did loose a few panel lines in the process so that is why i have decided to go over to airbrushing as each coat is thinner, as for the harrier build i have put it on hold for a moment because i have gone over to airbrushing i bought a 1/24 mark 1 mini cooper to try out this airbrushing technique, I have had a couple of miss haps but now i have got the thinning of the paint right i have starting to get the flow of it and the finish is extremely good, i wish i could of used it on the hawk as the finnish would of been even better, i have never done a car before and i must be honest i find it exciting because you can choose what colour and interior colour you like, i will post again once complete, Thank you all for looking and such pleasant comments, All the best and happy modelling

I would just like to thank everyone for such kind and welcoming comments to my hawk project, the comment about the pilots tash made me laugh. Once again thank you all.

I have finally finished my first build, i haven't built a kit for about 15 years and this forum is all new to me but i do hope you like it. As you can see i have added the side steps to the cockpit area. This kit has the eduard photo etch kit fitted to the cockpit area and seats, i also decided to add the brake hoses to the landing gear. Slightly disappointed with the decals that came with the kit as it seams to have misted the canopy a bit but over all i am happy with the result. Two of the colour nozzles were missing from the kit when i bought it so i had to replace with silver florist wire. Also decided to add a pilot as the kit doesnt come with one so after allot of searching the only UK modern pilot i could find was the one from Mastercasters however this figure has an emersion suit on so i had to file it all down and model the G suit from filler, also changed both arms and hands. Managed to model him as close as i possible could but the arrow on the back of the helmet was a challenge. I know it is not perfect but some standards but over all i am very happy with it, i am just waiting for the display case to arrive now to protect it fully. Ant comments are more than welcome and i hope you like it, my next project will be a trumpeter harrier AV8 B. I love this site oh and thank you so much for looking.