Chimpion

1/12th scale school dinner table?

A dealer with annual targets to hit?

Wow, that's a cool site. I can see when cars my parents owned died from when the tax ran out. Seems to work back to the 1980's. One from the 70's wasn't in the database.

I can see the photos on my Android phone.

The lifeboat is a very tight fit in places but makes a nice model. I spent ages painting the details inside the cabin but you can't see much of it from outside. The biggest problem is that the decals are quite transparent. The white numbers and red and yellow stripes applied directly onto the dark blue hull let the blue show through. I'm not sure there's an easy solution to this. White underneath would solve it, but then you'd have to match the exact shape of each decal, which looks impossible to me. I tried touching up the white decals after applying, but that's not much easier.

I have one of these in the stash, so will be watching with interest. You've made a nice start.

They had nine kits in. Not a single one sold for several weeks. Not surprising as they were expensive compared to the two hundred odd Revell kits. If they've all gone now (they were at the right hand end of the top shelf ) it suggests they've sent them back to the distributor and I doubt we'll see them again. I also found them in a second branch 30 km away.

Buy a more recent boxing to build so that the decision on the classic one can be deferred.

Lots in Austria as well.

Finally, the finished model. This represents pretty accurately my current skill level. I think I made a pretty good job of the engine, but in the end gave up on trying to add ignition wiring. I did try, but struggled to get them to stay in place. The dashboard is OK, but to be honest it can barely be seen on the finished model, and what little can be seen looks well detailed. The attempt to use metal leaf for the window trims was educational - next time I'll try with thicker foil as the leaf was too thin. It broke up into very tiny pieces on making contact with just about anything. I'm still learning how to get a good finish to the body. I did learn on this build the importance of thinning paint even when brush painting. Despite the earlier disasters I got the best finish I've ever managed on the underlying body paint. The decals were delicate and some of them broke, but I managed to align the broken parts on all of them except the one on the back, which I repaired with paint. The colour match between the decal and paint was amazing . I then had a serious dilemma - I really didn't want to risk damage to the decals, so I knew I needed a clear coat. Given the problems I encountered earlier which I think was caused by overthinning the enamel paint, I decided to use an acrylic clear gloss (Revell aqua) thinned to help the surface self-levelling. I still got some brush marks and lost the lovely finish underneath. I decided to just give a very gentle 8k and 12k micromesh polish to the regions well clear of the decals, as I didn't want to risk sanding off the decals. The end result isn't great, but it's probably the best I could have achieved given my current skill level. It certainly looks good in the display cabinet. This kit goes together very nicely. There were no fit issues to overcome. The hardest part was fitting the small chrome parts especially the wing mirrors and door handles as I'd filled the fixing holes with paint.

The bodyshell went on without too much difficulty :

I fixed the dashboard and seats and put the wheels on. I'm pleased with the result - this assembly stage makes a huge difference. The model stops being an engine and chassis and looks like the inside of a car.

Sorry for the long delay, but I finally finished this about a week ago. I took photos at various stages so can now finish this build article. This is the state the model was in at the end of the group build. I'd messed up the gold stripe decal at the back. Also I didn't quite get the LOTUS metal decal on straight. The former I was able to correct later with carefully masked gold paint and a thin brush. The latter was impossible to correct, but isn't very noticeable in 1/24 scale. This was the chassis and engine : and this was the bodyshell : and the dashboard and seats :

One other point to bear in mind - SMD means surface mounted device. This means they will have very short or almost non-existent leads designed for automated assembly equipment. You'll find through-hole (leaded) devices much easier to solder, but obviously you'll need to find more space for them.

Yesterday I came across a Morgan Aero 8. I don't know how many have been sold in the UK, but it's the first one I've ever seen here in Austria.

Do you mean LEDS? Try searching for that.

Have you thought of looking to see if Faller have released a suitable building kit? I think they have the biggest range in HO scale, although most of the buildings are clearly Germanic.

Just discovered this thread. Amazing work. Looking forward to seeing the final result.

Let's hope it's the side that's missing and not the one you've already got!

I've seen these go for over £50 on ebay.

It's interesting to see that they're almost the same size as each other. I would have expected the GTO to be much smaller than the modern one.

I've built this kit, so I know how tricky that dashboard is for us beginners. One technique I started using, before I lost patience and just decided it didn't matter how it looked because it's not easy to see on the finished model, was to paint the chrome and then use the thin black border of the decal sheet to fill the black stripes with decals. Another approach I've seen and tried with less success is to paint, the chrome, coat it with a protective clear coat, then paint or spray the black and remove it from the chrome with thinner or by sanding. Good luck with whichever route you choose.

I have to accept defeat on this. Two long business trips that have meant me being away for 9 of the last 14 days have put paid to any remaining hope of being on time. I'd rather take my time and get a good finish than rush it and make a mess of what promises to be a nice model. I will continue to post progress reports here. Congratulations to all those who met the deadline.

I drove one owned by my brother-in-law once - boy is that bonnet long!

It could be because there's no kit yet been released!