BeastieBoy73

Thanks for the encouragement! I have a couple of other IMAI kits to build, both bikes. Before that, a Tamiya MX5 which is now underway. The extractor is going to have to wait. I need the practice and the weathers pretty good here in Nottingham so I can have the door and windows open when painting.

Thanks very much for taking time to offer up so much advice, it's hugely appreciated. I know what you mean about old kits as the first car I built was an old Revell Porsche 911 kit and that battled me all the way. I think it may have even been considered a bit rubbish when it was initially released. I was unaware of scalemates so will check it out prior to making any more purchases. Better to by 1 x £30 kit than 3 £10 x kits. That said, I am not prepared to entirely blame the quality of my chosen kits for how they turn out as I clearly have lots to learn. Thankfully, with great people such as yourself and others found on this site, I look forward to progressing further. With regards the interior, the seats, door panels and floor were left unpainted as they were brown. The seat belts were coloured black with a OHP pen, the buckles were completed with my trusty chrome pen. Thanks again for you time.

Thanks very much!

Great progress being made there, I look forward to seeing it completed. I have now posted my 'completed' build, it can be found here. Can't wait to get stuck into another build.

Hi to you all. I've finally completed my third car build, an IMAI VW Beetle 1303 Cabrio. I know nothing of IMAI though a quick look online shows that they did a lot of Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, etc kits. Not really my thing but if one of their cars or bikes cropped up on ebay, I've added it to my growing stash. The kit went together pretty well. There is an option to add a motor to in and also headlights but it's early days for me with regards modelling and I don't wish to over complicate things. At the moment I'm simply concentrating on not glueing my fingers together and not passing out from rattle can fumes. A portable extractor will be purchased before my next build starts. Another option was to build the car with the roof up but I didn't see much sense in doing this particularly having spent time putting together the interior. The primer and light blue paint was applied with rattle cans. Now it's complete, I'd wish I'd spent more time prepping/removing seams and other imperfections in the body. I have not got the hang of not rushing a build as yet, I want to see them done! Annoyingly, the holes for the headlights were bigger than the headlights. Surprised by this as the rest of the kit fit together really well. All the chrome parts are as they came out the box. Few issues with the chrome where some of the holes in the wheels are filled in. Additional chrome trim was applied (badly in most cases) with a Molotow chrome pen. If you are unaware of these pens, I urge you to try one out. I have polished it with Dodo Juice car detailing wax to give it a shine. Thanks for checking out my post and I look forward to your comments, critical or otherwise. My wife has deemed it good enough to be allowed in the house so it can't be that bad...

Great looking model, well done. Feel free to give it me, I won't sell it, I promise!

Really enjoying this build, it looks great. I'm also building a Beetle cabrio at the moment as my third car build and I wish I'd read Roy's great comments before I'd started. Fingers crossed Roy stumbles across my "Ready For Inpection" post when it's finally completed as offers up more great and welcome advice.

I'm new to modelling so I assume 'scratch' built means you have built this from scratch, ie not from a kit. I'd struggle to build something as good as that from a purchased kit. That is truly outstanding.

Looking good. Same colour as my 1303...

Early days for me in the modelling world. I'm still trying to concentrate on not gluing my fingers together.

Nice 356 style wheels... How will you go about lowering it? I had planned to lower the 1303 by redrilling the holes for the axles so the wheel sit higher in the arches but it turns out the kits can be motorised and if I modify it then the gear on the rear axle will miss the gear on the motor.

Enjoying this build, it's prompted me to start an old IMAI Bug 1303 Bug cabrio today. I'm going 'stock' with my build. Was hoping to build a replica of the Cal Look bug used in movie Boyz N The Hood but turns out the car used in the movie was a 1302 (flat windscreen).

Outstanding! Well built!

The kit looks to be based on a 1960s 6v Bug, mostly... The wheels? They don't even look like they belong to a car. Best of luck with it, I'll look forward to seeing it completed.

That's great. Really brought back memories as to when I last watched F1.

Thanks and yes, thanks to the good folks and their advice on here, I heated the needle up and it cleared right away. Thankfully, the drivers head seems to have stopped melting.

Indeed, he (and his Buggy) look like extras from "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas". Cheers for the encouragement. One thing I have noticed since starting this hobby is the fast rate at which your stash of unbuilt kits grows...

Agreed, they are great fun.

After a few months of checking out your builds with envy, I've decided it's time to post my first completed kit. I've been into old cars since I was a child, particularly Hot Rods, VW's and Porsches and when I saw the Revell Glitterbug kit, I had to get one and have a crack at it. The kit was really fun to put together and perfect for me as a novice as the instructions were very simple (somewhere between that of a Kinder Egg and a proper, grown up model kit). Here they are for you to check out. As the Buggy had been called the "Glitterbug", their was only one way to paint it and that was with glitter. I primed the body, painted the interior matt black, masked the interior and then applied lots of green rattle can paint. As the paint was wet I sprinkled fine green glitter all over it hoping it would stick. I left the body to dry for a couple of days, shook off the excess glitter and then covered it with lots of clear lacquer, again using a rattle can. Additional chrome was applied or touched up with a Molotow Liquid Chrome pen. I'd never heard of these pens before but I highly recommend them. Just make sure you give the chrome plenty time to dry before you touch them. The pen made doing the windscreen frame very easy. Also great for touching up where the parts join the sprues. Happy to report not many mishaps during the build but there was one big blunder. I used Revells "Contacta" glue for the first time and was unaware of the needles getting blocked with glue. Obviously, I squeezed the glue harder and harder until it blurted out, mostly inside the drivers head. Unfortunately, his head has melted quite a bit from the inside and has caved in a bit, thankfully he comes with sunglasses to hide that. Anyway, just take one look at him and it's safe to say, that if he was a real person, inside his head would be pretty fried, too. Hope you like the pictures and I look forward to your comments, critical or otherwise.

Great looking model and brill diorama.

Great build. Really enjoy the twist you've put on the kit.

Thanks for getting back to me. The top is clear so the primer must be too. My plan is to apply glitter to wet paint (Revell Glitterbug) so any imperfections so be well covered but I will pick up a grey primer asap for future kits. All the best.

Hi Im a long way off airbrushing and I'm currently relying on rattle cans. I have a new can of Plastikote Plastic Primer and have shaken it for ages and it comes out clear. It gives no indication of the colour on the can but I'd have expected it to come out grey. Has anyone used this product who could put my mind at rest and tell me it's clear or have I simply not shaken it for long enough. Thanks for you time.

I see what you mean about not using too much of the glue... I'm building the Revell Glitterbug and spilt some glue inside the drivers head. 24 hours later and the back of his head has taken on the look of a week old Halloween pumpkin. You live. You learn.

Thanks to you all for taking time to advise. As a newbie, it doesn't bode well for the future of I'm struggling to get glue out of a tube. I think I'll hang on a bit before I have a crack at airbrushing...