Anteater

A man who plans ahead. The nights are drawing in...

I never knew there was such a thing! Call me traditional but I strictly stick to eating them.

What they all said, an outstanding finish. Well done.

Top marks for planning a conversion to three doors. I'm going to be well impressed when (not if) you pull this off!

I'm a bit late catching up with this but that's frustrating regarding the bonnet paint. Still, I'm sure you'll rectify it with another can. Here's a question - are you going to lacquer it? I tried a TS metallic for the first time on my Eunos build and it doesn't really need lacquer in that instance. Will you be going for high gloss or a more period finish?

Back on with the Eunos, and 6 weeks from starting (I could have built a real one in this time) I finally found a few hours to get the chassis done. Here it is in its natural state, with only the half-engine picked out in aluminium paint. I think Revell did a version with a full engine but this Tamiya is a simple kerbside kit and the part count is pretty low. Therefore it didn't take too long to get from this; ... to this; It might be an old moulding but it falls together with no problem. I bet with the number of these Tamiya have knocked out over the past 33 years they must have replaced the tooling to keep it fresh. Needless to say, it all locates perfectly and everything looks straight; straighter than the subject of this build which never ran exactly true anyway. There now follows a short interlude while I find some more spare time... ANTEATER PAUSED

Just trying to help, mister!! Seriously though, what a swindle. Nothing like the box art at all! I do suspect somebody somewhere will have made a resin Golf 3 door shell, considering I have seen Golf Estate and Vento saloon bodies in resin. Almost certainly won't be cheap though. Potentially easier for your friend to change her real car for a five door...

Nice weathering. That's the thing about being subtle, it doesn't always show well on camera... but you know it's done correctly.

You could try scanning them to reprint copies yourself on decal paper. Nice kit, by the way.

Try counting again. If upon completing the count you have used all four fingers and one thumb, then it's definitely not a three door. Does that help?

Looks great. Models like this always interest me more than ones built as perfect examples. This has some life to it.

Very nice. I have one in the stash; anything to look out for when building it?

Nice work so far, you are fair cracking on with it. I must say those clear body panels and Heller's solution for window masking would put me off. I can't honestly see how it would make it easier for beginners, but it surely makes it more difficult for anyone else!

Genuinely very impressive. I love the last shot of the Beetle with the T1 van.

Isn't that just lovely. I've driven and been in more than my fair share of stuff but never knowingly travelled in one of these. When I used to walk to what was laughingly called school, there was a house I used to pass with a then-new SD1 parked outside. It was a glorious bright red twin-plenum Vitesse with a huge front air dam, leather trim and a car-phone the size of a breeze block. Compared to the stodgy old rubbish that was the usual fare around the black hole of hopelessness I was obliged to call home, it stuck out a mile. I can only imagine the dude had an unimaginably cool job like rocket tester or director of Duran Duran videos, but more likely he worked in "imports and exports". Either way, top work.