Octavian

I am deeply saddened to hear this news. My most heartfelt condolences to his family. Chas was a wonderful person. Though I am new to this forum, he welcomed me with open arms, and both helped and inspired me in many ways. I will miss him. God bless and keep you, Chas.

Amazing work from Cox, as always. Great to hear from you.

Chris, Many thanks! The body elements, though in many ways more difficult than the engine, are far less complex and time-consuming, so things are zipping along now compared to the very slow progress of the engine coming together. I appreciate your kind words. All best, Andrew

Ron, Yes, you are absolutely right about the angle; it is definitely off. Those are all great tips, and will be very valuable for future builds, as well as future steps in this build. I should have thought of heating the pipes up! Can't believe that didn't occur to me... Thanks for the compliment on the surface finish; I like how that turned out too. Thanks as always, Andrew

Ron, Just by way of clarification, I think that the exhaust might look worse in that picture than it actually is. The open gap there is intentional, as there is still a single pipe left to insert there. Here is a detail pic: So, the far two are "sort of" seated where they are supposed to be, and an additional single pipe will be added in there. They are still off, but I realized looking at the picture above that it might have seemed like I missed those two holes entirely! (Quite possibly all of this was already obvious to you, but I wanted to clarify in case the first picture was misleading; it's still a bit of a mess, to be sure). Best, Andrew

Ron, Words of wisdom, my friend. Thanks for this perspective; truly appreciated. Michael, Thanks very much for your kind words. Like Ron said, it is a tough balancing act between enjoying it and pushing oneself to do perfect work, and its a balance I am still figuring out how to strike. I like the suggestion of having a simple project alongside a complex one. I may indeed return to a half-finished Fujimi Porsche I have sitting around, just to have something a bit less stressful on the side. Thanks for the advice! All best to both of you, Andrew

Ron, I truly appreciate your kind words. I am probably being too hard on myself; as I noted at the beginning, this kit is a big step up from anything I have done before. And, as you advised me, I should treat it as a learning opportunity, and I have definitely learned so much already from it. Plus, I really have enjoyed it, albeit with some frustrating moments. I know you only mentioned the exhaust pipes as a point for illustration, but you are absolutely right about those right two. Try as I might I just could not get the white metal to cooperate such that it met correctly at the bottom with the lower pipe, and also plugged into the heads correctly. It was that struggle in particular that was getting me frustrated with the build. I got it somewhat close there, and decided to stick with it, because I was afraid that any further attempts to reshape would result in breaking the white metal (which I did on the other side, but fortunately was able to mend decently). Thanks again; your guidance and kindness is always greatly appreciated. Best, Andrew

Here are a few pics of the chassis and the various elements coming together: Everything is pretty messy right now, and it all needs a lot of touch-up and detail paint work. I don't know. Personally I enjoyed building the engine far more than doing these body elements. The larger white metal elements are very difficult to work with and fit together correctly. I'm moderately pleased with the results so far, but the flaws all seem pretty glaring to me. It's been a bit discouraging, to be honest. But I will keep at it; hopefully it turns out ok. Thanks for reading, Andrew

Ron, I know what you mean. Hopefully it hasn't left too bad a taste in your mouth on this build, because it really is a wonderful thing you're creating here. All best, Andrew

Ron, The wing looks just amazing; no surprises there, just more incredible results! Best, Andrew

Hello, My apologies for a lengthy absence from this thread; lots of work and family commitments this summer have been taking up my time. That said, I have managed to get a bit done on the 250 GTO. The front suspension and control arms gave me a good bit of trouble. Some of the design choices here by MFH were a bit puzzling to me, in particular the screws meant to hold the arms to the front axle unit; they were a bit too short and weren't biting into the white metal sufficiently to get a solid hold. So, I had to be a bit creative and ended up drilling deeper into the vertical shaft of the axle and gluing some worn drill bits in there that could then connect up through the control arms, giving it more of a solid hold. None of this should be construed as a slight against MFH's engineering; most likely the fault was my own in implementing their intentions. Whatever the case, I finally got them together. Lots of clean-up and detailing here is still needed. Here is how I ended up doing the gas line; the guitar string worked very well, I think. It ended up a bit longer than I think it ought to be, but it took many attempts to get it done, so I have decided to leave well enough alone, and not make the perfect the enemy of the good. Thanks to everyone for the wonderful suggestions on how to render this fuel line. After getting the front suspension and fuel line done, the momentous step of attaching the engine to the chassis. Again, more clean-up and detailing work is needed here. Here are a few more angles on it: And, last but certainly not least, I have done a few coats of Zero Paints Rosso Chiaro on the body. I did the doors and hood and such as well, but I will just post the body for now: Since Zero Paints go on mat, it doesn't look that impressive yet; once it is clear coated with their magical 2K elixir, the color will brighten up a bit, and it will (hopefully) have a nice, glassy sheen. There's decals in there too to worry about, but I won't get ahead of myself. Any suggestions on the body (or the chassis) as it now stands are very welcome; my understanding of Zero Paints is that the base color should be somewhat rough so that the clear coat can effectively key to it. I don't know if what I have here is too rough in spots though, so please don't hold back with any suggestions. I hope everyone is well; thanks for reading. All my best, Andrew

Codger, Yeah, guitar string is a great idea; I doubt I would ever have thought of that. Very clever solution! Thanks. Best, Andrew

Ron, That is also a great option! I think I'll order some of that as well. Andrew

Sabrejet, Space and money! These kits are pricey, but I feel like I have already gotten more than my money's worth in terms of enjoyment and learning experience, and I'm not even close to being done. Mr. Hiro (or Hiro~san as they would say in Japan) has really put together something special with this company. Best, Andrew

Codger, Much appreciated. My thinking with the car was that it was a raced classic that has been well maintained with good upkeep, but definitely not a concours gem. So, some wear and tear from age and regular use. Thanks, as always, for the support and insight. All best, Andrew

Ron, Thanks for this; the tube you created is stunning. I will experiment with that and perhaps try the copper wire approach Pascal suggested too and see which one I am able to pull off more convincingly. I fear I might not be able to duplicate your results; I will try though. Your feedback is, as always, greatly appreciated. Best, Andrew

Pascal, Thanks very much, for the kind words, and the advice on the tubing. Much appreciated! Best, Andrew

The work proceeds. The engine is nearly, but not quite done. I fear that I am missing a few tiny pieces needed to finish, so I will have to contact MFH about replacements. For now, here is the engine with the gearbox finally attached (detail and aging not yet done on gearbox). One general question I do have about the engine is where I might track down something that would work well to simulate the yellow fuel lines coming off the carburetor (pictured here): I believe these may be missing from the kit, and if they're not, then they are done in white metal, and don't look very realistic (I have many duplicate rod and hose-type parts, so it is difficult for me to tell if one that I have is intended to serve as these lines or not). In any event, tubing of some sort would be preferable to a white metal piece. I've looked around on Hiroboy, and it seems that most of the tubing that would work is out of stock. If anyone has other suggestions, that would be great. Since the engine is nearly complete, I have begun to turn to other parts of the kit. Work has proceeded much more quickly on these parts, given how much simpler they are in comparison to the engine. I primed the body with Zero metal/resin primer, but haven't worked up the nerve to paint it yet: I also primed and painted the chassis (Tamiya semi-gloss black) and have put some of the additional elements on it together: I have painted and put together the rear live axle, plus scuffing it up and aging it a bit: Built and painted the radiator: And, finally, put together the rotors and brakes for the front wheels: To get a nice circular wear pattern, I simply put the axle into the mouth of a drill, where a bit would go, and spun it around while alternately holding a brass wire brush to it and the back of a scalpel blade. I weathered it with Tamiya brown panel line accent color and bits of the rust I made earlier. Lots of elements are beginning to come together; this kit remains a joy to work with. Thanks to all for reading. Best, Andrew

Beautiful work.

Sabrejet, Thanks! It's funny to think of the 250 GTO, at this point, as "just another sports racer," what with them selling at auction at $44 million. Imaging the insurance on that... Best, Andrew

Yes, that is a good idea; I'll grab a tarp or something for the ground for when working with tiny bits.

Wonderful tips from Ron; I have nothing to add to those great suggestions. I second Codger's tip of not working over carpet if possible; I have no choice, as the only work space I have is in my office in my apartment, which is carpeted, but it is not ideal. I have lost many small rivets down there, which I have had to replace.

I completely understand. Some of these parts are vexingly small; watchmaking-type bits. For instance, a bit of PE I was working with yesterday: So dang tough to work with! Makes a man respect the Swiss. Best, Andrew

Codger, This is wonderful, thank you. It'll be a while before I am ready to venture down that path, but it is one I want to venture down. I will check out the various resources you listed here and keep my eyes open on ebay should anything promising pop up. Somewhat relatedly, have you ever thought about trying your hand at a MFH kit? That's a build thread I would be very interested to see! All best, Andrew

Codger, That is a helpful breakdown of the differences. A Pocher is more of a partially blank canvas, perhaps, both offering and demanding more build freedom. The results that are possible (as with your RR or Cox's work) speak for themselves. I'm developing a growing appetite for this particular brand of insanity: a good kind of crazy. Any advice on the best way to track down a Pocher? Ebay is the obvious answer, but given your knowledge of that part of the modelling world, you may have some better or additional suggestions. When the time comes to try my hand at a Pocher, count on a lot of questions from me! Best, Andrew