81-er

I see you follow the "no replacement for displacement" mantra James

Shaping up very nicely indeed, and thanks for the tip on the paints James

Coming along beautifully, that's one whopper of a kit! James

Shame about the gap in the masking, but the paint job and shading look fantastic James

That reference website is really useful, thanks for sharing it John James

That engine really is superb, all of the decals and labels make it so realistic James

Life has conspired to keep me away from the workbench; however, I’ve now received my aftermarket parts orders. Everything is exquisitely detailed, and everything bar the motor came from the same seller (prostreethobbies on the most well-known auction site). This is the haul: First off, scale 20” Torq Thrust wheels, complete with massive brakes that scale out to a whopping 380mm/15” discs: Secondly, some Optima batteries complete with tiny logos. I don’t actually know if I’ll use these, bit it was about £3 for ten with no extra postage: Next, my other wheel option, Volk TE37’s. Again, scale 20” size with the same brake discs as the Torq Thrusts. These are moulded in a slightly darker resin and the brake discs look as thought the surface is slightly more detailed, but that could also be down to the colour. Like the Torq Thrusts, the Toyo Proxes tyres are moulded separately and are extremely detailed: Moving on, we have the bucket seats. Again, excellently moulded, although there are some support marks on the back. Some careful filling and sanding will sort those out while keeping the harness slot detail intact: These also fit nicely in the interior tub: Comparing them to the kit seats, I know which I’d rather sit in: Last, but by no means least, we move on to the engine. This is a representation of an Edelbrock supercharged Ford Coyote V8, all 785bhp & 660ft.lbs of it! The detail on this is absolutely ridiculous, down to the underside of the supercharger & fuel rails, plus the mating faces of the engine and gearbox. Again, from that action site, from a user called nazrac. Top of enginer/supercharger and the gearbox. Note the “Supercharged” lettering on the fuel rail covers. That should drybrush nicely: Underside of the supercharger and fuel rails: Engine block, sump, headers: Rear, then front, of engine block. The detail here is really good, so there wouldn’t be much work required if you wanted to show the engine on a stand separated from the gearbox or with the front stripped down to access the timing chains: Timing chain cover plate, the pulleys & serpentine belts, plus the smallest cone filter I have ever seen: Finally, the heads. I managed to break the pull ring off the dipstick while arranging the parts for this photo, I’ll have a crack and see if I can fabricate a replacement out of some very fine wire and solder (which will be an exercise in micro soldering!): Now I’m just missing paint (still to order) and the time to actually do some work. Just as well there’s a few months to go… James

The fading is excellent James

Ah, totally different Proline then, the RC firm are very American James

I've only just seen this and I'm genuinely saddened by the news. I first found this forum by stumbling across his dalek build, which was captivating to follow and lead me to read through all of his build threads. Seeing what he was able to achieve was jaw dropping, yet his posts were always humble while managing to pass on his tremendous skills to others in the process. It gave me the kick up the backside I needed to get back into modelling and to sign up here. I’d hoped I might be able to meet him one day as he seemed like a genuinely nice bloke. My condolences to all of his family and friends. James

The white and black cars make a great pair on your base James

Interesting choice of kit. Is this by the same Proline who're now a serious name in RC, or just a coincidence in the name choice? James

Nice save on the belt James

That's really excellent work, it's going to be a real beauty James

The paintwork's looking good to me, but any iffy bits could definitely be excused as the results of quick repairs to any damage received from a less-than-careful rental James