Ruston

After 2 years on pre-order.

There is a lot more choice for locomotive kits if you are prepared to look at etched brass or white metal cast models, with a corresponding increase in cost, time and effort to put them together. But you can almost find anything that ever existed. 00 gauge is a scale compromise at nominally 4mm/ft (1/76) but running on track scaled at 3.5mm/ft (1/87) so the rails and wheels are slightly too close together. Depends on how concerned you are with ultimate fidelity if that is an issue! HO gauge uses the same track as 00 but with everything correctly scaled at 3.5mm/ft. Most UK subjects are 00 gauge unfortunately and need modifying to sit on the correct 18.82mm width track.

Thanks for the comments all. It wasn’t the quick build I thought it was going to be when I started but worth the effort and I learnt a lot in the process. I’m going to build something a little more straightforward and out the box for my next model though! Keith, I do agree on the background, it certainly looks like a location I’d not want to park the full size one. I managed to ruin my other backdrop by exposing half of it to the sun causing severe fading. I’ll have to find something else for future photo shoots.

Thanks for kind words and encouragement all. Ready for Inspection post here

This is my attempt at a 1/24 recreation of this car: https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/23945/lot/88/ It’s built from the 1960s Monogram kit with some modifications and additional details to replace the more crude parts of the kit and better represent the full size car. WIP thread here: Thanks for looking

Absolutely beautiful.

The last thing for me to do was to replace the ‘Porsche’ and ‘Carrera GTS’ lettering. I had previously removed the moulded in badges to help with the body prep, so I needed to find an alternative. I ordered some chrome metal self adhesive decals from Globaltoy on eBay. Unfortunately these were only available for the closer spaced Porsche script with the letters contacted with a line running through the bottom of each. I decided to carefully separate each of the letters with a scalpel blade, which came out ok. It looks better to the naked eye than this close up shot suggests. With each letter being a little over 1mm high at this scale, it’s about the best I could manage with my middle aged eyesight! I found a PE set for the Tamiya Carrera GT that included an etched ‘Carrera GT’ badge. This just left me needing an ‘S’ which I made from some 0.2mm lead wire that I shaped around a couple of pins and flattened with some pliers. The Carrera GTS badge has been painted gold and is now drying before being cut out and attached. That’ll be this one complete. Ready for Inspection post incoming as soon as I can get some decent pictures…

Final few details and I’m almost done. The interior and glazing is in and I’m pleased the interior detail is still visible. The wiper is made from some PE parts from an old Fujimi detail up set. The arm is a cutdown Lamborghini Diablo arm and the blade is a 911 rear wiper.

A little bit more progress to report. I’ve polished the body, then added number roundel decals. I’ve added the spot lights, with lenses tinted yellow to match the full size car. The side lights/indicators, tail lights and rear reflectors are scratch built from discs of plastic sheet and transparent sheet, punched out using a Historex Agents punch and die set. The remaining chrome parts have been stripped of the chrome plating by submerging in bleach and repainted using Molotow Chrome. As mentioned on another thread, I use AK Interactive Glass Coat Gauzy Agent to coat the painted chrome which quickly dries to leave a protective finish allowing the chrome parts to be safely handled. Being water based it doesn’t dull the chrome as much as solvent based clear coats and I think produces a nice scale look. I’m on the home stretch now with just the glazing, wiper and smaller details to add before final assembly.

My latest eBay acquisition is this Fujimi 1/24 MR2. This early issue of the kit represents the NA version which is subtlety different to the later supercharged cars, having different air intakes for the radiator and engine bay vents, as well as a different layout for the rear lights/number plate region. It’s also got the three spoke wheels and sunroof, exactly the same as the full size one I briefly had in the early 2000s before it rusted away. I’ll be building this kit to represent my old car, in two tone white over metallic grey.

Could be a good opportunity to try casting a smaller copy using the silicon mould shrinking technique? It worked for me on my 904 wheels!

Hi Andy, my suggestion for Molotow Chrome is to clear coat it with AK Gauzy Agent, the stuff in the tub with the orange label intended for coating canopies, etc. Most clear coats dull the chrome effect significantly but I found either generously brushing on Gauzy Agent, or even dipping the part in the tub like you would a canopy, gave a very good finish with minimal dulling. The parts could be handled without leaving finger prints or marks, which can be a real problem with the Chrome as it takes ages to dry. Heres an example of some parts coated with the Gauzy Agent

After a bit of a break, I’ve made some more progress with a scratch built grille for the rear deck. I used 10 x 20 thou plastic strip, built in a jig and using 15 thou strip as spacers. A few of the bars need tweaking to straighten them out but otherwise looks about right in place. I’ll be spraying it in Molotow chrome before final assembly.

The diorama sets the car off a treat, it looks fantastic.

Thanks! Have you made anymore progress on your 904 build?