Neddy

Well, for all your troubles the model is really starting to look good. The door fit looks excellent, window glass ditto - well worth the amount of time and patience you've put into it. I absolutely love the body colour and the interior is looking great too. Lovely bit of crafting all round, but you have to admit that kit's taken a proper dislike to you!

@Navy Bird Fascinating! Good find Bill.

@CrazyCrank ...and five very scary minutes with a Dremel and a drum sander bit has halved the thickness and shaped them a little more. Using a full-size mains-driven Dremel on something that small is a bit like trying to trim your fingernails with an angle grinder.

You're dead right, I only noticed it in the close-up photos. I reckon I can take a file or an emery board to the blades before I go any further. Thanks!

Having successfully completed the wiring I realised I'd left some retaining threads visible and failed to tighten and tidy the plug leads leaving a functional but distinctly scruffy appearance. I've now tidied everything up a bit, hence the refreshed images above.

Beautifully built model, sumptuous paintwork and interior. Apart from the wonderfully deep paint finish I also love the two-tone upholstery.

I hope you don't mind me posting this, I was just so impressed by it I thought you good people might be interested... I have two brothers who are also into modelling, the younger one tending to occasionally build in big-scale and the older one concentrating entirely on building and renovating diecast models, mainly 1:43rd scale. The younger one sent this photo to us both... - and the older one accepted the challenge. This is the result... The donor vehicles were a Vanguard VW Beetle and a Lledo Morris Minor Traveller, both 1:43rd scale.

From one returning modeller to another,

I'm a bit late to the party here but this is a kit I completed early last year, the first since deciding to take up the hobby again after nearly half a century away from it. The result was good enough to persuade me to keep at it but not good enough to display here I don't think. If I may be so bold as to pass on one tip - getting the exhaust systems to line up with the manifolds is a pig. Several dry runs were needed before fitting the body to the chassis and installing the engine as I'm not sure they ever will connect and align correctly without significant surgery. I discovered the hard way that it is impossible if you stick to the build order in the instructions. Otherwise it's a pretty reasonable kit IMHO and I enjoyed building it.

I like the idea of the waistline, clever and well executed.

I use Imgbox which I've found to be fine. I haven't tried Imgur but no doubt it's OK too.

Fred, that's precisely the reason I joined this community. They are always encouraging, any criticisms are always couched in the most helpful and positive terms, as a result of which I've not only had the nerve to display some of my comparatively modest efforts but learned a lot from the comments and advice received. Dogsbody's right too - some of my efforts result in some VERY quiet periods...

I stand happily corrected! It's a beautifully conceived and executed custom job by the Foose team in that case, everything just looks "right".

Beautifully built and detailed model. As others have remarked, the paintwork is amazing and must have taken a LOT of work. Stance is good, engine detail is awesome! Great subject for a model, I love mild custom jobs like this one. Everything just looks right, as you'd expect from a Foose project.

I wholeheartedly agree with the general consensus - doors one open (drivers) and one closed and the hinges look great as they are. On a semi-mythical vehicle like this the hingery could easily be that size bearing in mind possible power-assisted opening mechanisms would need to be of a certain size. I love the colour, the cig foil speaker works well and your detail painting is better than mine by a mile! Bear in mind that close-up photography makes everything look worse than with the naked eye, I reckon the dash will look fine once installed. Keep going buddy, I think you've got it on the run now.

I have to admit that when I saw the start of this build I thought you were crazy. Now, having seen the end result.... ...I have no reason to change my opinion! It's batsh*t crazy but gloriously executed, the more I look at it the more there is to both admire and grin at. The world needs more people like you to give us a break from appalling reality - I love it!

Engine now complete apart from exhaust manifolds, plumbing etc. EDIT: I've tidied up the wiring and posted new pics as the first attempt was a tad scrofulous.

Great news! I'll order more popcorn and settle down to await developments.

Although I really feel your frustration I'm loving what you're achieving with what is in essence a bloody awful kit.

As others have said, that would be one heck of an achievement in 1/24th scale, let alone 1/43! Superb piece of work. Tell me, the trained gnome you get to do the engine bay and interior detailing - do you hire him out?

A browse through Kingkit's website might prove fruitful, they have a lot - and I mean a LOT - of pre-owned kits that are always checked and warranted complete before dispatch. You might find some there.

Welcome onboard! Whilst not being an aircraft modeller since my teens (more than half a century ago) I can still appreciate well built models. I especially like the P47 - and the Defiant, a much maligned but nonetheless bloody awful aircraft not often mentioned these days. Great models.

(Shudder)

Good luck! At least you'll have the benefit of a full trial run and will know in advance the weak spots and potential points of failure. I admire your perseverance but agree that the project is too good potentially to abandon now. You're a braver man than I am!