Neddy

You read my mind John, I was wondering whether to query the installation of the flux capacitor but you got there first! I'm not sure about this one - at first I thought "NO! Sacrilege!" as I'm inordinately fond of the GT40 shape, but seeing what's going on with it is fascinating, wonderfully creative and makes me smile too. I can't wait to see how it ends up...

This will be my next big project, one which I've been saving (savouring?) for a while and looking forward to starting now I feel I have the confidence to make a half decent job of it. I have no idea of it's vintage other than it's pretty old and I remember it first being launched back in the late 1960s or early 70s. I bought it as a previously owned kit from Kingkit who check and guarantee complete - as you'll see from the photos they've been pretty thorough about it too... The box simply says "Made in U.S.A. by THE ERTL COMPANY, Dyersville, Iowa" with a part no. of #6722. It has obviously been inspected and carefully re-packed - this is what greeted me when I first opened the box... Each package carefully heat-sealed and it all looks to be in excellent condition... I must admit I'm impressed by Kingkit, this is far better packaged than most new kits I've bought. I've seen one of these (I think) already built on this forum, to an amazingly high standard which I have no hope of equaling, but it will serve not only as a spur to do my best but an unashamed crib if I hit problems! The body colour will be Tamiya TS-53, a beautiful rich dark metallic blue, with interior colours yet to be decided but I have white and light grey Humbrol satin paints in stock, plus a Revell Lufthansa Blue satin acrylic which has just arrived and looks promising. This won't be a quick build as I want to take my time, savour the experience and put as much into it as I'm capable of, so updates may be few and far between but I'll try and make it interesting.

I'm a bit puzzled - I thought all green 2CVs came with a Save The Whales sticker on the door as standard...

Hi Andy, welcome to the forum! I've only been here a few months meself but have learned a lot from the folks here who are both helpful and generous with their knowledge. friendly bunch, too.

(Settles down with beer and crisps to hand) This is a bit different, it's going to be fascinating to see how you tackle it as well as the result.

The Beetle gradually became visible in the late 1950s and by the mid '60s was pretty popular. When I was buying my first car in 1967 I aspired to one but couldn't quite afford it and had to settle for a 105E instead.

I can confirm the Triumph Vitesse, the second car is definitely a Ford Y-Type, the truck is a Bedford, FOB730 is definitely an Austin but I couldn't tell you which one, ditto the van behind it.

That's a great looking model! Surely being able to produce such a good result from a crap kit is much more of an achievement than one built from a top-notch manufacturer. Of course, if you were after true realism you would have included rust bubbles around the windscreen, the door mirror would be just a stub, one door would be held on with baler twine or wire and there would be a bale of straw on the back seat. Or a sheep...

Me too! I'd also like to see more kits of classic '60s supercars that have been somewhat overlooked - the Lamborghini Espada, Iso Grifo, Maserati Quattro Porte and Ghibli, even the Monteverdi. Beautiful cars but very rarely modelled. I had to search for a long time before I found a Miura kit, they're rare enough. I take your point about licensing Ferrari models. Such a shame though, just imagine a 250SWB or a 250LM kit!

Welcome to the forum! The Phantom and Corsair are simply stunning, some of the best I've ever seen.

Wow! I'm even more tempted...

@CliveB: As previously suggested above, try a fresh install of either Firefox or Chrome without any add-ons as a start point. Opera and Edge both have their problems and neither can be described as "industry standard" these days.

Oooooh! I am VERY tempted. My last 1/8th scale kit was the Monogram Jaguar E-Type which I completed about half a century ago and still have. My younger brother also owned a 1973 vintage 1:1 scale Trans-Am for a while and they are an amazing car to own. OK, it'll need a bit of work but the end result has got to be worth it.

I was concerned about that possibility and left each one about half an hour before attempting to lift the tape. No problems experienced with either dragging or lifting, I'm extremely relieved to say!

Hi, welcome to the forum! I'm not too far away from you in Kent, UK. As Arnold said, what type of models do you like building? I mainly build large-scale model cars.

Sorry for the thread necromancy but it's all @Spiny's fault. His invaluable advice re. the use of masking tape got me thinking about being brave enough to try it and accordingly ordered some 3mm Tamiya masking tape as per his recommendation. As you no doubt already know it's absolute magic - flexible, adheres well enough to prevent any bleed-under and certainly never lifted any of the existing surface finish. To that end allow me to present the way the model looks now, properly dressed with all the OTT '60s American chromework the original was blessed with...

Being a comparative newcomer here I have only just found this thread and can only admire your skills and the amazing result you have produced. It is truly awe-inspiring and you must be justifiably proud and pleased with the model. I think I might have discovered your secret though - just how much of the model was actually built by the cat?

Not the first time - Diz Disley, the well known jazz guitarist, had as his personal transport a Rolls Royce hearse resprayed purple. Spectacular thing but not very reliable - made him late for the odd gig or two much to my annoyance.

The break was obviously caused by the loss of structural rigidity when you cut the boot opening so you'll need to be careful of the narrow section over the firewall and front bulkhead as well as that where the break took place. Will it be possible to strengthen it without affecting the fit of the dashboard and firewall? (Silly question, I've seen your work so far. Sorry!)

That's what I'd like to know, too! Neat bit of surgery, that.

Beautiful car, unusual old kit - just what I like to build, great find. I'll be following this one with interest!

You do get them every now and then, the sort of member that can brighten up an entire forum, just by leaving it.

I'm a bit late to the party here but can I make a suggestion before the conversion goes too far? I don't know about the Golf III but I can tell you that the Audi A3 (which shares a lot of parts and design with the Golf) produced both three and five-door variants and the wheelbases were significantly different. There was nearly 300mm difference which if repeated in the Golf would throw your measurements out significantly. Can I suggest you check the wheelbase measurements of both the three and five door variants and if different re-measure accordingly?

I belong and contribute to three different forums (fora?) and am a Mod on one of them, and while this is the first I've come across that requires images be posted from an image repository site I honestly do not have any problem with that. I sympathise with the Admins who need to do everything they can to control bandwidth and therefore cost, thus this site seems to run very well with the current arrangement. Frankly anyone feeling "special" enough to whinge about it in that way would not be welcome on the site I moderate and I am not sorry he decided not to persist here.

That can only be described as Dagenham - two stops up from Barking! Insane idea, again beautifully designed and executed. I absolutely love ideas like this, especially when they're so well crafted. We need more creative craziness like this.