Neddy

Yup! Unfortunately they're all out of stock.

Having just learned of the existence of these life-savers, has anyone a clue as to where I could get them in the UK? I can just about handle distributor wiring in 1/16th scale but 1/25th? forget it!

Thanks! As you say, the idea is to keep it as original as possible. Jo-Han were a range of relatively cheap basic kits which were a little crude even by the standards of the time but the range was vast and they replicated the more unusual - and interesting - cars of the period. They were excellent for kit-bashing but as I said earlier on I couldn't bring myself to do anything non-standard to this one. The slightly art deco styling has a charm all its own and any attempt at a restomod or custom build would ruin that individual style IMHO.

I too am really sorry for your loss and know from having to do it recently what a painful task you're faced with. Have a look at this site... Kingkits. They buy and resell pre-owned kits and having dealt with them I can recommend them. I hope this is useful to you.

Just finished spraying the body. Nothing technical, just prepped by rubbing down with 2000 grit W&D. Compared with the rest of the model the bodyshell mould is first class - hardly any moulding lines or flash to deal with. The hood is not yet fitted, just laid into place for spraying. The colour incidentally is Tamiya TS-18. For those watching this build, thanks for your interest so far. I know this is neither as detailed nor well executed as most on this amazing site but it's challenging me to do the best I can at a scale somewhat smaller than I'm comfortable with and I'm enjoying doing the best I can.

Me too and I found the same problem as others, the damn' thing gets in the way, especially when painting tricky detail - the end of the brush catches the lens and it doesn't end well! it is now relegated to its secondary purpose, that of a daylight lamp which when used in conjunction with the primary lamp provides plentiful almost shadowless illumination of the working area. Now I've had the headband magnifier for a couple of weeks I shan't be bothering with any other more expensive brand. The flexibility of the five swap-out lenses giving a huge array of magnification and focal length options, plus the quality of the lenses themselves, gives me everything I need and then some.

Interior and dashboard coming together and trial-fitted... ...and fairly pleased I've achieved the period patina look I was aiming for. The rear carpets need more attention but the fronts are pretty much there now.

Love it! Nicely executed. I remember laughing at this when it hit the streets back in the 1960s. As someone who used to think George Barris and his contemporaries walked on water this really appealed to me then and it still looks good now.

The Toyota every time. Mercedes seem to have lost their way a bit with their styling in recent years. Is it me or is there something well wrong with the Merc's grille centrepiece?

Wow! Beautiful build of a beautiful car. The detailing is incredible. From the finish of the upholstery to the engine details I feel a whole lot of "How on earth did you do that?" questions coming on, far too many to post. That really is one heck of an achievement and puts my puny efforts firmly in the shade.

Not wishing to risk significant money on an Optivisor in case I didn't get along with it, I thought I'd dip my toe in the water with a cheaper alternative just to see how I got on with a headband magnifier. Bear in mind that I'm a 70-year old male who wears varifocals all the time. After reading a posting on this forum, this is what I went for... https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09KG9W36K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ...and I have to confess I find it excellent. It's well made, I really appreciate the combinations available with the five-lens set and am impressed by the quality of the lenses - clear, distortion-free and easy to swap in and out, either singly or in pairs. It's an extremely versatile piece of kit and although you know you're wearing it the headband is very easy to adjust and not too uncomfortable. I've fitted the light with rechargeable batteries and find it gives a useful light in the right place. If anyone is looking for a starter unit like me you could do a lot worse than this and the price is low enough to make giving it a punt a reasonably inexpensive exercise.

Isn't that the only way to communicate with foreigners? Welcome Mickhail from another newcomer. I can assure you that your English is (a) perfectly understandable, and (b) vastly better than my Russian!

Just a quick and dirty update... Chassis painted using a combination of matt gunmetal and satin black, with Tamiya acrylic metallic gunmetal for the exhaust systems (silver always seems a bit bright for them). The wheels were a pain to assemble (having first painted the centres), so poorly sized I ended up pressing them into the tyres with a vise. I then discovered that they aren't even round but I'll have to live with that. I dithered for awhile over the interior colour - having researched online I found most of the images are of the sport version with garish red and white patterned upholstery (the go-to colour scheme for all the restomods I found as well), whereas the model is of the original standard Fury which had a comparatively plain pattern with only a single colour. I'm trying to keep it as original as possible so I mixed a matt maroon with gloss red until I achieved an old-school leather look. I'm fairly pleased with the result although at present it's a little rough around the edges and needs tidying up. More when I have something new to show...

Ditto and ditto!

You're right, I've already learned that one the hard way! I've used Tamiya TS range rattle cans quite a bit and love them but as you say you need to spray all the body components together to get evenly matching panels. Where I goofed was to damage the surface of one door of the Miura after the whole lot was sprayed and had to strip it back and respray it. It took ages to achieve an acceptable match. The flake should be just the right size and density for the Mustang as it's a 1/16 scale kit so significantly larger than yours.

Looking really good so far! Thanks for using TS-53 by the way, I'm planning to use it for my next big-scale build (1/16th scale '64/65 Ford Mustang AMT kit) but hadn't seen the colour in the flesh, so to speak. Great colour.

I've only ever built one Fujimi kit, the Miura illustrated in my avatar, and I have to confess I was distinctly unimpressed by the quality of the design and fit of the parts. I wouldn't attempt another one on that showing.

This kit obviously took a proper dislike to you but you still beat it. A very creditable result, especially considering it did it's best to break you! The third kit I built since taking it up again was like that - a Bandai 1/16th scale Toyota 2000GT kindly donated by my youngest brother due to it being flattened a bit in it's previous (still unassembled) life. I'll save the story for another time but believe me I feel your pain! A lovely looking job in spite of everything.

(Shakes head in admiration...) That's perfection if ever I saw it. Beautiful finish, amazing detail, just stunning. I particularly admire the chromework around the window and door frames, the wheelarch mouldings and so on. I can't get my head round how you can achieve such perfection, even knowing what materials you use.

Made a start... Engine assembly was straightforward but I must admit I'm struggling a bit at this scale. I'm indebted to forum members for introducing me to MOLOTOW liquid chrome, the 1mm pen is ideal for retouching chromed parts to cover sprue cutting marks and scars where moulding flash needed removing. The headband magnifier I picked up after reading about them here is also invaluable.

Thanks @Pete in Lincs, they'll be a big help.

Coming along very nicely, beautifully prepared body. But that workshop... oooooh that workshop!!!

Brain-bleach! Git yer brain-bleach 'ere! Only a fiver a bottle...

This build follows on from the "One piece at a time" thread where I threatened to build a custom amalgam of the five old JO-HAN 1/25 scale '60s American car kits I've had at the back of my cupboard for the last 40-odd years. When it came to it I just couldn't do it for several reasons: 1) The kits seem to be all complete which has surprised me as I only bought them as a job lot in a closing-down sale, intending to rob them for spares/custom parts for other builds. 2) I've just discovered the current value of them compared with the couple of quid each I paid for them. By the way, my previous comments still stand - if I decide not to pursue 1/25th scale building any further (which is quite likely considering my age and eyesight) the members who expressed an interest would be given first dibs at a reasonable price, I'm not looking to make loads out of them. It would just be a criminal shame to see them go to waste if I no longer wanted them. 3) The '62 Fury is a completely different style and era to the others which are all later 60s/70s when styling was a lot plainer and cars looked much more like each other, thus parts interchanged more easily if customising is the intention. The Fury's unique almost art deco looks cry out for a straight OOB effort, hence this build attempt. First impressions are (a) surprise that the parts aren't numbered, and (b) there is a LOT of moulding flash to deal with! That'll keep me quiet for a while. I'm not attempting anything too flash as far as the colour scheme is concerned, Tamiya TS-18 Metallic Red bodywork with a wine-red and black interior. Studying online pics of the interior and engine bay there doesn't seem to be any dominant color scheme but the consensus is a lightish blue for the engine castings. More when I actually have something to show...

The more I see of the Jo-Han range the more it surprises me. The sheer number and variety of models covered is quite startling, the majority of them unusual cars not covered by any other kit manufacturer. The individuality of the early '60s cars' styling I find fascinating (the difference between the '62 and '63 Plymouth Fury f'rinstance, the quirky styling of the Chrysler 300 and so on) before everything went uniform in the mid to late 60s, makes for interesting models. It'll be interesting to see what the quality is like when I start the build.