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A hangover from a past group build, this one sat because I wasn't happy with the wheels and tyres. I thought I'd started another thread in here since, but I can't find it, so here we are... Original thread: I was planning to use a set of Halibrand kidney bean wheels from an original issue kit, but they looked a bit undersize and I didn't have any tyres that looked right. Since I bought a 3D printer, I've spent many more hours drawing things than building, but it has produced some tangible results. I drew the early lip/bead laced 5.5x15 wheels and 6.40-15 front and 6.70-15 rear tyres, as fitted to the earliest cobras and still on CSX2000. I've printed the rest today and they fit the arches much better than the kit tyres, so I should be able to resume assembly over the weekend.

With the weather being so good this weekend, and the Micra paint drying I figured it was worth making a start on another car I've, well not owned as such but which shares a name with one I've owned. So step forward AMT's 1965 Pontiac Grand Prix. The pic below shows what's in the box (sort of), although there are two chrome sprues in that chrome bag. Lots of extras in there too, the vast majority of which I probably won't use. Definitely one of those kits where the box art is doing its best to put you off buying it - I get that the front picture represents the original box art but wish that when you see these on sale they would included the one picture of a stock car which exists on the box. I haven't unwrapped the glass, chrome or wheels for the shot above as it's going to be a long time before I get around to building it. But I do want to get it sprayed this summer, and maybe one after this, so might as well make the most of the good weather. In terms of first impressions, they're not that great I'm afraid. A couple of pieces have come loose from the sprue, and some parts (especially the interior tub) have a fair bit of flash going on. And then I thought about it for a minute and it occurred to me that the tooling for this kit is older than I am, so I think it's fair to see it's not aged too badly. Naturally, first job (after washing it) is to tidy up the mould lines. Fortunatelt not too much flash on this kit, but some of the mould lines were a bit awkward to get to. It also hasn't got a panel line between the bonnet/hood and windscreen for the sides of the scuttle panel which should be there on the real car. I cut lines in with a #11 scalpel to try to get a straight line, then widened and deepened with the scriber. It was only after I thought about using masking tape to get a straighter edge but this will do I think. Certainly better than nothing. The bracing bars between the front wings weren't too bad to remove though, and this is what it was like before I sprayed the first coat. I thought I had picked up the imperfections, but as usual an application of primer highlights the bits I'd missed. As I was using the grey Halfords primer though, I could use the first layer as a guide coat to when I sanded back those remaining issues. After that I gave it a proper priming. Looking much tidier now. Have to say though that this thing is huge - even though it's 1/25 and thoretically a smaller scale than most of the models I've done it still swarfs everything else, even the Jag XJ220. It's likely to be into next year before I finish this, but thanks to all who've looked at the start of this one.

As far as classic US muscle cars go, I am pretty much a MoPar fan. The AMT kit of the 1970 Super Bee ticked a few boxes for me, spurring a recent purchase. This variant of the Dodge Coronet was only available for a couple of years and culminated in 1970 with a styling change, most notably the front grille, this was now configured into the shape of outstretched Bumble Bee wings, very pretty! Unfortunately the kit is a bit of a mish-mash of different boxings. Apparently, the body shell is derived from the mould used to produce the 'Annual kit'. If I recall correctly, these were simplified, built up, model cars that the salesman would present to little Johnny when his Dad picked up his new car. I chose yellow and black because.... Well, it's a Bumble Bee innit !! 😉 The black bonnet is non-standard but I've seen a few real cars sporting this, I like the look. Mmm, last year I built the AMT 68 Roadrunner (Pro-Stock version) This was not too bad and went together ok. Now, the 70 Super Bee kit shares a floor pan, suspension, and engine with the Roadrunner, problem is, none of those parts fit into the Super Bee body 😱 The body was painted, foiled, decalled, clear coated and polished. The interior was completed and the chassis and drive train all fully built up. The instructions do tell you to modify the front side windows to clear the dash. Had to laugh really and did wonder if anyone at AMT had actually put this thing together! The side windows were sawn up as I just wanted to put the rear glass in, to show the door glass wound down. Test fit again, now the interior will not fit!! Side glass in the bin.🤬 The interior is a little bit narrow for the body, also very shallow. It's not clear from the pic but the bottom of the steering wheel is actually lower than the top of the driver seat! I'm now starting to get into the realms of 'just want to get this thing finished'. Anyhoo, I finally wrestled the parts together and ,apart from the missing side glass, the end result is not too bad. I did make a few changes, the door handles and windscreen wipers were chiseled off and replaced with white metal items. Door locks simulated with 1mm rivets. The wheels and tyres are from a Revell 32 Ford. Headlights drilled out and replaced with aftermarket items. (I really dislike the moulded in chrome headlamps) Final pic is of the Revell 69 Super Bee and the AMT 70 Super Bee together. This highlights the difference between 1/24 and 1/25 scales, more obvious in such a large car? Atb, Steve. The Ram Air induction scoop on the bonnet is just clipped in place. It doesn't actually fit over the air cleaner. The 440 'Six-pack'. I have added ignition wiring and heater hoses. The moulded in wiring is highlighted with a fineline paint pen. You can just make out the rear side window, ready to fit. This didn't last long. The flat spots on the tyres look terrible here, but they do help to create the illusion of a car having weight.

Hello all, I started this build about 3 weeks ago, and it's coming along nicely. I started making car models because I wanted to model my car, but I only wanted to use an airbrush. So alongside that model, I got this GT350 model as well to practice on off of eBay. It was open box, and I thought everything was there, but it wasn't complete as I thought it was. The only missing part was the two taillights. I have two options; buy the taillights off of eBay for 7 USD (not including shipping, which is about 1/3 of what I paid for the open box kit itself), or download a free GT350 model and 3D print just the lights. I plan on 3d printing the missing part and using the money to get the paints. I also realize the tires that came with the kit are somewhat contradictory to the instructions. The tires should have been open on both ends, but instead I got... I'm going to have to figure out how to get the wheels mounted. Also, what is the best way to remove rubber flash? So far, I have the chassis and engine completed, as well as the basic construction of the body. The interior parts are about to be primed right now. My plan is to paint the body Acapulco Blue, and using all the stripes that came with the kit. The body before primer. Going to need a bit of modeling putty. I plan on using Vallejo paints for everything but the body. I will be using Splash Paints for the exterior. If anyone has a problem viewing these images, let me know. It's my first time embedding images on a forum.

I've been working on this kit alongside the AMT 1967 Shelby GT350, primarily because I didn't want to airbrush the same color twice. I got this kit (and started modelling) to make this specific model kit, to TRY to match my real car (my Vette has the base engine). So far about 90% of all parts have been painted, assembly will start soon. The body has been sanded and is ready for primer alongside the Shelby GT350. It will be painted just like my car, Metallic Turquoise. As there is very few polished items on this vehicle IRL, I decided to paint all the chrome parts steel, with a few exceptions. I have seen a few examples of C4 Corvettes with polished rims, but mine has the alloy rims. So I decided to paint the rims as well. The interior and the engine will be assembled first while I wait for the weather to let up so I can prime the body. The interior will be black with dark grey dash and center column.

Hi All, here is a completed '40 Ford Coupe I received as a Christmas present (from my in-laws). Its built using the parts for drag use, though whether it would pass scrutineering for class AA/G is another matter! The kit is a Round 2 re-pop of an AMT kit that has been around from the 60s. It seems to be a favourite of US car modellers, from what I can see on YouTube. I built a few US car kits when I was in my early teens and such things were easily available in the UK at Beatties stores. I had forgotten the period features of variable mouldings and being given a set of parts that it was up to you how they fit together. The colour is a custom mix of orange and copper, approx 2:1 using Tamiya paints and a W&N acrylic gloss finish (which now needs a month or so to go properly hard). The colour is more orange in daylight. I had to rebuild the blower intake as the parts were somewhat short-moulded. The Moon tank was made from the gas tank the instructions suggested could go behind the seats, which on reflection is probably safer than at the point-of-impact as I've modelled. Well, I hope you all like this slice of Americana. I'm off to "recover" with a Hase Stratos... Cheers Will

Well, I had the day off work and I still need to get paint for my '65 Grand Prix build. What to do? I got this one off the bay as spares or repairs. It's mostly just missing the engine and a set of wide tyres. All the important stuff is there. So let's see what we have then.... A shelf worn box for one. This was also boxed as 'Heavy Chevy'. There's one on the bay as I write this. Love the shape! The shell. A few very small scratches but otherwise very nice. Lots of other bits including the custom parts. So it'll be another lowrider. Two sets of very similar wheels. No metal axles on this kit, but the wheels must be glued to plastic stubs, so no vroom vroom on the shelf A little later and I had it mocked up to check the ride height and stance. Cool. The front suspension setup is rather vague and requires patience and three hands. How a ten year would get on I shudder to think. Did I mention no engine? Luckily I have a few spares. I chose the one seen here bottom left. Already wired from years ago. The engine simply sits on the crossmember. No attempt at proper mounts then. I found a propshaft that fitted too. And that is where this one stands so far. Looks like I'm going to need more paint fairly soon. Whether the weather will be good enough to paint is another matter. We shall see. Thanks for looking, and your comments are always welcome. Cheers, Pete

First things first... this will not be a quick build. I am posting this to kind of force myself into finishing my Dalek build over on the Sci-Fi forum ( http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234945056-scratch-build-16-scale-dalek-an-eye-for-an-eye-and-some-painkillers-please/?p=1382230 ), and then commencing with this. Posting this will hopefully force me into finishing one and getting on with the other. I've always had a thing about the Aston Martin DB5, especially the Bond version. I'm lucky enough to own a Danbury Mint version of the Bond DB5, and recently I acquired several more versions. The first one I managed to lay my grubby mitts on was the old Aurora version. Of course, it wasn't officially licensed, so it was sold under the completely different guise of "Aston Martin - Super Spy Car" Good versions of these seem (like the original Airfix version) to go for stupid money. So, me being tight and looking for a challenge found this beast up for grabs on evil bay. What on earth am I getting myself into? These are the original photo's from the listing and you can see just what kind of state it is in. The box itself wasn't too bad considering it's about 50 years old. But as for the kit.... maybe just a tad too much glue methinks! Where do you even begin on something like this? Well, obviously, it has to be taken apart to see what we have got. Fortunately, it's almost complete. There are a few parts broken, but should be able to be scratched without too much difficulty. I also broke a couple of pieces taking the thing apart - no surprise there. I tried the soak in water, then leave in freezer method, but to no avail - there was just too much glue. I eventually discovered that the glue bonds were actually quite brittle, so, some judicious coercing and some downright forcefulness arrived at this collection of parts. As you can see I have already primed a few parts - I needed a break from my Dalek build when it wasn't going too well. At this stage I think I can rescue 95% of the parts. A few others can be scratched, but my biggest areas of concern are around the windows. I just don't know if these will be salvageable at all. The side windows aren't really a problem but the front and rear windshield may be beyond repair and I may have to try molding new ones myself. - That's a ways off yet! I have invested may hours scraping off decades old glue, with some limited success. To give you some idea of just how bad this is... here's a wheel hub and here's what's left of the ejection seat and occupant Okay, intro over, now back to my regularly scheduled Dalek build and I shall return here in a few weeks (probably!) perhaps I should also mention that since winning this on ebay, I also managed to obtain a copy of the Airfix Bond DB5 - in a slightly better state but with some parts missing - that shall also become a WIP in due course.

Finished versions. Bought this as an Airfix kit when I was about 8 or 9, so about 55 years ago. At the time it was the most impressive model I'd built. So, slowly returning to the hobby I thought I'd seek it out again. The yellow one is a more recent MPC re-issue. The moulds show all the signs of having been very well used. The dark red (maroon?) one is an original Airfix that had been partially started. Both needed quite a lot of work to get the parts to fit but the MPC still doesn't look quite right. The top cowl/bonnet parts have flattened so that the coach line doesn't line up with the line on the body. Good enough for me as a return subject and a bit of nostalgia. Not a subject I have much affection for other than a trip down memory lane. Rear door handle lost in the recent house move. Any suggestions on how to make a quick & easy replacement rear door handle? h Tyre mark on the white wall from years of storage with a tyre on top.

As mentioned in the chat thread I'll be hitting the strip with a Fox body Mustang drag racer. DSCF2329 by timothy jones, on Flickr Pics of the box contents tomorrow. There are a lot of small sprues.

So calling this one done, Batmobile from Batman and Robin, 1/25 by Revell/Monogram. Hairystick painted gloss black, polished with Tamiya polishes, then sealed with a humbrol gloss cote. Not quite the flawless polished finish i was aiming for but, enough is enough. The perfectionist in me isnt happy, but the hairy stick modeller in me is quite pleased, so that will do. Biggest headache was the simulated light blue lighting and the overall finish as each affected the other. All the best Chris

This is the first and only car model that I have built since I got back into modeling seven years ago. I fabricated the V shaped strap for the fuel tank. It has the correct magneto and wires and extended valve cover breathers. The wheels are correct for the 71 version of this car. I also added the fire extinguishers. The model, posed in front of a period magazine with the Blue Max on the cover.

It's taken a while (close on four months), but I finally got Revell's Chevy SSR finished. As usual, apologies in advance if you feel this is photo overload. And also as usual, all comments and constructive criticism welcomed. If you want to read all about the build, it's in this thread: Back to the beginning, and the first thought was one of disappointment. Is that a solid read axle I see? And are those screws to fit the body to the chassis? So I wasn't expecting much, and being a Level 2 kit thought it might be one to not take much care over. But the kit has won me over, it might have some simplistic items, but it all goes together well, is much better designed than first impressions give, and it builds up into a decent representation of the real thing. If you like the Chevy SSR (and I realise probably about 80% of you don't!), and if you can find one, this is a kit well worth getting. The only thing to beware of is the instructions - there's a few places where you can easily add more detail than the instructions would suggest. I guess that's a function of it being a Level 2 kit. So onto photos, lets start with a top-down shot. If nothing else, it certainly emphasises how much wheel arch is on this thing. Next up, the usual trip around the car. As the roof and bed cover are both fully detachable, this is a bit more of a mix-and-match than usual. I got hold of a couple of cheap lamps from Amazon for the photoshoots - these shots are probably the ones where they came in most handy. Looking at the pics now I think I may have shot from slightly too low an angle, but that's something I can always address come the next completion. Unfortunately, my usual mini-tripod has gone walkabout so I had to use the newer one which has less adjustment. So not the best set of pictures of the engine bay and interior (with ultra-rubbish background), but hopefully these will give the idea. And finally... I thought I'd try some shots with mirrors. Not completely sure these have worked all that well, but they were the only higher angle shots I took. Also, the automatic white balance seems to have gone a bit haywire with these shots, so the car looks much bluer than it really is - the ones against the white background above give a much better representation of the real colour. If you've got this far, thanks for looking and hope you like it.

Hi everyone, having seen that Revell have launched the new tooled E-type, I thought I would give this re boxing a go. It's been in my stash for 5 years or so, the instructions are dated 2011, but the moulding dates back to 1963! I was born in 1962 and my dad was in the car trade in those days and owned a few MK 10's. He had a red hard top E-Type in the 70's which I got to ride in. I still remember the aircraft style cockpit and switches and dials that looked amazing and the push back into the seat as he floored the accelerator pedal.

Already posted in the vehicle section, but the diorama aspect posted here too... Revell 1949 Mercury rust rod, posed against a scrcatchbuilt street and wall. The base is a Hobbycraft frame, cut to size. The wall is made from foam board with the outer card layer taken off then marked up. The road surface is 1200 grade wet and dry paper. Phone booth from Doozy in resin is superb, and the LED lights are from smallscalelights.co.uk, who I highly recommend. Street light is scracth built from brass & plastic tube, with a 'bag stud' used s the shade and LED light from the same source as the car lights (Controlled by a 3 x AAA battery box on the rear of the wall). All the posters are from 1972 and were downloaded from the net. Photos were taken using a smart phone and a Esddi photo box mini studio (recommended! - basically a large black box with 156 LED lights at the top with adjustable brightness). Thoroughly enjoyed the build and look forward to starting the next one.

My latest completion and I must admit I am a bit chuffed with it Revell 1949 Mercury that I was originally going to do a replica of the Badlands film car. However after a coat of black it looked a bit dull, so I re-thought it and decided to do a rust rod. Painted with MIG rust tones/hairspray/grey/varnish/hairspray/green/varnish to get the result. I then had a rush of blood to the head and thought lighting would be a good idea, so got some LED 's from Smallscalelights.co.uk which were great (and the service was excellent). Base and wall are scratchbuilt as is the street lamp (with LED), and the phone booth is a Doozy item from AK in Spain. Probably not immediately obvious, and a bit anal I know, but all the posters, newspapers and licence plate are all from 1972 The year the Badlands film came out.

After a couple of Lancia rally cars completed, had a look through the stash and thought I'd give this a go as I fancied something different Never built an AMT kit before, so it's a learning curve for me, but I've always loved the look of the American muscle cars The wife and daughter got me this and a 70 Corvette from a long shopping weekend in NY a couple of years ago, This will probably be one of the most expensive kits I'll ever make when you factor in flights and hotels etc, but at least I didn'y have to trapse around the shops with them🤣

I've decided to take stock and finish some of the long term projects that I never got around to finishing. This will be the first, as it's almost there. It didn't work out quite the way I intended, because I had some paint mixed from the 1969 paint reference, which was supposed to be T5 Copper. I think it's a bit dark and closer to T7 Bronze, but I decided to stick with it. It was shelved when I came to apply the foil and the scalpel slipped, at which point I lost heart and put it away. 😑 Where it all went wrong. Those are the old pictures, from something like 15 years ago. I'll dig it out tomorrow and see how bad it looks.

This one is probably the quickest build I've done, all thanks to being on furlough. The build thread is below if anyone wants to see that before the finished pictures. I can't say that it was entirely plain sailing with quite a few niggling issues coming up along the way. Nothing major, but just enough to keep me on my toes. It's not actually as bad a kit as I may have made it sound, and does build up into a nice-looking model. Unfortunately, right at the start I failed to sand down a couple of ejector pin marks on the engine bay cross-member thinking that these were just going to be against thin air - it actually turned out that the cross-member rests on the radiator which meant that the front bumper doesn't quite sit right. That's what makes the bonnet look as though it's sitting high - actually it's sitting absolutely right with the wings and it's the front bumper which is sitting ever so slightly low (less than a millimetre, and the camera makes it look much worse than it does in real life). The other major disservice the camera has done is the usual thing of picking out all the flakes in the metallic paint - although it is paint for an old car I had the flakes are actually quite small and you don't see them until you get about 1-1.5 feet away from the model. One thing about this colour though is that it does change a lot with the light. This afternoon was quite grey here, so the paint is a little duller in most of the photos than it can appear in sunlight. First of all, this was one where I provided my own light source: Then it's onto a selection of higher angle shots: A few more shots now, but at a lower angle. I prefer this angle of photo, but it doesn't show as much of the car (maybe that's got something to do with it ) I tried to get a shot of the underside by propping it up on some containers - not sure that was entirely successful but it gives the idea. I know that when I put up the Countach RFI, there were requests for close-ups, so here's a few for the Challenger. First one is the engine bay: A couple of the interior - from the instructions it looks as though it's just a sea of semi-gloss black but the decals to lift it a bit. I didn't realise until I'd packed away that I've covered the brake assembly in my wheel close-up. Definitely glad I got rid of the kit chrome and painted them though. And finally, close-ups of the front and rear corners. Unfortunately, the shot of the front really emphasises what I mean about the front bumper sitting below the bonnet. Thanks for looking. As always, all comments and constructive criticism are welcomed.

Having finished the Countach, it's time to move onto the next project - Revell's 2009 Dodge Challenger. Given that I had the news today that I've been put on furlough, I think it's a fairly safe bet that this one is going to be completed in a short space of time (for me). The kit seems fairly typical really. It doesn't wow me like the Countach kit did, but equally, apart from the rear bumper and the fact that the pedals appear to have bent in the box, it doesn't have any obvious issues really. Painting got done towards the back end of last year, and it was a bit of a rush to get it done before winter in the end, but I made it and over winter got the panel lines washed and body polished. Tomorrow, I should get a start on the build proper, but in the meantime here's the story so far. The body itself seems pretty good apart from a very prominent mould line along each side and a couple of sink marks on the wing. The mould lines were sanded back, although they do seem to have left a slight hollow in a couple of places which are just visible after painting in the correct light. Forgot to take a photo of it in primer (but it was just plain white anyway), so this is jumping straight onto it with colour coat on. Being a metallic paint, I decided to attach the bumpers at an offset to try to get a similar shade to the body. Unfortunately I couldn't work out a good way of doing the same with the bonnet without leaving a mark somewhere noticeable. As this is proper car, rather than model, paint I'm hoping that the flakes aren't going to be too big. In real life, they aren't but I am conscious that in photos those flakes can sometimes grow massively. This one is with the clear lacquer applied - I'd forgotten how much of a difference this made to the finish Moving onto the interior & engine bay, this piece was finished in semi-gloss black as was the chassis. Masking was done by various types of masking tape and kitchen foil to enable me to colour coat the engine bay. And this was how it ended up ready for winter. Over winter, I applied black wash to the panel gaps, the blue tack being there to stop the wash running along where it wasn't wanted. Don't worry, those blobs of wash didn't stay there as they didn't survive the polishing. More polishing than I care to think about as I moved from 6000 through to 12,000 grit micromesh before applying Tamiya Fine and Finish polish. Apart from the final coat of wax, this is the end result for the paint. So that's the spray painting done. Time to start building...

Hi guys, this is the final reveal for this very old re boxed kit. I think it was kitted originally by Lindberg, back in the mist of time, and re booted by Round 2 model company, with a few improvements I guess I should have bare metal foiled the chrome trims, but instead used Molotow chrome, brushed freehand. This was quick, but not the sharpest of lines, but I can live with it. Overall not too bad of a build, I detailed up the engine bay with some chrome parts from my spares box, just to give it a bit of life, not really a show car, I wanted it to look a bit used. I had a can of sign writers white enamel paint on my shelf so I used it to paint the white wall tyres; also scratch built the twin aerials on the back of the car using some nylon bristles from an old sweeping brush. The beach boys wrote a song about this car "My 409". Well I better go and polish that chrome, bye for now.

Hello all, This is the sister build to my Dodge Charger for the Film, Fictional and Speculative Group Build in the shape of the Ford Mustang GT Fastback belonging to the hero of the film Bullitt: Cheers, Mark.

Hello all, This is a recently completed build for the Film, Fictional and Speculative Group Build, Revell's 1/25 Dodge Charge RT built as the baddie's car from one of my favourite movies Bullitt. It's also my first genuine attempt at scale auto paintwork. The wheels and hubs are a compromise solution (bodge) as the correct combination wasn't in the kit, the paint finish is achieved with Humbrol rattle can Gloss black with Tamiya rattle can clear coat. The white wall tyres were done by priming the tyre in white and masking off a ring and spraying the rest with Tamiya rubber black. The only thing I've added is the radio aerial. The chrome trim was an absolute killer but was done with a Molotow liquid chrome marker. WIP: Cheers, Mark.

Hi all, Part 2 of my Bullitt themed build: Lt. Frank Bullitt's '68 Ford Mustang GT Fastback. Again no real work done except the same stripping, cleaning, mold removal and dulling of plastic in readiness of the primer. The caveat to these two builds is that they represent my first efforts with what seem to be quite decent and detailed kits of cars. I have previously made a kit of a Ford Capri 1600 GT for my Dad as a gift and painted up as his favourite motor but the kit itself left a lot to be desired as did my paintwork, so an improvement on that finish is my goal for these two models, but having researched I am amazed at the results some guy's can achieve, however I won't be able to use some of the noxious paints and clear coats they do, so we'll see. Anyway, I love this car too, if I ever win the lottery...it'll be a hard choice....maybe both! Cheers, Mark.

Happy New Year everyone, I started this kit just after completing the 66 T-Bird build, but shelved it for a while due to getting the Lamborghini build finished by the end of last year. Anyway I have dusted the box off the shelf and hope to crack on with it over the next few weeks, I found a red example on YouTube that I like the look of, so that's what I hope the finished model will look like give or take a few details. More updates soon.