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Hi all, Here is my attempt to get back in the swing of things: The 68' Dodge Charger R/T from the 1968 movie 'Bullitt' staring 'Mr Cool' Steve Mc Queen, slimy Robert Vaughn and two nasty Mob hitmen and featuring THE seminal 'Car Chase' and a brilliant score by Lalo Schifrin. I had already made a limited start a while ago, but nothing more than stripping the chrome parts, washing all the parts and cleaning up the mold lines/sanding the body in preparation for primer and as you can see a few of the motor components have been assembled. I have some Flocking powder to do the interior of both cars and some paint and lacquer on order for both this and the Mustang. Such a cool car. Cheers, Mark.

Revell's 1970 Plymouth Hemi Cuda brings me bang up to date as I've just finished it over the weekend. Not perfect, but I think I am getting better. Incidentally, although it might look as though I have used zero imagination (OK, I did use zero imagination!), I did the car lime green because that's the colour I think suits it best, and built the stock rather than custom model for personal preference. Overall, this is a very nice kit which goes together very well with the exception of the rear valance (more on that later). There are mould lines on the body, but apart from the ones on the A-pillars they are positioned so as to be easy to sand off. The main downside is actually on the instructions where there are a few places which call for the body colour when they should actually be coloured differently. In fact, I inadvertedly got to try out my paint stripping skills on the dashboard which is listed as body colour, but when I did some research turned out to be the interior colour. Lesson learned - do your research before painting, not after So, first up the engine bay. It all went together much better than I was expecting it to with no real issues, even when it came to fitting the body around it. Sadly (sadly?! nothing sad about it), most of it is hidden by the enormous shaker scoop which I ended up rather obviously brush painting, although the camera has enhanced the brush strokes a lot. IMG_6380 Unfortunately, the shape of the car meant it was difficult to get a decent pic of the interior. All down to Plymouth on that score, not Revell for the model nor Canon for the camera. These are the best I could manage IMG_6381 IMG_6383 Onto the exterior, and I might as well get the worst bit out of the way first. The rear valance just doesn't seem quite right. It has to be added on after the body has been mated to the chassis, but the hollows to accommodate the rear cart springs are slightly too wide apart. I hollowed them out further to get it to fit a little bit better, but didn't dare go any further in case I went through the plastic. So it doesn't sit quite right (only by about 0.5mm, but it's enough) and that has meant that the exhausts don't quite go in right either. At least being below the bumper, it's only noticeable if you go looking for it. IMG_6384 The front went together much better. The only real issue was that the bonnet appears to have warped slightly which shows up from some angles, and not too much from others. I thought I had it straightened out before fitting to the car, but it appeared to refind it's warp overnight. At least it's not too major. IMG_6385 Going to be lazy now, and just put up a load of pics from around the car. Incidentally, the bit on the first photo which looks like a run isn't, it's just a badly located reflection of the light tent. Window trim is done using the magic Molotow pen - I haven't done any foiling at all and with the way the pen performs I doubt I will IMG_6387 IMG_6388 IMG_6389 IMG_6392 IMG_6393 IMG_6394 And finally, I gave it a chance to chill in the sunshine in the conservatory. Thanks for looking - time for me to move onto something Japanese I think IMG_6377

Having watched every episode of the Dukes of Hazard many, many moons ago, I always fancied building the General Lee so recently I bought MPCs version of the famous Dodge Charger in 1/25 scale. Now I’m guessing that the mouldings are very old (possibly late 60’s?) so the fit and finish of parts leaves heck of a lot to be desired, but I guess in the day they were pretty much par for course. Anyway, I’ve wrestled and sweated with this kit for the last two months, but have eventually beaten it into submission.....sort of. The surface finish of the rock hard plastic is horrible, and the parts only fit where they accidentally touch, it really is that bad, so lots of filler, sanding and swearing is required to rectify the built in errors. I’ve scratch built the interior rear view mirror, CB aerial and door mirror as none were supplied in the kit, and I’ve cut and repositioned the front axels as the wheels are designed to be fixed ahead which looks a bit of a stiff pose to my mind. Also, I’ve drilled the bodywork to recess the filler cap, added lead wire HT leads to the engine, a radiator top hose and I had to scratch built the bull bars on the front of the car as the kit version was completely inaccurate. The steering wheel spokes and exhaust pipes have been drilled and slotted, and I added a more accurate roll over hoop inside the car. Other than that the car is built straight OOTB! 🤪 The paint is Zero Paints ‘General Lee’ Hemi Orange, and most of the chrome is a combination of a Molotow chrome pen and Bare Metal Foil. The base is simply made from balsa wood scraps, and the dirt road is simulated with PVA glue and table salt. The whole base is airbrushed with various Tamiya acrylics and then detailed with artists oils and some Humbrol washes. It’s not a build I’m particularly proud of, but I am pleased I found the will to persevere and that I didn’t give up. So, without further ado here is the General for your critique....... The basic (grotesque) kit of parts. The radiator fan blades aren’t even moulded 90° apart and the decals are thick, very thick! Pre-weathered state. Post weathering with Revell powders.

I want to make a landau vinyl top. I also want to add the landau bar. I know how to do this on a real vehicle, but in 1/25 or 1/16, I'm a bit confused. I want to make it the thick padded roof. I was thinking of covering the roof in a layer of sheet plastic and grinding out the space for the landau bar then covering it in masking tape. Any other suggestions? or can this work? I have a photo of a KW K100 with this roof(custom).

This one is Revell's 1/25 2006 Hertz Shelby Mustang, just built out of the box so nothing too out of the ordinary. I completed it last April, and it was my first car build in quarter of a century, so please don't judge too harshly It's also the first spray painted model I've done, as well as being the first one I've used a wash on so it has been a bit of a learning process. As for the kit, it's probably gone together better than any of the other (three!) that I've worked on since getting back into the hobby with nothing that really stands out as requiring particular work other than having to glue in the wheel pins as they were a bit loose as floppy. The issues I had with the kit were very much down to operator error rather than issues with the kit itself. So, time for a few pics. I do appear to have had a bit of an attack of the dust monster when I took these, even to the extent of the blob of dust right in the middle of the lens First up, a standard front quarter view. And it also shows far too well how I managed to sand through the clear coat and skin the side-stripe decal while I was polishing. Definitely one of the lessons learned on this model. Shelby Mustang on Flickr Moving backwards, that decal issue is even more obvious. I also made a bit of a mess of the decal around the number plate, and the colour match between the gold touch up and the gold decal is pretty awful. I'm pleased to say that it seems that I have improved with my decalling since this car. This was also the first time it became obvious that windows are going to be my bette noir, and there are far too many times where it feels as though the windows hate me. On the Mustang, the rear window popped out while I was cleaning it before fixing the body on the chassis and took out a chip of paint and decal. I've done the best I could to stick it back, but you can see the damage in this pic. Shelby Mustang on Flickr It's a similar story viewed from the other side, and it anything the issues with the poor colour match on the rear decal repair are more obvious than the previous photo. Shelby Mustang on Flickr And onto the last quarter view, which shows that I also managed to skin this side decal as well. Despite that, I still feel this is the angle which shows off the car to its best Hertz Mustang on Flickr I thought I'd show one from the front too since this the grille was my first attempt at adding a wash. Tried to clean it up and stripped the chrome in one part by mistake, but I went over that area with the Molotow pen, rewashed it and can't tell where I messed up. I have to say that the Molotow pen is superb, provided the surface below is suitably prepped. Shelby Mustang on Flickr A couple of interior shots, just because I'm quite pleased with how it turned out in here (badly lined up masking tape aside!). My only gripe with the kit in here is that the join between the seats goes right through the seat handle in the headrest making filling the gap in this area to a decent standard a bit beyond my talents. The photos also show another thing I learned from this build - Revell clear spray has a really nice shine, but seems to react to the oil in my skin. I had to polish finger marks off the door panels out and was quite successful there, but unfortunately the damage to the finish above the doors was too great. Cotton gloves for me from now on when handling finished paint jobs... Shelby Mustang on Flickr Shelby Mustang on Flickr And finally, the engine bay. I was pleased with the way this turned out - why to the best bits have to be where nobody sees them? Engine Bay on Flickr Looking back at this, it sounds as though I'm not happy with the build, but in truth I was pleased with the outcome. So long as you don't look too closely, it looks pretty presentable and I'm happy to have it in the cabinet. It's also nice to be able to say that I have been able to put lessone learned into progress on later builds which is another good thing for me. Just hope I haven't gone too overboard with the photos.

Hi to all in this strange neck of the woods. I don't build many cars - and certainly not up to the standard that you guys do Here's my stab at Revell's 1/25 '69 Corvette Coupe. I used Humbrol Multi-Effect Gold for the coachwork.

I’m not sure whether or not this is going to be a full build presentation, but I found this little Hot Rod under the Christmas tree and decided to share some of my thoughts etc. I thought as I’m waiting for some lacquer to harden off on another project I might as well have a good gander at the instructions and perhaps make a start. Upon initial inspection I found that all of the chrome parts, except the wheel rims, were unusable so they’ve been given a bleach bath to strip them back. It only took about 30 mins. in Aldi’s finest ‘Thick Bleach’ and the parts were sparkling clean! Anyway, I’ll hopefully reinstate a nice chrome finish with some Alclad 107 once the moulding seams have been trimmed to an acceptable level. I also discovered that the plastic is extremely brittle and generally poorly moulded with plenty of rough edges, seams and ejector marks, but I’m up for a challenge and can hopefully rescue an otherwise great looking car kit (to my eyes at least). So far I’ve only assembled the wheels & tyres as these were very easy to complete, but unlike the rest of the kit these parts were very well presented. The chrome on the wheel trims is excellent, the white wall mouldings well fitting and silky smooth, and the tyres perfectly executed with no hint of any moulding flash. A shame then that the rest is so typically 50’s/60’s quality! Anyway, onwards with the build....

Hello to all, I made this model, the Chevy Bel Air 1957 at 1/25 scale, from july 2015 to march 2016. I wrote an article about it that was published in the french edition of Tamiya Model Magazine in july/ august 2016 (n°249). You can order it on the T2M site for more informations about this build. For this model, I used as documentation mainly the videos that resellers, american generally, do and post on YouTube. Making screen captures, I could get photos, then zoom on details, and so, making a pics library. The kits from where my model was built are the Revell (US, bought on internet) and the AMT, both at 1/25. I bought first the AMT, but when I saw how poor was this kit, I tried to find a better one. The Revell was better indeed, even if it had to be improved a lot too, to get a convincing model. However, the AMT engine was better, that is why I decided to integrate it in the Revell kit. What a lovely car! I was inspired a lot by this light- blue one, that Jeri Drager (Dragers Classic) showed on YouTube. Jeri, very kindly, authorized me to post pics of his Chevy... Jeri shows us the interior of the car: I won't represent the belts, that did not exist in 1957. The other main difference with his car concerns the rear bumper... Revell, unlike AMT, gave me the choice of 2 bumpers: the classical one (the one of Jeri's car) and a stock-car version, like we can see on this very nice red Chevy. I chose this option... Alclad chrome on gloss black base was used to get a shiny spare wheel cover. Of course, a good preparation with the Micromesh is necessary to get a very good state of surface... ------------------------------------------- Drybrush technique to get a more realistic aspect of the carpet. The foot gearbox was full scratchbuilt. --------------------------------------------------- Hood: this screen capture will be my reference to improve the Revell's part: Among the 2 kits, only the Revell gives the opportunity to represent the car top down, what is definitely my favorite choice, for obvious esthetic reasons. More, this solution allows to see all details of the dashboard. The hood requires however to be improved a lot (folds, buttons, sewings in angles): I had bought as a precaution 2 ex. of the Revell's kit (the shipping was nearly as expensive as the kit's themselves...). So, I could do this pic that shows the hood before and after corrections. ---------------------------------------------- Enlargement of the speedometer: the decal had not the good size and was quite poor, I chose to print in HD at the right scale this photo. The same was done for the 2 other dials... -------------------------------------------- The steering wheels were unrefined, especially the AMT one... A very delicate job was done to get the slender look of the original. Bare metal foil was used for many details, especially the edges of the sunshades: ----------------------------------------- I made from scratch the fuzzy dice, that was present on the Jeri Drager's Chevy. The antenna is an aftermarket part (Hobby Design ref. HD07-0056). The rubber joint around the windscreen was done with matified Bare Metal black chrome. The windscreen wipers were subject to a special care (see below) --------------------------------------------------- Windscreen wipers: indeed, as the steering wheel, the original were very slender... too much to be made from polystyrene... while the Revell's ones were too thick: I used 1/24 windshield wiper set A from BNA world, very thin: ... getting so a much more convincing result. Notice that I applied a very light coat of blue on the windscreen, to get it bluish... Notice too the little nipples of door opening... ------------------------------------------------ Wheels: the original, very nice! The 3 arm star is totally missing on the Revell wheels, and the black notches too... I scratchmade the 3 arm stars... ... and created notches with a bur, to get more convincing and esthetic wheels: ------------------------------------ Rear mirror view: ----------------------------------------------- Engine compartment: the original, very inspiring: On my build at 1/25: ----------------------------------------------- Underbody: the original: happily, Jeri is very thorough, and made a video of the underbody of the Chevy he was selling... I could so represent with many details the underbody: Mr Surfacer was used to get rough surfaces... --------------------------------------------

Hello All, I present my first 'WIP' of the AMT General Lee, I started this kit a while back and this post will bring you all nearly up to date with the build. After finishing the Polar Lights Batmobile, I fancied doing another TV show car. I have had this kit in the stash since I was about 10 years old (or about 17 years) so I pulled it out the cupboard blew off the dust and recoiled in horror as I opened the lid to this orange blob of a kit. Now I'm no rivet counter, but I know what the Dodge Charger used in the show looked like... definitely not a fastback, so after some internet digging for inspiration and becoming bewildered seeing the animosity this car seems to attract on forums, I closed the laptop lid and dug out my Corgi version of the car so I could make some rough measurements. After scaling up the dimensions and fudging them until they looked 'Right' I applied some 'Dymo' tape to the lines that needed trimming. After sweating whilst thinking twice about cutting up a fresh kit, I set too and run a fresh scalpel along them several times until I had enough cut out. After a trip to the local(ish) LMS I returned with some styrene sheet and evergreen strip to fill in the gap. After a few hours fiddling I had this, I also decided to trim off the window surrounds on the side windows as they were not a consistent thickness and replaced them with evergreen. First time using styrene sheet and evergreen, don't know how I did without it After a few days fettling which involved re-scribing dull lines and adding evergreen round the tail light section for the missing trim, I sprayed Tamiya fine surface primer through a rattle can, wet sanded then gave it a few coats of VW 'Brilliant Orange' from Halfords. After trying out homemade decals for the first time on the batmobile, I decided I'd detail up the engine bay with some more. A quick search online bought up some period correct 'Mopar' logos and whatnot, I added them to the oil filter, Battery, air filter and radiator. I added hoses with electrical cable and cut 'O' rings from the £ shop. I wanted to recreate the dusty dry mud look that the TV show car usually had from blasting round Hazard County, I achieved this using Humbrol washes and pigments. Interior next, I airbrushed the interior with a Humbrol acrylic shade... I can't remember which one atm and will edit when I have checked. The carpets are sticky-back felt from Hobbycraft and the dials were added with some homemade decals with Humbrol 'Clear' brushed on for the lenses. I also added a veneer decal for the centre console and will add a picture next time I update. A quick mock-up to make sure everything still fitted after the mods. I detailed the trim parts with Vallejo Chrome and a steady hand. The roof decals are from the kit and worked fine. There should be a roll cage inside, but it just did not look right even after heavy modification so I left it out. I am a little further ahead than this at present, but will include pictures with the next update Hope you enjoy the general, C&C's welcome, Happy modelling. Andy.

Most of the work in progress was done last weekend however I managed to get some hours in this week. I battled through the fit issues of this old kit, it didn't come with any white wall tyre inserts or any decals. I used Alclad black base over a grey primer, I then used an Automotive 2K clear over the Alclad base to give the shine. For the seats and the interior door panels I used Revell Purpurrot Aqua Color which was brushed over with a Automotive 2K clear matte lacquer, this gave the effect of a leather type material on the seats. I was struggling to get certain items correct as I was trying to copy the on screen movie image of the car which is shown at the end of the list of pictures. There was a badge under the front left headlamp which was the "Super Deluxe Legend", I decided to make something that looked similar using an old sewing needle to try and give the impression of the badge. Also I didn't have the correct number plates but I did delve into my Ford Torino Revell kit and I decided to take the Californian registration plates that were on the decal sheet as the movie car plates had California on them which was good enough for me. The silver solder stripes that I glued to the side of the car, although I did Alclad chrome the front and rear bumpers I didn't think it was worth trying to paint the rest of the chrome items that were around the car in Alclad as it was very easy to wear off when it was handled. I did find that the Vallejo chrome metallic paint was really good for painting small items and although it was not as good as Alclad from the look point of view, it was much easier to apply and resisted being rubbed off so easy as the Alclad did. I decided to scrape off the paint on the stripes to reveal the silver solder and with a little bit of metal polish they came up looking pretty good. Overall for an old kit I think it came together quite well and as near as I could get it to the car that was in the Back to the Future movie. You can see my work in progress of this build here.

This was a mad 48 hour build for a Halloween slideshow for The Model Shop Guys Halloween Spooktacular YouTube show that went out last year. I wasn't going to bother entering a subject but I saw this kit for sale on eBay, it was a right pain in the bum to build scraping all of the chrome parts for gluing, it took ages and a lot of patience needed to get the kit somewhere near right. I used Tamiya gold leaf X12 as the base coat for the body and then a candy inspire automotive red with a 2K clear coat. The body was so flimsy that the paint finish had to be perfect straight from the airbrush as there was no way I was going to attempt to polish it afterwards. I thought you guys would enjoy this spooky ride lol!

This was my first resin kit that I built last August. I've adding lighting and a few other details to complete this project. I used Automotive 2K clear lacquer for the final finish and the decals on the front wings were from a Aoshima kit of the Mad Max 2 car that I have in my stash. Enjoy the ride guys!

Well I decided to dig this out to use as a stress reliever build to go alongside my Days of Thunder build and well, just look what happened in 3hrs Ok so it was a stalled build from last year lol. Better explanation to come in a WIP I'm going to start about a Capri with a Turbo Eye's peeled everyone lol. TTFN Ashley

I picked up this kit off eBay at a really ridiculously cheap price. Not sure if anyone else in the forum has built this kit, I think it dates from around 1980 however it is very well detailed for the age of the kit. Quite a bit of flash here and there but nothing that can't be sorted. Although this is a 48 Ford, the kit gives you the option to build the car into a 47 or 46 model so I decided to build a 46 Ford that was modelled on the car that the character "Biff" drove in the Back to the Future movies. This particular car had distinctive stainless steel strips running down the bodywork, I decided that the kit supplied chrome tape was not going to be adequate for my standard of build that I was trying to achieve so I used silver solder that was cynoed onto the car body. The intention was that once the car was painted I could scrape the paint from the strips to reveal the silver solder as a metal stripe. Not sure if it was going to work but it was worth a try. The last image is a screen grab of the actual car out of the movie that I was trying to model. Although this is a 48 Ford, the kit gives you the option to build the car into a 47 or 46 model so I decided to build a 46 Ford that was modelled on the car that the character "Biff" drove in the Back to the Future movies. This particular car had distinctive stainless steel strips running down the bodywork, I decided that the kit supplied chrome tape, it was not going to be adequate for my standard of build that I was trying to achieve so I used silver solder that was cynoed onto the car body. The intention was that once the car was painted I could scrape the paint from the strips to reveal the silver solder as a metal stripe. Not sure if it was going to work but it was worth a try. The last image is a screen grab of the actual car out of the movie that I was trying to model.

This diorama was based on the first action that the tumbler was seen in from the first movie of the trilogy Batman Begins where the tumbler is driven over the Gotham police car with commissioner Gordon gasping "I gotta get me one of those!". I started this 3 kit diorama last August but stopped working on it over the winter mainly because I had to work out how to pass all of the wires from the tumbler through the back window of the police car into the base to be powered up for lighting. I eventually got round to finishing it two months ago, you can see the clip from the movie at the bottom of the post.

Here's my take on the T3 camper. It's what may or may not the campsites of Europe would have looked like in 1979 if GB and its' allies had not prevailed in WWII! Was once a proud owner of a T2 bay window Westfalia that took myself and the missus around Scotland. Anyone know of a T2 kit out there? Thanks to Ronald ''Dillon'' Watkinson my work colleague and also my friend for the sun visor and signage. Thanks for looking, regards Siffo.

Hi Everyone, I have just completed this build. I have used Revell acrylic paints to complete this build. Silky matt black for the body colour. I decided to do this build as a custom paint/decal build for myself so it has the blue decals on it. Anyway here are the photos : This is my first muscle car build that I have completed in 2014. Comments welcome. Thanks for looking. Rick

Hello guys, This is my first and only car build so far, really enjoyer building it. Here it is: Thank you for looking...

The new Moebius Batmobile from the Christopher Nolan trilogy. All molded in black plastic so please excuse the photos as my phone struggles! Whilst I wait for my new airbrush from Little Cars, I've started this one. Box shot The two seats built up. I've purposefully over exposed the shot to show the detail a bit better. As noted in the discussion thread, only one seat comes with harnesses but no Batman to go in the drivers seat. Bit cheap of Moebius! Centre Console. I've used the plastic card to completely cover the seam line and the lower one under the throttle quadrant is on top of a panel. It was quicker to measure and cut some sheet plastic than to try and fill and tidy a rather deep seam line in a tight space. Console is missing a screen that goes below the throttle as there's a dirty great big injection mark in the middle I've yet to deal with. And the seats and console on the chassis floor.

Just picked up Revell Monograms rather nice 69 Charger. The 'stock' wheels are a bit underwhelming so I'd like to replace them. Is there a good source for Aftermarket 1/25 muscle car wheels and tyres. I want some of these really http://www.americanracingwheelsinfo.com/American_Racing_Vector_SE.htm They are the wheels fitted to the General Lee but they suit the Charger well. Cheers for any help Chris