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Didn't take long (by my standards at least) to get this one completed. As suggested by the restoration tag, this one is a restoration of a build first done about 30 years ago back when I was barely a teenager. The kit itself is a snap together (Snap-Loc in Tamiyaspeak), and I understand is based on a radio-controlled model. That would certainly explain the way that it only has about 20 pieces excluding the motor, and half of those are in the wheels and axles! So not a challenge then, perfect for a younger builder building up kits quickly. The real thing ran in this livery at Le Mans in 1986, where it came 7th and won its class. Not that difficult to win its class when it was in the Experimental Class and so the only entrant It came back next year in the Rothmans livery and caught fire. For the build, this was done as a straight out-of-the-box build apart from adding a mesh to the rear to hide the red and blue cables to the motor. Anyway, having bored everyone with the waffle, it's time to bore you all with photos instead... First of all, this was what I started out with. As can be seen, it's showing the full effects of having been on an open shelf near a cornfield for about 10 years ago with dirt and yellowed plastic, not to mention badly applied and degraded decals. Having come across a replacement set of decals from the 2011 rerelease of the kit while in lockdown, I decided this was due a refurbishment. So here's a set of photos from around the car under a variety of lighting conditions. A bit annoying, but I had the side peg holes filled, sanded and smoothed and all was well until they sank a bit with the gloss on. At least they're not black circles as on the original build, but I would much rather they weren't there. The mesh at the rear appears to be doing its job of hiding the battery compartment, motor and cables behind it. Unfortunately reflections stopped me getting a good shot of the interior, but here's a top-down view of the car instead. And finally, here's a couple of shots of it with its road-going cousin which I built 3 years ago. Contrary to what the second picture implies, they do all sit flat - it's the white surface which is a bit uneven and the car does not tripod! Overall verdict? Well if you want a 1/24 Porsche 961 I don't think there's an alternative. There's no getting around that this is a very simple kit, and would take a LOT of work to get a good level of detail on it. But equally, the shape is pretty good, and it's capable of being built up into something which looks good on the shelf. Hope you like it, and thanks for looking.

Time for the RFI thread on my 1982 Dodge Charger. If you would like to see the build thread it's here: To summarise, this was the first 1/24 kit I ever built, over 30 years ago when I was about 9 or so. It's a snap-together kit, so no glue first time around, nor paint originally and it was the first ime I every used water-slide decals. Needless to say, the build was pretty typical of a car built by a child, not helped by the silver paint added 3 or 4 years later: After five months building a Trabant, I decided it was a good time to look at rebuilding this since it's a much simpler kit (about 40-50 pieces). Despite that, it's actually quite well detailed and seems quite a nice kit for its age. The body is finished in Halfords Ford Signal Yellow with the lower body being done in Halfords Ford Signal Black left over from the Mustang build clearcoated with Revell rattlecan spray. The original decals were obviously past it, but I was able to find replacement decals from Rays Kit Decals in the Netherlands. Despite a few minor issues (such as polishing through the clearcoat into the decals), I hope you'll agree that the end result is an improvement on what I built in the mid-'80s, it's amazing what a bit of paint can do! First up the engine bay, which is fairly simple, but at least the engine is there: The interior was also quite simple, and included the worst bit of the kit in the shape of the door cards which are so flat as to be almost 2-D, for example the grab handle doesn't even stick out any more than the rest of the door. And now, a succession of body shots (hope there aren't too many for you). I've included some from a high angle to try to give an indication of the underside, although there isn't really a lot to show under there as everything is moulded in apart from the single piece front and rear suspension. And my favourite shot: Hope you like it, thanks for looking

It seems as though there is a lot of Dodge Chargers around this section of the board, and as luck would have it that's what my next project is However, this one isn't quite the same as most of the others around. Generally, when you say Dodge Charger, most people would think of the classic muscle car similar to the General Lee. A few may well think of the modern version, but either way you're probably thinking of a big V8. What you're probably not thinking of is a 2.2 litre 4-cylinder hatchback from 1982, but Monogram's version of that particular version of the Dodge Charger was my very first 1/24 car model built way back when I was about 9 or so, I seem to remember buying it because it was a) bright yellow, and b) cheap because even back in the mid-80's it was obviously not seen as a desirable car and so was reduced to the sort of level pocket money could afford. Being a snap kit, it was relatively easy to build, and for my parents had the added advantage that I wasn't going to get glue all over the kitchen table. Fast forward 30 years, and it's showing signs of age and being built by a child. The decals were definitely not on straight (where they hadn't disintegrated on me), the chrome was degraded in places, particularly the front left wheel, at least one part (the gear lever) is missing, it doesn't sit straight and when I took it apart I remembered that was because the front subframe and wheel are held on my blue-tak. at some later date (I guess when I was early to mid teens) I decided being American it should get some chrome bumpers and mirrors not appreciating that it had virtuallyno chrome on at all. And the interior almost looks like there is carpet in there with 30 years worth of dust. Basically, I've decided it's time to try to get this looking shelf-worthy and do it justice. But first, this is the starting point: So over summer I set about getting the body and chassis sprayed while the weather was ok. First job was to dip it in the IPA to get rid of that silver paint, which unfortunately put paid to the decals too - the bonnet one at least would have been nice to keep but it just wasn't to be. Then it was on with the primer, which didn't completely block out the yellow of the plastic but as the car will end up yellow that didn't matter too much. (Just realised you can see when I did the various stages by the S600 and bits of Trabant in the background of all of these photos). After that, it was on with the yellow paint which looked a lot better than yellow plastic did. The paint is Halfords Ford Signal Yellow. This one is my first two-tone paint job, so a couple of weeks after that the car was masked up and ready for the black. Initially I airbrushed this one but after a bit of operator error (basically leaving too long between coats and blocking the nozzle) I finished off with the car with a rattle can meaning the black is a bit thicker than I would have liked. There was a little overspray but nothing too unmanageable and it was cleared up without too much bother, Since then, I've redecalled it (decals were from Rays Kit Decals in the Netherlands) and given it a clear coat, but didn't grab a shot of that stage. It's part way though being panel washed, so the next body pic will have to wait. And then it was onto the engine, which was all just yellow apart from the chromed engine top end and exhaust manufold. That's been dechromed, and the engine taken apart. When I first built it, I hadn't filed any of the bits where it came off the sprue so these needed tidying up. So far, the remains of the sprue attachment have been remarkably tidy, especially as I think they were removed using kitchen scissors. I think I must have had parental help! With the washing going on, I have done minimal work on rebuilding the engine, but did get the block stuck together (the sump is on now too) ready for painting. One of the tabs holding the two sides of the engine together had snapped, and the other didn't go in as far as it needed to, so both were trimmed down prior to gluing the two halves together (hence the clamps). Hopefully tomorrow I can show off a completed body and main part of the engine.

A quick holiday build, starting with the Polar Lights 1/25 Ford GT snap kit. The main visible difference between the super-tuned 720 Mirage and the "basic" Ford GT is the lack of a rear bumper, which leaves the back end rather more open. And lots of cool black detailing... The dash responds well to a bit of detail painting I took most of the chrome off everything, leaving only the supercharger body (which, although it is more powerful on the Mirage, is also chrome plated like the original equipment) The wheels end up like this. If I was even more shortsighted than I am, and had a steadier hand, the orange bar in the middle would resolve into "Mirage", but I'm not, so it doesn't. The brakes are moulded in to the back of the wheel, and so rotate with the front, which is the only major compromise to simplify the kit. They are also not handed, which only matters on the rears which have the main calliper and a secondary thingy (I'd love to know what it is -- you get them on most supercar brakes, on one pair of wheels). I'll just have to set the wheels carefully to put the callipers in the right position before taking pics! The plain black plastic cockpit is much improved by a lick of paint. The seats are nicely thought-through, with inserts for the "breather" holes, but they are even better if you strip the chrome and repaint, and touch in the "holes" with a paint pen. So that's the chassis together. Depending on what you can see (the body is one-piece and doesn't open) I might add a few pipes and cables around the engine. I've no idea whether the colours of the bits in the nose section are right, but since I can't find ANY pictures, and you can't see them after it's built, I'm not going to worry too much. Elapsed time to this stage about 4 hours. Now for the cool black detailing! bestest, M.