2019 way better than my last year

[Bengalensis]

From a modelling point of view 2019 has been way better than 2018, something that wasn't that difficult to achieve. Actually 2018 was so bad that I didn't even manage a yearbook, and when I discovered that it was too late. The whole year just flew away, over filled with work and what not.  So I'll start with the one and only finished model from the first days in January 2018; Herbie, built using Tamiya's 1/24 kit as base.

 

 

After that 2018 vanished until December when I started this Dodge A100, built as it appeared as an ambulance in my home town around 1969-70 when I was a kid. I had two old b/w photos as my references.  The starting point was a very crude 1/25 scale A100 drag racing pickup kit, Little Red Wagon, from Lindberg produced in old '60s tooling. It took an awful lot of scratching to get this finished result in early January 2019, so it was my first completed for 2019.

 

 

 

And suddenly I was getting things done at the bench again, despite a continued lot of work. More finished models started to appear. Although I never found the time to do any WIP-threads for most of them I'm sorry to say. To give some background to them I've laid out the words a bit, if you don't like reading just scroll and don't bother.

 

Second was Inspector Morse's, one of my favourite detectives, well known Jaguar MkII in 1/24. Of course it was built from Tamiya's excellent kit, with a bit of work downgrading the engine and exhaust to the 2,4 litres model, and 3D-printed wheels and hubcaps cad-mastered by my friend Johan Brusefält. I'm very satisfied with this one.

 

 

 

Then came a Mirage 720, the upgraded Ford GT rebuilt in England. Base kit is the Jada Toys 1/24 scale plastic kit, a pretty excellent model, apart from its very toy like huge wheels and crappy suspension, which I would replace anyway. This project actually started a few years ago with me and Johan Brusefält throwing 3D-cad models back and forth between each other to create the wheels that the very first GT prototypes appeared with, as I promptly wanted those very special wheels on my build. We 3D-printed the wheels and Johan later modelled the tires which were also 3D-printed. At last I set about building the model, printing my own decals.

 

 

 

Here's another one stalled half done in 2017 that suddenly got back on track. Airtrax 1/24 scale resin kit of the Renault Fuego. I decided to build mine as an early GTS-version so I needed different wheels, which once again were cad-mastered by Johan Brusefält and 3D-printed. Thankfully the GTS emblems where provided for on the kits nice photo etch sheet, the steering wheel and some minor details were scratch built.

 

 

 

Next was a somewhat different projected. It probably needs a background: Back in 1986 I totally rebuilt and modified a 1973 Opel Kadett for my girlfriend, top chopped, pink and all. She proudly drove it for two summers before some minor accident happened, that we would fix over next winter, we thought. Well, many cars came in between and our life went on and on. But we always had her little modified Opel tucked away, under roof, but more or less forgotten in a sad state. Some 30 years later we decided to drag it into the work shop to give it a full grounds up restoration, which we finished in late 2018 after a good year's work.

 

I decided we needed a 1/24 scale model of it. No Opel B-Kadett kit is available apart from a crude 1/25 resin offering from Germany. The body shell was skewed and way off proportions looking like cross between the A- and B-Kadett, but I hacked it up in a few pieces and basically created a new at least reasonably correct 1/24 scale master body shell, that I then set about chopping and modifying as the real car. Nothing else was used from the kit, everything was scratch built, some detail parts I cad-modeled in and 3D-printed, and the BMW 2002 Tii wheels, that the car has always rolled on, were again cad-mastered by Johan Brusefält and 3D-printed.

 

 

 

I'm sorry, but you will have to endure a photo of the full scale restored car as well.

 

 

Next up was the outrageous Mercedes T80 record car from 1939 built from FPPM's 1/24 scale resin kit. It's a huge beast and it's difficult to make it justice in a photo. Sadly the real T80 never got to run to its full potential as someone decided to start a war in the latter part of that year... I decided to finish my model as it might have looked and been marked if someone did not start that war but instead would have focused on breaking speed records in let's say 1940.

 

 

 

While into land speed records I suddenly also found myself work on Flintstone's 1/25 resin casting of the Goldenrod; the Summers brothers 4x 426 hemi powered speed machine of 1965. My casting came without decals, so I had to draw and print my own. It was also obvious that the model needed a base, so I made up a strip of salt flats for it.

 

 

 

Then I was in 1930's Grand Prix mode and started work on the Mercedes W125, a 1/24 scale white metal kit from Western Models. I used wheels with tyres made by Fernando Pinto (FPPM) in Portugal to replace the photo etch and rather simple tires in the kit. The model is finished as Rudolf Caracciola's winning car of the German Grand Prix at Nürburgring 1937.

 

 

 

And here's another stalled project from back in 2014, Airfix 1/6 scale skeleton. Now it was time to paint and get it done. It's finished as some sort of an ironic self portrait when I get old... There's a WIP-thread for this one.

 

 

Back to cars and the tiny Peel P50 in 1/24 scale. The base for the model is a resin kit made by a French privateer sometimes selling on ebay. My friend Johan Brusefält and I got us a kit each some years ago. Although they came reasonably complete, we decided they needed new wheels and all the smaller detail parts replaced. Johan 3D-modeled the wheels back then, and this summer he did the detail parts that we then 3D-printed. The bodyshells also needed to be cut up a bit to rectify the shape and height of the roof and the front suspension is scratch built. I finished my model as the P50 that Jeremy Clarkson drove around in the well known episode of Top Gear in 2007.

 

 

 

The later part of this year was spent on the large Saturn V project in 1/72 scale I started in 2017. By now I had made up my mind on how to tackle some problems so work resumed. As my real work came to a more quite period later in the year I actually, much to my surprise, managed to finish the project just recently. There is a WIP-thread if you want to see more. This will be the last one for 2019, and only now as I collect them together I see that it came to be a pretty good year.

 

 

I would also like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy New Year 2020!

[Army_Air_Force]

Concorde in a Cloud?

 

[Bengalensis]

4 minutes ago, Army_Air_Force said:

Concorde in a Cloud?

 

Something like that. Had a brief argument with the server about my pictures... 😎

[Army_Air_Force]

Lovely selection. Particularly like the R/C spitfire (?) in the boot of the Fuego.

[Bengalensis]

8 minutes ago, Army_Air_Force said:

Lovely selection. Particularly like the R/C spitfire (?) in the boot of the Fuego.

Sharp eyes 👍 R/C Spitfire indeed, about 1/6 scale here (1/200 war gaming model as base).

[Newbie(kinda)]

Yep spotted the Spit too! Renault Fuego, God I thought they were sooo sexy! Love them all...but the T80; what a beast! Thanks for sharing.

[PlaStix]

Hi Jörgen. That’s a stunningly beautiful collection for the year! Superb modelling.

Kind regards,

Stix

[Reini78]

Not a car model fan but your work is great!