swede70

Greetings... Not very pleasant to do, all the side window trim as well as the front and rear screen perimeter trim here has been masked and painted in gray versus the as-delivered spec. in black. The side 'glass' could be removed to facilitate the work undertaken, although the front and rear 'glass' was left in-place, masking carefully performed, then finish was applied with the relevant assemblies sprayed in-situ. A mess was made of the front 'glass' for poor masking, allowing for material creep behind what I'd imperfectly applied and requiring much effort to save for concerted polishing to remove burns inflicted upon what ought to remain clear. Most of the damage (albeit not all) was addressed, but very discouraging in total, whereas pleased this not so nice aspect of the rebuild has been seen to. Note that a black wash was applied to the window frame part and parcel of the door glass positioned 'up'. Usually 1:18th diecast models have open windows and little to offer here, whereas the few models that do sometimes sport an undesired budget look given the detail can appear out of scale, distorted, or too plastic for words. Some polishing of the panels was performed which helped a bit, while the side exterior mirrors were refinished as well just after cutting and fitting thin plastic panels to mask the mirrored surfaces on the back of each. The rear hatch 'glass' was the most challenging to mask given the presence here of some unexpected curves, although saving the effort for last ensured that a technique had been worked up to more or less ensure quality work could be performed. Effort to screen scrape and subsequently reduce said image(s) to something legible came to nothing, hence a 1:1 reproduction emissions system decal for use under the hood was ordered... Here the reduced image is fit atop a scratch built weather shield/heat insulator resting atop where key ignition components are sited on the SVO Mustang inner fender well. It's coming along then. Thanks for your review of this project update. Mike K./Swede70

Greetings again... I was searching for interior photos too and after a period the realization hit me that perhaps the 1993 Mustang Cobra is the most listed Bring a Trailer topic of all time! Wow - just listing after listing after listing... - Something discreet tried here - namely an attempt to employ a Silly Putty mask to the exhaust tips prior to applying the few passes of Revell of Germany 'Chrom' aerosol spray lacquer to what remained exposed. Silly Putty can be used to mask very irregular surfaces with light practice, and while the exhaust pipes aren't rendered separately on the Miasto 1993 Mustang Cobra chassis, if masked creatively one can finesse things consistent with coming up with a good enough result. First, I isolated two small balls of said putty, rolling the results to come up with a pair of coils 'o putty, both which were in turn wrapped around the exhaust pipe tip detail hanging down twice over. The chassis was removed from the body (two screws only here), then the rest of the chassis was masked, the Revell product identified above sprayed/applied. The tips received two dots of black paint to suggest these are tubes at the ends, but otherwise not a huge effort. All in all, the effort came out cleanly... Barely discernible then, whereas I still have trouble taking clear and accurate photos of this topic. Thanks... Mike K./Swede70

Nice work on the interior Angelo - carefully controlled flocking and paint work as well. Very impressive in total... - Just a recap of the photos afforded elsewhere but soon to be buried beneath content otherwise standard to the new diecast acquisition thread. Things tried to date are as follows: The top of the door frames were touched in with a very wet application of Revell of Germany Matte Black applied with a brush which leveled out nicely and blends well. The door and hatch exterior lock cylinders were painted black. No raised detail is afforded here, while in truth perhaps I should have left the door lock cylinders alone as they are touched in with silver paint as-delivered. The tires were replaced here/above, although fitting solid tires versus hollow vinyl tires from a kit entails more work given one is required to file off a raised locking lip cast-in to each rim. I found it well nigh impossible to remove the wheels from the axles (i.e. they'd spin a little for twisting, alas they wouldn't shift from the axles however hard I tried), but know too that for metal file as well as emory board work, one can safely file off the unwanted material without fouling or damaging the chassis detail for just restricting work to the topmost section of each wheel when each is positioned where the wheel house detail isn't provided; i.e. the chassis plate doesn't extend over any of the wheel/tire assemblies when things are disassembled and inspected close in. Although not identified on the sidewalls as 17 inch fitment, some AMT Mustang tires were done as directional Goodyear Eagle 'Gatorback' ZR45's, while if a search is set up on eBay restricted just to 'AMT Mustang tires', sellers exist who split out the parts contained within a plastic kit to make such affordable. Some very light touch-in work was required to address quality control issues in relation to the windscreen trim (in flat black again). Nothing too serious, and hardly a deal breaker... For applying lengths of Tamiya hobby masking tape and isolating the exterior side view mirrors, then popping a hole in a drug store poly bag to protect the rest of the body shell, I spray painted the mirror housings to match the door frame paint. Not difficult, whereas things look a touch better for so doing. Thanks... Mike K./Swede70

Greetings, Just briefly, this would be the 1:24th Maisto 1993 Mustang Cobra on the AMT tires referenced above. Sort of a trial to fit to the rims given the rims couldn't be removed from the axles and furthermore required file work to sand down a raised tire lock bead, but after about three or four hours things came into focus. I did try to file out and enlarge the inside diameter of each tire, although minimal success was registered here; i.e. eventually I just microwaved a bowl of water, immersed the tires, and persuaded the now semi-pliable result onto the shaved rims. Not huge fun in total then - but then what's made out didn't take weeks to achieve either. The side exterior mirror are now painted to match the door frame trim, so too the small radio aerial base atop the passenger's side fender. Thanks... Excuse the fact that the body hue appears pink in this set of photos, alas things appear far better when one has the model in hand; i.e. the body color appears a quite accurate and sharp fire engine red. Thanks... Mike K./Swede70

I don't have the 1:24th scale Revellogram tires to reach for/compare at present (sigh), although here would be an image of the 1:25th AMT tires I've ordered and await. Hoping too that grinding down material from the wheels to facilitate a fit won't prove a massive headache (i.e. surprisingly removing the wheels from each axle/shaft proved impossible to shift yesterday), whereas we'll see... As related elsewhere (I think!), Maisto just did one mold for the rims; i.e. don't expect the dimensional/alternate side with the wheel spokes/vanes leaning in the opposite direction here. Hey - the price point is low, and we can't be afforded everything. - No pictures availed, but I also applied a pool of black wash to the air vent/opening situated along the bottom front of the fascia to better fill it out, whereas if the model is tipped from side to side the small serrated vent detail on either end/edge of the opening can be filled with the black wash as such will pool into the recesses. I kept messing matters up for trying and cleaning things repeatedly, but then just applying too much and tipping the model proved enough to move the material/wash and flesh out detail that's discreetly rendered in the body tooling. Thanks... Mike K./Swede70

Thanks Angel for the advice and tip... I found a listing for what seems to be the same tire/tool split out from a kit yesterday and ordered the same this morning. They date from an early '94 release of the Mustang from AMT, the sidewall markings appear the same, hence I'm hopeful. In the main I'm quite happy with what we've been provided, whereas let's hope the blue kit turns into the teal release most of us would go for. Not sure if I'll pull my interior to paint the same from the red iteration just purchased, whereas I'm thinking of just ignoring the underhood area consistent with a claim that my example is maintenance free - so there! Kind thanks... Mike K./Swede70

Greetings, Not an epic project update this, but some movement for adding tail light pinstripe decals to suggest SVO/'93 Cobra Mustang-specific issue lenses as well as adding a photo etched lock cylinder to the hatch after first painting the same Testor's Model Master Titanium. The wheel paint was redone to address some irregularities along the edges, whereas interior work otherwise invisible was further attempted. Ugh - just adding four lines was a trial here, whereas my chances of cleanly adding eight more to complete the lense pinstripes seem hopeless. Still - a modest and useful difference... Concerning the wheels, previously I'd not painted the same from behind - namely in an aluminum hue with the slots taking up a bit of the finish. Here they've been redone, with the faces resprayed with Revell of Germany's 'Chrom' to clean up matters. Again - the latter is good stuff even as it's expensive to source. Thanks for your review of this post. Mike K./Swede70

Happy to see someone else found/glommed onto the new 1:24 Miasto 1993 Mustang Cobra which I grabbed today and intended to share here first(!). I spotted an example at a local hobby shop for a competitive $25.95 yesterday, while given what Fox-platform Mustangs usually do (note what's happening to the new 1:18 Greenlight range), I thought I'd better grab it quick. I've repainted the lock cylinders on mine black (the rear hatch lock cylinder isn't painted at all), touched in the top of the door frames to match the matte black otherwise smoothly applied (Revell of Germany Flat Black in a bottle worked nicely here), while maybe I'll attempt a tire swap with dead and truly valueless Corvette promotional models given the Maisto tires appear a bit agricultural. Still - a pretty sound effort from Maisto and welcome here. Happy in particular that they nailed the exterior color with a sharp fire engine red versus something milky and possibly a bit off. Apparently a kit/broke down version is coming - although the blue specified won't likely be the specific metallic aqua we'd otherwise desire. Thanks for posting the photos... Mike K./Swede70

Greetings, If it helps, for long I've hand cast resin parts of the bulk of what's made out consistent with supplying my own project needs, whereas typically I've worked out something informal between myself and the bare handful of other period SCCA Trans-Am enthusiasts consistent with making stuff available. Mass orders of anything I've done never seemed in the cards, hence I never formally went into business, but again - usually something can be finessed. Not everything strictly has a mold (i.e. the roll cages are hand bent and essentially one-off's), while some other elements await more elaborate application to create mold and hence duplicates of (i.e. specifically the hand sculpted wheel arch flares seen on the Chaparral Camaro above). Sometimes too it happens that the urethane molds I create pretty much give out and expire if you will, hence I'm prompted to create new ones to work up a new supply. PM me via my contact information and a dialogue may begin. Kind thanks for your notice... Mike K./Swede70

Greetings... Even with limitless funds and if one is on the hunt for an '80's performance topic in the American mold, usually the best examples are low-mileage 'survivors'; i.e. almost freakishly clean in a cosmetic sense, although rarely gone through with an eye towards achieving a high score at a concours level event. Not really knowing how to tackle things across the chassis for the dearth of fully restored examples otherwise not discovered online, here I've attempted to mimic the underbody condition of what equate to the best as-found examples that do pop up on the market. The 'Quadrashock' setup Ford employed in period to control movement of the rear suspension is being worked up, although it hasn't been fully sorted and is missing from these photos. Thanks... Sorry - this a huge 1:1 topic image. Neat that the tires here are original... Enormous again, but then it's helpful if one is referring to such to add assembly line paint markings, approximate corrosion across suspension components, etc. Note that the actually unibody is as clean as they come for all the distressing cosmetics of the various suspension bits. Hard to make out from my photos, each trailing arm was painted a light gray, the axle a dull iron before being overshot with Rustoleum Paprika (hoping too that at some point it'll decide to dry). Revell of Germany 'Chrom' aerosol spray was applied to the exhaust tips/extensions at what seemed an appropriate point, while note too that even as the tire sidewalls bear no markings, Welly did opt to accurately reproduce the Goodyear VR-50 'Gatorback' directional tread which is a nice touch. The differential 'X' paint mark was added, so too the slightly messy yellow paint blob applied to what appears a differential weight of some kind, along with other odd additions I hope equate to something reasoned. The front steer rack and pinion system wasn't tooled, hence I've made do with painting up the spurious rear steer worm and sector system to suggest a faintly weather rack and pinion setup. Thanks for your review of this post. Mike K./Swede70

Thanks for the interest expressed - whereas hoping indeed to work up something qualitatively better (in some respects) versus the admittedly very early GMP effort brought to market so many years ago... Seen here would be some underhood progress, with various bits painted, the rather difficult intercooler stripe detail done with delicate bands of sheet plastic painted to suit and applied with a dental pick after dipping the tip of such in petroleum jelly to grab hold of what I couldn't have positioned accurately with fingers alone. Much is missing as I stumble and move along, although certainly the total effect is better than before. Silly Putty was employed as a masking agent for the top strut mount plates, noticed here finished in a dark gray that mimics an unpainted metal surface. Said putty is terrific for in situ. masking of detail(s) found on irregular surfaces, and although a bit tedious to setup and handle, it's nevertheless something inexpensive that generates results when thoughtfully employed. Not immediately apparent unless one has this particular model and/or tool to examine, the A/C compressor, drive to the same and compressor mount have been carefully removed consistent with this replicating a Competition Prep. credit option package. Also made out will be a rare 1:18th 1985 Mustang Twister II decal sheet blown up from the Ray's Decals art out of The Netherlands. Apparently from 2024 the option of having his 1:25th sheets enlarged to suit bigger scales is no longer offered, hence very fortunate I am to have secured one as discernible below. Some underhood decals afforded here will help matters out, in particular the battery decals and some warnings/declarations relating to service requirements, etc. Kind thanks for your review of this project update.... Mike K./Swede70

Greetings... Sort of an unexpected project this, for long I didn't give the Welly (or rebadged as NEX) 1:18the scale 1986 Mustang SVO release much attention given the build quality didn't seem all that great, the price point (when new) suggesting something cut rate and far less compelling than the GMP release(s) of old. With an example in-hand, my opinion has revised, although (choke choke) - so too has the second hand market price asked for such which likely can't be justified irrespective if one is intrigued by what I write and upload in terms of photos here. First, some initial photos: What isn't immediately apparent for reviewing the images discerned above is the parts count. I was greatly surprised to note that all of the perimeter trim (i.e. rub strips, etc.) are separately rendered, are easily removed (melted tabs accessible from behind can be ground off without issue), while most of the tooling is pretty sound and less toy-like than initially feared. - Seen below would be the same model with the wheels refinished with Revell of Germany 'Chrom' aerosol can spray which really perks things up even as the product is $30+ purchase, while from the 1985 model year the exterior trim was finished in a charcoal hue versus black, lending considerable contrast as-witnessed. Many parts (specifically, the side windows plus trim) are off the model at this juncture, but still - better than expected. - Likewise, an effort to refinish the tail light clusters largely succeeds even if I didn't hazard stripping the lenses entire for fear of burning the clear plastic panels/parts rendered by Welly. Mostly what's made out here is a combination of Tamiya lacquers combined with tinted and pearlescent clears from the same firm. The framing witnessed around the colored elements was likewise redone, needing to be charcoal-colored to match the rest of the exterior trim refinished up to this point. Not perfect, although far from terrible. - ...and finally, a quick interior door panel/interior door trim project. The Welly release comes through as a normal high-standard equipment iteration versus a comparatively bare Competition Prep. version sans power door locks, power window lifts, A/C or radio. Here I ground out the door controls, fit refinished Yat Ming/Road Legends 1970 Rebel Machine window cranks, and carefully refinished the surfaces for employing what seemed miles of Tamiya yellow masking tape. The project is unfolding smoothly enough - thus far anyhow! Thanks for your review of this post... Mike K./Swede70

Greetings... I was pondering the remains of a first issue silver MPC Mustang SVO model and was wondering if anyone had recoiled as I had with respect to the rather underwhelming B.F. Goodrich hollow vinyl tires usually found within annual kits of this period. Odd I didn't think of it earlier, but has anyone ripped apart a later almost too cheap to worry about MPC promo in search of low profile Goodyear tires to help matters. Yes - I know they wouldn't strictly be period Goodyear VR50 or 60-Series 'Gatorbacks', although I think it would be worth trying to improve upon what has always been a shortfall of these kits. For a target promo or period kit to try upon, I was thinking a Dodge Stealth might possibly be sacrificed without anyone strictly taking notice. Obviously and if no one chimes in, I'll likely just spend the money and see what comes of the idea. Kind thanks for your review of this post... Mike K./Swede70

Greetings... Just something quickly. As Don Adams might have said across the space of an episode of Get Smart back in the day, this would be 'Evidence of the famous brass wire employed as a paint brush/applicator trick' in a decidedly old school vein. I wanted to reproduce discreet mounting hardware to hold the turn signal fill panels consistent with lending a bit of visual interest up front, hence a length of brass wire and some chrome paint was employed to do this by (my unsteady) hand. Not laser precise perhaps, although not so horrible as to suggest the worst of the American folk art tradition. Thanks... Mike K.

Greetings... Variations on a theme for seen is another Replicarz '70 Chaparral Camaro (not mine) with late-season fender accessory/contingency sponsor decals, while also made out (in brief) would be small dots of paint applied to the center of the inbound round rear tail light lenses to suggest back up lamps. Removing all the carrier film from the fenders wasn't huge fun (speaking of the decals that were very strongly adhered), whereas the decals substituted in constitute a mix of items sourced from sheets that are thankfully replenishable. Kind thanks... Mike K.

Greetings... Seen would be the beginnings of a second attempt at a '69 Ronnie Kaplan Engineering/Javelin Racing Team flared SCCA Trans-Am shell, the difference being that I've opted to graft the rear clip of a period glue burned '69 Javelin SST annual kit to the front two-thirds of the (now usual) Jimmy Flintstone '70 Penske Javelin flared resin body. For so-doing I can add bubble flares to stock-profile standard rear quarter panels, retain the crisp shape(s) of the annual tool where material was saved, and generally sidestep the odd tapered profile of the J.F. effort as things narrow towards the rear of their resin effort which causes fit issues when adding the tail light unit and bumper. Very tedious to mount the effort thus far, although happily nothing has strictly shattered - yet. A fine study of the 1:1 topic at rest... A new urethane mold offers up fuller front and rear trim caps/extensions. I'm hoping to do further copies consistent with allowing for the possibility of blending the additions on the front, grinding off some material and working up thinner fender trim caps to better match the actual topic. Nothing permanently glued here given things are still in flux, but not horrible with regards to gaps and within the realm of being further refined. The flush exterior door handles so difficult to paint/finish are witnessed half drilled out in anticipation of adding resin clones cut out from a dead Jo-Han Javelin/AMX shell and rendered separately. At least I can try (and retry) finish options apart and away from the painted body (at some point then) without wild risk of either damaging the finish or being sharply underwhelmed by a compromise/rushed effort on the latches. The bubble flares stand to come, having been done once before for forming sheet plastic laminate pucks finally filed to shape and carefully fit. Hoping to swap all the '69 RKE/JRT chassis and interior build over to this refined effort if all proceeds apace - ah, a touch of progress then! Thanks for your review of this post. Mike K.

Greetings, Harboring no end of Jo-Han AMC Javelin projects (mostly SCCA Trans-Am topics across years), here would be a slow restoration of a tired AMT-issue '70 AMX. It looked pretty poor early on, to the extent that no strict 'before' images were captured to post here, although I can relate that it wore three coats of paint, and evidenced pretty awful quarter panel damage where someone had enlarged the wheel arch openings looking back on both sides amongst other issues. Easy-Off and Simple Green stocks must be up! Fortunately the rather flat profile along the top of the arch combined with the wind streak surface detail was something I could work with when I grafted in material as made out, while given this is a '70 with one year only side indicators along the flanks, I had to retain these for leaving matters untouched further back. I guess this was for the best given alignment between the additions and the surrounding panel work was made easier, hence something learned and gained both... Other matters dealt with include replacing missing fine B-pillar/window border weather strip trim from a deceased Jo-Han SS/AMX donor (the same body affording good quarter panel implants as discerned below), as well as fleshing out the grille trim surround on one corner given a section had been torn out for aggressive use of glue in-period matched to inelegant removal of the bumper/grille assembly sometime later. Moving along, an effort (the worth of such still undetermined as I write) to separate the Rebel Machine pressed styled steel wheels into component parts to finish individually was made in combination with hard vinyl MPC Goodyear Polyglas GT tires of old. I took some X-EL '69 AMC AMX parts trees (actually something commonly obtained at SE Michigan-area toy shows) to steal some promo axle wheel back detail to combine with ancient Time Machine Resin copies, while substituting in/on some Jo-Han '70 Superbird decorative trim rings which feature a small additional lip on the edge otherwise missing from the Jo-Han rendition of the wheel. I don't know if I'll seek some chrome option for the center stampings, further divide out the trim caps and raised ring part and partial of such, or just what I'll do in total. Still - looking appropriate even as this likely won't be a highly-detailed build but rather a promo-like effort with Ray's Decals tape stripes versus the application of a Shadow Mask treatment. Lastly, the chassis employed at present is a short shot (as in spoiled) X-EL issued item slated to be replaced, while some fortuitously saved plastic kit 'glass', period dash w/grab handle, shifter and high back seat interior rounds matters out less engine - at present! Thanks for your review of this post... Mike K.

Greetings... Some alternate waterslide artwork arrived in the mail earlier today, whereas I'd hoped to replace the 'Chaparral' and 'Camaro' side lettering on the Replicarz model given it doesn't strike me as particularly convincing. Worried I'd either damage the underlying paint finish applied to the resin casting that makes up the body, or be seriously disenchanted with the aftermarket decals ordered, happily things worked out as can be witnessed below. ...certainly a fair take on the font style as found within the press release materials dating from early 1970. While seen above would be a 1:25th waterslide decal sheet first done by Fred Cady a great many years ago, whereas behind it is a 'Teresawulf' (eBay seller I.D. then) 1:18th waterslide sheet to afford a size comparison. It's entire possible that the latter was scanned from the former... As can be made out, little reason exists to strictly cling to the as-delivered state of the Replicarz side lettering given the underwhelming font employed. But could I remove the lettering safely? Whew - yes, apparently one can! No residual haze either, hence a bullet dodged... Quite decent then, and subsequently a guilt-free modification. The decals ordered via eBay prove reasonably robust, cutting the images while observing reasonable discretion concerning the integrity of the image contrasted to what would likely tear or fold certainly worked out well enough, etc. Mike K./Swede70

Greetings and thanks for the interest expressed... This was a shot captured at '70 Mid-Ohio which at least suggests how things might have appeared at one venue regarding the Tech Inspection Passed decal. Indeed - at '70 Laguna Seca these were applied to the other side as you've noted, with a slightly different label design/color employed reflect whomever decided such at the regional level. Hmm - those differently colored windshield retention clips attract the eye as well... Regarding other things, I did try to paint on the Lexan spoiler attachment hardware here (albeit with middling success), while the headlamp fill panels look about right even if mine aren't resting inside the bezels as deeply as I'd desire. I will attempt to add the front turn indicator fill panel hardware (perhaps done as four 'dots' of silver paint upon each), although stymied concerning how to position the model to apply such given the weight of it short of reaffixing things to the as-delivered base. Still pondering what else to try, worried for risking too much again. Thanks... Mike K.

Small stuff this... Mulling other things to attempt, I became fixated on the middling quality of the exterior rear view mirror fit to the model, a plastic affair simply painted silver as can be made out below. Given I have some spares from models broken up for other projects, a rare 1:18 Lane '68 Firebird 400 side view mirror was found and cleaned up consistent with substituting one for the other. As can be made out, the chassis is back together and largely untouched. Further small stuff would be the addition of an SCCA Tech. Inspection O.K. decal to the nearside headlamp fill panel. Hardware has been painted onto the front spoiler mount, although such is hardly noticeable and certainly not discernible for review of this photo image. With the metal exterior mirror sourced from the Lane Firebird then. Here I've temporarily affixed such with white craft glue in anticipation of working up a more sophisticated fixture to hold the mirror in position when better adhesive or maybe some means to pin the item in place is devised. Another angle to be taken is that sometimes a part is so exposed to being knocked off that little justification can be made to really bond such on; i.e. choose instead to use a light-duty glue and accept the risk with the trade off being that a less toxic or 'hot' glue won't strictly damage the underlying surface if a thing is fated to be reset repeatedly. Concerning the substitution of the mirror, unquestionably better quality in appearance though - and more in keeping with the price point too! Thanks... Mike K.

Thanks for the kind continued interest and support... With respect to the brakes on the Replicarz Chaparral Camaro, the discs and rotors are rendered as a single part uniformly finished in an iron hue. As fit they vanish from sight when viewed head-on suggesting they sport no detail at all, although given these fall clear when the wheel and tire assemblies are removed, the possibly exists to paint the discs appropriately prior to refitting. Consistent with this knowledge, here I used small mounds of Silly Putty as a masking agent, followed by an application of Rust-Oleum Mirror Effect (chrome in an aerosol can then). Simple shapes painted simply enough, but a nice improvement all the same. Looking more Hurst/Airheart vs. Delco-Moraine I do think. Oh well... The 'Chaparral' and 'Camaro' characters situated atop the wheel arches seems a bit thin, whereas the 'Camaro' lettering isn't even centered atop the rear arch. Notice too that the script seems to bend/radius a touch to more or less match the rounded arch openings and contours of the panel work even as the period topic doesn't display this characteristic. Wondering then if select decals could be commissioned to rectify what I describe, or if I should speed up work on outsourcing the labor for a full set given the ERTL conversion won't come together without such. Teresawulf and Patto's Place sheets/artwork on this topic exist and could be ordered, hence there's that. Happily the calipers are positioned as they ought to be (the rear calipers were reversed from the as-delivered spec for being situated rearward as witnessed here), whereas some tiny strips of white decal stock have been overlaid atop the small rectangular exterior door latches where the stock items would be indented and color-matched with decals to the body color. I'm not sure if Chaparral strictly bothered with this detail on the actual racers, but nevertheless the application cleans things up a bit. Thanks for your review of this project post. Mike K.

Small updates again, and barely rating an update as things go... Just quickly, noticed with be a black wash applied to the cowl vents situated along the back of the hood, call outs (in black then) relating to pit crew where to position a jack along each respective rocker panel, the removal of contemporary pull point/hooks (these rendered as photo-etched parts), plus some modest wheel lug paintwork hitherto neglected. If I could (somehow) extract the interior away from the body shell, such would be refinished in light gray, although at this point it doesn't seem that the glued resin castings are necessarily going to yield to my efforts to separate them. All I know is that I don't want a replica of the restored topic, rather I want the period topic! I did try applying a small length of packing tape to the headlamp bezels and what I'll term 'jeweled' headlamp/lenses set within the same (why weren't these rendered as proper flat fill panels?), but found my efforts futile when I tried to basically yank them off with force for so trying. Worried too that I'd remove white paint from the resin shell, hence chary of doing real damage to this far from cheap model. On a related point, still unenthralled by the painted bumpers and headlamp bezels; i.e. I thought the transition to production spec. would witness these items chromed... With the chassis off the car via the careful removal of four screws access to the inset bezels was no better, hence a limited effort here to fabricate and fit fill panels overlays even as such ride a bit high. I suppose I could grind the lenses down consistent with having them sit deeper, although I'm not (yet) convincing the risk is worth it. The chassis plate is off the model, hence no exhaust dumps or brake duct hoses are seen fitted further forward given these are the last items glued and reinstalled before declaring the work undertaken across days complete. Kind thanks for your review of this project update... Mike K.

Greetings and picking up on a long-neglected thread here... Succumbing to temptation, I picked up a sealed resin 1:18th scale Replicarz '70 Jim Hall Chaparral Camaro which recently touched down in stores. I don't know; i.e. more than a few things leave me unenthralled across the release, although 'fire in my belly' with regards to selectively and gingerly correcting what I may as has been my practice. Retailing at a cool $239.95 and not featuring opening panels (thus it's a blob affixed to a blob, glued to another blob of resin), I'm wondering how the market will respond to it. An Ed Leslie iteration is also sold, although such is not seen here. Concerning myself, I suppose too the stark absence of some details/elements will prompt reengagement with my ERTL-based, opening panel late-season Vic Elford effort, and with the change of seasons (as I write then), I'll have more to do indoors in the coming weeks. Not strictly the beginning of the end then for the ERTL-based effort - but perhaps the end of the beginning! - Fast, ill-illuminated evidence of work on the wheels (refinished then in a proper magnesium alloy hue), the removal of the tiny 'Chaparral' decals on the roof edge, plus the addition of some discreet 'Firestone' bowtie accessory decals along the fenders just back of each front wheel arch opening. A bit of progress then. Kind thanks for your review of this post. Mike K.

Greetings and a brief return to my otherwise neglected thread... Having come up with a promo-issue Jo-Han 1969 Javelin SST shell molded in Frost White, the thought here was to refinish the forward and rear thirds of the same to suggest one of the rare tri-colored Trans-Am promo releases, these done in either red, white and blue or alternately blue, white and red from nose-to-tail. I didn't have a stock interior or chassis plate molded in white to complete the appearance of things, hence remains of a Bittersweet (Orange) metallic same-year Javelin promo were refinished to suit. Seen above would be the promo shell stripped of the metallic blue it formerly sported, while discoloration is witnessed across the surface of the body that could only be cleared up for a prolonged dip/exposure to a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution with the body situated in a glass flower vase and set in sunlight consistent with allowing a certain process to work. Also spied within the photo would be the essentially as-cast brown plastic chassis/plate, hence some imagination is required to forecast what will be the final result. Rather depressing to ponder the appearance of such at this juncture... Quite a difference then for the hydrogen peroxide dip combined with prolonged sunlight exposure. Given the original Trans-Am promo relied on the Frost White shell to basically telegraph an otherwise wholly finished white center section, it was important that the center band suggested be clean. Some putty work would be done to address other problems in terms of scratches and irregularities discovered across the stripped body shell, but all that was possible with the center band was to polish out what I could and essentially leave it be. A spoon test of the blue and red aerosol paints I hoped to employ suggests things might work out. Hoping too that the choices seen here will translate into success when the '68 and '69 RKE/JRT racers are painted in turn, whereas I believe the paints chosen look a touch better than what Jo-Han applied in the day to speak little of how company line workers faltered in relation to masking the necessary pattern. Tamiya TS-23 Light Blue and TS-68 Pure Red are made out here. Seen above would be an actual R/W/B period release of the promo, accurately telegraphing how clumsy the masking was of the body while also relating how box wear bores through the finishes applied: i.e. witness the leading edge of the hood as well as the wheel arch lips which reveal a bit of the underlying white plastic. Often these models present poorly when they do surface on the market, belying the reality that they are among the most valuable Jo-Han American Motors Javelin promotional releases. - Although hardly perfect, a pretty good end result then even as my own masking won't make headlines. I decided to paint the interior in the style of a '69 RKE/JRT Trans-Am racer without being too bold, whereas the chassis was finished in a semi-gloss white, again akin to the 1:1 period topic. I didn't want to deflect criticism of producing a fake intended to deceive, hence the choice to come up with something obviously different in a key detail. - While lastly, here I've situated the replica finished in B/W/R with an original R/W/B variant to telegraph what was achieved. The plastic glass was polished, metal promo chassis pins were set back into position for use of a soldering iron, while the wheels and tires are made up of Jo-Han '73 snap kit Javelin/AMX blackwalls combined with X-EL '69 AMX Magnum 500's and recycled period promo axles. Thanks for your review of this post. Mike K.

Greetings and apologies if I've posted the same basic thing previously... Something low-cost to employ (or at least experiment with) for the purposes of applying paint finishes to rims with exterior lips either machined or chromed, or less likely but still possible two-tone finishes (see below), consider grabbing a supply of scale model rocket nose cones. Seen below is a 1:18th diecast release than slightly underwhelmed for having inappropriately finished wheels (the center stamping should be painted black), whereas after much hemming and hawing, I finally gave matters a try for working up a two-part mask as illustrated. One section divides the outer pressed steel rim finished in silver from the center wheel stamping. Prepared carefully, the paint mask was thinned as much as I dared to fit as evenly and as tightly as I could manage (i.e. one simply doesn't have to 'live' with the as-delivered nose cone material thickness where it counts), whereas a relief for the air valve was carved out with a file to more or less lock the mask in-place when time came to apply a finish. Notice that the tip of the same cone was saved and trimmed to match the wheel center/lug surround trim in this instance to protect what couldn't be removed and safely tucked away off-site. I've done something similar for other 1:18th topics, carefully marking what was created for what purpose, whereas after a time the rocket nose cones (which can be purchased separately in a bundle should one look around versus being charged all-up for a whole model rocket kit) just become part of one's tool kit/bag of tricks. Thanks... Not everyone will have a hobby shop that splits the cones out separately for sale, but for looking it's possible to source such... The factory promo iterations (or at least some) didn't have the wheels finished appropriately. It was like I was ashamed to display it given people would talk! Compressing much (hey - it's a Turbo after all!), noticed will be my masking setup ready to go... Not perfect, but then the wheel masking on a silver/Polaris-painted version of the same basic release frankly isn't much better - or may rate as even a tad worse. Mike K.