randyc Posted April 8, 2019 Share Posted April 8, 2019 Building this one for a friend. Such a nice kit I decided to try to make it my best build to date. Spent a few hours smoothing out the waves and sinkmarks on the body. Rescribed the lines sharper. Went ahead and glued up the frame to have strong bonds where the crossmembers are joined. My buddy collects diecasts mostly, so I have been putting lead sinker weights wherever possible. The engine block is full. Some in transaxle, fuell cells, and behind dash. That will also help it to on all fours later. I started photos late in process. Embossing powder carpet. Plug wires from a spool of red wire from Radio shack. Not much else other than paint details and a quickie carb linkage from PE hood pin plate (yep) and a piece of guitar string. I don;t have patience for more and that was plenty at this point. Paint is Rustoleum auto primer under Rustoleum Cherry Red from lowes. Has some dust, dang it. That's a shame because the paint laid down like glass. I did my most extenxsive prep ever on this one and danged if all the experts aren't right. The better the prep, the better the paint job. I'll polish carefully, but going to let this one dry THOROUGHLY. Red has been tough for me in the past. I did let it dry in dehydrator for several hours yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gramps46 Posted April 8, 2019 Share Posted April 8, 2019 Oh yes, looking mighty fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkzwolf Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 Looks great. I have one I'm going to start as soon as I finish the 1/700 USS MINNEAPOLIS kit I'm building. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randyc Posted April 9, 2019 Author Share Posted April 9, 2019 11 hours ago, tkzwolf said: Looks great. I have one I'm going to start as soon as I finish the 1/700 USS MINNEAPOLIS kit I'm building. Good luck. I've never been able to finish anything other than cars. It is a great kit. I had forgotten how nice the Entusiast kits can be. They can be finicky to build though. Takes patience and careful assembly to get everything to fit properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randyc Posted April 10, 2019 Author Share Posted April 10, 2019 More photos. Did the lines between the seat pads. One of the fin point Sharpies worked well. Saw that tip on another build of same car. This is the paint before rubbing out. Haven't started that process yet. If it weren't for the dusties in it and if it were going to be mine, I probably wouldn't fool with it. And started the foiling. I do that differently than most, probably. You can make out my quickie carb linkage. Shoulda took a litttle motre effort, but it's done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 Beautiful Detailing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOBLNG Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 14 minutes ago, Foxer said: Beautiful Detailing! I agree, really nice job on that interior! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randyc Posted April 10, 2019 Author Share Posted April 10, 2019 Thanks guys. But like usual, when I see my photos, I always see more I could do. Or neater. Just hoping no one looks this close too often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gramps46 Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 Really, I say really, looking good Randy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superbike-shaun Posted April 11, 2019 Share Posted April 11, 2019 I'm Say go ahead as close as you want cause I did and ITs looking Brilliant! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkzwolf Posted April 11, 2019 Share Posted April 11, 2019 Interior detailing looks great to me. Thanks for the tip on the sharpie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belugawrx Posted April 11, 2019 Share Posted April 11, 2019 2 hours ago, superbike-shaun said: I'm Say go ahead as close as you want cause I did and ITs looking Brilliant! X2 I'm liking this so far Randy The red paint is beauty, but the engine detail, the fuel feed looks great ! Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randyc Posted April 11, 2019 Author Share Posted April 11, 2019 Thanks again for the compliments. I have some touching up to do - looking at more reference photos last night and see some things I need to adjust. I love that you can google just about any car and get enough photos to really make a nice replica. Way better than Fujimi's instructions where 90% of the parts are painted silver or black. The dash decal tried to come apart, but I was able to save it. However, probably going to clear the rest of the sheet to try to keep it together. This has been a fun build, even if it is for someone else ultimately. I'll be glad to get back to my 68 Chevelle. It's in primer now and I'll likely try to use some of what I learned here to make the paint a little slicker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randyc Posted April 16, 2019 Author Share Posted April 16, 2019 Some updated photos. I'm still in the body on/off stage, making sure everything is fitting. The headlights gave me a fit. I assembled the headlight bar before paint to get a good cement bond. Well, at time to fit, they weren't quite right, so I attempted to "persuade" the connecting bar a bit and it broke. So I thought I'd replace it with metal rod only to realize I had no rod of the proper size. Tried some wound guitar string and realized I couldn't get it to bend like I wanted. So everything is pinned and glued back together. It has a lazy eye that I need to see if I can adjust. But the lights do raise and lower so I don't want to mess with it too much. The covers fit pretty close to right when closed which is most important, I think. The hood hinge also glued in place. Insulation is gray primer, framework is silver sharpie. Might try to make a prop rod. Won't be prototypical, but may put on in for display. I hope the guy I'm building it for doesn't mess with lights and hood too much. Not the sturdiest assemblies. If building this kit, tape the headlight covers in their PROPER place FIRST, then build the rest from below. BUT, once you glue the covers to the light housings, it does not come back out. Be warned. When I put the dash decal on, the decals tried to crumble. So I sprayed some clear lacquer over them. Went to put the steering wheel emblem on and it still crumbled. So I carefully brushed some clear enamel over them. We'll try that again later. The horn button also didn't have any backing behind the yellow so it wasn't going to work anyway - too translucent. So I painted a dot on the wheel and will try to make an approximation of the horse on it later. There is also a decal that looks like the choke control for the console. Some photos of real car have it and some don't, so if it falls apart, no big deal. It will probably be next decal I try to see if the decals work better. Trying to not mess up the body decals till I get them to stay together. I really need the body decals to stay together. Wish I has some of that decal film stuff - microscale? If hte enamel doesn't work, I may try a thin coat of kristal kleer. The turn signals are a combination of TS yellow and Boyds Orange. Testors TS yellow is just too yellow, but orange sharpie was too orange for the fronts. Black sharpie around edges to define the gasket that is in photos of real car. The taillights will likely be orange sharpie. With the lead weights in it, it feels hefty. The wheels screw on and I'm getting excited about getting to the point where I can install them. Of course, I still have to build the other three. I put that one in place to check clearances and such. The chassis will have to be placed carefully and correctly to get the wheels right in their openings and already sanded the face of the brake disc hat to get the rears inside just a touch more. Paint has been polished out but will still need one more good cleaning when it's done being handled so much. Someone on a FB group said Rustoleum is trash and no good. I'd have to disagree in this case. Paint is shiny. Nice and hard too. Radiator and engine room details will likely be next. One tip - when building a kit like this, do your bolt heads BEFORE putting too much detail in. I waited too late and was hard or unable to get to all of the engine bolt heads. Also, put a piece of tape behind the tiny parts to keep them from flying into space. Haven't lost anything yet. Did break turn signal off cutting from sprue - should have cut them before the big attachments. Drilled and glued back in place. Happy to say still haven't lost any parts on this one. Knock wood. Thanks for looking. We'll see where we get to next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gramps46 Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 Super progress Randy and thanks for the tips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afx Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 Coming along nicely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scalper Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 nice work in progress.. what a great looking car.. Kit has great detail . really like what you've done so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrObsessive Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 Randy, I built this one many years ago and just a bit of a caution.......before you mount the wheels permanently, you may want to file the hubs down just a bit. I found my wheels to stick too close to the edge, whereas on the actual car they're slightly inboard. This is coming along GREAT and this is one of my favorite Fujimi kits along with the Daytona coupe. I've got both kits now and I'd like to build either one of them again someday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randyc Posted April 16, 2019 Author Share Posted April 16, 2019 3 hours ago, MrObsessive said: Randy, I built this one many years ago and just a bit of a caution.......before you mount the wheels permanently, you may want to file the hubs down just a bit. I found my wheels to stick too close to the edge, whereas on the actual car they're slightly inboard. This is coming along GREAT and this is one of my favorite Fujimi kits along with the Daytona coupe. I've got both kits now and I'd like to build either one of them again someday. I think I saw your note about the wheels on another thread. I have already filed the faces of the rears off. May go a little more when I get to that point. And will check fronts for sure. I have had a blast building this one, even though it ultimately lives with someone else when complete. I'll gladly build more of these for others! LOL I tried the Testors/Fujimi Countach years ago and never finished. My skills weren't up to the task really. I sold it off a few weeks ago and not sure I'd want to try it again. All the opening panels and such. And I still have a Fujimi '73 Porsche Rally car I want to finish. I started it long ago, so may have to try to work with whatever I did in the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dann Tier Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 Coming along BEAUTIFULLY!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodent Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 Had one of these in the stash for many years. Finally sold it. Often wish I hadn't. Could recreate this as a diorama! Hard to believe that these 1:1 cars were worth little enough at the time that they were used in the movie. Great build Randy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89AKurt Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 1 hour ago, Rodent said: Had one of these in the stash for many years. Finally sold it. Often wish I hadn't. Could recreate this as a diorama! Hard to believe that these 1:1 cars were worth little enough at the time that they were used in the movie. Great build Randy! [...] HA HA! That's something I would like to do too! I recently got the Shelby from a model club friend. Trouble is, I have the Daytona Coupe, could have bought a Spyder at the Desert Scale but thought no...... Looking good Randy! I feel your pain with the headlights. I sort of recall them being a problem, I glued on the covers after installation, some time later noticed the Testors glue sort of melted the plastic giving a dented look. I added a few details. Now that I read the discussion about wheels sticking out.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randyc Posted April 17, 2019 Author Share Posted April 17, 2019 8 hours ago, 89AKurt said: HA HA! That's something I would like to do too! I recently got the Shelby from a model club friend. Trouble is, I have the Daytona Coupe, could have bought a Spyder at the Desert Scale but thought no...... Looking good Randy! I feel your pain with the headlights. I sort of recall them being a problem, I glued on the covers after installation, some time later noticed the Testors glue sort of melted the plastic giving a dented look. I added a few details. Now that I read the discussion about wheels sticking out.... Thanks! Nice build too. I like your prop rods. I hope I can get my taillights to look as good as yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belugawrx Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 This is looking great Randy ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twokidsnosleep Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 Looking good so far. I made mine without a rear view mirror b/c "what is behind me does not matter!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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