Scarab MK IV

[Misha]

Scarab  Mk IV

Finished this build about a year ago using the Monogram  slot car body and adding a few details to enhance the interior, a small block Chevy, and tire and wheel combo from the parts stash.

I had started this project back in 2014 with body prep by thinning out the thickness of the plastic around the wheel wells, plus the usual mold lines, deepening the panel lines, etc. To eliminate the appearance of the empty engine bay through the top openings in the rear I installed a SBC from the AMT 63 Vette, scratchbuilding a manifold for the Webers, and altering the block to fit the chassis. As it turned out there wasn’t room for the carbs and they weren’t really visible either, yet what did work were the excellent valve covers that may be glimpsed through the openings. At the time I didn’t have many reference photos, so the rear openings at the rear trailing edge and the brake cooling scoops are absent. I find the body design to be quite striking and decided to just have the white stripe and the meatballs without the clutter of numbers and sponsors. 

Upon resurrecting the project last year I completed the interior, adding pedals, seat belts, instrument decals and substituting the steering wheel. 

There is still another complete kit in the stash and I plan on building a fictional “what if” Mark V version powered by BBC, rear fender flares, and installing a wing similar to the Chaparral 2E. I find that these early kits, while having a low parts count, offer great opportunities for detailing while remaining a curbside model.

Cheers Misha

Edited December 16, 2021 by Misha
Title Fix

[Gramps46]

Oh yes!  Very well done.  Really captures the feel and look of the 1:1.  

[cobraman]

Very nice ! You did a heck of a job here.

[Rich Chernosky]

Very cool...nice job

[bbowser]

Hard to believe its a slot body, very nice!

[afx]

Nice work Misha.

[David G.]

Beautiful work and a unique subject.

The interior detail looks great.

David G.

[1959scudetto]

Very nice build and paint, Misha - especially well detailed interior !

[Misha]

20 hours ago, Gramps46 said:

Oh yes!  Very well done.  Really captures the feel and look of the 1:1.  

Thanks Gary, the MK IV has such a unique body, especially how the front fenders dramatically stop at the cockpit. Back in the day a lot of the designs were based on informed intuition with out the aid of wind tunnels or computers.

20 hours ago, cobraman said:

Very nice ! You did a heck of a job here.

Thanks Ray, While it was a long interval between bench time for this one, it was great to place it in the display cabinet. We usually spend the winters at our Scottsdale home, yet this is our third winter on the Island and I miss all of my buds from the Moonlight and Cactus clubs, hope to return in the not too distant future.

20 hours ago, Rich Chernosky said:

Very cool...nice job

Thanks Rich, I’m quite happy with my decision to keep the scheme simple as it adds to the coolness factor by focusing on the styling.

20 hours ago, bbowser said:

Hard to believe its a slot body, very nice!

Thanks Bruce, It did turn out quite well. I have a number of the old curbside kits from Monogram and AMT in the stash. Next in line is the AMT Hussein, another unique racer with an interesting history being built for the Jordanian Monarch at the time.

5 hours ago, afx said:

Nice work Misha.

Thanks JC, always good to hear from you. It didn’t require that much work as it did require planning. With further research I did discover the added opening at the rear and the scoops on top, yet at that point the body was primed and painted. It will be fun to construct a fictional MK V! 

5 hours ago, David G. said:

Beautiful work and a unique subject.

The interior detail looks great.

David G.

31 minutes ago, 1959scudetto said:

Very nice build and paint, Misha - especially well detailed interior !

Thanks David & Helmut, I find that curbsides offer a greater chance for detailing, especially open cockpits, as I usually spend most of my time detailing engines. With all the after market bits available it really adds to the ease of enhancing interiors. Also David my comments regarding the Phoenix modelling community extends to you, missing the Sun!

 

Thanks  to all for for checking in on this build! At this time I would like to wish all the best for the coming holidays.

Cheers Misha

[ChrisR]

Looks great!

[PappyD340]

Very nice!

[slusher]

Very nicely done!

[MeatMan]

Nice!

[Nacho Z]

Oh I like this one, Misha!  Very cool!

[Bainford]

Nice work, Misha. Very cool subject, and well executed. You captured the look nicely. Well done.

[Misha]

Thanks for the kind comments, it’s always great to hear from other modellers from all over especially during these times when club meetings are held via Zoom and there is a lack of shows and contests.
 

Cheers Misha

Edited December 20, 2021 by Misha

[Misha]

2 hours ago, Bainford said:

Nice work, Misha. Very cool subject, and well executed. You captured the look nicely. Well done.

Edited December 20, 2021 by Misha
Couldn’t add comment, see below

[Misha]

Thanks Trevor, As mentioned before I’m quite excited with these vintage road racers. Interesting how much interest there is currently among fellow members with all the builds of Ford GTs, Ferrari, Porsches and others; a revival of sorts. Design wise there is a much cleaner look to them without all the added aero treatments on current racers.

Thanks for checking in, cheers Misha

[Phildaupho]

Great looking Scarab that you definitely enhanced with the added detail. I really like the use of the Minilite wheels and the views of the engine through the vents.

[Gramps46]

When Reventlow closed down his Scarab operations Shelby moved his Cobra operations into the vacant building on Princton Ave. and hired some of the staff like Phil Remington.  Lucky Shelby.

[TonyK]

Very nice looking model. Sometimes the older simple models can give you a chance to add your own skills and make them a much better model than anyone expected and you've done that. Nice work and I really like those gauges.

[Dave Armstrong]

I have a couple of these in my stash, still haven't gotten around to them.

I LOVE what you did with this! Nice work, great touches to it! I bookmarked this as a guide for ME whenever I get to mine.

[89AKurt]

Cool subject, I like what you have done!  I'm preferring to focus on the old vintage classic (whatever the youngsters call these LOL) cars, the new exotics are amazing and interesting, but the complexity is too much for me.  In my opinion, way too over designed.  Nice choice of wheel/tires, I assume they are Fujimi.  Seatbelts look great too, a detail that is annoying to accomplish, but adds so much to an open cockpit.

[1959scudetto]

On 12/22/2021 at 8:33 AM, 89AKurt said:

Cool subject, I like what you have done!  I'm preferring to focus on the old vintage classic (whatever the youngsters call these LOL) cars, the new exotics are amazing and interesting, but the complexity is too much for me.  In my opinion, way too over designed.  Nice choice of wheel/tires, I assume they are Fujimi.  Seatbelts look great too, a detail that is annoying to accomplish, but adds so much to an open cockpit.

Could be my words, Kurt - as my childhood has been in the '60s, I prefer sports cars and sports racers from 1960 up to 1975 (eventually expanded from 1950 up to 1990) - but the 60's and early 70's had the best looking Ferraris and Alfa Romeos, not to mention Ford GTs, Chaparrals, Porsches and even the F1 cars looked good back then. My favorite sports cars - Ferrari 250 GT/L (Lusso), Lamborghini Miura and Dino 246 GT are from that era - Italian cars never looked as fantastic as back then - today's supercars may be technically perfect, but have no soul - they are ugly to me and look like roboters.