Volvoman

I remember building one of these old Monogram kits a number of years ago. I no longer have it, it currently lives out its days on my friends scrapyard diorama...!!

Absolutely beautiful truck and trailer combo!! I love the old 80,s DAF,s and you have certainly done this one proud!!

Nice truck, I very much like it.

This is my second build of the year, my Tamiya Toyota Landcruiser. Built pretty much box stock and painted in Tamiya Mica red metallic with the exception of some KFS number plates and a tax disc. After getting some rather inclement weather over the last few days here in the UK, I thought that I would take the opportunity to photograph the Toyota in the snow and I must admit, I am quite pleased with the results. As usual, all thoughts and comments are welcome and thanks for looking.

Hi folks, I am blown away by all of your positive comments on my little Lotus, as always they mean so much to me and they are very much appreciated!!

Many thanks for all your comments guys......!

Very well done to her, that has turned out great and you should both be proud.

I thought that it was a white Trans am photographed in a snowstorm........!!

Thanks very much for your comments Slusher, very much appreciated.

This is my first build of 2013, the Tamiya Lotus Europa special. Sprayed with Tamiya gloss black, this was built pretty much box stock with the exception of some KFS number plates and a tax disc, BMF and a pair of photoetch glasses on the centre console. The rear LOTUS lettering and the pinstriping on the rear deck are missing as I lost a couple of the letters in the carpet as they did'nt stick down too well and for some unknown reason the pinstriping for the rear decking dissolved in the water yet I had no problems at all with the others. As usual, all comments and thoughts are welcome and thanks for looking.

Thanks Simon, yes, the Transits are everywhere and its true that they say that they are the backbone of Britain. As for those infamous catchphrases for British Gas, I certainly remember them!! Bowtieboss, I would love to have a fleet of Transits in classic liveries but as these vans are commanding silly prices at the moment and unless someone rereleases them, I think that I may have to settle with having this single one. This one was originally planned to be built as an R A C van but I was unable to get the decals made so as I already had the B G decals, it made sense to build it.

Yes Michigan, the Transit connect is very popular in the states as I found out whilst I was in Vegas just over a year ago. A lot of them were being used as taxi cabs; we caught one and I was telling the driver that I drive one at my workplace back home. As for the new Transit, I have seen a few sneak pics of the new facelifted version and I am very impressed. As the company I work for use mostly Transits in 3.5t long wheelbase flatbed form, it won't be long before we start to get some of the new ones on the fleet.

Many thanks for the comments guys, I will try to answer a few of your questions. GeeBee, the decals were bought some years ago as a job lot of assorted decals at the classic commercial vehicle show at Gaydon. Doobie, as far as I am aware, this was the only Transit ever made in kit form. Ironically, it was a MK3 on a Transit forum site that has been restored as a Gas van that gave me the inspiration to build mine. Michigan, I suppose that our Ford Transit is pretty much the same as your Ford Econoline.As I mentioned earlier, they are pretty much hard to find and the prices that they command on sites like ebay reflect this.I certainly don't blame you for stashing them away, I wish that someone would rerelease them and then I would buy a load!! Thanks again guys.

Thanks for the comments guys much appreciated. Wagoneer, thanks very much for the info on the reg. number. KFS supplied the plates on a decal sheet and I honestly thought that the number was fictional and not real! The kit is quite hard to come by nowadays,they command some very high prices on ebay and I have seen mint and boxed examples going for triple figures!! As for my Transit, if it was registered in Preston, it is now working in the south for Southern gas!! Thanks again for the info and a Happy new year to all!!

Some more pics.

Just about got this finished up before the new year, my Ford Transit van in the classic British Gas livery from the 80's. These were very popular in the UK back in the day and my well jog a few memories for the ones who may remember them. I started off with an Esci Transit kit and the first task was to fill in the side doors as the real ones only had rear door access. The body was then primed and then painted in Ford Diamond white and when that was dry, the rest of the body was masked up and then painted in Peugeot Royal blue. The side decals and stripes were then added and the rest of the kit went together pretty well. The roofrack was scratch built along with the combi ladder and some scale copper tubing was cut and glued into the carrier alongside. K F S supplied the number plates and tax disc, also the resin drinks flask and the hard hat inside the cab with some scale copies of Truck Model World on the passenger seat. As usual, all thoughts and comments are welcome and thanks very much for looking.

Very nice build, very clean and tidy but just one mistake... what you have built is a BMW Mini, not a Morris mini; that is the old original type mini. A very nice model that you have built though nevertheless.

Stunning build of a classic cooper.

Cracking little pocket rocket, very well built. Just a pointer, the car is obviously running with UK plates so the rear one should be yellow. Brilliant build though.!

Very nice and clean, I might have to track one of these down for my collection.

Typing this in before the big man visits to wish everyone a very happy christmas and a very prosperous 2013!!

Thanks guys, Davewilly, the overcast look is quite normal for us in the UK at this time of year. I was dodging rain showers whilst taking the outdoor pics; if you look closely, you will see very fine raindrops on the car in a couple of pics. Wagoneer, thanks for the comments. As for Fiats legendary rust problems, a friend of my late grandad years ago bought a brand new Fiat 131 mirafiori estate on a 1979 T plate and when it went for its first MOT 3 years later, the floor needed welding and the sills needed patching up!! Needless to say, he didnt keep it for much longer....!!

Many thanks once again guys for all your kind remarks regarding my Fiat and also my photography skills. All the photographs were taken on the wall outside my house using the camera on my mobile phone; I tend to get better pictures using that than I do on my digital camera! Simon, as for the decals, the ones that you get in the Italeri kit are Cartograf decals which I must say are some of the best that I have ever used but you will need a lot of decal fix around some of the more tricky areas on the body. As for the MK2 Escort, I have built a couple of these and I have one part built in the Rothmans livery and I must admit, it certainly shows its age in the same way as the Fiat does.

While its nice to see Mustangs, Corvettes, and tri-chevies, its also nice to see stuff that otherwise often gets overlooked. A really nice job on your Citation.

Beautiful car, beautiful colour, beautiful build!!