beeRS

THIS IS A RE-BOOT OF MY OLD THREAD. I first started work on this Galaxie in 2013. The thread for that can be seen here. I hit a problem with the body paint and put the kit back on the shelf… until now! Unfortunately, soon after I put the kit away, Image Shack started charging for their image hosting and all my pictures on that thread were lost! This is why I'm having to re-boot the thread. This kit has always had a special place in my memories. I built a Barris 'Cruisin USA' kit when I was a kid - it was one of my first models I ever build. It came out pretty well (by my standard of the day). I wish I had kept it, but many years down the line I have no idea what happened to that model (but I a few of the parts have turned up in my spare parts box!). I found a more recent re-issue of the Galaxie on eBay. It has been started and is missing the engine. I thought it would be great to do this kit again - only this time, I'd like to think I have a better set of building skills. My intention is to build a 'tough as nails' street machine with modern day 'real-world' upgrades. I'm thinking lowered suspension and monster V8, standard bodywork with simple de-badging and plenty of detail. The first area needing attention is the floor/chassis... Well, that's as much as I can add in one post. There are over 100 more pics chronicling the build right up to the body paint stage - where it all went wrong! I will try to get this thread up to the current stage by posting a batch of images at a time (as I find them). With a little encouragement from everyone out there I hope to rekindle my enthusiasm in this build and finish it off.

This build keeps on amazing me. I love the way you did the gear lever - a lot of extra work, but well worth the effort. Clever dodge with the transaxle - I won't tell anyone ?.

Good work so far Greg. I especially like that Tamiya blue. How did you make the new side markers?

Thanks Dann. You're right about the PE cranks - they just look wrong!

A little more progress on this. Because I'm a nut for details I've cut off the window winders. This will be replaced with either the PE part, or the original ones (if I can straighten them out). I know this is such a small detail, and will probably go un-noticed when the model is finished, but I thought I'd give this idea a try. The front chassis rails are hollow, so they have been filled in. I really like this kit, however I do have an issue with the way the floor pan and the interior tub goes together. Its a little strange! I've seen this on other kits too. There is a big hole in the transmission tunnel, which gets filled by the bottom of the interior tub. I know that this will be mostly covered up when the transmission and the shaft are in, but I thought, I'd try to fix this now. I've glued the interior tub to the floor pan and filled the hole - first with plastic sheet, then with putty. I've had to remove the gearbox crossmember, but this will be refitted later on. There's a gap inside the front wheel openings above the interior tub area. Again, this is something that may not be seen well when the model is finished, but since I'm on a roll, I've decided to fix this too. Provided I don't keep on finding things to 'correct' on this kit, I may actually get this in paint soon.

Nice job Pete. I think the silver (second time round) looks fantastic. The fleck in the silver looks just right for a 1:24 scale model. What paint did you use for that? Reading your thread gave me deja vu. I painted my Tamiya GT3 and messed up the paint too. At the time, this was a cheap kit on ebay, so I was able to start over without the hassle of paint stripping. Shame you could not use those wheels, but the kit supplied ones look great in black.

Fantastic Hot Rod, and the candy paint looks amazing.

This is so impressive. There's not much of the old F40 left now. Some of the photos look like a 1:1 car being built. I'm watching with interest.

That is a beautiful job Urs. The door fit on yours is so much better than the kit of this I had. Did you add real mesh into the hood grille?

Both are fantastic builds. They look very realistic. The wheels on the red one suit it perfectly. I also had a 1:1 Golf Mk1 in the late 80s, but mine was a 1.1. I longed for a Gti with the later bumpers, but that would have been way out of my budget. Are these the same kit with two building options, or are they different kits?

Are those turbos and piping all scratch built Dann? I'm in awe!

Good to see you hit the bench so quickly after your move. Shame about the paint, but it hardly shows in the pics. What is the novous polishing system that you mention?

Nice work so far on cleaning up those mold line Dan. I'm a bit confused! When I was a kid, I built the AMT Genereal Lee. The bodyshell on that was from the Daytona 500 - so had the wrong back window (if I remember correctly). This MPC kit has the correct bodyshell. So, is this really the same tooling as the General Lee? Maybe, I've got it wrong?

This is fantastic work Dann. The interior alone is going to be a masterpiece. I once had this kit, and decided it was too much work to get it right so I sold the kit on. It seems nothing scares you.

Nice work so far Martin. I love that car you're taking inspiration from. It kind of reminds me of the stuff that the Ring Brothers, or Foose would build. The smoothed out engins bay not only looks good, but saves a lot of detailing work further down the line. Of course an engine bay like that needs a serious motor in it. What's it gonna be? Something supercharged with 1000bhp?

Wow Dann. Do you mean a 1:1 car? Is the GTS a 383 V8?

Yes - its been far too long buddy! I'm gonna try to make 2020 the year I actually finish something. I've not completed a model in 10 years. I spend too much effort chasing the details, and forget this is supposed to be a fun hobby.

I've had this kit sitting in my collection for over a decade now, and thought it's about time I did something with it. I'm starting with the Mr Norm's Revell kit and a photo etch set from MCG. I'm not sure if this will be an exact factory stock build or a very mild custom at this stage. A quick bit of googling and I have some inspiration... I rather like the gold, but we'll see if I can find a good colour match. I've always used automotive spray cans for bodywork, but this time, I'd like to try Zero, Scale Finishes or Tamiya paints. I've never used any of these for a body, so any advice/recommendations would be welcome. First step for me has been to remove the kit hinges and make my own. I do like a precise working hinge on opening panels. I've also reduced the size of the slot in the body where the hinge fits through. According to my reference pic the slot in the kit is too wide. Its still not perfect. I guess the best way to do the hinges in the correct width would have been to make them from brass. This will have to do. Its just a start. I'll post more progress as I go (but I am the world's slowest builder!).

You nailed it with the stance, and that paint job is looking great! Are you going with a black roof like the Electracutioner?

Did you use a spray can for the interior (TS-46 light sand), or are you airbrushing? I've never used Tamiya paints, but they look really good. I will have to give them a go. Great work so far - that green really stands out!

Great to see this in paint. Looks like you're nearly finished now.

Absolutely the nicest General Lee, I have seen! I think ot looks better for not having the grill guard at the front.

Wow. What a collection! The only car I don't recognise is the 5th picture. Could that be a Mark 4 GT40?

I love the Fujimi Countaches, and up till now, thought there's no point looking at the Aoshima kit. You've changed my mind on that Dann. I'm going to have to pick one of these up now. Still love the uber detailed engine of the Enthusiast kit though!

I love the colour choice, and the traditional hot rod style. Keep the good work going.