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That is soooo beautiful Peter. I watched your build with interest. I am very familiar with this kit and have been looking forward to building it some day. Your one looks absolutely stunning. I remember seeing a Coupe in this colour racing against a boat on Top Gear. I remember thinking I would like to build my Fujimi in the same colour - but you beat me to it! The Top Gear clip is here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBBy-4tnWoM

That's a fine job done there on the Daytona Peter. Its looking amazing! I built the Spyder version about 15 years ago and I remember it being an amazing kit - one of the best I've ever seen. I have bought a spare one of these kits because I needed the a second convertible top. It sounds like you've already got a pair of indicators on the way to you, but if things don't work out just let me know your address and I can send you a pair. Look forward to seeing this one finished.

To be honest - this kit will probably sit in my stash waiting for me to get round to it one day. I'm fed up with carbon fibre work (I'm still doing my Tamiya 1/12 Enzo), and I'm not that impressed with this kit. I really love the F1 and have looked forward to receiving this kit since I first heard of it, but the doors with no hinges are not a great idea. I wish the engine was a full detail one too. And the tyres with no side wall markings (as seems to be the case with all new kits!) just don't look right. It'll probably still make a nice display model, but its just not one I'm that enthused about right now.

and some more pics...

I finally got round to taking some pictures in my not-so-well lit photo booth. So, I apologise in advance as these pics aren't great...

This is a great idea Andy, and what a good kit base to start from. Tamiya's kit of the mk11 is great. I've often looked at it and though it would make the great basis for a custom. It looks like you have at least two of these kits so you could build one stock for comparison. Inspector Morse would be impressed!

Hi Roger, This is a good question. If you mean the rear package shelf then - yes - this is going to need some modification. The kit part is flat and also acts as the anchor for the kit trunk hinges. It will not fit with my new trunk hinges in place. The 1:1 package shelf has a kind of kick-up at the back edge to meet the lower edge of the rear window. I guess I'll have to scratch a new shelf!

Nice idea Rusty. I think I'll give this a try. I think I may have to 'shrink' the depth of the hinges a little too as they do look oversize once in place.

Just received my McLaren F1 from HLJ this morning. Its got a basic 'top-half' engine, and doors that can be posed open or closed - but not hinged. I'll take some pics if anyone's interested.

Those wheels look awesome!

The excess holes in the hinge pieces are being filled with a little stretched sprue. I've glued them into the holes and then cut them flush once the glue is set. Here are the two completed trunk hinges. And here they are glued to the trunk. The long pin helps me to make sure that both hinges are perfectly aligned with each other. These are the pieces that will anchor the hinge to the body. This is the final hinge assembly in place. The trunk can easily be removed by sliding the pins out. Once the glue is set I can try the hinge out and I'm glad to say it works! I've made many hinges in a similar way to this and they don't always work. The worst part is that you never know till the whole lot is assembled. I'm switching from grey primer to white. This is just what I call a 'checking' coat. I get everything the same colour to make sure I can properly see that the shape is right and I can pick out the flaws. There's so much work left to do on this one. It's great to see all the encouraging comments you guys make on this forum - its good for keeping up the enthusiasm and staying motivated.

Now its time for me to sort the trunk lid out. Above is a pic of the trunk lid as it comes out of the box. As with most plastic kits I think it far too thick. I wonder if AMT could have put the ejector pins in a worse place! Here's a pic of the 1:1 trunk, so the challenge I have is to make the kit part look more like this. So here it is after another hours worth of sanding/cutting/grinding... It's not quite as '3D' as the 1:1 trunk, but its slightly better (I think!). Now I have to replicate the trunk hinges. Of course the kit parts won't do so I'm starting from scratch. The pic above is from a 1:1 car. You can see the 'U' shape channel that I need to replicate. I will never be able to make a true scale hinge from plastic as it won't be strong enough to do the job. My effort is slightly oversized, but at least it will look a little more like the 1:1 hinge. In the pic above you can see three different profiles that I have trialled. With this trial hinge tack glued to the trunk lid, I can test that the hinge will work properly. This is my favourite way of cutting identical shaped pieces. You can see that I am actually cutting 5 pieces here. I will need two per hinge and I'm cutting one extra just in case I mess one up. The two holes are so that I pin the 5 pieces together and keep them perfectly aligned with one another. Five identical pieces!

With the engine in place the bonnet will not fit - so after trialling about a 100 different bonnet scoops (sorry - I mean 'hood' scoop) and bulges from my spare parts box I found this. It's from AMT's 66 Nova. It was an optional part that I did not use when I built the Nova about 20 years ago. From all the pencil marks on the hood you can see the fun and games I had trying to figure out which scoop was going to be best. The only problem with the Nova scoop is that it is dead straight and the Galaxie hood has a subtle curve... So, a quick dip in a pan of boiling water and a gentle bit of shaping got the shape just right. It's a very slight curve, but its all it takes to make it a perfect fit. Above; with an appropriately sized hole cut in the hood. I've stripped the silver paint off the air 'trumpets' so they look a mess right now. And here's the hood scoop finally glued in place. There's still some work to do here as I want the scoop to look like it is moulded as part of the hood. The underside of the hood is looking pretty bad now. The plan is to make this part look like it is a one-piece glass fibre hood so most of the under-hood structure must go. And here it is after an hour of sanding.

Looks awesome in black! Looks like a flawless finish.

This is one of my favourite AMT kits and you have done a fine job here. Looks great on those ARE wheels - I'm pretty sure you're right; they do come from Revell's 32.

Nice clean build Bruce. Looks stunning in white/green!

Nice project Mike. Looks like your going to end up with a spectrum of 944's in your display cabinet! Do you have plans to build the Hasagawa 968 as well? If you are building a pre 1985 944 (I guess you are because of the dash from the 924 kit) then I expect that you are aware of the different windscreen too. The early 944 had a windscreen that was recessed about 1/2 inch, whereas the post 1985 944 had a flush fit windscreen. Having said that, It's not a major issue and I doubt anyone would notice. Good luck with this project Mike. I look forward to seeing your progress.

Awesome scratch building. I especially like the Sharpe trans! I would love to see some more progress on this one

A beautiful models and an unusual subject. Very nice!

Some amazing work there on getting the sub-chassis right. Great scratch building skills. Keep up the great work.

Thanks for the ideas Roger. I would love to see that treatment on the Hemi - please post a pic .

What a lovely build Peter! I love the colour - not too loud. Can't see any dust in the engine bay! That 'chrome before paint' technique on the scripts really works well. I have never tried it, but I'll have to give it a go now.

A very nice build. I like the work on the tyres - I must try the circle cutter. Thanks for the tip.

Now it's time to get the firewall sorted. For a while I was considering keeping it smooth with no details except for the brake servo, but after finding some good reference pics I have decided to scratch build a stock firewall. The one supplied with the kit is not accurate and had big holes for the bonnet (sorry 'hood') hinges - which I won't be using. It also has gaps where it meets the kits inner fenders (which I won't be using either!). To achieve the oddly shaped panel I have had to cut my smooth firewall down. I've added the spot-weld flange using the thinnest styrene sheet I have. In the pic below you can also see the engine mounts completed. The excess rod length has been cut away. I've added the top part of the firewall back, but this time with a curve. From this angle (see the pic below) you can see the curve better. It now matches the curve of the back edge of the hood opening - as on the 1:1 car. I found this pic of a Boss 520 with throttle body fuel injection and I think this is the kind of look I NEED . To achieve this I've searched my parts box and come up with the 8 air horns (I have no idea which kit they originally came from). I've also found a twin carb high-rise manifold which can be cut down for the job. And here's the lot just mocked up in place. At the moment I don't know whether to replicate a mechanical injection system (like a Hilborn set-up) or a more modern throttle body set up. In this picture you can also see how the curve of the top of the fire-wall now matches the back edge of the hood opening (or at least better than before!). The manifold is a perfect fit in the Boss engine. Again, I have no idea where this part originally came from (after 30+ years of building model cars and never throwing anything away I've accumulated a mountain of spares and extras). Of course, now I will need to cut the hood. This was never part of the original plan but Its something that can't be avoided now .

A coat of grey primer reveals that the floor is going to take a lot more work to look right. Finally, I have sourced an engine! I'll be using a 429 Boss motor from Monogram's '70 Boss Mustang kit. It's actually a 1/24 scale kit. At first I was not too keen on this idea, but after checking a few measurement I felt that it would be OK. I wanted the 'big' V8 look for the Galaxie and this is certainly achieves that. It's a 429, but I'm happy to call it a 520 Cu In. I believe that the outer dimension of both engines would be identical ?? The kit engine is 'OK', but it lacks the super-detail I would have had from a Ross Gibson engine. Never mind - I will just have to get busy scratch building details myself. First job was to cut away the moulded-in sump. The engine is to be set further back in the engine bay than the original, and so the front drop on the sump was no good. Anyway, I want to build a race style fabricated sump for this engine. Above you can see the engine offered up in place with the beginnings of my scratch build engine mounts. The plates that bolt to the block were created first, then 'tack glued' to the block. So that I can adjust the lengths of the mounts I have drilled right through the X-member and used extra long styrene rods to meet up with the mounting plates on the block. In the pic above you can see the engine temporarily held in place with a blob of Blu-Tac whilst the glue sets. You can also see that the hollow internals of the engine have been filled with a lump of putty. This adds a little extra weight (I like a weighty feel to my models - in moderation).