1959scudetto

Yesterday evening I have all missing details finally included: side window hatches cut from blister packages, headlight covers were donated from a 250 GTO (Italeri), roof-mounted rear view mirror from Scale Productions (polished metal), rear wheel spinners from a Fujimi Gulf GT40, touch-ups with Humbrol silver and matte white enamels (tire lettering): Now waiting for the (correct) decals... then a few small touch-ups where necessary, and next time it will be in the "Under glass" section.

Mock-ups are quite essential: for self-motivation and for checking ride-height of a vehicle to achieve the stance you want to get, especially when kit-bashing or modifying/reworking old builts like this '68 Ford 3 L prototype:

As you may know, the real F3L/P68 did not finish any of the races it attended. Well, mine is at least crawling towards the finish line (still a few details have to be added - I'm still awaiting some decals I have ordered from France): wiper from the spares box, polished metal fuel cap from Scale Production, headlights from CTM: rear lights are amt truck roof lights, painted over with orange and red (outside) and dark red (inside) clear enamels. Roof opening has been closed with clear plastic. Engine cover (black) and dashboard have been added and an inside rear view mirror. Next update will follow soon...

Very nice collection, Gary - thanks for showing them all together ! Great model of the 1949 LM winner: from drawing to wood-carving to the final modelcar - absolutely marvellous!

Fantastic build, Alex !

Very sharp-looking Ferrari !

Exquisite model, Rich - with lots of additonal details (I followed your WIP) - its business end looks so real with the body panel removed, you can almost hear the screaming of the V12 !

Absolutely exceptional model, Rich - can't wait to see it in the under glass section.

That's a bunch of nostalgia, Matt - and marvellous reproductions !

Those wheels are superb, Ken - the kit-supplied low-profile tires simply look wrong. Primrose yellow is a good choice as analternative to the ever-present red and green (as is Opalescent Silver Blue).

Looking at the golden stripes, suddenly I wanted to try adding the red pinstriping to them - see the original (on the starting line at Brands Hatch): I had the idea of drawing some thin lines with a very fine red (waterproof) ink-marker onto an old sheet of clear decal paper and then trying to place these stripes on the body of the car. It certainly is not in scale, but I think it looks quite acceptable.

After several setbacks (masking tape peeled off paint) and mishaps painting has been finished (surprisingly the rear window masking could be cautiously removed) the body is ready for decaling and adding the final details (wipers, mirrors, lights etc.) - here is a quick mock-up: Paint has some small imperfections, but I can live with that. A bit of polishing may be needed, but I have to be careful especially with the rear window (It has a crack and is a bit milky/cloudy, very thin and blended into the body with putty). As this is supposed to be a racing and not a show car, I will let it be like that.

Very clean and crisp-looking resin kit - excellent quality I would say. The real challenge will be without doubt the application of these decals, which cover the entire body.

PM sent...

Excellent GTA, Lin - one of my favorite cars ever ! Just watched your WIP video - fantastic work: your photos let the model look like the 1:1 car.

Don't think this will ever happen!

Pierre, you are definitely the master of paint-brushing - awesome even before polishing ! Great that you choose the green livery of the Gösser beer/Denzel sponsored Schnitzer BMW (Wolfgang Denzel had been exclusive BMW importer in Austria for several decades).

Exceptional work here, Rich - it would be a shame to hide all those delicate sub - assemblies under the body panels:

Very well executed, Matt. A fine model of one of the most characteristic F1 cars ever.

Excellent drawings/paintings you show us here, Alex - very nice !

Thank you Tim, a quick dress-up of a die-cast is a welcome variety and a lot of fun, too.

Fantastic looking 3D-printed engine here - I have the Fujimi Enthusiast series stratos with full engine detail, but this one is much more crisp and delicate: the carburettors, the spark plugs!!!

You turned this difficult kit into a fine model, John. Heller kits often have ill-fitting parts - I have built a few of their race cars which always has been a fight.

That looks already very good, Dave. I especially like the visible part of the engine with the intake trumpets (and of course the blue color it will get) - I really don't know how you manage to crank out one exceptional model after the other - that's amazing. I have 2 die-casts from Italy - one will be repainted in this special blue (thanks for the information on that one - I did not know more about its history)

Nice transformation of the JB spy car, Pierre ! While the stripes and numbers are not to my taste, the model certainly is - the grille and wheels pimp it up a lot, and your interior is first class ! (You give me some inspiration for my glue-bomb Monogram DB4)