1959scudetto

Thank you Tony - I won't say they are bad - they are ... different (they don't fall together like a Tamiya kit) As I know what's wrong in my builts and I myself are my own toughest critic, I don't see a problem in pointing out my errors and mistakes (there are enough modelers out there that know this stuff, especially under the group of racecar builders)

Thanks, Gary - lack of reference material was sometimes a problem in earlier days - especially for not-so-popular subjects. Thank you, Bruce ! Thank you, Rich - I'm sure yours will be better. I can't remember the color anymore, probably a blue enamel spray from Revell Germany. But if you search for color photos of these cars in the internet, there are different shades of blue (even metallic) - they were ues from 1966 to 1969. Thank you Ray - these were "very small block" machines (1,1 or 1,3 ltr.) and therefore built for a minimum drag coefficient. Thanks, Dave !

Here is my A 210, built around 1989 from the 1982 re-release of the earlier Heller kit - very small car but won its class (1300 cc) several times in Le Mans 24 hrs.; in 1966 these cars took places 9, 11, 12 and 13 - the #44 car (only decal option included in the kit) took 11 th place. Those of you who have built a Heller kit know there are always some very delicate parts and not always clear instructions - sometimes vague - so you have to use the trial and/or error method. Nevertheless, the kit was not that hard to build although I did make a few mistakes - the yellow stripe on the windshield is wrong (my idea), and the 3 tiny lights above it on the right side of the roof is also wrong - should be only one light for # 44 (Heller's fault); wheel covers for the front wheels were totally missing - will be scratch-built some day. Anyway, here are the pictures (on the dark table from 2005, the others made today, the empty box is now used for storing my decals), but first the actual car - found on the internet:

Looks very good, Mike - I have the same kit in my stash (the Airfix repack of the Heller Kit)

Very nice result, Steve - the D-type is one of the iconic racers of the '50s.

Well done, John - looks much better with the stock wheels!

Very nice, Tom !

Thank you for the compliments, Al ! Thanks, Trevor - it did need the use of superglue, though (first it fell apart a few times). Thanks, Carl !

Very nice, Anders - beautiful colors - as we are used to see from you!

nice build, Dave - I built one out-of-the-box and it looks like an SUV - the ride is way too high (some photos under glass in the racing section)

Really ? I didn't know that ! Thanks, Tim ! Thank you, Dennis !

Very nice dumper fleet, Dan - and very good-looking Cruiseliner, which is one of my favorite Coe's.

Your trailers (as do your trucks) always look like the real ones, KJ - and not like models! Impressive !

Thank you, Ray ! Thank you, Benton ! Thank you, Lee ! Thank you, Bob - I saw one decades ago at a US car meeting. Thank you, Glen ! Thank you, Chris ! Thank you, Bob - though it is very crude, surprisingly it works! Thank you, John - I too was skeptical during building if it would work, but it does! Thank you, Gerald !

Not included in the above pics is the Renaissance '67 Mark IV Le Mans winner resin kit and Mini Exotics' 1967 Mirage Mk I resin transkit...

one thing is for sure: you can't have enough GT 40 kits... some builts: a few unbuilts: and even some die-casts (in the right scale):

Very nice model, Bernard - with a lot of effort from your side - I just wish more of those were available in 1/24 for reasonable amounts of money.

Very nice model, Rich - what a sleek machine compared to those ugly racers of today (hard to believe that this is almost 40 years old...)

Thank you, Anders - I don't want to bore anyone with my old builts, but I have hardly time for building at present...

Here is another of my old builts: dates from 1988/89 - built from the 1988 "Skip's Fiesta" issue (probably because of the Olds Fiesta hubcaps ?) - therefore it could not be built strictly stock (wheels look like 1/24 - diameter a bit too large for my taste, stance also too high). The kit dates back to 1959, and it shows: multipliece body which needs careful and exact positioning and test-fitting of the body parts before gluing, then some filling and sanding before painting. Spray-painted from the can, trim is silver paint, rear lights transparent red (on chrome), license plates once again from the 1961 auto world sheet. The crude mechanism ("Fred Flintstone type") of the folding top gave me something to think about, but the problems could be solved with the help of cyanacrylat super-glue: to my surprise, it works quite well (needs careful handling, though), but leaves a noticeable gap in the roof. The photos are from 2005, but I still have this one in my collection. Pic of the kit (from ebay.com): Now the model - don't ask me about the name of the color (automotive lacquers from Duplicolor or Auto-K) - I cannot remember anymore...

Thank you, Carl !

Looks good, Ken - have these white wall tires ever be used on a working truck or just for shows? In my trucking books are some advertisements with such tires, and Tyrone Malone's KW pulling Irvy the whale had some also.

Looks good, Carl - this is the Revell kit - where are the wheels from?

Thank you Philippe - I like Le Mans racers, especially from the '50s to the '80s !

Well done, Clive -it must have been a lot of work to lturn this kit into a replica that nice.