afx

Randy, glad you chose to rebuild this thread after the server switch over.

It used to be called the "Paris-Dakar Rally". It's now just called "The Dakar" Here is some history from Wikipedia.

There were multiple issues, locals being struck and killed, livestock being struck and killed, environmental issues, economic issues and so on, but the warlord threats were apparently the last straw.

Very nice. My initial impression was that the offset of the front wheels are too deep but I just did a quick internet search and your build matches the car in the Speedway's museum. Good job.

Radius rods are complete. I still need to fabricate the Panhard bar and the shocks/struts. If you notice the cut out in the floor pan is too shallow, it would interfere with the radius rods under full compression of the suspension. SOO we have to make them deeper. That is what I am working on now as well a fabricating the full roll cage.

Yea unfortunately politics forced them to move the race from Africa to South America. The race/rally is still just as spectacular and grueling.

A friend of mine just bought the Model Factory Hiro 1/12 scale '64 Ferrari 250 GTO. List price $750!! He showed me the kit. It has a mind boggling number of parts and the level of detail is amazing but WOW is it expensive. For instance the wire wheels are built up using individual spokes(!)

I love this event! I was just checking the official website to try an figure out what network in the US was covering this event and could find nothing! The lack of attention this event garners in the US is appalling. How do you, fellow Dakar fans follow this event?

The Monogram/Revell '69 Corvette kit in all its iterations is a very nice kit. Goes together very well. But I am very partial to the Fujimi Enthusiast kits. Yes they can be a bit difficult and fiddly but I think they set the standard for mass production kits. Although from the pictures I have seen the new Belkits may have raised the bar.

Very nice. Its the Fujimi kit correct? Did you do the orange stripe with decals or paint?

I would probably pick this kit too. However I tried to build 3 of them back-to-back-to back. I completed two and made it half way thorough the third when I just lost enthusiasm. It is hard to build the same kit over and over even with variations.

A couple of fellow modelers from another forum were kind enough to send a photo of the engine bay and suggest some revisions. So I reshaped the snout (wiper motor box?) on the firewall and also removed the braces in front of the inner fender. Before: After:

The rear wheel arch extensions (Ford's official term for the flairs) also need to be reduced. However I chose to reshape them with sanding only in lieu of cutting them off. That would have required that I recreate the belt line crease in the rear fender. I removed the stone guard from the front edge and sanded them down until just before I sanded through the outer edge. Here are the results.

If you look closely at the passenger side front wheel arch extension you will see that it is at an angle to the side of the car. This is incorrect and does not match the driver side. In addition they width of the flairs are much wider than the 1:1 car. I will attempt to correct this. Using the back edge of a #11 blade I carefully scribe off the front fender. After quite a bit of sanding I was able to remove 2mm (2 scale inches) from the overall width of the flairs. They should be narrower still but I was concerned about removing so much material that I wouldn't have anything left to reattach the extensions. The white body shows the original shape and width.

ESCI did quite a few subjects that appeal to me. Here is the rest of my ESCI collection.

Here are what I believe are all versions of the Escort kit along with the RoG release. I am currently building this kit.

JB I haven't received any emails. Maybe you were emailing HRM. I don't work for HRM, the owner is just a friend of mine. Here is a copy of the transkit instructions. It should tell you what you need to know. JC HRM_Porsche 914-6 GT.pdf

Yes they are available. You can email HRM directly or one of the sites that carry HRM products Stradasports Island Collectibles Red Frog Hobbies

No its not the easiest kit to build but we are more likely to get a reissue of this kit than an all new mold. With effort it can be built into a nice replica.

Yes the Ginther version and the street car are the same kit. Except the Ginther kit has the cutdown racing windscreen and is molded in red plastic. The street car is molded in yellow plastic. Neither version includes a 4 cylinder engine both have the flat 6.

Here is your chance to tell Revell you want this kit reissued. Vote here.

Here is your chance to tell Revell you want this kit reissued. Vote here. Vote for the street version here.

Interesting subject Chuck. I don't think I have ever even seen a pictures of either of these kits.

Turned out great! Nice work.

I love the Dakar! What a great event. I really miss the Safari Rally on the WRC circuit.