Peter Lombardo

This is very nice clean modeling. Am I safe in assuming that this is the new Hasagawa kit? The 1/20 scale one. I have that kit and plan on starting it sometime in the future. I love the attention to detail you are showing....really great......I will watch this for tips on when I build my kit. You are off to a great start.

"Get out of town"....you did 33 in one year? That is just short of 3 a month....that is one new build every eleven days...that is insane! Especially at the quality level your building is at. Do you eat? Do you sleep? Do you work?(you know, work like in "get a paycheck")...have you ever seen a "Honeydo" list? I completed 8 builds and I average about 28 hours a week...more in the winter, less in the summer...how many hours do you put into this "hobby" of yours....can we even call it a hobby with you at the volume you are turning out.... I think it is more like an obsession. Is your next door neighbor running a "Meth" lab or something and you are down wind of it? (kidding). Anyway, very impressive, especially because the quality does not suffer because of the volume...As I said before, your "Blue Tank" is a masterpiece of scratchbuilding....and to think it only took eleven days....amazing. Seriously, very impressive work, Curt.

Very nice...I really like the two Mustangs, they are very well done....very well. The Cabin Nissan is really nice, I have that kit to build one of these days...you did a great job with the paint and markings on that one. Overall, very nice stuff...I'd be very proud of all of them.

My Class of 2009 Since I just completed the Corvette, I thought now I can post my builds for 2009. I completed 9 cars this year, with one still hanging around unfinished from 2008, the custom Thunderbird with the chopped top and one almost complete from 2009, the Aero Coupe which will be done in a few weeks. Two of the cars completed were never posted here, so this is their debut. And one car was a very large scale kit that was started 4 years ago and just got completed this summer. Here they are in the order of completion. 1. The 1967 Mustang “Eleanor†GT 350. I built all of the body modifications from scratch so it is my variation of the actual Eleanor car. 2. The 1960 Ford Starliner coupe with the Torino fastback roof. This has doors that swing outward and straight up, which was rather unique. This has a custom violet flip/flop paint job and computer cut flames. 3. The 1960 Pontiac Coupe, this is that “difficult†Trumpeter kit with a 1967 Chevy Impala roof grafted on and Lambo doors. 4. Revell Porsche Slant nose. This car was not posted on the forum before. Not much here, I opened the doors and added aftermarket wheels which I think improve the look a lot. The paint is a Dupli-color Honda Light Metallic Blue that I thinks looks great with the tan interior 5. 1977 MGB Roadster…..OK, this is not a model, but I did so many custom tweaks to this and did so much of the rebuild that it was just like a kit, so I consider this a “model†build so I am counting it…after all, it took the better part of 4 years to complete it. 6. 1969 Plymouth GTX coupe. This car was also not posted to the forum before, so it is here for the first time. The two tone is Dupli-color medium Blue Metallic and Mopar Viper Silver. The silver was then coated with Spec effex’s which is a very metal flaked clear top coat. I cut thin vinyl stripes in light green for the break between the colors. The car is lowered, with parts box wheels and tires (I think from a 1970 Mustang). I lifted the Hemi from a Superbird kit and made a custom hood scoop from scratch. I opened the doors to round it out. 7. MGB Model. This is a right hand drive British version kit of a 1967 MGB. I modified it to reflect my real 1977 MGB that is a 1977 model retro fitted to look older. The doors, hood and trunk were opened and the engine bay and motor were completely scratch built. The model was painted with the exact same paint that was used on my real MGB. 8. 2010 Charger Concept. This was based on the design by Michael Leonhard from Germany. I took the liberty to add a vinyl covered roof to his design and omitted the rear “over the trunk†stripe because it just did not work in black, so I removed it. Michael saw the car on my flickr site and asked if he could post pictures of it on his website. I was honored to have it displayed along with his great concepts and renderings. He had some very kind words to say about it…It made my day. This is painted a custom mix of House of Kolor purples and violets. This started life as the Testors Dodge Charger kit. 9. And finally, my newest baby, the Corvette XP45C concept. Both this and the Aero Coupe Art Deco Concept have opened huge doors for me. To design and build that design is such a “high†for me. I don’t mean to go on about this, but I am really excited about the possibilities this opens for me. It is not as hard as you might think, and I urge anyone who is on the fence about this process to give it a try. It is very exhilarating to see your own design come to life….sure it is in miniature but it is there in 3 dimensions. I am not looking forward to 2010 as a very good year for business or personal finance, but I am looking forward to 2010 from the modeling point of view. I want to create more of my own designs……bring it on!

Gentleman, I truly greatly appreciate your extremely kind words. It means so much to me to have you guys understand this build. Thank you...I can't wait to get the Aero Coupe done and move on to the next one...this really is fun. Thanks again, I really do appreciate it.

The body had its window/doors, windshield, rear window and engine cover engine window opened up. All of the “glass†parts were cut from the clear vacuum formed body and carefully sanded to fit into the openings. The lower panels were epoxied to the main body and all joints were puttied and sanded smooth. The body was cut where the rear body cover and the front body were designed to open. The rear cover, which includes the rear wheel spats hinges to the rear and opens up. The tail lights were created by cutting four round holes in the rear deck, which were enlarged and had a plastic piece the length of the circumference glued in so that when sanded down, I had a small lip around the outside of the light opening. The inside was sealed off and the light “hole†was slightly overfilled with a mix of Tamiya Clear Red and clear 5 minute epoxy. The headlight openings were boxed in from the inside and M.U. lenses used in H.O. train cars were glued in as projector light lens and turn signals. The front and rear grille is a wire mesh left in an Aluminum color intentionally. The interior has the seats from the Corvette Z06 and photo etched 4 point Willians racing seatbelts. The completely scratch built dash and side walls are covered with bronze hue carbon fiber decals and on the dash is a large video screen. A variety of photo etched buttons were added to the side panels, dash panel and lower dashboard. Rising up from the center between the seats is a small console that houses the “joy stick†control for the car. This stick, in theory, would have controls for the steering, accelerator, brakes and the views on the video screen. The views can be switched between, rearview camera views, navigation, engine and speed information and all entertainment and communication systems. Along with the video views, there would also be controls to turn on or off the “heads up†display which would project on the inner windshield the speed, engine revolutions (tachometer) and necessary engine info. The window/doors are hinged from the very front and the rear deck is hinged from the rear for engine accessibility. As I have stated previously, ingress and egress (getting in and out of this car) would be very difficult…yeah, I know, but this is fantasy after all, so it is fine with me. Even though the doors open all the way up, I built a catch in to hold the doors open at about 40 degrees open. The interior was intentionally designed to be tight because I wanted to convey the feeling of flying a jet fighter on the ground. The windshield has the look and feel of a jet fighter, and with the joy stick, video monitor and the heads up display, the feeling would be complete. I added the windshield wiper that was omitted from the drawing, but would be necessary in “road useâ€. The body has a multi layer paint job. After primer, which was lightly sanded, two coats of Appliance White were applied. Once dry, they were lightly sanded. Next the car received a coat of Pearl White for depth. After that, I mixed up a batch of Clear lacquer with Gold Interference micro powder pigment mixed in. This is a mild “flip flop†paint. It looks either Pearl White, Light Gold or Pale Silver depending upon the angle and the lighting and sometimes, I can even see a very light green hue in the top color. On the bottom of the car, I air brushed on Mopar Desert Sand Metallic which is an earthy dark Gold color which fades up to the top color. I intentionally used Bronze Carbon Fiber decals to help contrast the body color and the tan seat leather. So, obviously, I am pretty happy (duh!!!!) with this build. It is the first completed (Aero Coupe will be next) completely self designed and molded car for me. I just love the idea of creating vehicles completely from my ideas. Once the Aero Coupe is complete, which should be in a few weeks, I will start the Viper Concept car that I have (rough concept drawings) drawn out , followed by the Chrysler 300EX sedan. I also have a Ferrari and a generic sports prototype drawn out, so they will follow the Viper XRT10 concept. I have so many ideas for concept cars rattling around in my head that I may never build another straight kit car again, well, actually, I have a few F1’s and sports cars that I want to build, but this whole process of designing and building the car from scratch is just too rewarding to stop doing now.

Corvette XP45C Here is my Concept Corvette XP45C completed. The name stands for eXperimental Prototype 45 inches high Coupe. As a recap, here is the genesis of this car. This car began life as a few drawings that I created about 6 or 7 weeks ago, both included here: From the drawings, I build a clay model of the car in two parts. Part one is the complete upper 2/3rds of the car and the second part is just the front and rear lower fascia’s and the lower side panels. Once the molds were complete I vacuum formed the body in white styrene and then made a vacuum copy in clear styrene so I could have the windows and doors ready formed with the body contours. Next I stretched the Corvette C5 chassis to the required wheelbase and set it up for a rear mounted engine. I removed the driveshaft between the engine and transaxle to create an engine ready for rear mounting. The chassis was built up and I added wheels and tires from the current Revell Camaro kit. I gave the front wheels the ability to turn because I like the way they look when they are angled out of the body. The engine was built with the intake manifold on backwards because the intake comes from the rear. I added tanks and radiators to the side of the engine, left side, oil tank and cooler and right side, Tran’s oil and cooler. Above the side mounted coolers is the intake for the engine air intake on both sides. I topped off the fuel tank in the rear and covered it with carbon fiber decals. The gasoline filler cap is in the center of the tank and is accessible from the opening in the rear deck. Frame supports were added from the rear firewall to the fuel tank in the rear. On the rear wheel covers and at the center of the rear deck, you can see the small cameras for the rear views for the video display and high up on the top above the rear window opening, you can see the third stop light mounting.

Everything is “relativeâ€. In Maine or Vermont snow is a way of life in the winter time and they are equipped to handle it and the citizens are used to it. As you move south in America, snow and ice become more of an event then normal winter weather. Rain can be a big deal in areas like Arizona where it is not an everyday experience. Great Britain has sure had more than its share of extreme weather lately. I need to move to a tropical island somewhere in the Pacific and get away from the cold and nasty weather. With the extreme cold and snow in Europe, makes you wonder about the “Global Warming†gathering in Copenhagen. Personally, I think they are the biggest source of hot air on the planet….but that is just me.

Talk about "period correct", that is perfect for this week! I think I remember seeing that car on the road about 10 years ago with the same tree straped to the roof. Nice job, and excellent job on the rust. I don't like rust. Bad enough it happens in real life, I haven't added to a model car yet. back in the day when I was into HO trains, I had lots of freight cars and older engines with lot's of rust on them. Anyway, nice job.

Even though it is not out yet, I ordered a 1/20 scale Hasagawa model of the Ferrari 312T which is my favorite F1 car of all time. I did the Tamiya 1/12 model of this car with Nicky Lauda livery back in the 70's (I no longer have the model) so I am really looking forward to this kit. Santa is bringing this "from me to me" because I have been very good this year. I so many kit now that I may never get to build it but I don't care, I will be happy just to look at the parts in the box and the box art.

Curt, beautiful job! Great scratch building. I have to say, I don't find this car very attractive, but you can't understate the significance of this vehicle and your recreation of it. Excellent work and I am sure you are proud of it. I know I love to "put down on the table" a build that is unique, obviously you do to...congrat's on a great job. I have to agree with Harry, it looks like it should be going, rather than coming (you know, the rear looks more like the front should look.) Very Impressive!

For one of the few times in my life I am speechless.

KILLER PAINT!!!! I love what you have done here...just beautiful. Great build up of a great kit of a great car. I guess that sums it up. P.S. I just noticed.....your work bench is getting a little cluttered....be careful

Thanks for all of the positive feedback...you realize that you guys are just driving on to try even more crazy ideas. Thanks, and I really do appreciate the support. I was not planning on posting anything on the XP45C right now, but it is almost completely painted so I may as well post some shots. I have opened up the headlight areas and built up the inside light housings. These have clear covers that I cut from the body that I vacuum formed in clear. I have a series of HO by M.V. Products that will form the headlight array within the lighting housings. First off, the lighting is terrible here as we are getting ready for rain, so it is very overcast, and the lighting in my work room is not the best…why is that? Anyway, the paint has been a multi-step process that has taken a few days to complete. Any yes, there are a few dust specks that I did not see until I loaded the pictures into the computer. After the car was primered, I put on the first two coats of Appliance White Lacquer which was lightly sanded once dry. Than I layered on two coats of Pearl White Lacquer to set up the base for the top coat. I mixed up two ounces of Clear Lacquer with a half of ounce of Jacquard Products #674 Interference Gold Pearl Pigment and then thinned this down with about ¾ of an ounce of thinner. This was airbrushed over the Pearl White. Once that was set up, I airbrushed on a soft fade to the lower portion of the car, some Mopar Desert Sand which is an earthy looking Dark Gold Metallic. It is difficult to see in the pictures but in person this looks very striking. The main color has a very deep pearl glow and depending on the light, it has either a Pearl White look or a soft Gold hue or even a little slight Silver look to it. There is a gentle fade from the Desert Sand up to the Gold/White top color that has some very pale yellow/gold highlights to it. Honestly, this is a paint scheme that must be seen to appreciate. Neither my description nor the pictures even come close to the how this looks in sunlight. ( notice, the Aero Coupe is in the background…I am also working on that too) This has multiple layers of Clear Lacquer applied with the Corvette crossed flag logo on the nose and the name Corvette on the tail (the decal is one of the head cover decals from the engine) sandwiched in-between. I still need one more clear coat to cover a small correction I made to the passenger side rear wheel cover. The taillights are all scratch built. I opened up the four openings (seen in the last picture postings) for the lights. Then I cut a thin piece of styrene equal to the circumference of the opening. This was glued in place so that a generous portion was sticking out both the inside and the outside of the rear fascia of the car. Once dry I sanded the outside down to about one sixty-fourth of an inch so as to provide a small outer lip. Next, I sealed up the inside area with a piece of styrene. I drilled a hole in the center of each light and glued in a piece of brass rod to replicate the light bulb inside. Then I mixed up a small batch of 5 minute epoxy and Tamiya Clear Red and dropped that into each taillight cavity. I slightly over filled each one so that the lens, once dry, would have a convex shape. Up front by the front wheel wells, you can see the hinges for the door/side window. The clear plastic windows will pivot upwards from that point. In the interior, you can see the on the center of the dash area where the large monitor is. This display will house all of the driver information needed…..speed, tach., engine gauges, navigation, and rear video feeds, news and all entertainment. Obviously, I am getting a little carried away with this, but I can’t help myself. For the 30+ years I was in the car business, I would see all of the new concept cars and designs and think how great it would be to be part of the exciting area of the automobile industry. Well, in my own little way I can now participate. Whatever concepts I create, and I will create more….I have killer Viper Concept laid out and, what I think, is a beautiful redesigned Chrysler 300EX, more on that later, I try and give them purpose and plausibility. They must make sense and be a logical step to either future design or new technology. This is really fun!!

This is as close to "perfect" for a mid fifties Chevy mild custom as I have every seen. Actually, this may very well be perfect. The color combo, the technique, the finish, the subject and the excursion are dead on. I am very impressed, the thin perfectly placed scallops look to be "laser" cut and they look to be set a mile deep in the surrounding paint. Great job. This is the definition of "sweet".

I guess I have to throw in here and agree with everyone else on the quality of your builds. Very nice stuff. Glad to see that there is life after trucks for you. Looks like you and your building style will fit right in around here....welcome and keep on participating. One of the things that I really like about this forum is that there is a diversity of building styles and personalities here. You can run just about anything up the flagpole and it will fly. Welcome.

That is pretty neat....not really sure if it is coming or going. Back in the 1950's the car designers all thought that by that distant year of 2000 we would all be flying around like the Jetson's. That idea is evident in the designs that form the basis for your project. I think this build is pretty cool, I like the idea of playing "what if". I like to think about what could be, not necessarily what is. Keep it up.

Bill, I just noticed the picture at the bottom of your posts....sorry to see that your cat, KitKat, passed away. I hope you're ok. I know how difficult it can be to lose a good friend and pet. We have 3 "inside" cats, 2 outside cats and we are fostering 3 kittens, two female and one male, from the two outside cats. The 3 kittens will be headed over to PetSmart for adoption in a week or two, but they are so cute and playful that we will miss their antics. Anyway, hope you are ok with your loss, and I have to tell you that I have enjoyed your tutorial, no matter how experienced we think we are, we can always revisit the basics a pick up something that we thought we were doing....but were not.

Very cool car. I love the "period correctness" of this build. The engine will be very impressive with those great R & M parts. I really like this. Some day, I will get to build a few "Hot Rods" for the 60's. I have such fond memories of that period. Oh, to go back to that simpler time for just a few days would be amazing. Great start to a great project.

Last night and this morning I got some more finished so I thought one more post for this weekend. I have been building up the interior, section by section. I lowered the center floor section down about a scale 10 inches to get the passengers down as low as possible. Little by little I built the interior sides up and finished off the foot wells. Next I added two small side panel contours that will have switches on them. Over the top I added the dashboard top which will house the video monitor in the center, and sweeps down on the two outer sides to connect to the side panels. Right now there is a little putty on the pieces at the point where the two panels connect which will be sanded smooth later. The dash top, small center console (omitted now) and the outer side panels will be decaled with carbon fiber later. My intention is to have a tight close cockpit on this car. The driver cockpit area was designed to simulate the look and feel of a fighter jet, especially with the joystick control and the look of the windshield and side windows. The tight surroundings and the center monitor just enhances that feel. One of the interesting points of this design, with the central joystick, is that this car would be at home in Great Britain, Japan or America. It could be driven on either side of the road as a left hand or a right hand drive vehicle. As I mentioned before, there will be a large video screen in the center of the dash, viewable from either seat, obviously, and on the joystick there would be buttons to control the display. A driver could switch between camera views behind him, to his rear quarter sides, for lane changing, navigation maps, the current news, and traffic, all with a digital display as a “heads upâ€, on the inner windshield of speed and RPM, if so desired. All other items monitored, like fuel, temps, electrical, etc…would be displayed with the push of a button. To the rear of the car, I have completed the firewall with a small built in recess for the engine front. I built up the lower sides next to the engine where an overflow tank for engine oil and a small tank for transmission oil will be situated. All of the bulkheads will be covered in carbon fiber decals. I will also build the upper frame support bars that run just under the rear decking cover from the fuel tank area up to the firewall bulkhead. The radiators for the oil and trans fluid will be attached to the frame rods right where the lower air inlet openings are just ahead of the rear wheel wells, The engine air intake tubes will be attached to the engine manifold rear and draw air from the upper openings in front of the rear wheels. I have attached the two valve cover covers. I painted them Dupli-color chrome from a spray can and when dry, covered them with Tamiya clear red. When that dried, I lightly sanded off the red from the word Corvette so they will be chrome letters. The kit decals are black and I wanted something brighter. Once sanded, I put a coat of Future over the top to seal in a shine. To the rear of the engine, I put a top cover on the fuel tanks which are behind the car. These will be covered in carbon fiber decals and the filler is open directly to the center rear of the rear cover. You can just see the area where the fuel filler goes. The tail light openings are going in, three are done and the last will be completed later as I have to wait for the glue to dry in that area….that is where one of the small imperfections was from the molding process…no big deal. The rear cover will tilt to the rear, hinged just above the rear grill area. I have to open the headlights later and build the various headlight projection array of bulbs. High beam, low beams, fog lights and turn signals, all housed under a clear cover. I have chosen the exact color for the car. The interior will have a carbon fiber dash and side panel coverings but the seats will be tan with red 4 point seat belts. The body will be painted appliance white with a lower bottom fade (about a quarter of an inch or so) of desert sand. The entire car will then get a top coat of pearl white/gold interference gold mixed with clear lacquer. Then the car gets clear top coat over that. This will be unique. The more I work on it, the more I think I want to do a race version of it. Front lower air dam, big rear wing, single seat, left of center with a conventional steering wheel and foot petals. Why not?

Very nice job...count me in too, I purchased this kit mainly because the packaging looked so good. I mean, Tamiya, Ferrari and cartograf, not withstanding, I thought it would make a neat shelf item. You did a great job on the paint and decals...it looks great. The only thing I have done to my kit as of now is open the doors. I will have to get back to one of these days. I'm looking forward to seeing yours done.....maybe that will get me going on mine.

Speaking about Tiger Woods......did you hear that he is changing his name???? Going forward he will be known as Cheetah Woods! Ba da bump!

Things have been moving along on the Corvette XP45C Concept. I have the body separated between the front and the rear deck. I still have to separate the lower rear front the rear deck so that the top can hinge up to reveal the engine bay. I have completed more of the chassis with the front and rear suspensions in place and the brakes and wheels mounted. The brakes would be carbon fiber on this concept so I did them in a very dark metallic gray metalizer and lifted a set of Camaro wheels and tires from the new Revell engine-less kit. That reminds me, I was so disappointed to see that Revell choose to go the way of many of the Tamiya kits and go sans engine. I like the under hood detail. Anyway, A few months ago while at Michael’s, I was perusing the clearance shelf and found a few Revell Camaro kits, without engines, in plastic bags, obviously designed for a “group kid build†like a Cub Scout Pac, for $5.00 each….well, I thought the wheels and tires were worth the money so I got a few, and here is a perfect example of what a good deal that was, because I think the wheel and tire combo are perfect for this car. I made the front wheels steer because I think they look great, turned, inside of the tight front wheel wells. I have the radiator in place and just have to plumb it to the engine. I like how it is laying down with the electric cooling motors showing through the top hot air vent. I have begun working on the interior side panels. The “basis†for the side panels are in. There are vertical panels that attach to the horizontal panels under the window/door area. Quite frankly, I have no idea of how a driver would enter this cockpit….it would be very difficult. You would have to be a contortionist not over the age of 25 to get in there….but so what! I like the look of the car so getting in and out of it is a worry for another day. The interior is very tight since I designed the car to have a narrow mid-section. I wanted the driver to have the feeling of flying a fighter jet. With “fly-by-wire†joystick control and the shape of the windows, and a snug fit, I think that would be the case. Maybe this car should have drop down oxygen masks and barf bags. Next up is the dash board and interior sides and flooring and the rear structural frame bars that will attach to the forward firewall. I am drawing on the look of the old Group C sports cars, which Tamiya did such a great job on in the 1990’s for the look and feel of the rear of the car. Like I have been saying….this sure is a fun build….challenges all over the place.

Nice start...I really like the pale green which will look great when it is clear coated. I am not a big fan of the "striped down" versions of these 50's Chevy's but this looks like it will look pretty nice. I am watching!

Great to hear you are doing well, the time will pass. Some day you will look back on this time away and it will not seem as difficult as it may be now. Take it one day at a time, and keep your head down...they tell you that when hitting a golf ball, but I think it is more important in your situation. You will get through this....I hope America can get through this too.