Nacho Z

Very, very nice, Bruce.

Getting the body unto the chassis was a little tricky. There were minor twists in both. Because this is supposed to be a fun, quick, non-contest build I glued and clampered her down the best I could without doing any modifications. I did have to do some very minor sanding in a few places to get the body to settle down. The exhaust pipes do not even come close to where they should go. I think it has to do a lot with the plating. It is so thick, and everything is plated, that it does not alow the parts to "settle" into their places. There is probably more square inches, (feet?), of plated flash in this kit then there are plated pieces in some others . I can kind of touch up the silver but not the gold. I have nothing that even comes close to the gold. This one is just about finished. The next post will be in the "Under Glass" section.

I absolutely love that GTX !!! Great job, Cliff.

Very nice, Jim! I really like the outside picture.

That is kind of funny, 62rebel, because that is the same thought I had when I saw it. It reminded me of my Dad's old car shaped bottles. I honestly don't know if they were aftershave or booze. I don't think he ever opened them and I was not allowed to "play" with them.... . I passed on this car once. When I had the chance to pick it up the second time I couldn't pass it up. I have never built these kits before but have been told they are nice, simple, well fitting kits.

Bob, this is about of out-of-box as it gets . I removed the parts from the tree, cleaned them up a little bit, sanded the chrome off where I'm needed to put glue and that is about it. I will detail the regular version of this kit when I get to it. This is almost a practice run...LOL.

I don't believe it could be polished. It is plated with regular old kit chrome. I think you would just burn through it. I do believe there are different levels of "shiny", i.e. chrome, satin, etc. The gold chrome is actually pretty nice. I am going to clean if off when I am done with it. I have been wearing latex and neoprene gloves while building it. They leave a little bit of powder on the model.

Lee, I have the regular version of this kit as well. All-in-all, the kit does go together quite well. I think that all of the plating is interfering with some of the parts' fit. Considering the age of the kit, it is pretty nice.

I am really having fun with this build. I'm not sweating the small stuff, (or the big stuff.... ) I'm making pretty good progress. Most of my time is spent test fitting parts and scraping / sanding the plated areas that need to be glued. This build is providing good lessons for when I build the regular version. This model will probably never leave my hobby room. Enough talk, on to the pictures. The chassis is done and on all four, and they all touch at the same time! Interestingly, when I see the head-on picture I can see the seam down the middle of the tires. Can't see them with the naked eye. I began sanding one tire but did not really see a difference so I stopped. Again, not sweating the small stuff. You can see that the plating is not super shiny. I have been wearing latex and neoprene gloves during the build. This keeps finger oils off of the plating but a little bit of powder gets on it. I will wipe the model down later. Here are a few assembled bits and pieces that I did while other sub-assemblies were drying.

This model will kick off my 2014-2015 building season. I say season because I tend to do all of my building during the November through April time frame. I always like to start my season with what I consider an easy project. I did start this in November but it sat untouched for over a month. I have no idea if this kit is all that common or if it is worth big money. I picked it up very cheaply. It is NOT a metal / diecast model. It is a plastic model that is completely plated. I have decided that it will be an out-of-box build with no detailing whatsoever. I am not going to add washes, stains, etc. I'm sure it would look better with those, but again, this is my first build of the season and I am going to keep it simple. First up will be the kits contents. I will add WIP pics as I go. Comments and questions are always welcomed. Engine is complete and sitting in the partially completed chassis. Just a reminder, there will be no extra detailing on this build. What you see is straight out of the box. Because eveything is plated I cannot really fill and/or sand seams and ejector pin marks. But like I said, this is my first build of the season and it is supposed to be easy and fun.

Too cool! A great little model of a really neat subject.

Beautiful model, Jonathan. It looks like you did a great job on it. This was my choice of livery as well. There is something about that paint scheme that I really like.

She is looking great, Tom.

Three resolutions come to mind. I would like to break out my new airbrush and play with it. By the end of the year I would like to be consistently painting, at least parts, if not bodies. In conjunction with this, I would like to use Alclad on my parts. I would like to be more consistent at the work bench. For me, if I don't have an hour or so to spend at the bench, I don't go there. I have a buddy who is always talking about the "5-minute modeling" he does. In 5 minutes you can cut a piece off of the sprue and clean it up. Point is, you can get a lot of work done in shorter, consistent sessions. I like that idea. I would like to be more active on this forum. People spend a lot of time photographing their work and writting up posts to share here. I look at a lot of threads but don't always post a comment. I am not doing this to boost my post count but to show appreciation for the work of my fellow modelers.

There is a mantra used in modeling circles that says to treat every part or sub-assembly as a model itself. You are one of the few who actually accomplish this. Every part on this masterpiece has been subjected to your amazing touch. Well done!

Well, Shane, not much I can say that hasn't been said already. I really enjoy your work. It is a pleasure seeing them all at one time. Amazing to see that you can do such great work in different genres. Congrats on a great year of model building!

Wow, Randy! That Torino looks great. I just got this kit yesterday for my birthday. Seeing yours makes me want to dive into mine right away.

That is a great looking model, Bruce. I like everything about it!

That is great, Tony. Very nice job. I liked that body style but have to admit, I don't remember that car. Thanks for sharing it.

That is a good looking Viper!

Very nice!

Fantastic!!

This is such a nice build, Jim, one to be very proud of. Great job!

Very nice!

Cool idea and she looks good "naked"