Nacho Z

Very nice on all aspects of the build. Engine, chassis, color and stance, all top notch.

I have watched this from the beginning and have not commented. Not because I didn't want to but because I didn't know what to say. Lots of compliments and accolades have come your way, all deserved, but I did not have anything unique to say so I haven't. Well, I still don't.....lol. Maybe an emoticon is in order Thank you for taking the time and effort to share this project with us.

Good looking Cutlass! Great color choice for it.

Nice, nice, nice! She looks great Jim.

I see a lot of great work there. Nice job!

Very cool Tomo. That is a nice collection.

I'm liking it so far!

Thanks for the comments guys. Skip, I know what you mean about the tire seams. First, an interesting story. This kit, (again, it is an original), came with the wrong rear tires. I was asking my model buddies Gary Kulchock and Chip Wamsley about how to get the tires to fit on the rims. They pointed out that they remembered from way back that some of Tamiya's 1:12 kits had the wrong tires. We checked the ones I had vs. some other 1:12 kits and sure enough, mine were too small. Gary was kind enough to give me a pair of rear tires for this build. Back to the seams. I was able to hand-sand the rear tires to what I feel was an acceptable level. The front tires had such a huge seam and a bit of a step that I thought by the time I sanded them down I would also have wiped out the wear marks, (those three hash marks across the face of the tire). One other thing about those seams. I have a picture of the 1:1 car with brand new tires and there is a visible seam down the middle. Not a drawn on line but a seam. I lost a gold medal in an IPMS contest, (not this car and I got a silver instead), and when I talked to one of the judges about what I could have done better or what I did wrong, he pointed out the seam in the tires. Once again I had a photo of the real car with what sure looked like a seam on a new set tires. I readily admit that 99.99% of any pictures you would come across of any race tire from any era would not have a seam. But 99.99% is not 100% . Anyone else care to weigh in?

Real nice Ryan. Looks good!

Oh my! The two things that really caught my eye were the paint and how the wheels look perfect in the fenders. They fill up the openings just about perfectly, not too big, not too small. Really nice build Rob.

I said it in another one of your threads and I'll repeat it here. It is nice to see more F1 models on the forum. I'm glad you are getting some positive feedback on your models. They are all good looking models. Thanks for sharing them here. Keep posting if you have more .

That is so nice Andy. Very, very clean build. Outstanding work!

Nice, nice, nice!!

Wow!! What an eye catching model. Just gorgeous!

Time for another installment! Here I am test fitting the scratchbuilt tank. The body cowling will cover most of it. I was able to put the cowling on the tub. The cowling is twisted and I had a heck of a time getting it epoxied down. By the way this is the second cowling. This first one was warped / twisted so bad I could not use it. I also mated the drivetrain to the tub. Lots of pipes and tubing to connect the two. Some were easy to do, some were a bear. Here are a couple of pics. I had a bit of a time trying to photograph this thing. It is big! As always, comments and questions are welcomed.

Good to have you here Joe! What a great looking model. Nice, nice, nice!

Nice to see other F1 models on here. It looks good to me. Thanks for sharing.

Amazing clean build Mark, even more so when you consider it is 1:43 scale.

Thanks guys! I'll try to post some more photos this weekend.

I like it Paul. I really like these kits and it looks like you hit a home run with this one!

Darkening of panel lines comes to mind.

Time for another update, but first a little background info. about the decals. As a reminder, this is an original issue kit from 1977(?) I did not feel very confident that the kit decals would be safe to use. I found a set of Studio 27 decals and purchased those from Japan. For the most part the Studio 27 decals are a copy of the kit decals. The problem is they are not labeled as to where they go! Obviously it is easy to tell where some of the decals go but this sheet is mostly pinstriping. Just long lengths of pinstipes! So I have to look at the kit instructions, find the right kit decal part number and then match it to the Studio 27 sheet. Nothing is ever easy... Something to keep in mind when looking at the pinstripes in the picture. These things are over a half foot long and about 1mm wide! I did my dead level best to get them straight. Actually they curve so I should say "straight and not wavy". They came out pretty well but not perfect. I did have to cut some of them in half in order to work with them. I should note that the body piece has a bulge/curve in it at the top of the side. This makes the decal look like it is drooping. It isn't. I also did a quick mock-up with some of the cowlings. At this point I am just about ready to wrap up the interior tub, or monocoque, as I believe it is called. The main body part in the above pictures is ready to glue on to the main tub. Actually I will use epoxy as the main body part has a pretty good twist in it. It does not want to sit flat on the tub. Epoxy should do the trick. Anyhow, some of the work that I have done will be covered up and I don't think anyone will ever see it. I thought I would take a picture or two to show my friends here on MCM what I'm talking about. There are three switches on the piece that surrounds the steering shaft. I wired them and added grommets. There was a wicked ejector pin mark in the tub that I missed or wasn't sure what to do with, (it was so long ago I don't remember). I covered it with a square piece of sheet and put PE bits on it to make it look like an access panel. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.....lol.

I really cannot add anything new, I think it has all been said. You have done an outstanding job on this. Thanks for sharing!

Wow! What a nice, clean build. Looks soooo good.

I've built this one. It is a fun little kit. Your's looks like the box art car. Nice job!