Plastheniker

Not my kind of 1:1 car, but nevertheless stunning detailing and really breathtaking artistic paintwork!

Nice work, spot-on interior!

Thanks for the recent replies! Dann, I found a top in my parts box that looked a bit like the Speedster's top. After some pondering I am rather sure that it was a leftover from Heller's Mercedes 540K I built decades ago. Though it was too wide, too long and didn't follow either the curvature of the body nor the angle of my windscreen the necessary modifications were less effort than starting from scratch. Finally the right shade, however, is the most crucial factor for a convincing look of any convertible top IMO - I had to repaint this top twice.

Nice kit (as far as I remember) and very nice execution!

Nice result, excellent foil work particularly in the interior!

Thanks for the latest comments! Bill, for those interested here is a lateral view of the body shell before and after reworking. Together with the topview picture already posted it gives a better idea what has to be done than many words.

Indeed, especially as my casting skills are very limited, just sufficient for casting rims or tires. Such an intricate shape like this would certainly require a true casting expert.

Always impressive to see a build in such a small scale. H0 requires more than just a steady hand!

Thanks for all replies! IMO compromising when looking for wheels of the correct size changes the proportions of model cars more obviously than other compromises. Because I could not find tyres of the right dimensions I made them from styrene with separate whitewall insets which made painting easier. I modified suitable rims from my parts box and laced the spokes as shown here: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=77554

Unusual and very attractive paintwork!

Super clean!

Dark blue metallic looks great here, super smooth paintwork!

Hi, Though the Auburn Speedster is one of the really iconic cars of automotive history there never was any usable styrene kit. Whatever you hear about the Lindberg (former Pyro) kit don't believe it - everything is much worse. The kit parts are crude and mostly out of scale. Fit is disastrous. A lot of important parts aren't replicated at all. Worst of all OOB the finished kit is so ill-proportioned that it looks rather like a caricature: After 60 years of modeling and several hundred built kits I think this is the poorest kit I have ever seen. Lindberg's claim on the box "Authentic Scale Model" is a joke even if you consider the age of the kit - Revell's kits of the same era are still usable. After comparing the box content with an excellent scale drawing found on the web it was clear from the start that this would be a challenging and very time-consuming project. As expected I had to convert almost every spot of the multi-piece body: All the rest of the kit was completely useless because it was so poor and so incorrect that it couldn't even be modified. Finally the finished model was half conversion and half scratch build, and my sacrifice of time exceeded 900 hours. Since the proportions are now very different some more pictures than usual in my topics may make sense. I hope the result is acceptable:

Really fantastic, looks immaculate!

Great looking model!

Unusual and beautifully executed model that would deserve some additional close-up pictures!

Excellent execution!

Beautiful!

Beautiful model, very realistic!

Really outstanding in this considerably smaller scale!

As always: Great idea and excellent execution!

Thanks for the response! My 2008 Viper SRT-10 (Facelift Model with H-Spoke Wheels) http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/115263-my-2008-viper-srt-10-facelift-model-with-h-spoke-wheels/ Less perfectionism but more fun to drive!

Hi, usually I have little interest in modeling modern cars unless I want a replica of one of my own (former) 1:1 cars. In 2003 I bought this Gallardo and kept it until 2008: The corresponding Fujimi kit was rather nice but I remember 3 shortcomings: The hexagonal plastic mesh of the numerous apertures of the original car was replicated by massive clear plastic parts with faint raised hexagonal lines. IMO in a kit that expensive (as far as I remember about 10 years ago I paid 60 € instead of 20 € for a ROG or Italeri kit) PE parts can be expected. Today PE aftermarket parts are available. Inserting the side windows was difficult because there was almost no contact between glass parts and body. Every time I bent the lower sides of the body outwards to join body and chassis these fragile joints broke. OOB stance and track width were unrealistic. Nevertheless compared with the pictures above the finished model looks rather convincing.

Particularly nice details in the engine bay!

Interesting subject, nice result!