Plastheniker

The first A-Klasse was extremely popular here in Germany, so I can say that your model looks very realistic. People, however, found the Mika Häkkinen paintwork very ... aaaah... questionable. I think that I saw only one of them in the streets and it looked ... aaaah ... questionable.

I started the glazing tutorial announced in this topic in post #42 using a semi-finished AITM Mack W-71 cab and coloured paper instead of clear sheet for better visibility on the pictures. I am going to show the meanwhile finished model soon in a topic that will be called 1953 Mack W-71 Integral Sleeper (AITM) & Canvas Top Trailer (Scratch Built). If you followed the glazing tutorial an assessment of the final result will then be possible. So if you are interested please keep the upcoming topic in mind. Thanks!

Bill, whenever I spray metallics I use Humbrol enamels. I think their surface is unsurpassed - no sanding, no polishing, no clearcoat. On this model I used #52 blue metallic and filled the tin up with some red metallic or solid red in order to eliminate the slight greenish tinge of #52.

Wayne, Lee, the kit wipers were rather big IMO. Finding PE replacements of the right size and shape for vintage cars is mostly difficult and very often even matching PE wipers don't look really convincing. In this case I make my own wipers simply from bent and squeezed bright wire. A lowered side window is a simple modification in order to improve the visibility of interior and dashboard from outside. Making it is fast and easy: Instead of the kit window cut a new side window from clear sheet. Make sure for a realistic appearance that the upper edge of the new window matches the shape of the top of the window opening. Glue the bottom of the new window onto an invisible spot of the inside of the door. Then fix the interior door trim as usual.

Thanks for the comments! Dale, Gerald, I have reviewed my old instruction sheet. Dale is right, there was only a very small chromed sprue consisting of 3 miirors, 4 headlight and auxiliary lamp reflectors, 2 (rather big) wipers and 2 vents on top of the rear fenders. The four bumpers were not chromed, but BMFing them was not that difficult because their shape is very simple.

Hi, In the early sevenies the Alpine A110 was my unfulfilled dream, and still it is one of my all-time favourites. It has everything that a real sports car should have IMO: small, light, powerful, challenging to drive - briefly, the A110 was a brute street-legal racer for the sturdy masochist. Alas, modern sports cars have lost most of it. The A110 was built from 1963 to 1977. Since Renault took over the independent Alpine company by and by during the seventies the later A110 versions were sold as Alpine Renaults. Tamiya's kit replicates a late A110 with a double wishbone rear suspension and a 1.6 litre 140 HP carburettor engine (really sufficient output for less than 800kg). IMO Tamiya's reputation of making perfect kits is not always justfied, but here it is. As far as I remember there were no issues and the result replicates the 1:1 Alpine perfectly. My old instruction sheet says that the kit was released in 1997. I suppose as a true Alpine fan I built my model not much later. Of course my model had to be blue metallic since this was Alpine's racing colour.

Iconic F1 car + nice kit + excellent execution + perfect photography =

Thanks for the comments! I think you are right, Only the GTS version had this paint scheme temporarily - maybe because of the black removable roof.

Thanks for the comments! As usual there is very limited interest for a non-American truck. Europe, however, produces a lot of highly attractive and technically very advanced 1:1 trucks. After all Mercedes and Volkswagen (now also owning Scania and MAN) compete to be the largest truck manufacturer worldwide. .

Hi, My old instruction sheet says that this Monogram kit was a 1980 issue. As far as I know there were later reissues, probably with some improvements, possibly also under the Revell label. My 1980 issue was a typical early Monogram kit, i. e. inexpensive and easy to build with only few parts, nevertheless if carefully finished making a convincing curbside model with an excellent interior But even if you don't expect a sophisticated chassis in a curbside kit calling this chassis rudimentary would be still euphemistic. Moreover the modeler should be aware that the kit obviously replicates a modified version of the 308 GTB for the U.S. market. Whoever wants an original European version has to reduce the number of vents in the engine deck lid, and he has to "remove" the muffler cover below the rear bumper. I built my model sometime in the eighties. Even by today's standards the kit makes a nice replica of the beautiful 308 GTB - as long as you do not turn it upside own.

Harry, knowing the kit it is obvious that you achieved what can be achieved. Even your colour choice looks great. I built the same kit in the seventies under the Gakken label. The only thing I remember is that the surfaces of the chrome parts, particularly the chrome strips, were abysmal. They looked like crumpled aluminum foil. Without BMF or Alclad there was no remedy. Your chrome parts, however, look perfect. Unless Academy reworked the kit did you rework those surfaces?

Erstklassige Arbeit, Ludwig! Excellent model of one of my American favourites - what a shame that all these attractive Jo-Han kits are no longer available!

Hi, Browsing this forum you can find several models of the Mercedes Actros, Mercedes' current series of heavy trucks, but no model of the precedent NG series (NG = Neue Generation [New Generation]). The NG series, later renamed as SK (= Schwere Klasse [Heavy Class]), was built from 1973 to 1998 and was most probably the most successful European truck series ever. It was virtually ubiquitous inside and outside Europe for civil and military use. The number of variants was numberless: engines from 130 to 530 hp, up to 4 axles, several cab lenghts and roof heights met any customer's requirements. My model shows a 1979 Mercedes 1628S ( = 16 tons, 280 hp, Sattelzugmaschine [tractor]) with a French Trailor 3-axle trailer. I chose the typical colour combination of those days, namely a dark red chassis, a turquoise cab, unpainted aluminum side panels and an orange PVC tarpaulin. RoG's 1628 S and Heller's trailer kit were released in 1981 (?) and supposedly I built them in the early eighties. My memories have become vague over these years but I still remember that both kits were excellent in every respect. If you are interested in European trucks I would really recommend them.

Fantastic and perfect - no need to say anything more! Who ever reworked a diecast knows that this requires a lot more abilities than working with plastic.

As always a very good idea and excellent execution make your model unique.

One of the best colour schemes I have ever seen and a perfect finish. If you could find a way to replace the clumsy kit wipers the illusion would be perfect. Fantastic!

Very unusual vehicle, great job!

Thanks for your replies! One example of some pricey but mediocre Hasegawa/Fujimi/Tamiya kits ...

Hi, Hasegawa's kit would make a nice curbside model without these incomprehensible shortcomings: The model's upper side windows are deeply recessed though they are completely flush on the real car. This impairs the appearance of the finished model considerably. I found no way to fix this problem. A renowned manufacturer as Hasegawa should work more carefully, all the more because this kit was rather pricey when I built it about 15 years ago. The kit headlights look very odd. I didn't find a single historic picture with such headlights. Maybe they are correct for certain export vehicles. Because I wanted to replicate a German vehicle I used the correct headlights of a Union Typ 1 kit. The kit rims have numerous ventilation slots. Again, I didn't find a single historic picture with such slotted rims. Maybe they were indeed used on certain export vehicles. For my German vehicle, however, I used the correct rims of the mentioned Union Typ 1 kit. Nevertheless with some further detailing I found the overall result acceptable.

Thanks for the further comments! Matt, since I know your modeling skills the steps you mentioned will certainly be no problem for you. Laborious pewter parts for the drivetrain and the chassis make no sense to me but they are acceptable. IMO really annoying is the use of pewter also for the exterior chrome parts (f. e. bumpers, grille bar, door handles). It is extremely time-consuming giving them a smooth chrome-like appearance. Even worse, if you are unlucky (like me) your clear coat will not prevent these parts from darkening over the years. I removed these darkened parts luckily without damaging the model and replaced them by the chrome parts of a second all-plastic kit. Therefore I would recommend either to replace these parts while building or to spray them with Alclad.

Peter, this is certainly not the only one. My personal list would be rather long (if someone would ever ask me). And my list of iconic subjects that have never been kitted at all would be even longer ... Matt, about 10 or 20 years ago Gunze Sangyo made a very nice E-Type OTS in two different versions: An expensive "High Tech" version with fantastic PE wire wheels and many annoying hard to finish pewter parts An inexpensive all-plastic version. If you can obtain it the latter one is the better choice provided that you replace the plastic wheels. I will show a finished "High Tech" E-Type later on.

Pat, if you are interested in how to make the wheels: Making real wire wheels in all scales http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=77554

Thanks for all comments! Skip, even if I prefer scratch building vintage trucks like this Scratch Built 1951 Büssing 12000 U13 6x4 Underfloor Engine Truck http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=82042 for about 10 years I am still building cars now and then as a change of pace. Since the 1:1 Maserati is one of my all-time favourite cars it is on top of my car agenda if there will be a re-release. Scratch building trucks, however, is very time-consuming (at least 1000 hours per model) and I know that the Aurora/Monogram requires a lot of work. So what? My whole life is still ahead of me .

Hi, Considering that this Aurora kit is almost 50 years old it is not that poor IMO. Since I built the Monogram reissue more than 20 years ago my memories have more or less faded but I still remember three major problems: In those early days kits with opening doors, bonnets and even boot lids were rather popular even if their usually poor fit spoilt the appearance of the model when closed. This applies to the Aurora kit, too. Making equal gaps and gluing these movable parts shut flush with the rest of the body was rather laborious. The optically extremely distorting glass parts for the windscreen and the side windows were abysmal and had to be replaced by clear sheet. The rear window was still just acceptable but I wish I had replaced it, too. The kit had massive „wire“ wheels, similar to those of Tamiya's Morgan and Jaguar Mk II, but rather clumsy by comparison. As usual I made a set of real wire wheels. Since the (whitewall) tyres of the kit were very crude I replaced them by better ones from my spares box. I mixed a green metallic that was obviously popular on restored vintage Aston Martins because green metallic was (and still is) Aston Martin's racing colour. Overall the kit was certainly far from perfect, that may be the resaon why you don't see it finished very often. Nevertheless with some effort it can make a nice model.

Thanks for the further comments! My last pair of Casadio/Revival models will show the 1924 Bugatti 35 (not the supercharged version 35B). I hope you will be interested again.