Plasticfanatic

Sjordan2,Mopar426,Jeff396,Scalper, Thank you very much for your kind comments, tomorrow will be a little up-date on the Jaguar XJ12.

Thank you a LOT for those words, your modeling work have been quite an inspiration for me.....it not only show the building/craftmanship proses of those magnificents scrachtbuilt models you made but the vision of styling and execution....simply SUPERB!!

You really made me smile with that comment about AMT .....how about a Pro Stock Ford Fairmont of Bob Glidden made from a AMT 1965 Pontianc GTO and Dodge Road Runner .....I find myself using these kits for "other things" quite a lot!!!!

This is a scrachtbuilt body made by me, it use as a "base" a quite reworked,bent,sanded and laminated AMT 1970 Dodge Super-Bee body,the roof portion(purple color) came from a 1971 Monogram Barracuda with the A and C pillars fabricated in plastic sheet and blended with epoxy modeling putty, you can still see the "intake Super-Bee" moulding under the back side window on the body, which by now is already filled and sanded.

And this is one of the two versions my model will end up looking.....I hope!!!

This is my in progress attempt at making a curbside model of the Broadspeed XJ12, a car I have wanted to have in my model collection for a long time. This are the earlier stages of the construction and a lot of bodywork,blending and sanding is still ahead, but is slowly getting there. This is by no mean a perfect scale model, but so far I like the results and looks, the interior will also have to be made from scracht of which the right hand dash will be the most complicate piece to make. I wish could cast this body in resin and do more versions of this car, but there no great interest in this type of cars on the scale model market....I would also like to do The version of this car used in the 1970's New Avengers "Steed green Jaguar"...the front is a little different than the Broadspeed competition coupe but not that complicated...unfurtunately I will not do another body conversion..so only the Layland/Broadspeed car will be in my 1/25 collection. Hope you like it.....will post some photos latter of the car in it's first coat of primer....which make it look better than the "dirty bodywork" ones shown here.

Even with the small pictures, your project looks amazing and when finnish it will be a fantastic replica, must say that also enjoy the way you present your step by step prosses. Will keep following this great build.

Pure and simple a work of art, MAGNIFICENT craftmanship and scale modeling work.

Truly a masterpiece of craftmanship and desing, I love this model look and execution down to the paint combination, superb work!! And the super modified Auburn looks superb too!!!

By moving the front windscreen frame back from the pocher factory attachemnt points, you will get a better and much closer fit with the door frame, also it will be prototipicaly correct, since the position on the front windows frame in the model is also wrong and that's why you get the gap with the frame. With the art and patience you are showing with this great build, this will be an an easy fix for you if you desided to change them.

This is project is amazing and your srcrachtbuilt detailing is just superb!! About this particular Pocher model, I should tell you that is better to make some brass rod supports from the chassis to the body for the back area of the car, as they are build out of the box is a "floating part", when you add the spare tires to this area it will put some weight on it and eventually warp even more the body. About the roof, don't worry, actualy the windows are the right size, is the top structure and part desing that is at fault, in fact it has the wrong profile when is "up", look at the pictures of the real car and you will see, also by moving the front windscreen

Beautiful model and great build, like the color combination very much!!!!

Ah!!!!!....My favorite classic car, the Mercedes Benz 500K to 540K specimens are among the most beautiful cars in automotive history, specialy the one you posted at the begining of this thread....a superb desing and machinery!! I have a pocher 1/8 500k which is was based in an actual car body, the cabriolet "A" and even with this one there are some errors on the body, but when Pocher made their 540K Special Roadster(I was looking forward to it with great expectations) was disapointed, they just "modified a little bit" the back of the 500K car to acomodate the rumbleseat, added "decals!!!!!!!!" for the new fenders/bodywork "chrome" moldings, and above all leaving the rest of the car body virtualy unchange, making the Pocher 540K Special Roadster a highly inacurate body style for the Special Roadster.....the most beautiful in the line of this cars in my humble opinion. Some modelers have reworked this kits to make true and accurate scale models of the Special Roadster 540K, by the work pictures I have seen, is a very heavy scrachtbuilding project, the engine hood have to be made longer and repositioned, the doors have to be made smaller,new side window frames,new fenders side skirt,new solid body "chrome" moldings,new bumbers,new interiors(but there are some terrific replacement parts for this area) new headlights and some fabrication of parts in the engine area. The two magnificent books work by Jan Melin "Mercedes Benz the 8 Cylinder Supercharge cars of the 1930's" you can find the photos of all the cars in the line of the "K" designation and are presented in great period photos, you can also see some of the most rare one off and prototypes in this superb two volume work. Good luck with this great project, will be looking forward for the new updates, I am pretty sure it would be a interesting one all the way.

WOW...THIS IS AMAZING......I LOVE THAT BODY DESING YOU DID!!!!!! and of course the great vacumforming job, just superb!!! I wish you would offer that body for sale as a vacumformed option or maybe resin in the future, is an unique and spectacular body sculpt and desing, I would love to do one of this as a 1930's all out car...ala Delage streamlined specials or Duesenberg black phanthom car, only using 1930's technologie. Your body desing(the car, mind you ) is sooooo balance and elegant that the modern accents only make it look even better......just superb workmanship and scrachtbuilding, I can't wait to see this one finish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Fred

My friends, why is humanity so interested in when all will end, if we don't even know for sure how all started? Is my personal belife that this type of obcesion is what is stoping the human race evolution to better things and a new perspective of seeing life and our place and responsability in the universe. As for the 2012....well I think something WILL happen BUT more "ala...2010 the year we make contact".......yes my friend, we have been prepared for decades for the "big news" that we are not alone and that evidence of other life in the universe is a reality. The amount of controled information liberated by the governments have been a long experiment of asimilation and reaction to shocking news by the humanity as a one race and the meaning EACH of us give to this news. Do you think that is a coincidence of the big news anauncement by NASA of water on the poles in the far side of the moon and the "posible" implications of this "new discovery" could be to human exploration of space, Or the plans to go back to the moon and make an permanet habitat there or in Mars is just for cience exploration? When we can get past this "end of days" fasination by humanity.....and the mega box office money returns for such fears, we can really start living up to our great potential....my humble opinion of course!!

Well I have seen the pictures of the model, read the comments of several pre-productions test models(actually the final model) and look at the price of the kit...AGAIN!! NO THANKS!!! This model is overpriced,simplified and with some big NO.NO in it's model parts desing and execution....why the chrome,the plain seats...and this is a BIG pointer since those "silver rings ventilation system" seats are a trademark in the GT40'S. I know that with even all the problems with this kit seems to have some modelers here will turn it into a spectacular piece...but with a LOT of work and probably more money!! I have an old japanese model car magazine which I had to buy mostly because an article in particular, in it was an article about the rework and corrections in the 1/12 scale Lancia Stratos rally car model kit(can't remember the model company) the finished and corrected model is simply superb, a true labor of love and fidelity to the real thing....out of the box the model was quite "detailed' with a lot of parts and working features also was an expensive model for it's time...and quite noted by the Japanese modelers doing the work, the 'corrections' included, engine details,wheels,interior,bodywork and fabrication to scale of several parts missing in the original kit or wrongly desing or scale apperance, it was a LOT of work. When I saw the test shots of the GT40 model this article about the Lancia Stratos came to me in a flash!!! Most modelers like myself who like this types of race cars and the big scales are happy with any new offering and I know tooling for such a big model cost a lot of money BUT one has to be careful since buying any overprice model will only make the model companys make more inacurate,simplified and expensive models, simply because they know they will sell them.

WOW, this is looking great!! I share your sentiment about Fujimi lack of effort to go the "extra mile" in making the correct modifications and parts to this special issue racing models. But for what I can see you have taken care of that, this one is looking superb, can't wait to see it finish!! Fred

Hello Nick, Wish I could do the trip!!! You like Ferraris....I would never imagine it!! The best thing about Ferraris is that they look spectacular in street form but ever more in racing trim.....a little secret...I have in the "make up your mind" corner of my workbench a Ferrari 250 California, which I wanted first to do a street version BUT since some time I have been thinking about doing a NART pure racing version, even have the decals for it, but again can make up my mind on this one, it looks sooooooooo good in street as well as racing...mmmmm..what to do!! Fred

Hello Chris, Thanks for the compliment on this project, still quite some work and refinement to do to the body. I know what you mean about Fujimi inacurate "race car series" I am also working in a conversion of the RAIN-X competition Lamborghini Countach raced at the Japanese circuit, Fujimi came out with a "model" of this car....in reality a regular street Countach with the RAIN-X decals.....NOT a single modification to the body,wheels or tires to represent the real race car!!! for that reason I choose to modified a regular street version to the racing model, that one I found at e-bay for $8.00......the Fujimi "special edition racing Countach" can go from $35 to $70!!!!......and the only thing you can use are the decals(which I still looking for as a separate piece) The tires I used in the 360 are from a Tamiya Porsche GT1, some times you can get this kit parts at e-bay as single pieces or "part groups" for a very good price. Fred

Yes, you are 100% correct is a Ferrari 360....may be the glue fumes are getting to me!!!!....mmmmm...BLUE color....the only blue modern Ferrari I am planing to do is the Pilot F40 race car.....I love the color/markings in this car!!.....of course after I finish the 0123 Art Sport IMSA F40 I am working on now. But again there is the 365 Daytona in blue,white and red racing colors......that one is fantastic!!....have my Fujimi 1/24 old "enthusiast series" coupe wainting for that conversion. Fred

The 360 is also a conversion using the stock Tamiya kit, I fabricate the front airdam and made wider the front wheel openings to acomodate the biger racing tires. I am still waiting for my set of correct racing wheels used on this car, until then this one will do. The roll cage was made from styrene and the back spoiler was heat formed on a piece of copper tubing,sanded and end plates fabricated as well as the support brackets. I am going to make the car in the racing team colors/decals shown, the diference is that the car I am making had the new racing airdam in unpainted form(exposed carbon fiber)....I really like the look of it!! Hope you like it. Fred

Well this is an little update of this project. I only like the F50 Ferrari in one way...the GT version. For my project I use the Revell 1/24 F50 barchetta, the reason, it was on a $6.00 closeout sale...yeas I know, I am cheap!! It would have been much easier to use the coupe for the conversion BUT that one was not on sale...told you I was cheap!! I rework the front wheel openings with styrene and putty as well as the new front end chin spoiler and bigger openings of the grille and brake colling ducts, I just finish the biger radiator intakes on to of the car, now I have to apply putty to blend them with the rest of the bodywork. The back engine cover was mede from a piece of styrene and NACA ducts and the small horizontal openings where cut out with the #11 blade. The back spoiler is a 'stand in" for the picture, a new one is been made in the right shape and correct center support brackets. The roof duct was heat form and blended to the body with putty. The correct wheels for the real prototypes where five spoke Speedlines wheels, I haven't found them out side of kits(I have the Tamiya Skyline GTR which have these wheels) But I like the look of these OZ wheels I had at my part box. I was goin to build the car as the prototypes BUT I think I may do it in one of the Ferrari racing team colors. Still a lot of fitting and sanding ahead on this one. I know there are great resin conversion kits in the market to do this car BUT I dont want to spend an arm and a leg in this dificult financial times.....A.K.A.....I am cheap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hope you like it!! Fred

Yes research is everything when doing a replica of a specific car and I also know that no race car is the same in every detail, there are diferent versions for diferent drivers needs,race tracks,countrys where the race is made (the yellow lights in the cars at Le manns come to mind) engines,markings, race numbers,interior colors,engine set up,etc,etc. The details you mention can be duplicated very easy or scrachtbuilt by the modeler, I have been building scale models for more than 26 years and still haven't come by a perfectly accurate model of any subject, theres always room for improvement and detailing, that's what fun about this hobby. But we usualy need a base model to start, and that is my point, as other fellow modelers have stated, Trumpeter track record in automotive subjects is not that great or cheap, now we have this new mega detailed big model, let see when it comes out how good and accurate it realy is, by the photos of the model test shot posted by our fellow member, there are a LOT of things that can be improved or remade, again my humble opinion!! Anyway I wish the best for this new offering in the big scale historic race car modeling area, I know that no matter what is the final quality of the GT40, magnificent replica models would be created by the master craftsmans of the model car modeling community, some of them right here at the forum. Fred

Yes even the set-up of the motor is diferent, one notable detail are the Webbers as you well said, but this is what I mean, a couple of parts more and you would have a 2 in one kit(even if you have to modified the front fenders a little) and then I won't mind to pay the asking price of over $200 since I will have two options to build. I am pretty sure they made parts and molds for the 1969 conversion GT40, if the first issue sell well we will be seeing an 1969 GT40 with minimal cost to Trumpeter since they already made the extra parts!!!....my humble opinion of course!!

Yes I know about you mean!! Fujimi did an "revision" of their first offering GT40 and practicaly did a reissue with a new engine cover(boot) that in my personal opinion is quite good in shape and size to acomodate the wider tires, for me are the front fenders flares that need a little work/modifications but again is a good base to make corrections to the body and not that dificult or extensive modification...minimal I should say. For resin models I don't even try to fix the resin, as you well said is a real pain in most of the cases, if I have to make body modifiactions I usualy do "putty lamination' using styrene and putty for the work, is easier to sand,shape,file and give scale apperance for the body/panels of the car......for this I only use two type of brands...Tamiya A+B putty(yellow one) and Miliputty "fine". Fred