CarlR

This was a combination of the Revell 1929 model A roadster and 1932 sedan. Where the engine originated from remains a mystery but it's a large block so I had to relocate the engine mounts on the frame which, in turn, made it necessary to move the front axle forward. The front axle was also lowered but in spite of several clearance checks I didn't realize that I'd overdone it until final assembly and it was too late to correct. The sedan body was also lowered which made a lot of alterations to the rear interior and rear suspension necessary. This was the most challenging modification to a kit that I have attempted and a lot of my solutions wouldn't pass close inspection but the main thing is I enjoyed it and am pleased with how it turned out. It certainly wouldn't pass muster in the real world but in my dream world, I'm cruisin' in style!

a job well done on what I also found to be a difficult kit

This model is a kitbash of the Revell Monogram Tom Daniel Paddy Wagon and the Revell '29 Model A roadster kits. All went well with the conversion until I got to the decaling stage. I messed up applying the driver's side "police" decal (the decal lifted off the paper backing and curled up on itself in the water) and no amount of cajoling, begging, pleading or threatening would untangle that little ball of ink and plastic. ARRGGHHHH!

You'll probably hear cries of "Sacrilege!' and "Heresy!" when I suggest Pledge Floor Care Multi-surface Finish but it's what I have on hand and have been successful with (and it's relatively inexpensive). I airbrush 1 or 2 light coats onto the model before I do the foiling. The coat of Future/Pledge helps to protect the paint from scratches and errant excursions of the blade when I'm trimming away the excess foil. It also protects the paint from either 100% rubbing alcohol, lighter fluid or varsol which I use sparingly on a q-tip to clean up fingerprints and the occasional adhesive residue from the foil product. When I'm done foiling I give the model a final cleaning and then a couple of coats of Future/Pledge. No doubt there are other clear coats that will work just as well (or better). One final suggestion I'd like to make... Use a NEW blade and use only enough pressure to cut the foil. The fresh blade will keep the foil from bunching up under the cutting surface at the tip of the blade and the feather-light touch will give you more control of where the blade does or doesn't go.

This is the Revell 1/24 BMW Z1 with some slight customizing touches. I found this to be an excellent kit - complex enough to present a bit of a challenge but not so much so that it results in frustration. A search of the internet didn't reveal much in the way of interesting paint schemes so I took inspiration from another modeler who had used stripes on his version of this model. I think black metalflake with BMW M1 stripes suits the lines of this car quite well.

very nice - an excellent job!

The '58 Impala has long been a favourite of mine. As to duplicating the chrome trim, I echo Greg Hoffman's suggestion to go with Bare Metal foil. The '58 is a big project if this is your first time with this product but to my mind, Bare Metal foil does it best. Once you get the paint problems resolved I would recommend a clearcoat before you start applying the foil. In my experience there is always some glue residue to get rid of and the clearcoat will protect your paint job whether you use lighter fluid or varsol to clean up. It might be worth your while to try using Bare Metal foil on a less demanding project before you tackle the '58. Looking forward to seeing the finished article.

excellent! - this provides inspiration and motivation for me to get busy and build the one I have in the stash!

very well done - excellent job!

thank you all for your comments Nblng... the wood rails in the bed and the stakes on the side come in the kit. The wood grain is well done and with the right painting technique (or luck in my case) they really add to the truck

This was an interesting and fun build but I did find the fit of the hood, cab and front fenders a challenge to correct which unfortunately, in the final assembly did not come out right. The paint job is nail polish thinned with lacquer thinner over a gold base. This finish was not very durable and suffered a number of dings and scratches during assembly.

thank you all for your positive comments. bbowser... apologies for the delay in replying. The decal sheet does offer one choice for the seat pattern - basically black squares with a thin blue line separating them. I downloaded some plaid patterns, duplicated the swatch I liked until I had an area big enough to cover the seat and then printed it. I then trimmed the print to fit and glued it to the model with white glue. below is a link to a review which has a photo of the decal sheet... http://www.scalemodelnews.com/2017/01/a-big-kit-of-small-machine-isetta.html

This was a fun, relaxing build. The fit oif the parts was excellent - no surprises during assembly and, as the ladies say.."It's just too cute!"

This is the Moebius 1/8 scale Riddler. This kit was built basically OOB with the exception of a modification I made to the neck in order to reduce the inclination of the Riddler's head and drop his gaze a little lower. A wedge of plastic was removed from underneath the chin to enable the head to tilt further down and a cut was made at the hairline in the back so that the back of the head could match up to the new position of the forward portion of the head. The resulting gap at the back of the head was filled in with Milliputty and sculpted to blend in. With the exception of the work involved with the modification, the assembly of the kit went very well with minimum filling and sanding to eliminate the seams. The only snag I ran into was with the decals - not Moebius' fault though. I tried a new technique for the decal application and it wasn't until I over sprayed the suit with a flat coat did it become apparent that not all of the decals had settled down properly. Any attempts to remedy the slip-up only made things worse so I had no option but to accept defeat gracefully and leave things as they are. Next time I'm applying decals, I'll stick with the method I know works (every time!) So, even though it's not as good as I'd hoped it would be, building this kit was a pleasurable experience and I'm looking forward to building the rest of the kits in this range.

very nice and a job well done! I definitely prefer the styling of the earlier Camaros

thank you all for your kind comments. peteski - I'm not offended by your comments - you make some valid points. Somehow I overlooked that prominent separation line on the nose while I was concentrating on getting a smooth transition from one panel to the next. I think I'll try using a straight line decal to simulate the front joint - the rear, I'm not sure how I could pull that one off. As to the rear taillight, with careful masking I might be able to overspray that with Tamiya smoke and tone it down a bit. Thanks for your observations. Now, if only someone would offer a decent kit of this car...

This model is the latest episode in my love/hate relationship with the AMT/MPC kits reissued by Round 2. I've always liked the look of the '79 Trans Am and I had to have one in my collection. So, after doing some research on the net and fully aware I would be in for a challenge, I dove into the kit and did the best I could with the skills I have and the kit that's available. The area I found involved the most work was the front end - it was not the same size as the attachment area on the body and a lot of careful filling and sanding was required to eliminate the step and obtain a smooth transition from the hood area to the nose. Attaching the fender flares (front and rear) was also a challenge - lots of fitting and sanding to get them to conform to the side panels. The side marker lights were lost because of all the filing and sanding required to blend in these areas. The front and rear glass come as a single unit but I found I got a better fit by separating the two and installing them individually. Next hurdle was fitting the spoiler to the rear deck. Even the best fit I was able to get after extended fitting and filing still required the application of filler - sanding that was fun (not). The tires included in the kit were a major disappointment - they look like they should be for some sort of off-road vehicle. Fortunately I had some spares from (of all things) the 1965 Pontiac kit from Round 2 that were much more suitable. The only problem is that on one of those replacements, the whitewall is printed off-center. To me, the only saving grace of this kit is the decal sheet that's included. Three different color schemes are provided which will allow the builder a wide variety of color schemes to finish their model in. In spite of what I perceive to be shortcomings of this kit, I'm glad to have it on my shelf with my other dream cars.

I've always liked the look of the E-type Jaguar and I keep hoping that Tamiya will (one day) release a kit of this car. But... it doesn't appear that that's going to happen anytime soon so when Heller re-released their Jaguar kits I ordered one of each. The Heller kits offer the potential for a skilled modeler to build a decent model of each of the Jaguar E types but not without a fair bit of skill in the "bringing it up to snuff" department. There was very little in the way of flash but I found the parts to be "chunky" in their interpretations of the Jaguar form and lacking in detail. It's as if Heller set out with the right idea but just didn't follow through. For example, the wiper blades... The bottom half of the wiper arms are molded onto the windshield frame. The upper half of the arms and blades are molded as part of the clear windshield - but they don't align properly when the windshield is installed. On my kits I shaved off the wiper arms and replaced them with round plastic rod. On the plus side, the other parts of the kits fit together very well when they're cleaned up. The tops for the convertible (folded and erect) fit perfectly. I was particularly happy with the headlight covers which I consider to be the weakest point of the Revel kit. It's critical to get the "eyes" of the XKE correct to give it the right look. Also disappointing in the Heller kits was the decal sheet. To say it is simplistic might be being overly generous. The whitewalls I applied to the coupe did not come with the kit - they were surplus decals from an other kit (exact source unknown). But all griping aside, I am happy to finally have these cars in my collection.

The kits were built basically oob with a couple of modifications. Moebius supplies some twine to simulate a rope but I figured Batman would probably use the highly flexible, super strong metal rope developed by Wayne Industries instead. I inserted some small screws into the feet of the figures for a more secure attachment to the bases. I encountered a steep learning curve associated with painting the faces and trying to add shadow and contour details to the kits using paint instead of relying on just lighting. My experience with painting would be akin to boarding a taxi expecting to arrive at a specific destination but being dropped off somewhere close to where you had originally intended to be. In spite of the challenges and frustrations associated with painting the faces, I quite enjoyed working on these kits from Moebius and look forward to working on the others in the range

Thank you all for the overwhelmingly positive response to my posting! Randy B... the tires and wheels are the ones that are provided in the kit

I like it - well done

Excellent job on the rescue - I am especially fond of the mid-60's Pontiacs.

thank you all for your positive comments and encouragement. David G...as per espo, what looks to be a second radio near the steering column is in fact the heating and air conditioning control Kelson... the paint I used was Testor's ModelMaster Arctic Blue Metallic #2702 over a gloss black base.

This is my attempt at the AMT/Round 2 1965 Pontiac Grand Prix. First of all, my hat is off to those modellers who have built this kit and have done a far better job than I was able to. Climbing up onto his soapbox... I have built few of the AMT/MPC kits re-released by Round 2 and I am finding it increasingly difficult to justify spending the extra money on these vintage kits. I know I am in the minority when I say I am not happy to pay premium prices for what I consider substandard kits (I realize a lot of Round 2's kits are from the early years of modeling). I'd much rather buy a current Revell/Monogram release or save up and purchase a Tamiya kit. ...getting down from the soapbox (amidst a chorus of boos and ducking the rotten vegetables...) I found this kit to be a real challenge to achieve what I consider an acceptable result. There was flash everywhere and a lot of the parts were misshapen requiring lots of time filing and sanding that I would rather have spent on finishing and detailing. After wrestling the parts into an acceptable state detailing became wishful thinking. The challenge would be to just finish the doggone thing! Anyway, to those of you who might be contemplating building this kit, be forewarned - it will require a lot of attention. Flash removal, removal of molding blemishes, reshaping of misshapen pieces like the distributor will consume the lion's share of your time on this kit. All the trim molding benefits from rescribing in order to make it easier to apply bare-metal foil in the final assembly stages. Another area to watch for is length of the axles. If assembled as per instructions your wide-track Pontiac will be more narrow gauge than wide track. I wish I could be more positive abut this kit (I am a big fan of the actual car) but unless you've really got to have a '65 Pontiac in your life, I can't honestly recommend this kit.

This is my attempt at the Revell "Baron and his funfdecker Fokker" I liked the idea of pipes but I didn't care for the look of the V-8 and scoop so I modified the pipes to look as if they were attached to the aircraft engine instead. Technically impossible I know but visually, it works! The decal sheets comes with generic "doghouse" kill markings but I wanted a little more authenticity for the Baron's victories. I reduced in size a number of images of our favourite World War I flying ace that I found on the net and applied them to fuselage with white glue. Building this kit was a good bit of fun - a pleasant revisiting of those days when model building was fun and relaxing!