stitchdup

again i get the blame for eating mikes cookies

are the rear fenders from a later buick, they seem to look almost like they're from a boattail riviera

oh yeah, thats slick

And we're onto the engines. I'm finding some of the icm parts are needlessly complicated. For example the starter is 4 parts when it really could have been one or two parts. The icm also has individual spark plugs to be added which are barely noticable on the sprue attachment. But theres a lot of parts like this coming up in the next few steps on the icm kit so progress is going to slow down once the rest of the icm engine is done and I'll need to paint the chassis before moving ahead. Anyways, I've assembled both 4 pots to a roughly similar state but there are still 12 parts to go on the icm while the monogram only has 2 remaining. If i remember I'll get a pic of one of the upcoming sprues before I remove more parts. I should also point out every part of the icm so far had required mold lines fixed, and some of the attachment points are again in dumb places but theres not been any distorted parts yet. On the opel i've found many larger parts were slightly off and the chassis needed a lot of massaging to just sit level. The paint is a tamya army green with a couple drops of semi gloss black. Once it gets some satin clear it should hopefully approximate the ford engine colour. Both engines will fit both chassis

its 1/24

First i forgot to include the icm decal sheet earlier so here it is. And on with the fun stuff. I've decided to build both in the icm kit order so first up is the chassis. Up to this point the chassis for the icm is 18 parts, but i've left off the bumper mounts and steering box. I will try the icm steering and axle under the monogram once I get to the interiors as some parts need the cowl to fit. To get the monogram to this point i opened the box. and yes the icm chassis fits the monogram 30 but it does not fit the 29 pick up fenders some trimming of the mongram fenders needed for the icm chassis to fit next up is the engines

So on opening the boxes both are pretty full but obviously the icm has more parts and being a modern kit is much neater laid out but we dont really care about that do we? lol. The icm sprues were bagged but i removed that when it arrived monogram icm Next up is the instructions. Its two differing styles but the icm wins for detail however for appearance and trivia I'm going to call it a tie monogram icm I see a decent improvement from icm's instructions since the opel was done. Much clearer where they needed to be

The best way in my mind to compare the icm kit with the monograms is to build them at the same time. The way I see it this will allow me to swap parts between them as I build so if theres any combinations you would like to see I'll add pics if it can be done without permanent gluing. The icm kit will be going fenderless with a printed dropped axle and cowl steering on steel rims using icm opel tyres on the rear and tamiya tyres from the old toyota on the front as they look like tractor tyres. The monogram coupe will be getting the chevy engine option and cabriolet top. With it I am going to try the icm fenders so I can lose the spare wheel wells from the fenders, but this may not work due to differences between the grilles. I liked the look of the model a they built on faster so will be going for a 70s resto rod look. The pick up is just to try icm parts on for fit and might only get sub assemblies built at this time but if the icm chassis works i might try that at another time.

the calibra chassis fits aoshima ken'n'mary skylines quite well

still nothing in scotland too

Thanks folks

It was nice weather today so i didn't get the chance to get more pics as mum wanted soe painting done in her garden. But during the day i couldn't get this kit out of my mind so its hitting the bench in the morning. Should make comparison pics easier too, lol

Are any tuning parts available for the model a 4 bangers? or am i better to use a flathead v8? I think the icm phaeton is next on the bench and I'd like to do a mild hotrod using as much of the kit as possible. I figure building it will give me better comparison pics too

If i remember correctly the monogram are slightly shorter but i really only had a glance at them. i'll check in the morning and get some pics. if they are shorter its nothing cutting the rear into the bottom of the fender or new trim wont fix as i think they were very close. the monogram plastic is thicker though so that could be more of an issue

I'll post more pics in the morning. theres some features in the instructions worth seeing and i forgot i had a monogram pick up thats unbuilt so i can get pics of the areas that were awkward before

nitroglycerine used as shampoo will really blow your mind

My icm model a arrived this morning. I've added some comparison pics with the monogram coupe to the icm thread

countries be used as anything apart from food storage? asked the young woodpecker

My model a arrived this morning so i've taken some pics of parts with a gloobomb monogram a coupe and its very close. I suspect the phaeton is slightly wider than monograms coupe at the cowl as the icm hood fits perfectly on top of the monogram part. chassis lengh appears the same, (sorry about the poor pic, i didn't want to remove any parts from the sprue) The monogram a body seems to be slightly shorter than the icm on the sills. theres a 1mm gap between it and where the phaeton sits on the fenders but it looks like the fenders would work on the monogram. Speaking off the fenders, they are slightly differently shaped around the front edge but i'm not an expert so i dont know which is right. they both look right to me but the icm may be a little more raked in the drop back from above the front tyres. its a nice kit and the plastic seems thinner than most feeling almost half the thickness of my lindberg 40 ford was. while any body swapping with the monogram kits looks like it would be a simple swap it would need a hood thats mixed between the monogram rear edge and icm front edge to work as the grilles are different enough not to swap between fenders (hopefully a printer will draw something up as a hood and sides would make body swapping as simple as it looks). the icm grille is about 50% thicker than the monogram. i didn't get pics of all these points as i just couldn't get them clear enough but seriously, a hood and sides needs drawn up fot this kit, and would open up a load more body options from the monnogram kits until mcm bring out more versions (i suspect pick up and van next)

Sorry to hear that Carl, I know ms is pretty tough to deal with. My sister has it too but she has the version that ight not put her in a wheelchair, possibly called remitting ms.When she was taking tumbles she tried more grippy shoes and it seemed to help her but the changes in weather also seem to affect her balance when it goes from cold to warm and vice versa. If you like i can put you in contact with her as she runs a support group for ms sufferers so might be able to give advice too. i think its a facebook group

no need for a fancy vacuum, just put a pair of nylons over the nozzle and it will catch it at the nozzle.

can nobody write a simple instruction manual without qr codes and youtube videos. they qr codes are great IF you have a smart phone but millions of people dont so how about a plain website address. youtube videos are great for entertainment but again if it was written down as words it can be taken to where its needed, and thats before the volume issues. i'm trying to learn and i pay more attention to the stupid volume. all i'm trying to do is find a simple settings table with lift speeds and exposure times and all the important stuff to get a damn print, but instead its ads and qr codes and more failure. the manufcturers guide is no use, everything has the exact same settings no matter what resin colour or type. latest print, those strange distorted things are supposed to be dropped axles

i've done it all mate. new film in the tank, new screen protector, new resin and everything set as it should be but still areas turn out like they were drawn by picasso. what turns out is great but the point of having the big printer was to do larger prints. i can do wheels and engines on the litt;le printer but its doint the same. i just seem to be wasting money on this thing. its like getting the settings is some big secret and nobodies sharing it. when it works its great but i seem to hve a 75% failure rate and i cant figure out why. settings that work one day turn out garbage the next 3 times. my last full good big print was in november, since then i just haven't been able to use the whole size on the big printer or the little one at all.

pulling my hair out fighting with my stupid printers. nothing seems to fix the stupid machines. settings that worked perfectly well now dont work. i havent changed anything

i hate this hobby. 3 weeks of polish and clear only to drop it and lose a chunk of the paint. its in stripper.