Dann Tier

More boot, and bonnet work...a bit factory...a bit Dannimal. -Photo 1; These two bits make up a more realistic boot space. -Photo 2; My new bits attached to the original kits boot floor. -Photo 3-6; A perfect fitting replacement. -Photo 7; Tubing work to finish up the front framing work. The two holes up front are receivers for the bonnet hinges.

Better hood, and boot hinges. -Photo 1; As well as the hinges, you can see the square rod used around the openings, and the strut mount for the hood. -Photo 2; Again, round tubing, and rod used for my hinges. The hole in the hood is an antenna relocation point for a shorter, new tech version.

In order to get to my next step, i needed to thicken the openings of the bonnet, hood, and boot openings. Simple square stock did this -Photo 1; Added square styrene strip, and notice the hole for the boot hinge. -Photo 2; Thickened bonnet walls...notched to still fit the interior tub. -Photo 3; I dont really fancy messin about with installing a windscreen that needs to be set the first time edge to edge, so i added a realistic lip to make things waaay easier...plus its adding more realism anyway. -Photo 4; I've noticed that not all Countach's have these spots for adjustable bump stops, but i wanted mine to have them for more visual interest.

This next bit will probably upset, or make people as why, but lately with kits that have opening doors, i've been gluing the passenger doors closed. To me, all the interesting bits to look at are on the drivers side anyway. Plus, theres one less floppy bit to watch out for when handling. -One fixed, and three loose pins hold the door in securely.

Quite often auto glass back then -Countach's included, had a slight blue tint....not as much as these plastic parts though, lol. That was very nice of you for sure, especially considering that these usually go for $600+ lately. You are right though, even with its short comings, it builds up beautifully!

Thanks, Peter!...i'm still posting more as we speak.

I found some creative ways to make more realistic, "factoryish" hinges... -Photo 1; Square styrene tubing is the "ish" part of the factory hinges. After alot of trial, error, and staring, i figured out that a complex movement hinge would allow it to have the most important aspect of a build -realism. After all, you dont display it with a motor having it open, and shut till its shut off. In the end, when i display this car, it will look the most realistic closed, or shut. As you can see, i also replicated the actual hole for the door strut to attach to. -Photo 2; The only bit thats not factory, is the dimple just above the strut opening. This dimple is a fixed point for the strut to fit, to hold the door open...since the door will be removeable. -Photo 3; I needed to build up the door jam area in order to make a proper look for the door pin. It still needs a little filler to get rid of that scratch. -Photo 4; Top...i needed to take the jam higher, then create a tiny hump for the door catch to attach to. Lower...I had to slightly widen the hole for the hood/boot latch assembly. -Photo 5; Heres a back side view of the hinge work/door jam. There is still plenty of room for an inner fender well, which is oddly never included in the front. -Photo 6; This bit will slide in, and out. in when closed, and slightly out just to clear the fender without chipping paint, or having an out of scale gap, or non-factory looking hinges. -Photo 7; This strut is waaaay more to scale. -Photo 8; Lets just call it the hinge slide at this point. As you can see, its notched square tube, with round tube, and plastick pin....hinges dont have to be metal. -Photo 9-11; As you can see, it works great. The slide hinge is purposely floppy in there to allow for paint thickness, and if needed later, i will add a tightening spacer into the receiving tube. This is as factory a look as i could come up with.

Hey, Dennis!, thanks! I would love to see more of yours as well!! I will show how i decided to hinge my doors, and other bits. I thinned some, and thickened some of the body panels...i will try to remember which. Since I too have blue plastic for all the clear parts in my kit, which to me, gave me a couple choices; 1)replace ALL the glass with clear styrene, or choose a color that wont intensify the blue, and kill the realism. I'm choosing a mid to dark charcoal gray metallic color for my body. That along with the dark gray interior lightens the effect of the blue plastic on everything. So all the windows will remain kit supplied, but backup, fog, headlamps, turn signal covers, and all such, will be SB, or kit bashed.

Thanks, Rich!, i'm glad you are still interested. I'm about to post even more within a few minutes....thanks for following!

Hey, everyone!, i pray you are all doing well!, I havent posted in a looong time, but i still have been puttering away once in a while. I kinda got lost with what...how...when i did things, but heres where its at now... -Photo 1; Everything is all lined up, scribed, and ready for the color/finishing stages. -Photo 2; All signs of the pariscope are now gone. -Photo 3; One detail that never gets shown on any Countach kits is where the rear quarter panels end, which are the vertical lines that i scribed on either side of where the exhaust heat shield attaches -sorry, i shoulda used my pointer. -Photo 4; Everything just loosely fit into place. -Photo 5; The "factoryish" bonnet hinges looks, and works more believably. I still need to figure how i want to make the brake vents on the chin spoiler. This is suppose to be a mix of the actual twin turbo car, and a bit of my own custom work, so i havent decided yet.

Looking Brilliant!!....looking forward to more!!

Man i'm loving this build!...fantastic work!

Nice!, i think it looks far better like this.

Well done -i love it!, and the weathering is great!

Looking Fantastic!!

I've owned a few fox bodies before -love'em, and i'm loving your build here as well!

Looking Brilliant!!....looking forward to more!

Looking great so far!!

I was wondering about this kit, and it looks very nice. Really love the work you're doing on it!...looking forward to more!!

I'm loving this!! its about time someone built it again!!

This is gonna be brilliant!, it looks like its got some good molded in details too.

Your engine is brilliant, bud!!, and i'm loving your mods!

Its gonna be killer!

This is gonna be sweet!

One of my favorite Monogram kits as well -Beautiful job!