jaymcminn

This is a bit before my time, but I'm surprised that the most high-tech weapon the robot can come up with is a piece of rusty pipe. Beautiful work on the build and finishes!

Welcome aboard Curt. I'm in Naples myself. Looking forward to that Matra build!

I like the "race car gloss" finish on the paint. Smooth but not too shiny. Immaculate build of a rare kit of the prettiest F1 car of all time!

I bailed on this one... I'm in the middle of a detailed big-scale build that I didn't want to rush for the show. I'll definitely be there for November!

Top Gear at its best was never above loosening a bolt here and there to get the laugh. The first couple of seasons were all about the facts and they're almost painful to watch now.

Love 'em. If you look at those colors as base coats it greatly expands your color palette. They take TS13 clear beautifully.

I'm surprised that Mercedes would part with something as rare and important to their history as a Uhlenhaut Coupe. I wonder what the reasoning was behind that decision. Granted they still have one (they had both cars in their collection) but it's a strange move from a company that reveres its history as much as Mercedes does.

I wouldn't want to use anything bigger than the brush that comes with the cement. That stuff is potent. It's become my go-to over the last few years. I decided to give it a shot when my LHS ran out of Bondene and I never went back!

Everything comes off the trees before painting. I clean up sink marks and mold lines, test fit and mount parts to toothpicks or craft sticks with Micro Krystal Klear before painting. Subassemblies like engine halves, radiators, etc. are preassembled and any seams cleaned up before paint as well. Agreed that paint callouts on instructions only go so far and some companies are better than others. I put hours of research into a build and bookmark useful sites that will help me with getting the colors and finishes absolutely correct. I tend to start off with painting the body before everything else (after lots of test fitting to check for necessary modifications, clearance issues, etc.). I find that a nice shiny painted body gives me incentive to paint and build the rest of the model to the same standard.

My buddy's dog used to love coming over to my house. If she was unsupervised for more than a minute she'd be in my cat's litter box "bobbing for apples".

When I have a project on my bench for three months I start getting antsy to wrap it up and move on. This is going on three years and the work on display here is still wonderful. Thanks for keeping us updated on this project... it's inspirational to see what talent and patience can produce!

Duran Duran's "Rio" album is my go-to musical guilty pleasure. Honestly, it's a great album from start to finish but as an 80's kid there's a certain stigma attached to being too into Duran Duran.

Meh, Testors was dead to me when they dropped MM acrylics and metalizers. The MM spray lacquers were okay and had some great colors but between the terrible nozzles and high failure rate of the cans I stopped using them many years ago.

Give this track a listen... "The Mariner's Revenge Song" by The Decemberists.

Interesting. Never heard of this technique, but I'm gonna have to try it. Does the cotton flock allow the epoxy to be sanded like filler?

Got it Wednesday. Great issue!

My usual black is Tamiya TS-14, no clear, polished out with 2500 grit and followed up with Meguiar's Ultimate compound and polish. The prep work is vitally important as others have stated. Block sand, prime, block sand that, prime again. I can definitely see trying Duplicolor for a 1:8 scale model due to the sheer number of $8 cans of Tamiya paint that would be needed for a model that size.

Got a whole mess of supplies from Hiroboy, mostly for my current Tamiya 1/12 Porsche 934 build. Also got some 1/12 valve stems from RB Motion.

'00 Special Edition, right?

My '95 Miata "M Edition" is definitely the most fun and definitely my favorite car, but the best all-rounder I've ever had is my '13 Kia Soul. Heated leather seats, Bluetooth streaming, lots of cargo room and it's even pretty fun to drive. In 9 years of ownership it's only needed front brakes and a rubber steering isolator replacement. Best of all is it lets me drive the Miata when I want to. Obligatory Miata pic in 3...2...1...

Beautiful work and nice weathering! I've just started one of these and have come at it from the other direction... I've had the body and floor pan in mockup for weeks getting the panel and door gaps just right and correcting some issues like a warped front hood to cowl join.

My package from Hiroboy in the UK arrived in New York a few days ago and promptly went to a facility in Albuquerque. I live in Florida. Logistics are weird.

Exactly what I was thinking. I wonder how long before Tamiya and Aoshima start doing this on their carbon fiber-intensive supercar models. Looks amazing, both the kit and your build!

Not everybody works the same hours. As a hotel manager I have to pull a couple of evening "manager on duty" shifts per week. I'll log in in the morning on those days. Don't forget that European modelers are several hours ahead of us as well. Morning here is afternoon/evening there.

One of the seminal model customs of the '90s. Every line just so. She still looks amazing almost 30 years later!