jaymcminn

I actually hinged the front hatch the way Eric did with the wire loop through the center of the hinge- I just have to install the pins (how hard can that be, right?) to have the hatch open in a prototypical manner. Since taking these pictures, I've fitted all the components to the front compartment (pics soon, I promise) and checked the front cover fitment and it's perfect. Of course, to attain perfection I had to shave down the inside of the hatch to clear the radiator shroud, trim the radiator mounts to lower it a little, mount the radiator shroud higher on the radiator to clear the spare and shave the oil tank mounts to get that to sit lower! The front cover will be removable or can be positioned tilted open- the Trumpeter mechanism doesn't work at all.

Here's the latest update! The paint has finally cured enough to work on. I polished it out with Meguiar's ultimate compound and polish... a little too vigorously in places, as I had to touch up a couple of areas on the rear clamshell and front end where I burned through the enamel. Give me lacquer any day! Nothing against the Scale Finishes paint, but I'm used to lacquer now (and lots of clear coat) and polishing out single-stage enamel is a little challenging. The results are really nice, however... the gloss is accurate and doesn't look like a show car at all. The BBK decals are pretty nice. They don't really like Micro Sol, and the decal over the roof is a little crinkly in places due to that. It's not really that noticeable, but it's there. The decals on the side (applied without solvent) are much better. The build has reached the stage where everything's starting to come together, which means lots of unpleasant surprises. Every part you install interferes with the fit of two other parts, and all the careful test fitting and mocking up I did earlier seems to count for basically nothing. I know it would be worse if I hadn't done it, but it can be a little frustrating. I think I've got everything in order now, so we'll see how it goes from here. The working steering is pretty much theoretical- the Icon tires really fill the wheelwells and don't have a lot of room to move. This is fine with me, and I think this is just due to the extra width of the aftermarket pieces. Here are some pics of the model as it sits now. Next comes the detail in the front end. I think I'm in the home stretch!

Thanks, Mike. I was going for sort of a street-driven former race car vibe, and I wanted the paint to have an early sixties custom look to it. You'll love this kit. It's probably the best engineered kit I've ever built. Aside from a PE detail set (KA Models, I think), the Hasegawa wire wheel set, and engine wiring, it's pretty much stock.

They absolutely can (and probably should) be attached before painting the body so you can fill the seam. I did it on mine. I think the choice to mold the inner fenders separately had more to do with the complexity of the shape than any assembly issues, as mine went together without a hitch with them in place. Note that I did leave the seam at the vent on the body side- this actually was a separate piece on the real cars and was often painted black.

Testors Wet Look Clear is by far my favorite clear coat now. Easy to apply through the can or decanted, excellent gloss, and easy to polish to a beautiful shine. TS13 just has too many issues for me. It's a shame because Tamiya paints are just so good. I might try the TS13 again just in case it's gotten any better, however...

So I decided to tackle the dashboard of the GT40 while waiting for the paint to cure. Rather than my usual 1/24 practice of applying instrument decals and using Micro Krystal Klear to simulate glass, I decided to try something a little more realistic in the larger scale. Using my Dremel and files, I hogged out the gauges in the panel and decided to mount clear acetate behind the dash, and then the gauge decals behind that. The result looks much more like proper gauges, with depth and smooth glass. I also removed the molded-in bumps that were supposed to represent toggle switches- I had plans for those! I used thin aluminum printer's plate to represent the switch panel. On most GT40s this panel is black, but #1015's panel is natural aluminum. I was contemplating removing the kit's fuse panel and scratchbuilding fuses from stretched clear sprue, but decided against it. Here's a picture of the panel in progress. For the very visible toggle switches, I tried something a little different. I took some of the plastic bolt heads I was using for engine detailing and drilled the ends out. I then inserted a short length of soft silver wire and flattened the wire with a pair of pliers. The result? Realistic toggle switches! They're a little big for the scale (about 1 1/2 inches) but I think they look pretty good. Here are a couple of pics of the switches in progress. The fuel cutoff switch was scratchbuilt from styrene as was the black knob on the switch panel. THe rest of the dash detail was just careful detail painting. I might cut some black decal film yet to represent Dymo tape labels for the switches. Here's the finished dash. Finally, I got everything together for a couple of mockup pictures with the paint on. It's still too soft to work with, so I'm not going to continue with the build until it's cured for another week or so. I might go ahead with assembling the fuel lines and the bolt detail on the suspension while I wait. But the blue looks amazing, and the gaps seem okay. I'm going to try to avoid polishing cloths as much as possible here- I want to leave a little orange peel in the finish to try to represent a "quick and dirty" race car finish. I'm already not looking forward to the decals- especially getting them over those louvers on the roof!

Beautiful work on that Fujimi EM kit. I'm kind of partial to green 911s as well!

I don't have any experience with the Rio, but my dad has a 2012 Sportage Turbo and my mom has a '13 Soul. Both have been completely trouble-free and the build quality is excellent. The Soul in particular is a really engaging little car to drive. If I were looking for a modern subcompact, the Rio would be right up there with the Mazda 2 or the Honda Fit. Kia really has come a long way in the last five years!

(goes to Google, looks at pictures of GT40 door gaps) Oh (expletive deleted). Oh well, looks better my way. If I were to just do the left three pumps, would I just fill in the holes on the plate on the right side fuel sponson and leave that blank?

Thanks, everybody! Here are some pics of the bodywork and final mockup before paint... This is the door gap before adding styrene to the trailing edge of the bonnet... and after the material has been added and the gap corrected. Here's a shot of the fuel pumps mounted on a scratched aluminum plate rather than buried behind the firewall as the kit would have you do. Apparently many of the actual cars used the same arrangement. I am going to use all six pumps ( I think it looks cool) and they do clear the engine cover with the internal structure in place. Cato, you will be glad to notice that I did scratch up a battery hold-down strap as well! and finally, a couple of mockup shots, including one with a similarly-sized car in 1/24 just to show how big this thing actually is... I got the body into paint today, and the results are promising. Pics soon, and then I'll probably take a break for a few weeks to work on something else while the Scale Finishes Arcadian Blue enamel dries, which takes quite a while.

Thanks, Fred! The suspension bolts are going to be replicated by Tichy Train plastic bolt heads a little larger than the ones I used on the engine. Probably won't wire the knock offs, but that might change. Another round of pics showing some more progress and a final body mockup coming soon!

Here's a shot of the engine located in the engine bay and the partially completed rear suspension. It is every bit as fiddly and complicated as it looks and you've heard. And finally here's a shot of the Icon resin tires mounted on the kit wheels. I painted the wheels in Tamiya Titanium Silver and used Alclad Airframe Aluminum on the knockoffs, the centers of which I drilled out and added aluminum tubing. The tires are amazing and really make the model. The outside of the chassis pan was also painted in the Scale Finishes Arcadian Blue, which looks dead-on to the factory color. The only downside is that it's an enamel... a week after painting it's still a bit soft and has a bit of a solvent smell. When I paint the body I'm going to have to let it sit for a few weeks just to be sure it's cured... by then I'll be up for a break! Live dangerously, man!

Finally I've had some time to take, fix, and post some pics to Photobucket to add to this post. Work is progressing pretty well on the GT. The interior tub is just about done. I added a battery from a 1/12 scale '67 Corvette (after shaving off the Delco lettering) and modified the 'Vette's optional fire extinguisher to fit into the "passenger" footwell. The color for the dark blue areas of the monocoque is Tamiya TS15. The seats look right at home in here... This is a shot of the mocked-up body and chassis with the rear engine cover in place. The gap between the engine cover and chassis pan has been shimmed and sanded down on this side... but not yet on the driver's side. Somehow, the engine cover clears the headers too.

Sounds like a good alternative to epoxy for a lot of our applications. Might just have to give it a try. Thanks for the heads up!

Believe it or not, my headers tuck up just fine under the engine cover. Go figure!

Cato, thanks for the tip about the engine cover. Once I got the engine mounted in the chassis I refitted the body and sure enough the rear clip developed that gap at the base. I shimmed it up with styrene and the fit is really good now.

Thanks, guys. More pics soon as I work on the wheels, tires, suspension, and interior. Things are starting to get a little complicated...

I love the 2015 Mustang. It's elegant and clean and is an obvious step in the evolution from the "retro" 04-14 cars. The variety of powertrains and independent rear suspension really make it much more of a world-class car than the outgoing model. I'd still probably take a Challenger, however...

Good call on the blackwalls. Very sharp with the cream/maroon combo. Somehow I don't see myself ever having the patience to tackle one of these Pocher monsters. Amazing work so far!

Those cheap little plastic spring clamps- I probably have 30 of them. They're awesome. 25 foot Goodyear air hose for my big garage compressor. Various little files. A bunch of Dremel accessories. When it comes to things like my airbrushes and hobby compressor I go with the name brand (mostly), but some things make more sense to buy cheap.

I just shot some Scale Finishes gloss enamel on my Trumpeter GT40 build. What is the drying time on the gloss enamel? I'm not planning on clear coating, but I will be polishing out the paint. How hard does this stuff dry? Is it similar to or harder than, say, Tamiya lacquer?

Yup. And they're not the only ones... http://jalopnik.com/5973177/this-is-what-a-modern-bmw-sounds-like-when-engine-sounds-arent-piped-in-by-a-computer

Sad, but not really news. BMW's been doing this for a few years across most of their range from the lowly 135i to the mighty M5. A lot of it has to do with the new turbo engines not sounding nearly as nice as the former naturally aspirated engines. Putting that system in a hybrid does crank the lameness up to 11, however.

Henry, the heat staining on the exhaust is done with Tamiya clear acrylics thinned with rubbing alcohol over, as you said, a base of Alclad chrome. I started off with clear smoke on all the parts. On this kit, I only applied the smoke about halfway down the exhaust pipes at the rear to leave the ends of the pipes in a brighter finish. I then mixed together a brown clear from clear orange and smoke, which I used on the header pipes and collectors. Finally I mixed clear blue and smoke, which I applied on the header pipes right where they meet the flanges on the cylinder heads. The texture on the transmission, as well as on the seats, is a paint called "Make It Suede" by Krylon. It's available here in the USA in craft and home-improvement stores. I have a spray can of it in a buff beige color I've had for at least a decade now, and I'm not even halfway through it yet! I just apply the paint over primer or bare plastic and then apply my finish color once it's dried. Scale Motorsports sells a line of textured spray paints called Faux Fabrix you might be able to procure more easily through one of the online hobby shops if you can't find something similar to the Krylon paint in Indonesia. Hope this helps! Thanks, Eric.I don't think they're quite as good as the modified KA seats from your build, but I would have broken down in tears if I'd had to hand-form 228 grommets from solder like you did! As it is, I'm pleased with the results. Things are progressing on this one, albeit slowly. More pics in the next couple of days. As always, questions and comments are welcome!

So, the seats. I didn't want to do anything too radical with them, but they are a pretty visible part of the finished model. Basically, I decided that my goal would be to make them look less plasticky, so I started by sanding off the molded grommets. Next, I heated the seats over a candle (kids, don't try this at home) to allow the backrest and seat to sag a little in the middle. I then carved wrinkles in the bolsters with my Dremel. I painted the seats with Krylon Make-It-Suede and gave them a topcoat of Model Master Aircraft Interior Black, which is a nice dead-flat dirty black. Then it was on to the grommets... which are RB Motion 1.1mm photoetched washers. You get 256 in a package, which is plenty for both seats. The washers were attached with clear flat acrylic. I like the way they follow the sags and curvature of the seats. The seatbelt hardware and belts are from the kit, and look really good. Here's everything all together...