jaymcminn

Congrats on the score, Romell. That build with the Autograph kit is amazing! As far as my "grail" kits, I scored two recently (Fujimi EM Stratos, Fujimi EM Porsche 356 Speedster) and am keeping an eye out for a few more- especially the Italeri Ferrari 250SWB. I was really disappointed that Revell AG's reissue of that one fell through.

Very clean-looking. I love that clean unbroken fender line that sweeps all the way from front to rear- very elegant.

Matt, I'm definitely going to shamelessly rip off your carbon fiber technique! Great work so far on both builds!

My goal is usually to try to match the panel lines on non-opening parts to the ones on opening parts. Sometimes that involves closing panel gaps on opening hoods, doors, etc. with thin styrene to narrow the gaps. Others it involves slightly widening/deepening gaps on non-opening parts to even everything out. I usually flow a darkened wash of the base color into panel lines to bring out the detail as a last step in a build. Sometimes on kits with poorly-engineered opening doors, I'll glue the doors shut, block-sand the body smooth, and re-scribe the panel lines. I'd rather see a nice smooth line down the body than toy-like opening doors. Research is important,too- not all panel gaps should be the same size, and that should be reflected in scale as well.

Great detail, Derek. I really like the bronze wheels against the blue.

Me, too. There's just something so... right about a Daytona or early Countach with the big meaty tires. Thanks, guys- I really appreciate the response that this build has gotten. It's always gratifying to build something out-of-the-ordinary and get some really good feedback on your results. I've already started my next build and will definitely do it as a proper WIP this time- it's the Revell Ferrari 458 Italia with a set of mean-looking Fujimi BBS wheels and the Hobby Design photoetched detail set. Pics up soon!

I always paint, clear, and polish the body before masking the black trim with BMF. I then mask the entire rest of the car with blue masking tape before spraying acrylic flat black through the airbrush. This yields the best results I've tried. Since you're applying your paint over your finish coat, you can clean up any overspray using your polish of choice.

Won this one on Ebay. It's gonna be Tamiya Racing White with a red interior.

Beautiful work- even more so given how tough those MFH kits are to start with!

I use Meguiars #26 Hi-tech Yellow liquid wax on both my 1:1 car and models. I used to use the #7 glaze for polish, but I've switched to the new Ultimate Compound.

Great work, Jonathan. I love that MM Emerald Green. I've been contemplating picking one of these up and doing a Caterham for a while- might have to take the plunge!

Definitely looking forward to the Mini and the Ferrari 599 GTO- talk about opposite ends of the automotive spectrum!

If the Countach I just built is any indicator, Aoshima has really stepped up their game lately. I'm holding out for the Aoshima Aventador kit for the extra detail... I just can't see paying Fujimi prices for the product they've been putting out recently.

I have an '05 PT turbo convertible- the only year built before they did the unattractive facelift and the cheaper interior. Although I love my 'vert, I definitely recognize that it's a pretty polarizing design. It's definitely not like anything else out there, and you don't see them everywhere like Sebring and V6 Mustang convertibles!

I'm a little surprised that Tamiya is doing these as full-detail kits. I'm definitely interested!

I love the original cars too- somehow the shape is even more shocking without the wings and flares. It's just hard to believe that something like this ever made it to production. I'm probably going to build the Hasegawa Miura next, so I can display my three favorite Gandini designs (Countach, Miura, Stratos) together.

Actually, one of the first places I look online for references for any classic exotic build is fantasyjunction.com. They're a great exotic car dealer who always posts up excellent pics of their inventory- they also archive sold cars on the site. Here's the link to the LP400 "periscopo" that I got the interior color scheme from... http://www.fantasyjunction.com/cars/546-Lamborghini-LP%20400%20Countach%20Periscopo-V12

Finally, I couldn't resist a few pics with the competition- which would you have picked in the '70's?

And a few more...

Next, I got the platform all built up. The interior was flocked in a color close to the Cognac color of the original carpet (and yes, the dash and the carpet don't match on a real Countach either!) One of the niftier aspects of the build are the taillights- each one is molded in red, with clear orange and clear inserts. All you do is press-fit them together and paint a small red reflector on the clear part! And here she is, all buttoned up...

I intended to do this as a WIP thread, but I never got the pics posted... so here they all are now. Overall I was pretty impressed with the way the Aoshima kit goes together- it represents a good middle ground between the toylike Tamiya kit and the over-the-top Fujimi Enthusiast kit. The engine bay detail follows the current Japanese practice of building up from a platform instead of having a separate engine and the doors are a bit unusual- instead of having a hinge mechanism, the doors are removable, then they can be positioned into holes in the body to hold them in the open position. Weird, but effective. The body builds up from many separate pieces- that's true with most Countach kits, but I really like the separate rocker panels, which eliminates the step of clenching your butt cheeks together hard enough to turn coal into diamonds while spreading the body apart to clear the wide interior tub. The black piece in the windscreen opening is the plate Aoshima provides to reinforce the delicate "A" pillars until the windscreen is installed. Here's the body painted Tamiya Brilliant Orange, polished out and with the trim painted. Aoshima includes mesh for the engine hood and decals for the hard-to-mask inserts- it all looks excellent when together! The engine bay detail builds up from a platform. The carbs and the engine lower half are satin-plated and look very good- I toned everything down with a gunmetal wash. Of course I'd prefer a full engine, but this looks pretty good- I'm actually planning on building an extra V12 from an Enthusiast kit to display with the car. The plan was to wire the engine, but the wiring didn't clear the engine hood and I didn't want to do any major surgery to get it to fit. The interior was pretty straightforward- I did an unusual factory color scheme of white with brown carpets and dash. I applied "Make it Suede" paint to the dash before priming and painting to get the Alcantara texture of the factory LP400 dash. I masked off the A/C vents and controls to preserve the delicate detail. The interior parts painted...

Fantastic work, Peter. It's hard to believe this wasn't born as a race car!

Very sharp. I love these old mkII Jags!

ASAP. There's no benefit to leaving the masking material on any longer than absolutely necessary- in fact, it's easier to remove any stray overspray (not that I ever get any of that!) before the paint is fully cured. That's the benefit to using lacquers (I also use acrylics for flat paints)- they flash over by the time I've got my airbrush cleaned!

Fantastic build, and great pictures. That's how you do box stock!