jaymcminn

That was classic- they broke a camera and May.

And a few more... The metal transfers came from Ebay. The emblems are from Model Factory Hiro. The headlight buckets were scratchbuilt to fit the kit lights. I decided not to do this build as a straight-up copy of the Top Gear car, so I sourced a California blue plate and built it as a US-market car. Overall, I really enjoyed building this beast. There are a ton of fit issues, and it took several hours worth of tweaking and adjusting to get it to sit as well as it does. I still think the track is just a hair wide, which I will address on the next Daytona I build- it's going to be a Spyder, probably in Fly Yellow, with the plexi nose and the five-spokes. I think I'm hooked on the Enthusiast kits now. I've got this on the way... ...wish me luck!

...And here are the beauty shots of the completed model.

Next came the various sub-assemblies, which were all primed and painted in a marathon airbrushing session... The headers were painted with Alclad Chrome, then airbrushed with Tamiya clears to replicate heat discoloration. The engine received basic wiring and detailing,

About a month ago, I was mucking about on Ebay and came across a Fujimi Enthusiast Daytona. This was a "Holy Grail" kit from my teen years and I had been keeping an eye out for one for a while. The kit was advertised as complete and unstarted, and the price was right, so I put in a bid. After winning the auction, I received the kit only to discover that the model was neither complete nor unstarted- the previous owner started painting the body, messed it up, tried to remove the paint, broke the cowl in the process, and finally packed it back in the box... after losing the parts tree with the body parts (save for the hood and front pan, which had been removed for painting) and the Campagnolo five-spokes. Fortunately the grey parts were still in their bag, as were the clear parts. After some back-and-forth with the seller, we came to a compromise on the price, which resulted in my getting this classic model for a total, including shipping, of twelve bucks. The inspiration for this build came from a recent episode of Top Gear where Richard Hammond raced James May down the French Riviera. May was a passenger in a high-powered motor yacht, while Hammond was behind the wheel of an amazing blue '73 Daytona coupe. Although May won, both hosts agreed that the Daytona was by far the more civilized way to get down the Riviera. This car sold last year at auction for north of three hundred thousand dollars. This is the Top Gear car... This is what I started with... After repairs to the body (stripping paint, re-scribing and sharpening panel lines, plastic reinforcements under the cowl, scratchbuilt headlight doors, new hood hinges from brass and aluminum) I applied Duplicolor Hot Rod Grey primer. The next step was to apply Tamiya Light Blue Metallic followed by Testors Wet-Look Clear.

If I had ten years to work on a model, I would spend nine years, eleven months, and fifty-one weeks watching TV and the last week pulling all-nighters trying to bash something suitably amazing together...

I've got to go with "real"- that front pan underneath the bumper gives it away.

Waaaait- is that a modified reissue of the old flared-fender kit in the Testors box?

That's what's disappointing to me- I don't care if a Nissan Silvia or a JDM minivan kit is a curbside, but exotic cars really deserve the Enthusiast treatment. Even if they released curbside and enthusiast versions of the same kit, that would seem to make more sense. It just feels like they took a big step back- I'm in the process of building an Enthusiast Daytona now and am loving every second of it! I understand that the Japanese modeling culture is somewhat different from ours, but it seems that there's an unfortunate recent trend from the major Japanese manufacturers (Tamiya, I'm looking at you!) toward simplification to the detriment of quality and detail. More curbsides, more one-piece engine units, higher price. Maybe it's okay with many modern cars, because when you open your average modern engine bay all you see is a big hunk of plastic anyway, but when Hasegawa kitted up a new Miura a few years back with that semi-detailed lump hidden under a non-removable engine cover, that was diabolical. (On the other hand, they turned around and gave us the 250TR, which has fantastic engine detail)

Hmm, gloss black with lots of red pinstriping... it's Victorian Batman's Bat-Buggy!

So I'm going to be building the Fujimi Ferrari 512bb soon. The plan is to paint it white with a red-over-black interior. Of course, it's molded in red. Now I know that Revell red plastic tends to bleed through like crazy, but does anybody have experience with bleed-through on the different formula plastic used by the Japanese manufacturers? The plan is to prime with Duplicolor grey, then seal with Duplicolor primer sealer, then paint with Tamiya white and clear with Testors Wet-Look Clear. I would seal with Future, but there's a fair amount of masking involved for the matte-black body accents and I'm leery of the Future inhibiting paint adhesion.

AMT should definitely bring this back. A quarterly glossy publication with tips and tricks and special offers? a "Kat from AMT" Kustomizing contest? Sounds right up Round 2's alley!

Looks good, but it's a little disappointing that the company that made their reputation on the Enthusiast series would see fit to tool up a new Lamborghini with a one-piece engine bay. Now get off my lawn, you darn kids!

Not a problem. I build what I want, when I want, and for me. The few occasions I've built models for others (a replica of my friend's old Beetle, for example) it's been as a gift, and a surprise present at that. I try to incorporate at least one new trick or technique into every build and change up my building style and subject matter from time to time. And if anything, I tend to overvalue my expertise!

Wow. This is the best integration of the kit's fadeaway fender pieces I've seen so far. The new roofline is great too- I've noticed that the roofline in the new kit doesn't "flow" from front to rear like it should, and your chop definitely addresses that. Just... wow.

Well, Bill, you sure do have some entertaining build threads! Most modelers tend to give up on projects that frustrate them, leading to those threads that just sort of peter off into nothingness, but you just work your way through (case in point- your yellow Austin 7) and come out the other end with some excellent builds. Can't wait to see this done, if it takes a month or another year!

It's definitely going to be interesting to see one of these MFH kits built up. I don't think I have either the patience or the bankroll to see one through!

Thanks for the compliments, guys. Bill, I was blown away by that Impala convertible when I saw it all over the magazines back in the day- the detail work on this thing is fantastic!

I have a few kits I've held onto long enough that they might be considered "vintage"... I still plan on building them, though!

Excellent work, Geoff. this might be the motivation I need to get started on the one I've had for fifteen years now...

Here's one from the Revell kit I finished recently...

This has a great early-60's vibe to it. Great work on that interior!

Oooooh, a Stratos. I've been kind of thinking about bashing up one of these using the Hasegawa body and the Revell Ferrari F430 to represent the one-off modern Stratos that was built last year off of a shortened F430 floorpan. (see pic below) Definitely going to be following this one!

This is fantastic. Can't wait to see what comes next!

My favorite part of this "pro-built" model is that the "pro" applied the kit number from the decal sheet to the tailgate. Darn it, if it was on that sheet, it was meant to go on the model!