Hoffman

Gary, Dave-B, David Rogers, Chris, Paul, Phillip, Carl, Helmut, Steve, Rich, James, Garry, Hanjo, Rattle-can-Dan-Donato, and JC Reckner- Thank you, Gentlemen!!! Your kind words and thoughtful comments have been GREATLY appreciated. It's been a rough couple weeks for me at work. I did 12 days straight, around 130 hours, on a large Hospital I.T. ugrade. The last two weeks were the culmination of a year long project. Last Monday I was pretty tired. I really had to push myself to go ahead and shoot the photos and get them posted. I am so glad I did! You guys made it all worthwhile. Thank you again, -TIM-

DB4's and 5's are great looking cars! Mike, I like your suggestion, and that's exactly what I'm doing......sort of....... I'm building 1) Doyusha DB5 + Aurora/Monogram DB4 to create a complete, detailed DB5. Secondly, 1) Aurora/Monogram DB4 out of box but with different wheels and tires added, and thirdly, 1) MPC/Airfix DB5 glue-bomb basket case + Aurora/Monogram DB4 to create a DB4 GT. The DB4 GT looks like a DB5, but with a shorter wheelbase; 93" vs. 98". I'll be shortening the body and chassis accordingly. One thing that caught my eye with the new Revell DB5 is that it seems to use the newly tooled wire wheels included in their 1/24 Jaguar XKE. The knockoffs are different of course. The tires look to be new, slightly taller than the tires from the XKE kit, and resemble the Michellin XWX. Those wire wheels are really nice, and I've purchased multiple sets on ebay for other projects. However, in my opinion, the tires in the XKE kit are too short and proportionally too wide. I've been figuring out what cars they're good for.......but the XKE isn't one of them. For my Doyusha based DB5, I'm using the MPC/Airfix chrome wire wheels in combination with 4) Revell '29 Ford 'Rat-Rod' front tires. I've found these tires are a dead ringer for Dunlops and come in handy for many sports car builds. For the DB4, I'm using the chrome wire wheels from the Monogram Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR. The tires will be Monogram Michelin TRX's for the front. These came in Monogram '37 Fords and 427 Cobra kits. For the rear, same 300 SLR wheels joined with Tamiya Dunlop tires from their Morgan +4 kit. It's not very common to see center-laced wire wheels like these on a DB4, but there are some out there. I've attached some photos depicting what that looks like. Lastly, for the DB4 GT, I'm using Fernando Pinto wires. So, the rims are just painted silver. This one will be more of a race car. See attached photos for reference to what the shorter DB4GT looks like. They're pretty tidy! ?

Great idea, Gary! ? P 1075 is like the Hero car for every other GT40 to look up to. I remember reading the story about it in the June 1987 issue of Road & Track. Very impressive history for that car.

I like the two-tone paint, with the top a lighter color. Just an idea. The model is nice, as is, but I like changing things, make it your own, right?

They're pretty cool, and very rare. I just picked one up myself, from Anna of Madrid. ? I bought a set of triangular tipped screw drivers awhile back to be able to disassemble European diecasts and work on them. Looking over the Pegaso now and figuring out what I want to do with it.

Excellent! I especially love the weathering. It adds great depth and realism to the model. Well done!

Thank you, Helmut! The TDF is waiting it's turn, patiently, with replacement wheels and tires and lowered stance definitely part of the plan. ?

I was speaking with Herb Deeks this morning and was highly encouraged to attend! ? Seems like a very good idea.

Very nice!! The wheels and tires made a huge improvement. Great color choice. Nice details under hood. Keep up the great work! ?

Looks great, JC! I like the cart too. Not hard to imagine this as a full size vehicle at a restoration shop.

Thank you, JC!

Wheels: Narrowed rims from a 1/24 Burago / Deagostini Ferrari 250, painted silver. Herb Deeks photo etched spokes. Danbury Mint 250 TR chrome knockoffs. Tires: Dunlops from Revell ’29 Ford rat-rod pickup. Whitewall inserts sectioned / narrowed to slim them down to about half thickness. Then, Monogram Jaguar XK120 whitewall inserts with Dunlop script added in front of the Revell inserts. Their ID matches the Burago rims and OD matches the Revell tires. Front Suspension: Drop spindles made from brass rod and tubing to lower the front end 3mm and shift the wheels forward 1mm in the wheel wells. Drilled and tapped for buttonhead allen screws to attach the wheels. Steering rack modified with new tie rod ends to maintain the working steering. Rear Suspension: Coil springs removed, replaced with stainless wire wrapped around a machine screw, lowering the suspension by 2mm. Engine: Carburetors replaced with Webers by Replicas and Miniatures Company of Maryland. Modified intake manifold. Fuel line added. Distributors are part Danbury Mint and part RMCOM, with plug wires and ignition coils added in the firewall. One of the more difficult tasks was drilling spark plug holes in the cylinder heads, which are pretty thick metal. Repainted the cam covers from a hideous pink shade to wrinkle red. Prototypically correct chassis bracing added around the engine compartment, made from soldered brass tubing. Interior: White scale ignition wiring used to represent white piping on the seats. Seat belts from Gofer Racing. The fuse panel under the right side of the cowl with Magnetti Marelli voltage regulator and so forth actually came from a Burago 250 Testarossa, which isn’t good for much else! ? Body: Added #46 racing number, correct for the car this represents; serial #0756TR. Also added the Pegasus decals on the head rest and printed the number on the back, as seen at Pebble Beach. What else? I did add one exterior mirror on the driver’s side, matching the full-size Ferrari. Great car, regular vintage racer for over twenty years when owned and campaigned by Dr. Lou Sellyei, a world renowned eye surgeon from Reno. He passed away in 2015. Way back in 1987, it was featured on the cover of Road & Track magazine. I always wanted to build a model of the car and finally have, by modifying a Danbury Mint diecast.

Dale, you nailed it~ perfect representation of Dow 7! Thanks, -TIM-

Great work, Andy! The hinges and bodywork look really good. Too much chrome? Well, in 1985 we would have taken a cue from Mercedes and Porsche and just blacked it out, painted it body color, or removed it altogether, right? http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/136348-58-chevy-impala-street-machine/

Beautiful work David! https://petrolicious.com/films/1965-bizzarrini-a3c-a-le-mans-underdog-story

Perfect combination!

Dale, that looks GREAT! Excellent workmanship. Love the details. The colors look right on, especially noticed the magnesium finish on the wheels and valve covers- perfect! What type/color paint to you use on those pieces?

Thank you, Hanjo! Yes, 1/24. That's the beauty of these wheels; they're so good, it's hard to be sure what the scale is from an unmarked photo! Oh, and one correction- Fernando is Portuguese, not a Spaniard. I chatted with him this morning. He likes the photos and will be adding them to his web page. -TIM-

Thank you, Gary! ? Posting one more shot showing off the cool Fernando Pinto wheels, and then two shots of the stock, Leo Models wheels. They're not bad, but nowhere near as nice.

Disco Volante........That's Italian for "Flying Saucer" ? Love the shape. This is from Leo Models / Hachette. I ordered the model from a vendor in Italy. The wheels are from Fernando Pinto of Spain. The two have been sitting on my bench for some time now. I happen to be waiting for paint to cure on another project, so I went ahead and tackled this one. Not much work on my part, just figuring out some axles using a couple different diameters of aluminum tubing, some brake drums from steel washers, and a little flat black paint inside the fenders and interior.

Thank you again, Jason, for making these a reality! I'll be checking the mailbox for my order soon. Looking at your site this morning, I see "3 available / 13 sold". Off to a good start.....

How wide? Jason, I think your idea of 7.2 and 9.5 is right on the money. Please see attached photos. I took two of your early prototype front wheels and popped them in some rubber Michelin tires. They'll look even better with your new two-piece design with wider, deeper rear wheels. The bigger rear tires are from a Revell Ferrari 365 Boxer kit. The smaller fronts are from the new Revell Jaguar XKE. They're posed in comparison to FIA wheels and tires from Historic Racing Miniatures.

Yes Sir! https://www.ebay.fr/str/jackmodelling and https://www.jackmodelling.com/ The FIA Cobra wheels will be available soon.