tedd60

That engine is soooooooooo pretty. That gage that goes up to 70. That's the tach ... right? You do know this car is going to be a LOT faster than that.

Although I have not tried it ... yet ... it's my understanding that die cast (white metal, pot metal, zamask ... whichever) can be soldered. It takes the correct flux, rod, a means to keep the temps down, and, by my eye, a LOT of practice. http://muggyweld.com/crack-repair-pot-metal-zinc-die-cast & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh5W0xbZ9es I've got a 1/18 1950 something Buick convertible I keep looking at wondering if I can graft the hardtop from a 1954 Chevy two door onto it. Epoxy would work just fine ... but it did cause me to search to see if I could solder it on.

ALL of it ... right on down to the Talbots out on the wings. Another beautiful car.

VERY nice. I had to look twice at the first picture.

This thread does make you look at plastic in a whole new way. I'd like to give this a try by building a hard top for a 1/18 scale MGB.

I would love to see your British stable (and MINE) increased by an MG-TD, MG-TF, and maybe a 1500 Midget.

I saw all the slack in the belt and thought it looked wrong. It is loose at both the top cog as well as the bottom. The only thing I could see to tighten it up was the tensioner. I tried to be as gentle and discrete as possible. Sorry to cause a ruckus, won't do it again.

Great with cold beer.

You guys probably already know about these. I saw them last night on TV, and if they really work, they could change EVERYTHING. One of the things I really hate about growing older is that my once excellent vision has been steadily diminishing. I used to be able to see the bumps in the lines and swirls of my finger prints ... but now it's all fuzzy. So they got me into trifocals, which are OK ... but it's just not as good as I used to see. Also, I race on sims. Even my trifocals are a bad compromise for doing that. anyoldways ... Eyeglasses that you can change the focus of ... and each eye is adjusted independently of the other. https://www.amazon.com/Instant-20-Adjustable-Glasses/dp/B00GM01TMA Has anybody tried them yet? I'm doing a bit of research on the 'net, and will probably be ordering a set. I'll share the results when I see them ... or see out of them! T

Thanks Mike, I also see that Shapeways will cast parts that I might want to make. This could be interesting because I have a number of projects planned around some common components. If the prices are reasonable, I could make it once and get those guys to cast the copies I need. If you come up with more folks who deal with 1/18th scale parts and such, please keep posting the source here so we can help other modelers who build/modify in this scale. Maybe one day this thread might get turned into a sticky. Thanks again. T

Did the 1953 1:1 have real wood on the sides, or were they steel panels painted (or decaled) to resemble wood? The 1950's were a long time ago but one of my Mom's brothers had one, and I seem to remember the "wood" panels being held on with coat-hanger wire in places.

I've got to get a couple Revell TR4's to flesh out my collection. I suppose these can be modified to have the IRS ... and further still modified to take the TR6 engine to produce a TR5 ... aka TR250. That could be a pretty neat build.

Thanks you for the tip about Legende-Miniatures. If you can think of any other sources for 1?18 parts and such, please let me know ... or add them here: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/120532-where-to-find-118-detail-upgrade-and-accessory-kits/ I really do love 1/18 scale cars and it's hard finding stuff for them. I am trying to put together a directory for other guys who build/modify in this scale. The pictures of your cars are very inspiring. They really do show what can be done with these models. Thanks for sharing them. T

Thanks for the tip about SD model car tuning. I'll give them a look. Do you know of other places which sell 1/18 scale parts and accessories?

SDmodels European and their product line is mostly European stuff. http://www.sdmodelcartuning.com/en/content/9-shippingcosts

It might be the picture ... and I might be wrong ... but I think the blower drive belt should go to the inside of the tensioner. Both engines.

That engine is beautiful, and a perfect choice for this project. I got curious ab0out the Miller, so I looked it up. Here is a short but pretty good article on it: http://www.enginebuildermag.com/2013/11/harry-a-millers-masterpiece-motors/ 154 hp and up to 285 hp! This little Ford should flat out FLY.

I tried almost every saw in my shop to remove the fenders from a Maisto 1/18 VW, no good. I finally gave up and just hacked them off with a 4" Makita grinder.

Dear Mr. Maisto, I actually have bought a LOT of your 1/18 scale diecast. For the most part, your stuff is not to bad ... and I have to admit that the prices are GREAT ... mostly. However, the 1951 Beetles that you build are not scale models at all. The only Beetles to have coil springs were the Super Beetles, with their McPherson Struts. Even the Super Beetle has two shock absorbers, but your models have none. BTW ... VW beetles never ran their ignition wires under the car. And you have 2 two many vertical supports on the front axle beam. The 1200, 36 hp engine is ... close, but no cigar. You did do a nice job on the wheel used for the spare, and the emblem on the hub caps. The only other nice thing I can say is I was able to knock both of them apart before the mailman got back in his truck. T Sharp eyed readers should be able to spot 6, possibly 7 model builds in this pile of stuff. At least, that's what I'm telling the wife. Let's see how I do. Now to cut the fenders off the blue one. WOW ... Diecast is WAY harder to cut than plastic. It took almost 18 minutes and I had to use a 4" Makita grinder to do the job.

I got curious about the silver paint and door number that both modeling companies put on this car. It turns out that this is a pretty important car: http://carlassic.com/ferrari-250-gt-swb/ I also looked images of other 250 GT Berlinetta SWB's and saw that there are others painted in different colors. I especially like the very dark red or very dark blue on this car. Something to think about if I decide to pretty mine up a bit.

I was talking with a friend about this last night. You want to hope it's true, but know it wouldn't be the first collectable car that was faked. Lotsa money makes folks do bad things.

+1! Over restored and under driven! When I was working with Porsche, I found it shocking just how many cars went from the dealership, straight into a storage tent inside of a garage ... and only trailer-ed to concurs events. Cars are built to transport people. Not every Porsche 944 in Guards Red is a half a million dollar collectable. Were I a car, I would rather rot apart from winter-time road salt then spend my time in a garage and never get driven at all. I thank Jay Leno for boosting "original and unrestored" cars on his Youtube program. This past week, he had an old 50's vintage VW bug, original and unrestored. It was just beautiful in its original and very used patina. This being said, model cars may be a little different. Some ARE built to be art ... in some ways they, especially the customs, are sculpture rather than replica. Perhaps, what some folks might consider an over done paint job, is appropriate on these. However, I would be sorely disappointed if this Australian Ford Falcon http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/53895-scratch-building-an-aussie-ford-falcon-first-update-for-2015/ ended up with a heavy, very glossy paint job on it. I guess, for me, it comes down to context.

Another beautiful model. I have the Jouef version as well ... no where near as nice. Did you do the under hood work too? It's REALLY nice.

I'm guessing this one is the Revell of Germany model. It's a beautiful car. My first car was a 1960 PV544 Volvo, I was very lucky to be able to get a Revell model of it. I see that somebody make a 122. that would be a nice one to have on the shelf.

I guess that Auto Art has some of the nicest 1/18th wire wheels, but almost ALL plastic wire wheels have spokes that look like carp. I am promising myself to learn to re-spoke wire wheels. 2 more good looking models. You're on a real tear today!