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Beautiful job as usual Jeff!

The Ferrari 250 GTO is arguably the most significant Ferrari of all time. A true automotive legend. Only 39 were made and all are accounted for. In the collector car craze of the 90's, they reached over 10 million dollars, and rumor has it one was sold for 15 million dollars. Not surprisingly, model kits of this car are bound to be popular. Revell Germany has just released this kit. I've heard that it is the Protar tooling but I'm not sure. If it is, the Protar kit is regarded as a great kit. The boxart is very nice. A beautiful painting with the parts layout as the background. Even before opening the box, you notice 2 things: First: 202 parts. WOW that's a lot! Then you notice Skill level 5. Yes, FIVE! I opened it and my first impression of the body was: "WOW! That looks nice". The white molded body has separate doors, hood and trunk among other things. The molding looks clean with only minor cleanup needed. I am certainly not an expert, but the proportions look good to me. It is almost unfair to compare it to the old Monogram ex-Aurora body seen here in red. Once you layout all the parts it doesn't look that intimdating. Moldings are crisp and the sprues come in black, grey, chrome and white body. The clear parts, the tires and the chrome trees are all bagged separately. The decal sheet looks very sharp and crisp. The instructions are typical Revell Germany. There are over 43 steps in this one The wire wheels are worth noting. They are multipiece and seem to assemble into beautiful pieces. There are other kits of this car like Fujimi and the Hi Tech Gunze kit. I can't comment on how this one compares to those, but it looks like a great kit worth of a good effort. Thanks,

Hello, A simple answer would be paint before assembly. However, there are cases where it is advisable to do the opposite. For example, a subassembly that will get a lot of handling, may be better to do after. Also, if ther is any filling or modifications needed, then of course you need to paint after like for example engine halves. Use the "before" as a rule of thumb, but keep in mind there are going to be exceptions. AND let the paint fully dry before handling the parts. That's one of our most common mistakes. Thanks,

Andi, This is a lacquer based primer. It can be top coated with pretty much anything. Lacquers, enamels, acrylics etc. It is always a good idea to do a little test first just to be sure, but I don't think it will be a problem with those acrylics. Thanks,

Marc is a regular here. Send him a PM. His handle is Marc @ MPC Motorsports. Saludos,

Hi, The exhaust tips were painted with MM jet exhaust and flat black. Sorry for the crappy "in a hurry" pics. I cut the plastic tips and made new ones from aluminum tubing. Other than wheels, tires and brakes this is most likely the last remaining parts in what seemed to be an endless project. Thanks,

Hello, Last chapter: 6 cases, 6 cans each. 36 cans. 4 cars per can, 144 cars. About 5 cars a year: 29 years supply!!!!! For the local builders interested, I'll take some to the Plastic Model Store (Luciano) so he can sell them. Thanks,

Those look like 19 - 20 inch Rallie (Rally, whatever) wheels. I think Marc Nellis was casting them but I'm not sure. Marc, can you confirm? Thanks,

If you have access to Plastikote primer, particularly T-235 Gray primer, go for it. That's my favorite primer. It sands beautifully. Despite been a spray can, it sprays smoothly and nicely. It is lacquer based so it can be top coated with enamels, acrylics or lacquer. There are other versions like T237 white and T236 black, but they are all basically the same. Hope this helps. Thanks,

That's cool. I've always admired good decal jobs like this one. Thanks,

Entering the home stretch! The Fujimi BBS wheels I ordered to HLJ are not an exact match but that's the closest I could get. Since the Fujimi BBS come with ultra low profile street tires, I will use the kit's racing slicks. But the BBS don't fit properly and bulge the tire out of shape. So after some surgey, I'm using the front of the BBS and the back of the kit's wheel (seen inside the tire) so the tire would retain the shape. The BBS have been drilled in the center so a racing center lock (still pending) can be added. By the way, the tires in the back of the pic are untouched, those in the front were sanded. What do you think? Thanks,

Very nice! I particularly love the tailgate lettering. It looks great! Thanks,

Dave, Welcome to the forum! When you mentioned tin cans and enamel I thought you might be in Europe. One important aspect of airbrushing is using the right thinner for the type of paint you are using. For example: if you are using enamels, you can use enamel reducer or hardware store lacquer thinner. But if you are airbrushing say lacquers or acrylics , you will need a compatible thinner for it. The best way is to ask for the correct thinner whenever you buy the paint. Once you have the right thinner, thin it to a consistency of something like milk. You can start 50-50 and see how it goes. There are many variables to consider like air pressure, consistency, distance etc. You can practice by locking some of the variables like say: set the airbrush at 20-25 psi and play with the consistency. You can practice on cardboard spraying closer, farther, faster, slower etc. Check for runs or dry spots. As you get more comfortable you will start doing little changes until you find the best setup for you. Once you get a hand on it, you'll never look back Hope this helps! Let us know if you have more questions. Some of us may be able to help. Thanks,

Miguel, That'll be cool! I'm a huge Disney fan as well. They were very popular whenever they came to our engineering school for recruiting. We all dreamed about working with them. Thanks,

WOW! Beautiful!

Although I don't buy many kits, maybe 6 cars and 4 aircraft in a year, I try to get them thru my local HS even if they are a few dollars more. For online I buy from Dennis at modelexpress, 1 or 2 a year to HLJ and some on Ebay. Any faster and Dennis would ship my order before I place it I have received orders from him in 3 days. Thanks,

Having it been another weekend I might have tried to make it.... That will certainly be great! Thanks,

Hi Mal, For this project I used Velocity Yellow from Cobra Colors. That's the authentic Corvette color for the C6R. However, the yellow offered in C5 and C5R is Millenium Yellow, which is a hint more "orangy" than Velocity yellow. This is Velocity Yellow and this conv is Millenium yellow. Not much difference, and it is even less noticeable in pictures. I haven't used it but I've heard people using Tamiya Camel Yellow as a very close match as well. Hope this helps! Thanks,

Welcome to the forum! That's ELEGANT! Beautiful build! Thanks,

Marcos, It turned out beautiful! Love the stance and wheels. Are you coming down to PR in Nov? I'd love to see it! Thanks,

Now it's finished! Love the setup as well!

Hello everybody! Here is a quick look at what's going on in our site: - We want to welcome our newest contributors: Bill Stowe and John Moore. Bill submitted pictures of his gorgeous 1957 Corvette SS and the 1957 Sebring racer Corvette # 4. Bill had the privilege of actually been there in the 1957 Sebring race and watched the SS, SR2 and the 2 production Corvettes go to battle! John submitted a picture of his nice '68 Street machine. Check it out in the gallery. Welcome aboard Bill and John! - Mike Wheeler submitted pictures of his beautiful '72 LT-1 convertible Check it out in the gallery. He also submitted updated pictures of his C6 convertible that was posted previously. - Hessel Van Der Zee submitted pictures of his cool Eckler's Corvette and Revell's California Custom Corvette. Check them out in the Street and Custom gallery. - Jeff Johnston submitted pictures of his beautiful 1978 Indy Pace Car replica. Check it out in the Pace Cars Gallery. - I have received a few more submissions, updated pictures and more. I'm working with them as quickly as possible. If you have submitted something in the last few weeks rest assured I'll work on it. I've been very busy lately. As always, if there is any error or correction, please let me know. Happy Modeling! ScaleCorvettes.com Here are a few samples of the updates: Thanks,

Welcome to the forum! What a nice tribute! You certainly captured the essence of the intimidator's ride. That sad day, Feb. 18 2001, I discovered that I was not a NASCAR fan, but a huge Dale Earnhardt fan. Haven't watched a Nascar race ever since. Thanks,

Beautiful! Those Fujimi kits are certainly exquisite! I can see that engine and transaxle in a hopped up VW... Thanks,

Somehow I missed this thread yesterday. I haven't read Bill's response so this may be repeated. This topic can be very extensive. But I'll try to be short. First of all, the 150, 280 and 320 grits are too coarse for modeling use. I suggest to use 400 and up. You mention you stripped the paint. I assume there is no damage to the plastic. Try to remove as much as possible of the paint without causing any damage to the body. If you sand it too much you will eventually take away details and distort the surface. Once all or most of the paint is off, wash it and make sure it is clean and dry before proceeding. You don't mention what primer you have. Make sure it is compatible with plastic AND compatible with the paint you'll use. Lay down a light coat of primer and let it dry. Wet-sand it with 400 or 600. This means use plenty of water, but work slowly. Make sure the surface is smooth and then apply more primer. Once dry, lightly sand it with 600 or 1000 grit paper to smooth it out. Then you are ready for color paint in a similar way. I know this is very generic, but the most important advice I can give you is: Do not go to any further step until the current step you are in is absolutely the best it can be. The biggest mistake you can make is doing a lousy job on a particular step hoping for the next one to compensate and cover it. Regardless of what you use: rattle cans, airbrush, enamel, laquers or unobtanium, the key to a good paint job is NOT to move forward until the current step is as good as it can be, and making the next step virtually not needed. What I mean is that no step can cover for a lousy previous step. Primer will not cover mold lines or bad body work. Paint will not cover rough grainy primer, and clear will not fix blotchy paint. On the contrary, problems are usually amplified by next step. It is tempting to shoot clear or color before been ready for it, but at the end you'll end up either with a less than desirable result or doing it all over again. I hope this helps. Let us know how it goes and feel free to ask if you have any specific question. Thanks,