ismaelg

Hello, Sorry I've been away so long. Been super busy with work, family, cameras and life in general. I was out of the country most of July. This is so out of the box you need a telescope to see the box. I am a big Star Wars fan ever since I saw the first movie in 1978 as a kid. Huge fan is an understatement. It is funny as I don't like sci-fi much. I don't even like movies. Haven't been to a movie theater in about 3 years (since Star Wars Episode 9).Anyways, as an engineer, 2 of the things I like the most are ships and droids. However, for some reason I haven't build that many Star Wars models. Only 2 in all these years. A recent trip to the Star Wars Disney park rekindled my life long interest.So back home, I started checking the current plastic model offerings. Vintage kits are ridiculous in prices. Currently, Bandai is making plastic models of the series. But while browsing eBay, I came across this:A prebuilt and broken old MPC B-Wing Starfighter. I had to rescue it. This model dates back from the early 80's. This will give you an idea on the size.The canopy is missing and all cannons are broken. It seems it was put together in a hurry, maybe by a kid to play with. Nothing wrong with that.Fortunately, it is a snap together kit and no glue was used. While quite a challenge, I was able to get it apart.Typical soft styrene from the '80s that made me eventually hate AMT. Let's say the fit has some challenges...This will be tackled in several phases. First: The cockpit. The unique cockpit of this ship rotates 360 degrees so the pilot can stay properly oriented. But that means it needs to be assembled and installed before the 2 main body halves are joined. No way to address mold lines that way. I'll re-engineer the kit.Rusty Trusty is back!!!!Stay tuned as this will be a long term project (like all of mine).Thanks,Ismael

Hello, Sorry for the late reply as I was out of the country for a while. I really appreciate all your comments! I'm very glad you like it! I'm humbled. Thanks! Ismael

Hi Todd, The oldest mags I have are 101, 104 and 109. I'll keep my eyes open if I find the one you need. Thanks, Ismael

Yes! I was able to get it thru Gregg! Thank you! I'm out of town but let me dig. Not sure if I get that far back to #80. I think all of mine are triple digits. Thanks, Ismael

Hello, This model is FINISHED and has been posted here: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/172311-ladies-and-gentlemen-the-talbot-lago-t26c-winner-of-the-1949-belgian-grand-prix/ Thank you all for your support! Thanks, Ismael

Hello, Finally, my first completion of 2022 and the first one in a long time! 1949 BELGIAN GRAND PRIX WINNER TALBOT LAGO T26C Car: Talbot Lago T26C Engine: Naturally Aspirated 4.5 liters straight six Gearbox: Four speed Wilson preselector Chassis number: 110-001 Driver: Louis Rosier Race: 1949 Belgian Grand Prix Track: Spa-Francorchamps Sanctioning body: Formula A (eventually Formula 1) Date: June 19, 1949 Qualified: 7th Time: 3:15:17.7 Average speed: 96.82 MPH This race was won on fuel management and strategy as Louis Rosier did not have to stop for fuel or tires. While faster, other cars like the Ferraris and Maseratis were thirsty and relentless on tires, requiring pit stops. Ferrari finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Out in the sun in my own private track I started with the Smer/Merit kit reissued by Atlantis. This humble kit dates back to the 1950's. At the end, pretty much everything was modified. Only part of the rear suspension and the steering wheel are basically unmodified kit's parts. There are 105 louvers in this car. how do I know? I had 105 battles with them. I wanted to represent a nice preserved car but not a show car. This is a race car. Very subtle weathering. Modifications: Herb Deeks PE wheels on modified kit's tires Indycals decals Replaced molded grille with mesh unit Drilled exhaust tips Modified seat Modified front suspension Scratchbuilt gas cap, windshield, Pre-selector shifter, dash, gauges, transmission hump, pedals, windshield, front linkages, hood hold down straps, brake lines, radiator cap, valve stems, etc. Many other modifications to mention. Here is a link to the progress thread: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/160824-1949-talbot-lago-t26c-belgium-gp-winner/ Hope you like it! Your comments are always appreciated. Thanks, Ismael

Stunning! Thanks for sharing with us this beautiful model of a beautiful car.

Very nice work on one of the most beautiful and lethal race cars of all time.

Hello, Sorry I missed this thread before. Here is my 2016 LeMans GTE Pro class winner Ford GT using the Revell Germany kit as a starting point. Thanks, Ismael

That's a beautiful livery! And very nicely done. Congrats!

Love it! Very nice! And yes, the C7R kit is not for the faint of heart.

Hello, For the windshield, I cut a small piece of acetate, shaped to form, cut 3 strips of the smallest half round stock I had and did 2 brackets from flatten solder. This is how it is looking now. It will eventually be tilted back as per references. Dash gap will also be addressed. The hood on this car is held by 4 inverted V shape elastic straps like seen on this reference drawing. Most likely a bungee type cord. So you take a piece of solder,1. Flatten it2. Cut to size3. Shape it4. Make the V with more solder and flatten the tip5. Crimp togetherAnd repeat 3 more times Also, the gas cap on the kit is a joke, like pretty much everything else but the main body and steering wheel. So I machined my own. Flattened a piece of solder that will eventually be the top latch.Entering the home stretch boys! It seems I WILL finish a model in 2022!!! Finally, here is a quick video on how it looks at about 80% done Thanks, Ismael

Hello, Decals are done. Despite been a simple decal job that always bothers me. Indycals decals worked perfectly. I'll wait a day or two before putting a coat of clear over them. Finally found a use for that 8x8 timber The nose decal required some micro sol and some massaging. Thanks, Ismael

Hello, Hopefully the last color coat... After an extensive search of over a year, at the last minute I finally found reference to the proper location of the pedals! Glad I did because my initial assumption was wrong. It has been corrected. The clutch pedal is on the far left all by itself, and the accelerator and brake pedals are very close together to the right. This will not be seen at all but you know I'm not normal. Thanks, Ismael

THANK YOU ALL!

Hello! To those of you who has older issues of the magazine: I'm trying to get all my mags together and in my mess I am missing many issues. Sometime in 2009 my '33 Chrysler Indy Pace Car was featured in the mag. For the life of me I can't find what issue it was. I finished that build in late 2008. In a conversation with the late Harry P. (miss him) in mid 2010 he mentioned my article "from a while ago". So I'm guessing it must have been published in 2009 or maybe early 2010. Can somebody check which issue has it? Thanks, Ismael

Thank you! I'm planning the next phase which is to create a separate page for each one with more pictures and information. But that is a monumental task. Thanks, Ismael

Hehe... I have Just that mine are crazy jet powered pure fantasies. But I'd like to do something more realistic like yours. http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/105077-164-lsr-salt-racer/ http://www.puertoriconet.com/models/hw.htm Thanks, Ismael

That and the blue Ferrari 612 are the only ones not in my possession. Vince (#Bowtienutz) owns the blue Ferrari. The '51 Chevy is still in my late father's collection but I plan to take it back home eventually. The white '63 Corvette convertible is destroyed waiting for a chance to see if it can be rebuilt. All others are (should be) here. I plan to eventually re-photograph many of them, especially those with awful old pictures. Thanks, Ismael

Hello and Thank you! That one actually has a link to its own page already. That is the only picture that exists of that model as it was commissioned and presented as a gift back in 1994. That was also the last time I saw it. Thanks! Ismael

Thank you all!

Hello, Not sure if this is the right place in the forum for this but anyways, some of you may remember I used to run ScaleCorvettes.com years ago. Due to other commitments I had to shutdown the site about a decade ago. In the mid 2000s I started a personal page for my models but it stalled for over 15 years. I have restarted that personal project. Nothing fancy. Just a personal page. My idea is to have a place to share all my built models. The end goal is that each model will have its own little page with pictures and detailed descriptions. That's a big task and will take a long time to complete. But I just took the first steps and would like to share with you what I have up to now. Some of the links and sections are not working yet. The links to airplanes and helicopters pages point to very old pages I slapped together long time ago and will be updated shortly with better pictures. The Corvettes page and the Cars (Non-Corvettes) links are working. Still need to create the pages for each model. Please check it out and let me know what you think. http://www.puertoriconet.com/models/index.htm Thanks, Ismael

Hello, Kit's radiator. Added a cap latch on top made from thin solder. Dry brushed metallics. This will barely be seen in the final model. Only the top of the cap will show. Very small step but it is a re-start after almost a year. This will barely be seen, but I added some access panel lines to the transmission hump and weathered it a bit. Hard to see but I added subtle shoe rub marks. I want to be very clear this will not be a show car. Thanks, Ismael

Hello, Last update from last year to get up to date on this build: Exhaust: One of the most important and unique features of this car is the Wilson Pre-Selector transmission. I'm scratchbulding the selector. I may be biased but I think it looks a bit better than the kit's part And here is the complete dash assembly. Only the steering wheel is from the kit. Everything else is scratchbuilt. That is basically where it was almost a year ago. Next update will be up to date. Thanks, Ismael

Hello, It was time to get serious: Yep, these are the kit's plastic tires. Forget the car. I'll just display these and... first color coat. Kit's toe link: My toe link: Thanks, Ismael