89AKurt

I call it the Panzer 1.0, the very first version without a turret or armament because of restrictions set after WW1. I built Bandai 1/48 military models when I was growing up, mostly German, really liked having interior and engine detail. When I got into 1/35 Tamiya kits, was disappointed there was no interior at all, felt ripped off. Fast forward about 45 years, so many interesting subjects being produced by numerous companies, in this case Tristar is the brand. The sophistication of the mold process is amazing, several parts have a third axis. Teeny tiny parts, almost no mold lines, zero flash. Includes photo-etch. And to drive you insane, individual track links, for the whole track (some kits have the flat sections as one part). I have been wanting to build a tank, so picked this because it had been started, there are extra parts such as the turret that I added to the Maus that I built in 2016. I've always been fascinated how the evolution of tank size grew during the war, the Maus turret is bigger than the Pz1 and could weigh 20 times more. The number of parts is ridiculous. Check out the engine block, with the third axis mold technique. Some parts are not used, will be handy for scratch-building. The three trees lower right are the track links. I skipped around the instructions, glued together sub-assemblies before painting. There was the option of two colors for the interior, grey or white. I understand everything was one color, but I wanted the engine/transmission to contrast. The flat four air-cooled engine, and transmission, have detail on the bottom that won't be seen. I masked, then airbrushed more grey. Because I don't like brush painting unless it beats crazy masking, I do things like the fire extinguisher. Most parts installed inside. Some parts were a tight fit, didn't need gluing. There are many parts that get hidden, the engine has a beautiful fan inside the air shroud, two pumps or distributors, that are under the oil cooler. Going to allow the engine deck to be removed, could glue hatches open, or really go nuts and use photo-etch hinges but then it wouldn't be Box Stock. Got the bogey wheel/suspension done. I did hand paint the tires, easy to spin on a sprue. ? I cut the sprue trees to reduce clutter (looking at my bench is another story ?) Getting the fenders and tools on will be a cinch. The tracks... ?

I've seen some Things that were tricked out. Wish there was a kit of it. For now, the Hasegawa Kubelwagen will have to do. BTW: Love the creativity on this, the hood hinge is cool, and the choice of colors is nice.

You could put REALLY long skis on the back! ?

That's pretty sharp! Subtle weathering looks good.

Knowing a couple of shows are having their last events, I should consider this. I have one model that ended up on a cover, should double check my magazine collection. I've never been to Ohio.

colored acid wash

Very cool ?, I *love* the weathering! Wish more people would try doing it, gives realism that no factory die cast can ever hope for. I have one of those kits, but don't recall the funky mirrors, am I going senile?

with dashed clowns

Thanks. It's not hard at all, really. I'm thinking of looking around Sedona, sandstone and volcanic rock looks similar to this photo: South of Phoenix on the Gila Indian Rez looks like this: I know the Laughlin area along the Colorado River looks like this: Thank you! Thank you too! It's WAYYYYYY down on my priority list, if ever. ?

?

Thank you! ? Moocho appreciated. Saw this on Flickr, and I'm resisting thinking about it.....

Thank you, too kind. ? Thanks! I guess. ? I've never been a fan of Lindberg.

goes the wastegate

Don't know about this one. ?

Thank you for dropping by! Thank you! Thank you! Noticed your icon picture, I owned a '57 Chevy long time ago, repainted a similar color.

That's sharp! Like the cam, where did it come from?

Icon in the car business, to say the least. I've know the Bugatti Veyron was a "loser" financially, won't say more because it broaches a political theme. Lee Iacocca passed a couple months ago, I built a tribute model, I'm already done with mine for this guy!

delivering models to

with Supra sized

Far as a modern car goes, it's not ugly IMHO. Safety regulations dictate some things, like a hood that cushions stupid militant pedestrians who walk right in front of you. I like their concept car, this seems to be tamed down. As for using BMW for the engine, that will bite owners down the road, I owned 2 MINI Coopers, their parts are gold-plated. If I already didn't have 180+ models, I would probably get this, but won't.

Thanks for the compliment! Thank you. That's why I weather almost all my builds, bug splats if the paint is supposed to be shiny, it covers the dust specks. ? Thank you, appreciate it. I'm not happy with the pictures, still need to take the iPhone in to open up storage, so been using the Nikon with 300MM zoom lens, which has an extremely short depth of field. Am planning on taking glamor shots outside, starting with Sedona. I used AAA insurance sticker for the mirrors, instead of the dull photo-etch parts, glad you noticed that tiny detail! Oh yea, welcome to the forum! Thank you! Finishing is a feat unto itself, congrat me after the first contest. (fingers crossed) Since it's a replica, I was obligated to, a completely different frame of mind than kit bashing a fantasy. Thank you. Wow, thank you sir!? I wanted to do it justice, considering I skipped eating for a week to pay for the transkit. ? It's a sign that I have obsessive compulsive disorder, why some projects are still *in the box*. I know right? ? Thanks for following, appreciate it. Thank you too! Thank you. IMHO a rally model that is brand spanking new, and is really shiny, is fake looking. I've worked several rallies (stage worker, video and photography), even the professionally prepared cars are not polished shiny, the sponsor graphics are dull stickers, and the paint is factory paint that isn't waxed (in general). Private cars are usually beaters. ? Here is an example of "beater", would be a fun project. This team was leading the 2012 Prescott Rally, I witnessed them rolling it just before the end of the last stage! The second place car stopped, got the tow strap out, and towed them across the finish line! The leading team intentionally "forgot" to turn in their time card, giving the overall win to their rivals. Look how dirty it is, and that's after only about 150 miles of stages.

I can understand all the extra work you put into this! I didn't know about the wheel color. Looks great!

Tamiya Porsche 959 donor kit, with ModelingMaster resin transkit from Russia. The WIP thread, showing what happened to the leftover parts. I found the source on Facebook, ordered direct from the maker in Russia, so it was interesting to see it tracked to the border, and then waited a couple weeks for it to arrive. I printed out all the decent pictures I could find online, and taped to a foam core board, a first for me; had to sort out the 1985 & 1986 races, then the 3 cars. Discovered that there is a counterfeit that shows up at events such as Goodwood, the front hood is the giveaway, and lack of turbos.? I damaged the front fender based on photos of Jacky Ickx's race, the other car has the other side with similar damage. The third car DNF, and found out that one burnt to a crisp in an Egypt rally. The Porsche museum car has Turbolader and Schmitthelm logos added, which were not on during the race! Started April 22, 2018, finished Aug. 26 after 101 hours. The quality is better than some mass produced kits, the photo-etch is finely done, even the glass is just like injection molded parts, the decals are perfectly done with all colors registered, but are very thick. The Dunlop tires have very good sidewall and tread detail, but had gaps and a couple of bubbles on the back. Some of the assemblies had fit issues, so that slowed down construction. The pet peeve I have with both the Tamiya kit and this, no turbo plumbing from the air box to the intake manifold. I made the two intercoolers for the road version (one picture here), but this rally car had one intercooler mounted high in the wing, so I *had to* re-engineer with rotating the turbo compressors and making all new piping, all with zero reference pictures. Added some cargo, including 2 water bottles (it's the bloody Sahara!). The instructions are the weakest part of the transkit, they used the Tamiya graphics, pasted crude computer drawn parts with almost invisible arrows to the general vicinity, and some parts were incorrect such as the hood pin parts that needed the top piece rotated 180°. Some of the photo-etch parts were not even shown, and the RECARO seat decals were not shown. I added a few photo-etch details such as hose clamps and screw/bolt heads. Used sewing ribbon for the 5-point seatbelts. Wired the engine, found a firing order label so IPMS rivet-counter judges will be happy; the distributor has only 5 "boots". ? All Testors paint airbrushed, but did brush paint some interior areas. The "weathering" is flat clear, with different ratios and mixtures with Africa Korps tan and Leather brown. Tried out tile grout and water, with acrylic paint, that was goober dry-brushed onto the bottom first before final painting, dusted the interior and engine with the tile grout too. Scuffed the tires, flaps, and skid plates with rough emory cloth. I really love doing this finish technique, because I suck with shiny perfect paint jobs. ? And a rally car really needs to look like it was rode hard and hung up wet! Grinding through Mars the Sahara: Scratch-built turbo plumbing, intercooler mount (American hot rod style, I'm sure Porsche had a complicated setup), added sheet plastic for screw mounting body to chassis. No car washes in Africa.

Really sweet and beautiful subject, and it looks great from here!

the mountain over