robertw

Looking good. Good idea to redo the suspension as built out of the box it sits way to high especially on the front end.

A Rolls Woodie now that is cleaver and coming from the land where they even made chassis out of wood it just seems so right.. Well done. old chap!

Yes Snake I know that the mpc & AMT molds have been modified but as I said I'll pretend to be living in a fantasy world where they could be restored to original release condition with correct seats, vents and hoods and extras.. I suspect that someday we will see the Sunbeam kit back since it was last released in the Blueprinter series (I believe in the early '90's). If that were to happen I'd like to see it come with the 4 cylinder that was in the Get Smart kit.

I'll play realizing full well that we're living in a fantasy world. 1. mpc 1964 Corvette coupe (mpc's first corvette kit) 2. AMT 1965 Corvette convertible 3. Either the mpc or AMT 1966 corvette coupe 4. Either the mpc or AMT 1973 Corvette convertible 5. Either the AMT Sunbeam Alpine or Sunbeam Tiger (had to throw this is just in case you thought there was a trend developing here)

I'm sorry for those communities of modellers who see to be more steadily losing their LHS and I cross my fingers that the trend doesn't come to my part of western Canada. For a million people we have two full service hobby shops both of which have recently changed hands but are clearly in the hands of owners who care for the hobby. We also have three other part time hobby shops that carry fairly good stock or are willing to order whatever we want. We have to pay more then what shops in the US charge but I'll just buy a little less for the sake of helping to support a shop that wants to provide athis service. Paint is also difficult to obtain my mail here so having a couple of shops who between them carry at least a half dozen brands of paint is another reason I'm more then willing to pay a little more for the kits. Besides when on a good year I only build a half dozen models spending a little extra is not going to break the bank.

One very special model. Your attention to detail is most impressive. Thanks for sharing the step by step of this unique build. It should be an inspiration to all of us who visit this forum.

True, but the hobby room is the most important room!

These pale blues seem to be making a comeback in the 1 to1 world and it looks good on your 944. I prefer the look of the convertible 944 but also have your kit of the coupe available for a future build. It's a nice kit with everything going together well. Even the semi curbside engine compartment looks good with a little bit of detailing.

What will be your next challenge.....building one blindfolded? Excellent work, they are all models to be proud of.

Will watch closely how things go on your build. My LHS special ordered this kit in for me but I won't be getting into the city for a few weeks to pick it up.

Being in western Canada it is more difficult to find the aftermarket stuff then to hear about its existence. Boards like this introduce us to the product but getting it is a bigger problem. Our shops don't carry it, not even basic stuff like MCG or Detail Master, ordering from the states can be expensive and very slow and we don't have the big model shows where vendors show up to clean out our willing wallets. Even getting the factory correct paint is nearly impossible since it can't be shipped by air and some of the paint makers won't even ship to Canada. I'll occasionally put in a big order somewhere but it's usually for a wide range of generic items rather then for a specific subject. The hobby can still be enjoyed whether the modeller has all the extras or not and after nearly 50 years of modelling I'm still enjoying what I can do with what I can get.

Clean build, beautiful finish and a very appropriate colour.

Subject has always been more important to me then scale and when it comes to 1/24-1/24 the difference is clearly not worth worrying about.

I agree with both Howard and Art. There have been good histories of Aurora, Revell and Monogram done but not complete histories of AMT or MPC. I'd even enjoy reading histories of some of America's smaller model producers of the past like Johan, Lindberg, Hawk, IMC etc. Today it is likely there are people out there who do have the knowledge to write or act as resources to those who could write these histories I wish this would happen before many of these human resources pass away. I realize the market for books like these would be small but in the last few years we've seen new histories of both Matchbox and ESCI kits as well as Scotty Grossons enjoyable book on Show Rod Models and this year Kodera's book on vintage airplane kits. These recent books would suggest that there is a fair number of us who have an interest in the history of our hobby and the companies that have fed our interest over the years.

Looks nice. I built one of these about 15 years ago and as I recall, for a simplified kit it was not an easy kit kit to build. I had the same problem as you did in trying to get the engine cover to fit down tight. One thing I did different was to blacken out the frosted areas on the large greenhouse then giving the whole greenhouse a light coat of Tamiya Smoke. That hid the rather simple interior and makes the model look more like the real car as I recall it looking in the early '90's. You certainly laid down a beautiful coat of paint on the model. I've always wanted to do another one but in silver to reflect the originall non running Indy and seeing your effort just might inspire me to tackle that project. Thanks for sharing your build.

While this aspect of your qestion has been addressed in the past, as a Canadian I quit buying from ebay when the cost of shipping became more then the cost I was paying for the kit .

I hope you'll continue to post progress on this build. I built the Futura a few years ago and planned to do the DeMer next but the challenges encountered in the first build have kept me from starting the second.

You've picked some excellent and very much needed items to cast. Many of us build those old flat interior door kits and its surprising the number of kits that don't have exterior mirrors. I'm always scrounging for these kinds of items.

I'm hearing myself talk although in my case it's merely the fear of messing up during some aspect of final assembly that leads me to putting the kit back in the box for another day. I think part of my problem is that I build slow so when I get closer to being finished I tend to speed up and that's when mistakes are made. rob

Unique and interesting paint job. After I bought the kit I heard that it had build problems so I found one of the Tamiya ones, haven't built either yet. Don't think I could duplicate your achievement even with the better kit. Well done.

Very nice, I'll look forward to seeing them finished. I haven't built these three but do have an interest in building these small vehicles. I refer to them as my "Minis, Micros, Compacts and Vehicles only an Owner could love" collection.

I have one of those about to hit the build bench next month. Thanks for the tips on the niggling little build problems, I'll watch out for them and PS, I like your build. Current plans are to do mine in silver/black with a red interior. rob

Very nice but I'd even settle for the Monogram Bugatti to be reissued again.

Impressive. Surprisingly it's often easier to find a real restomod Vette with a later generation engine then a 1/25 scale one so I'm pleased to see that you've done the necessary work to do a conversion. Well done

Yes you can do it the way you're thinking of. I built an Aerovette a few years ago and this was the build sequence I followed: 1. prepare body, glue front & rear clips in place, watch seams on front fenders they show every imperfection. 2. prepare & install glass, it fits well but is a tight fit and will require the careful use of glue 3. prepare, finish & glue interior tub to the chassis 4. paint but do not install all suspension elements on to the chassis. The engine & rear suspension can be painted and glued into place. Do not glue front suspension elements in place. 5. Install chassis on body by sliding it under the rear overhang till it clicks on the small locating tabs then warp the front end of the chassis slightly and slide it into the nose. 6. install the front suspension elements 7. install tires & wheels 8. finish the rest of your detailing Then post pics of the car so we can see what it looks like. I've always wanted to build another one of these things.