Safire6

Not sure what made me think of this. This was definitely the weirdest model I built as a kid. I no longer have it...I found these pics on the internet. Anyone else ever build this thing?

That is the most realistic build I've seen here. Awesome!

That is so cool, beautiful paint and build!

Wow, those are beautiful!

I'll be watching this, sounds interesting!

Yes I've found dozens of uses for my big Dremel, even used it a few times on model cars. It was just too big for this particular task. The "Stylo" was the perfect size and tool for this job-It will be my tool of choice for doing this type of job in the future. Thanks for the idea and encouragement Steven and Roger!

So what I did was buy a small dremel tool called a "Stylo" ($49). My big dremel tool was to big and bulky to comfortably do the job. Made the back cut first and then the front, leaving about 1/16" material on both. Then I used aluminum tape and a couple of wood sticks to reinforce the body. Then used the Stylo on low speed with some small sanding discs to remove most of the leftover plastic and finished it off with sanding sticks. I used a dial caliper to measure the cross section at the top of the windshield frame and the front edges of the T-tops to show me where to sand. I think it worked out pretty well but the proof will be when it's all done. Thanks everyone for the great ideas!

Lots of good ideas, thanks for all of the input! Not sure yet which way I'll proceed but I'll be sure to let you all know what I did and how things turn out.

I'm building a MPC 1/16 '82 Trans Am. I'm building the kit with the optional T-top so I need to cut a section of the roof out. There are recessed grooves in the underside of the body to show approximately where to cut. What is the best way to cut this section out? Xacto knife? I'm afraid if I put too much stress on it when cutting that I'll damage one or both A posts. Anyone have any tips for cutting this section out?

Is that a Firestang or a Mustbird? I like it!

Amazing!

Looks good! I like the '65 and '66 Galaxies

While at Hobby Town last weekend picking up some paint I saw this on the shelf. I thought it was the same Lightning McQueen that PatW posted about on Sept. 9 but it is not the same one. This one is not a snap together kit, it is assembled with plastic 'screws' so young hands can assemble it and disassemble it as many times as they want, and easily with the tool provided with the kit. The "tool" by the way doubles as the car's driveshaft and differential. Just snap it out of the chassis and use it as an allen wrench. Lift the hood and press a button on the engine and the headlights come on and three different sounds play: "ka-chow", squealing tires and revving engine. While not really a 'model' (it has only a few main parts) it is a nice, well engineered kit with nice vinyl (?) stickers and 'rubber' tires. A good 'starter' kit for toddlers that are into cars and building things.

Thank you Don. I think these kits have turned me away from buying any more AMT kits in the future. Although I still have two AMT Nova's to build. Hope those go together much better than the Mustangs did.

I wish I had not used the kit "wires" also. I didn't notice the wipers were backwards until you mentioned it!

Thank you. I'll be giving them to my brothers this December for Christmas. They know I'm building them but they haven't seen them yet of course. I just started building a 1/16 scale 1982 Pontiac Trans Am for my other brother's Christmas present.

Here are some more pics....

My two youngest brothers had 1966 Mustangs back in the late 1980s. I built these for their Christmas presents this year from the 1965 1/16 scale AMT kit. Painted them to match the 1:1 cars of course. This was my first attempt at replicating vinyl roofs. I used the spray adhesive method that I learned about on this forum. I think they turned out OK for my first try. Of course these are '65 Mustangs not '66 models but I wanted to build them in 1/16 scale and I couldn't find any 1/16 scale '66 kits. As most of you probably know this AMT has a lot to be desired. When I saw that the metal front axle ran though the oil pan I was less than impressed to put it lightly. The spark plug "wires" are way out of scale of course and make the engines look like hydraulic motors I think! The frame for the 'cozy wing' on the red car was twisted as it came out of the box so I tried heating it up and bending it back into shape but ended up overheating it so I just cut it off. The A posts are way too narrow and the angle of the windshield too raked back but I think they turned out OK anyway.

Looks great! Would love to see some more pics of it. I built one as a teenager but torched it as I lost interest in the hobby. I wish I hadn't done that! Anyway I found the Revell kit late last year on ebay and I'll be building it again sometime next year once I'm done with some current projects. Nice job!

Nice story and nice build James. Beautiful airplane. As a kid I built a large scale Monogram kit of the P-51. It had a sliding canopy and retractable landing gear as it appears the Airfix kit does. I too wish that I had a chance to find out more about my uncle's lives before they passed. Unfortunately people of that era that were in WWII did not openly talk about their experiences much I think.

Very nice! Can I ask how you painted the wheels? I'll be building a '84 Trans Am soon with some 3D printed wheels and have been trying to decide how to paint the wheels.

I built one of those when I was a kid. Wish I still had it. Also built the "Land of the Giants" rattlesnake. Wish I still had that one too!

Thanks! I've had the TR for 30 years now. It was a rust bucket when I got it and not much worked electrically. Lots of my time and $ went into making it the way you see it now! I saw your earlier post on your R.....nice car! Ididn't know the R's were all wheel drive? Did you mainly experience front wheel spin on the GTI in the snow or on wet roads? I've only experienced it a couple times on dry roads and that's only when I "get into it" hard.

Very cool! I'll be building the Tamiya 1/18 M8A sometime next year. Thanks for sharing.

My daily driver, a 2015 VW GTI and my weekend fun car a 1972 Triumph TR6 that I restored over a 5 year period from 2005 to 2009.