Misha

Great body work Sam! Quite a job to restore it having to reproduce the window framing and rear quarters, especially on a kit that one has already completed. Your rebuild will be a much better looking representation of the vintage Falcon. Your discovery of the black plastic underneath reminded me of having the original kit way back as a kid, shortly after the dinosaurs disappeared. Be following your work, cheers Misha

Thanks Tom! I’m intrigued by your kit bash of the Stude and the Merc. The two fit together very well as well as being of the same vintage. Hope to see some more of your progress on it. Cheers Misha

Thanks Ed, while the build did require thought & patience there was also a lot of trial & error. For the complete build check out my WIP thread... Cheers Misha

Spent Sunday afternoon with the finishing touches on the 934 RSR beginning with decaling, installing headlights and lenses, and all the tiny bits such as wipers, door handles and mirrors. Overall a great kit from Tamiya as always, yet one that has offered me a number of challenges, the biggest one is all the traditional 911 back trim! After all the problems I encountered I finally watched a number of 911 builds on You Tube and discovered the errors of my way. It actually is best to mask everything and airbrush the semi-gloss black. As it is, I’m happy with how far I got with it and calling it done. Now I’m antsy to start another Porsche. This is my second completion under the BOYD banner and I imagine it won’t be the last either. It’s a great way to get those nearly done items off the bench and into the case! Thanks again Snake for the inspiration. Cheers Misha

Thanks Michael, it required a shoe horn to fit the 302 into the frame. I had to split the tranny to get it to fit in around the cross member. Added a tranny cooler, just above the transmission in the photo. The front end is from the R/M deuce with a kit modified rear end. Alclad provided the metallic finishes. Cheers Misha

I built the Red Hot Phaeton using the AMT body, fenders and chassis combined with the R/M front suspension and small block Ford. The rear rack operates and was scratchbuilt. The interior was modified to add extra detail to the plain kit provided tub. A major omission in the kit is the metal support behind the front seat. Overall a decent kit to use as a basis for further work. Cheers Misha

Great interior detail shots JP, makes the wiring much more understandable. I was wondering if the cables behind the seat would also be fastened down, or do they lay loose? Cheers Misha

Your interior is really looking great JP! It’s encouraging me to start on my kit. Cheers Misha

Hi Steve, this build keeps getting better and better! Slice ‘n’ dice ? Cheers Misha

I followed a similar route Jeff when building my Shoebox by installing a Y Block from the R/M 57 Ford. When it came to the interior I rebuilt the door cards due to the near total lack of detail in the kit piece. Perhaps this may inspire some thoughts on how to approach your build... The 49 Ford has always been a favourite, Cheers Misha

Thanks for the links, the middle one is quite detailed ? The photo below is from the interior and I believe Tamiya includes it, what is it? The next one I’m unsure if it may be in the trunk, again what is it? The last photo appears to be the battery top, which I believe is in the trunk. Thanks again, Misha

Great paint and detail work JP! I’ve been waiting to start my build as I’ve been searching for good details on the wiring of the interior components and their correct identification. The Tamiya instructions fail to call out the parts by name. Have you had better luck with interior references? I’ll be keeping up with your build, Cheers Misha

That’s a great solution by just cutting out the cushion portion while the rest stays in place, thanx for the hint. I think I even remember now seeing your original post. Jc would you post a link to that thread? Thanz Misha

That’s looking great Alex. The detail painting of the interior, plus the chrome, really makes it pop! How did you do the metallic finishes, paint or BMF? The blue-on-blue combo will really look fine on this 409... Cheers Misha

For a dual seater!? I agree JC, odd thing with the RSR kit they include an interior with the rear seats molded in, thankfully they include a set of Recaros in addition to a single comp style seat, along with a minimal roll cage missing the door cross braces. A mishmash for sure. Cheers Misha

I recently added the 92 Carrera Cup and the 911 3.8 RSR by Fujimi to my stash. Upon looking at photos of the 1:1 racers there is no evidence of a sunroof, yet Fujimi has included them. Even the thought of a comp vehicle having the extra weight and mechanics of one seems out-of-place. Will my first task be filling in the seams to produce a full roof? I think so... Cheers Misha

This will be another great ride Steve! I’ll chime in with Snake regarding the B post as it does appear to be a bit extreme. Here are a couple of photos off the web... The next one may be of interest to you, while a two door, it does have a great look as a hardtop. I, like many others, enjoy watching your builds and this one promises to be intriguing! Looking forward to the day when they can be enjoyed in person. Cheers Misha PS I’m still drooling over your Olds build!

I have found that R&M offer the best battery cable ends, much better than the PE by MCG as they are not flat. The resin ends also have a hole predrilled making installation a snap. Cheers Misha

Been busy with this build of the IMSA Camaro between sessions spent on my Porsche 934 RSR. Most of the time has been spent on scratch building interior details and getting the body to the primer stage. Opened up the slits at the bottom of the faux Naca scoops on the hood. The kit provides very good detail on the underside of the hood for the ram air install. Also scribed over panel lines to make them deeper and applied Tamiya black panel line wash. Used that wash quite liberally in the interior to increase the depth of the detail. Some of the added detail on the interior included a dead pedal for the driver’s left foot, hanger for brake and gas pedals, belt attachment points on the roll bar. Panel lines on the seats and shoulder harness access were added. This shot displays the various additions planned for the build. At the top the the radiator is shown with the scratch built engine oil cooler below it. It will eventually be in the grill recess in front of the rad, along with a tranny cooler. On the right is the new gas tank. Only the leading edge will be visible due to a rear belly pan. Directly below are the tow hooks and a rear differential cooler. The centre section features interior bits and pieces. A WINK mirror with radar and a video camera mounted below it was based on a NASCAR kit piece. The overhead console houses controls and system indicators. On the left is the new digital instrument panel with an iPad next to it. In the centre is the console mounted nav and back up screen. Brake and gas pedals follow with the fire bottles and its mount. The bar houses the rear central brake light along with radar and video looking out the rear window. The final two items are a roof antenna and rear window radar pod. The engine for the Camaro is a 1967 Vette L-71 featuring the triple deuce carb set up. I’m using the big block out of the AMT 68 El Camino as it offers an automatic with all the accessory belts with PS, AC, Alt including attachment brackets. For the intake and valve covers I raided the R/M 67 Vette roadster. The engine has been mocked up and appears to fit well with chassis and interior. This brings to to this morning when I primed the body and completed the Champagne Gold TS 75 top coat. The front roof section will receive a white vinyl treatment. Overall quite satisfied with the construction & paint process. All comments are welcome! Cheers Misha

53 Studebaker Starliner Past week I picked up the tin box edition of the 53 Stude that was irresistible even though I have a couple in the stash and a long stalled WIP project. The main reason was the stamp illustration, a fine piece of work and a tribute to Raymond Lowey. The other reason sharing the same birth date, 1953 it was also what turned me onto cars at about the age of five when one of Dad’s draughtsmen drove up in one, a shape that was distinctive in the 50s with its flowing aero curves and clean, unadorned with little chrome... that was it for me, a gearhead for ever. Perhaps the biggest surprise in the new re-release is the great decal sheet. As a kid I built a couple of these, one using the Mr. Speed decals. I mourned the absence of those in the future releases until AMT came out with the “ vintage” release, including the original decal sheet markings! With the latest release the side coves feature a checkerboard pattern instead. I had already begun my Bonnie’ Stude build employing a NASCAR chassis with the chopped top modified to a B post model. Yet with the mods especially around the front fender side air inlets, the Mr. Speed decals didn’t really fit. Bingo! The new sheet is perfect for what I have I have in mind. In addition, what at first appeared to be a somewhat botched paint job will now be kept with the additional “Saltan of Speed” graphic matching the paint finish. This latest update is just what was needed to get the Bonnie’ back on the workbench! Cheers Misha

Short video featuring Magnus Walker with a replica of the Red Pig, now in silver.... the Silber Sau! https://youtu.be/161T5pfzddA Cheers Misha

Now, that’s a really cool ? idea Gerald! Looking forward to more... Cheers Misha

Thanks Steve, glad to hear it’s still available. In the past my local source has been Industrial Plastics in Victoria, they had it in quart sizes! I don’t get out much, but they do have an outlet in the Valley here that I’ll check out. I was first introduced to it with aircraft models using it for canopies, works quite well using the complete system, failing that there’s always Future. All the best Misha

Good paint scheme Philip. Curbsides such as these offer a different challenge, as interiors and mostly exterior detail becomes the focus. Hasegawa, Fujimi, and Tamiya offer amazing detail and quality molding of the various road racers. At my age I’ve become more accustomed to build these as greater detailing with paint, P/E, and weathering become more of a challenge and the time to completion is greatly shortened. I would encourage your build as you’re off to a great start with an original scheme, as these Porsches were run by many privateers. Cheers Misha

A quick update on today’s progress... Most of the time at the bench was spent on getting the glazing done, and waiting for epoxy to cure, step by step. I found Tamiya’s quality top-notch for molding very clear, due to thinness, transparency with an amazing fit and tolerances, as the side windows match up perfectly on the A pillar! Overall, if taken with loads of patience, it is a very pleasing result. I have had problems with the rear window all through the build, from scratching the fine surface when I was removing the sprue burr, polishing it out with have dried Novus 2 (can you even get this stuff anymore?), to stringing epoxy threads with near abandon before realizing my mistake, oy vey. This just furthers my story line of a 934 that has seen track duty and hasn’t seen the inside of a resto shop, best viewed at three plus feet! See what happens tomorrow... Comments and hints are most welcome, Cheers, Misha