DrZero

A few close up pics of the door details The interior parts for the door look great They added details like the strike-plate and latch for the door as well as lights that will turn on when the door is opened like a real car door would. Since the gullwing doors weigh a ton and put a lot of stress on the hinge they do not stay up by themselves. You have to use a provide plastic wedge if you want to display them opened up. It's a simple solution that works and considering how difficult of a time DMC had designing the doors in real life I'm not surprised that it's just not possible to scale down the real-life mechanisms (even at this large scale.)

Yup, Salvat made a pretty nice looking Ford Falcon and a Chevy Opal (the one I was trying to remember earlier.) Hopefully some of these stock kits become available in the USA someday. Of course, you could buy the F&F Charger and mod it to be stock. I know at least one guy is converting the Eaglemoss BTTF Delorean to stock.

The partworks subscription method is alien to us in the U.S.A. but haven't had any serious problems or complaints about it so far. I don't mind the build being spread out over time if the trade-off is more impressive size and detail. That said, I agree with MrObsessive that a stock Charger would be more well received than a F&F version. The partworks companies don't seem to understand that (in the US atleast) the stock versions of muscle cars would be enticing to a larger audience of the classic car builders. If they want to make the stock cars more impressive skip the movie branding; instead they should get the detailing upto Pocher-level accurate. Of course, this would likely result in a complete kit costing well over $3000. But the Mustang (and the James Bond Db-5) were a bit soft on some of the details under the hood. Meanwhile, the Delorean I'm building has a far more detailed engine bay despite it being a Back to the Future Delorean meaning you never even see the engine in the film! (It's buried under the nuclear reactor parts.) So they seem to still be figuring out the balance of detail vs. relevance/importance of particular details. Interestingly, there is an Argentina based partwork company called Savlet that makes a really nice 1/8 F-150 and some older stock Chevy (forget the model but I think it was one of the rebadge's of an America Chevy muscle-car) that would probably be popular in the US. I'm guessing the licensing/shipping costs are prohibitive but I would probably have subscribed to the F-150 despite not being a "truck guy." All in all I'm all for more kits being made since it's an interesting medium that I think a lot of model builders would enjoy. Even though they are so expensive they are also so large that most people would only want a couple hand-fulls of their favorites to set on the bookcase, haha.

Thanks. A cheap, simple upgrade and improvement from the stock LED. I've had a chance to finish attaching the stainless steel panels to the body frame. Installed the DeLorean’s windshield since I've got the clear display case to protect the body while I continue the build. The windshield helps to complete the overall look. The door swing open and I’ve got the finish line in sight.

Continuing assembly but got a second nice surprise in April; the clear display case for the metal base Eaglemoss sent out the month prior. The case itself looks great and is designed to fit into the base so the final model is sealed from dust and grime. Interior parts are about done so onto the frame and body panels! Frame is made up of two large metal sub-assemblies that the panels and other parts attach to. I haven't installed the windshield yet because I'm trying to avoid having it get scratched or cracked while I add the body panels. A few small door jam parts installed to the frame. The trunk features a working bonnet and the final assembly drops into the frame. The trunk lid even has working strutts. Some guys are adding carpeting to the trunk interior but I think it looks pretty good as is (plus I don't plan on showing off the trunk that much.) The bonnet lid is made up of several small parts and looks pretty accurate to the real Delorean parts. Starting to look familar. This side looks even better. Looks like a real Delorean frame from the assembly line. Some of the brackets and rear quarter panel parts. This is an exciting part of the build to get to. Going forward, this will start looking a whole lot like the time machine. Plus, there's lots of neat componets to attach in the coming months: flux bands, the rear reactor area, and bringing the frame, interior and body altogether.

Flux capacitor is installed and fluxing! Should be ready for it's first temporal experiments very soon...

Cool. You going to use the moon hubcaps? Didn't use templates the first time - it's pretty easy to guess-timate how big a piece should be and then use a razor to cut off the excess as it's pushed/wrapped to the floor pan parts. I did use the carpeting as a template when I swapped out the carpet for a lighter grey material.

Very cool. Flat black rat rod?

Cool, what kits are you working on (partworks or regular)?

I actually got both of the carpet materials on ebay. It was a 20cmx30cm light grey sheet of sticky backed velour from China. All the self adhesive velvet sheets in the U.S. were the darker grey that didn't match the interior. Both seemed to be the same level of quality and they were both pretty easy to cut/install.

Sorry for the long pause without an update. Been waiting on some faux carpet material and it took a month to get here since it was coming from overseas. Eaglemoss sent my the display base last week! It's even bigger than the Delorean is! Its a mirrored base that will remained covered in its protective plastic til the kit is finished. Have installed the faux carpeting (grey sticky-back velvet material.) I went with my own carpeting material instead of the die cut aftermarket parts offered by another builder. His are nice looking but I think the material he used has fibers that are too tall to be scale accurate. The stuff I found is similar to what jewelry boxes are covered in so the napping is much shorter. To be honest either material improves the interior so long as it's the right shade of grey. I bought some darker grey material back in December and realized - after installing it - that it was just too dark. New stuff looks like a good match.

Thanks! I get to do even more engine weathering soon. Eaglemoss sent out replacement transmissions to correct for the automatic transmissions. The manual does look more accurate but the auto never really bothered me. Once I had a box of correct parts on my doorstep I had to do the swap. Can't let a box of parts just sit there! Wasn't too hard pulling the engine and swapping transmissions. Didn't have to tear down the engine all the way. Now it just needs some weathering.

It is pretty awesome. I'd recommend the Sunstar if you're on a budget. It's a solid diecast that can be detailed easily.

Luckily I haven't had any problems with delivery or charges, but I am in the U.S. What I've gathered is that each country the kit is released in has its own distributor (not sure if their contracted or owned by EM) and some of the other countries do have problems. Australia's distributor filed for bankruptcy recently. I used to work in a magazine shop which required working with distributors, including many foreign periodicals, and some of them were really terrible. We'd get ones from France that were months old and out-of-date. Naturally some of that is the distances involved but my experience with them didn't impress me. And in the U.K. they still ship these EM issues to such magazine shops to sell - that blew my mind - given the cost and time involved in this kit I would rather my stuff is shipped to me and not a newsstand. I haven't had to deal with customer service much but they do send out emails; one such one was about the replacement transmission. It's usually get an email notifying you of your shipment being ready/payment taken and they arrive 5-6 days later. Pretty typical e-commerce experience. I'll admit that some details (the flux capacitor that doesn't flux but is just a bright blue LED) are a bit disappointing. But it's a pretty impressive kit (atleast totally static with no lights on) and it does look like a massive metal Delorean. A lot of those squeaky wheels are also guys who are happy to spend another $150-200 on upgraded electronics - which do make the kit even better - but aren't super necessary. I'm hoping EM gets the hint and invests a bit more into future electronics for kits. I'm tempted to buy a Audrino Trinket and try programming it because technology has made it super easy to do that. Besides, everyone here knows what comes with model kits. I think a lot of these guys aren't used to having to sand a bit or fiddle with fit until it's perfect. No - that comes with years of trimming parts off sprues and accidentally gluing parts to your digits. Full disclosure: I'm hoping EM doesn't botch things in the U.S. because they're working on an ECTO-1 that would be pretty sweet in 1/8 scale. Haha

Has anyone tried contacting Salvat about the Falcon or F-100 becoming available in the U.S.? I have a tenuous grasp on the English language so I haven't ventured to tried contacting them since they seem to be a South American company. I'd imagine there'd be licensing issues in the U.S. but I'd imagine the kits would be way more popular in the states which could make up for the costs?

Thanks! It's satisfying to see it start to resemble something familiar

Work in the interior has commenced and I'm finding the details pretty accurate so far. One pleasant surprise was finding out the seats are made of vinyl with a foam backing so that they actually feel like real seats… Most of the assembly of the interior is pretty straight forward. One exception has been the wiring! To be fair it’s not as painstaking as it looks and the wires on the dashboard are all for decoration (these aren’t the wires the power all the lights.) So you can man-handle them and not worry about breaking anything electrical. Starting to look real enough to travel through time with.

I'm thinking of subscribing to the AM kit. It's nice that it looks like a stock AM for those who aren't fans of Goldfinger. A nice looking auto all around. I'm glad someone else wants Salvat to sell the F100 stateside. I'm not even a truck guy but I'd probably get it just because it looks awesome.

Time Lapse video of the frame and suspension build. Kinda shows the process and size a bit better than picture

It wouldn't be easy BUT I have come across a few guys converting it to a stock DMC on the facebook build group. I believe he's building a time machine version and a stock one as well. The hardest part would probably be filling the holes in the body panels then repainting it in a simulated stainless steel finish. Hard... but apparently not impossible.

Windshield looks amazing! Did you dip it in Future floor wax or is it that clear and perfect looking right from the factory?

Been a while since my last update - I've had a rough month but luckily I've started working on the Delorean some more which has helped keep my mind off the stress. Installed the engine assembly Had a few new parts added to it that got weathered to match the block The whole frame and engine weigh a lot when combined Radiator and fan assembly Nice details on the radiator but since it was molded in black plastic the detail was hard to see A nice wash of lighter colored oil paint helps bring out the details. And a have a new video showing the weathering process on some of the new engine parts. Have a look:

Sorry for the delay in updates but I have put together a short video showing the first step in weathering the engine. Thought you guys might enjoy it since the techniques can be used for any engine. I'll be posting additional tutorials as I continue to build the Delorean.

Yeah I think the subscription model has several benefits once you get used to the idea. I sure wouldn't have been able to pay $1600 or even $1000 all at once for the Delorean. Why aren't you building the Mustang as the parts arrive? I found that doing the little bit every month makes it much more manageable to work on. Plus, it gives me time to do a little detailing here and there. Please post pictures of the build when you begin! Would love to see more of these kits and how each one looks. The engine does look pretty nice - though I'll admit it's one part of the Delorean I wouldn't have cared much not to have. I decided that the engine looked a little too new and clean so I broke out some oil paints I have and added some weathering. I bet if you did the same with the Mustang engine it'd look much more realistic. Took me about 45 minutes over two nights to get to this level of weathering (let the first coat cure overnight.) (click picture to enlarge) The weathering looks a bit stronger in the photos - in real life its a bit more muted. You can see a bit of the original color of the metal on the mounts near the bottom. (click picture to enlarge) Front of the engine with the value covers and intake parts installed. Looking more realistic as it's built. (click picture to enlarge) I also applied a thin dull coat of paint on the value covers to make them look like a different type of metal. (click picture to enlarge) Also gave a coat of color to a few small parts. Anyone who's seen an engine up close knows all the individual components are different colors. A good example of how a little bit of paint can make this kit really start to shine. The hose on the engine parts is actually a rubber tube! I'm interested in seeing how much more detail there will be once the engine assembly is complete.

It does and it is costly in terms of final build costs. The advantage here is that they spread the cost out over time (like a car payment) and it's an effective way of making costs more manageable without the need of putting it on a credit card that'd charge you interest. Iv'e begun putting the transmission and engine together. The bigger parts are all metal which gives the finished assembly some weight. It's worth noting that this transmission is not accurate for the time machine - it's an automatic transmission when it should be a manual. I believe the interior of the car will have a clutch pedal and shifter (both more visible parts) so this error doesn't bother me much. Plus, in spite of that it is nicely detailed. Mated to the engine block (which I forgot to take internal pictures of.) No pistons or anything inside the block - it's made up of "wall" parts that screw together with the screws on the inside of the block out of view. The block is only halfway built as will have plenty more tidbits added to it. It still looks pretty cool even half-built. These smaller detail parts are molded in plastic but they have gone to decent lengths to capture the real 1/1 parts which further add to the overall authenticity of the power-train. A note worth mentioning is there are a few gaps in the parts here that could be improved using super glue. Not a deal-breaker since many of the gaps will be hidden once the engine is installed. I still feel that what they give you will build up to look good but I know many builders would want to clean some parts up. I've seen one build where the guy weathered the engine a bit which really did make it look more realistic. I am still debating if I will do a "dirty wash" on the engine since I've never seen an engine that really look squeaky clean.