rick6343

Looks great! That kit can also be found in a late '80s AMT "Indy 500" set with the '63 Lotus roadster and the '74 McLaren. It's not too hard to find, even at a reasonable price. My question is, Where can one find those bodies? I visited the IMS museum during 500 weekend this year and got the itch to build a bunch of Indy cars...

Really nice color combination; I'm looking forward to seeing this one completed.

Thank you very much, Dave! Looks like I have some supplies to get. I think this kind of post is great-I'd love to see more users discuss their techniques.

Really cool car there-the Speed GT series is great: real, production-based cars, standing starts, etc. I didn't think the STS and the CTS were related, but others here probably know more. If you locate a stock CTS (or the STS is close enough), beware and check your references carefully. Every Speed GT CTS I ever saw was heavily modified-the body looks sectioned to my eye. Yes, they are supposed to be production-based, but every entrant bargained with the SCCA for a particular package (for example, a supercharged Acura NSX ran for a while). It looks to me like the Cadillac team got themselves a very modified body. I do seem to recall seeing a diecast CTS race car, but I don't remember the scale or manufacturer. Good luck on your project, I look forward to seeing the results!

Congratulations on the house! The price makes me shudder at what my Michigan home must be worth (I didn't bother trying to sell it when I moved-just put it up for rent...). Home ownership is a completely different world from renting. Yes, you have to fix everything, but you actually like doing it! And living somewhere that you can make your own is a whole new feeling of comfort.

Yes, number 3 for the month (by minutes) is the Fujimi/Revell GT40 MkII. No major modifications, with (2 sheets of) Fred Cady decals. The fern and "NZ" on the right hand side were added after studying as many photos of the real car as I could. The kit is curbside, so no engine, but it does come with some photoetched parts-seat belt hardware, hood pins, rear grillework. This model also features my first successful application of decals to tires. If anyone has a way of painting all the grommets in the seats that doesn't result in blindness or insanity, I'd love to know it. Thanks for looking,

Conceived as a project to 1) help clear the stash, 2) prove I could build something quickly, and 3) have something else ready for the Milwaukee NNL, here is AMT's '63 Corvette coupe, right out of the 1990s-era box. The body needed a lot of cleanup, but looked pretty good when that was done. I had to shorten the metal axles, the hood doesn't sit right (operator error?), and I fought flaking chrome. Paint is Testors Acrylic Guards Red with a Future clear coat. I'm still developing my technique and I was short on time, so the finish isn't the best. Yes, it's all molded in:

As promised, my camera returned home and I have some more photos.

beefheart22, I seldom see any of the AMT NASCAR kits built up-yours looks good! How well does it go together? I got a deal on a couple at a recent show (it seems you have trouble giving away 1990s era NASCAR kits) and am looking to dive into one. Thanks,

If I can't find photos of exactly what I'm looking for, I'll use my own knowledge, experience, and imagination to paint undersides and details. One tip (thanks, Dad!) is a benefit of digital cameras-stick it under the car and push the button. You'll usually get a good shot of what you were (roughly) aiming at. I wouldn't hesitate to do this at home or at a car show, but you'll probably get some funny looks at the dealership-best to find a sympathetic employee. I've found that kit instructions are seldom very accurate. My rules of thumb are as follows: Chassis/undersides: flat black or body color Frame rails, fixed chassis parts: semi-gloss black Suspension parts: gloss black Exhaust: "Aluminum" to "Titanium" to "gunmetal" to "black"-look at lots of cars and lots of photos to get some ideas. Catalytic converters are usually stainless steel, often with a heat shield of some kind surrounding them. Cast aluminum parts (Many modern engine blocks, heads, oil pans, some suspension parts, etc): Tamiya acrylic flat aluminum-I think its graininess works better for cast parts than some other brands of paint. Even if these rules aren't 100% accurate, I think it makes things look "right".

OK, I know what a Fiat 500 is, but what is a "Fiat 500 SRT-8 Hennessy"? Oh. Never mind. You got me...

Len, Rally: I recently built this car (from the Fujimi kit). I spent a lot of time carefully studying all the photos I could find on the internet via Google Images and lots of search terms. None of them has a really clear shot of the right-hand side of the car when it's clean (i.e. early in the race or before the start). After learning about the fern and "NZ" (I think from Chris Amon's foreward in the Dave Friedman GT40 book?), I looked again. On one or two of the photos, the letters "NZ" and what might be a fern can be seen. It starts roughly between the letters and curves toward the rear of the car. From the Nevada SAAC site: This is probably the best one-look on the front fender behind the wheel, at roughly the same level as the "R" in Goodyear on the tire: http://www.nvsaac.com/photogallery/images/...d%20%20MkII.jpg These two take a bit more imagination: http://www.nvsaac.com/photogallery/images/...d%20%20MkII.JPG http://www.nvsaac.com/photogallery/images/...d%20%20MkII.JPG It's still probably debatable, but my mind has decided it's there. The 1/24 Fred Cady decal sheet for this car has letters and ferns. Hope this is helpful! On topic: Looks like a great kit; I'm sure it will be complete with everything you could want and more. Too bad that the price alone will prevent me from buying one in the foreseeable future.

Thanks for the tips! I agree about Indycals; I've used some of his stuff before, but I'm even more impressed by their performance over the red! Maybe I'll have to dig out that MPC '68 turbine car...

Looks great! I'd like to find a few copies of that kit and build some of those cars. A couple of questions: What color is that? Is the paint flourescent? I know sometimes it doesn't photograph well. What decals did you use? From the kit? The white areas look really opaque; something that doesn't happen very often...

Thanks for the kind words! I'd be happy to post more pics; unfortunately I won't have access to my camera for a couple more weeks. Watch this space, though, I'll get more up.

It's been nearly a year and a half, but I've finally finished something. Please pardon the photography! I'll take some better shots in the next couple of days. The kit is Revell's '68 Corvette L-88. Paint is Testor's Sterling Silver lacquer, cleared with Future. I added selected pieces from the Model Car Garage photoetched set for this car-they worked out great, except for the hood badges... I wanted to avoid the nosebleed ride height of the car with the box stock tires, so I ended up adapting some of the Revell-Monogram Michelin TRXs with some parts box wheel backs. I know they're not accurate, but I think it looks better. Thanks for looking!

Great subject-interesting, bold, and certainly unique in 1/12 scale. I won't be buying one for the price alone, just like everyone else here; but then I'm not buying any kits right now. At least that big splurge would keep you busy for a while. I've never seen a Trumpeter kit in the flesh, but their reputation for accuracy has improved as of late. I think a lot of work would be required to build a 68-69 car (small-block engine, for one), but there have to be 30 or more different marking options for MkIIs between Daytona, Sebring, LeMans, Shelby, Holman-Moody, 1966, and 1967.

Great looking model! That engine compartment is one of the most realistic I've seen in a long time. I particularly like the different colors of aluminum on the block/head/cam cover and the intake manifold. What did you use for the finish on these parts?

That looks really, really good! Does the green follow any body lines? Where did you get the scoop?

The truck looks great, but please give more details about the '57! Are those Edsel grilles? I'd had a similar idea for a different project...

I don't know how much help this will be, but I recall that FineScale Modeler had a feature article on building this truck back sometime in the early '80s. Perhaps someone with an FSM collection could help you there. If I remember right, it took a lot of kitbashing and scratchbuilding. Of course, that was a long time ago and things might be easier (or more difficult) today. Wish I could help more,

I missed all but an hour or so of Saturday night's coverage. Sounds like an exciting end to the race. I think the Daytona Prototypes are ugly- The great parts of sports car racing (cutting edge technology, maximum performance) seem to have been left out of that formula. I had a chance to speak to someone who had driven both DP cars and ALMS LMP cars, and he told me that DP cars were a lot closer to sedans than "real" prototypes: less power, less downforce, etc. Still, any racing is good racing this time of the year. Time to start counting down the days until the Road America ALMS date...

Try Aluminum and Stainless Steel in the Polly Scale railroad line. They are the least grainy brushable acrylics I've found. I like to use Tamiya's acrylic flat aluminum for cast aluminum parts-I think its graininess is better for this sort of finish. Along the same lines, does anyone remember/know what happened to the Polly S "Metalline" series? I remember these being new and excellent around 1996; when I returned to the hobby in 2004, they'd vanished without a trace...

Bob, So I didn't hallucinate that VW Corrado kit I saw on ebay once! I'd like to see it back, too, but I find it hard to believe there's much of a market. No one knew what it was when I owned one... That's be a shame if the tool is gone (or unusable) for good.

Jerry, Great looking builds! What is your technique for airbrushing the Polly Scale colors? I assume that at least the gunship grey was flat out of the bottle-how did you get it so glossy? I have a theory, but I'd like to hear some other suggestions-I don't hear very often about airbrushing acrylics (on cars, anyway). Thanks, Rick