Justin Porter

Really nice build of a kit that continues to hold up well.

Tackling the dashboard was really one of the steps I was most looking forward to. In particular, the Studio 27 fret with its separate bezels and toggle switches looked like it was really going to set the dash off. Naturally, given that this is a Spyder, the interior is going to have to look great. So first came the chisel, then a few tiny drilled holes, a few coats of Mr Color Flat Black, and then some careful work with tweezers and slow curing Bob Smith's CA and next thing I knew I had this ready and waiting to go into the Dino's interior.

That really sets the bar quite high for finishing off one of the best Jag kits on the market.

That's seriously has turned out so sharply. The interior really leaps out and the Fujimi Borranis really do suit the build very nicely.

Loving each step of improvement.

Hasegawa, Tamiya, and other such manufacturers have long included self-adhesive metal transfers in their kits for small scripts. That builders of American car kits haven't demanded similar levels of convenience from domestic manufacturers has always baffled me to a degree.

Happily, my Studio 27 photoetch fret arrived from SpotModel. I will say this, shipping was MUCH faster from Spain to Elyria, Ohio than I expected. I am super impressed with them. So back to work getting the front end together on the Dino. Surprisingly, with the judicious use of freshly hot water from my Keurig, the kit decals also cooperated which means the tiny Bosch logos on the battery went on with no cracking and just a little Mr Mark Softer. So far, so good!

He very rapidly became one of my favorite Youtube builders because his style is so straightforward and he makes superdetailing seem so approachable. His build of the Ebbro Citroen is a particular favorite of mine.

Really looks like it's going in the right direction. Screwball as this may sound, I like the detail of the crossover pipe in particular.

According to Stevens International, MSRP on the Audi is $99.99, which is an MSRP five bucks lower than what Stevens lists on the BMW Z4. I've had similar experiences with cross shopping other distributors so that I can stock Meng at lower prices though. For instance, that same Z4 sits at my shop for $82 because I was able to get it from a different distributor at a slightly better rate.

Meng has posted renders of an upcoming FULL DETAIL Audi R8 GT3 that they have planned. While the NuNu kit is well known for being a quality build, it's exciting to see Meng jump into the arena especially with a full detail kit as opposed to the industry standard of curbsides for GT3 builders.

I've been lucky enough to have been working my way through purchasing and building some of my grails lately. Right now, the kit that's eternally out of reach but most desired that immediately comes to mind is a Fisher Model & Pattern 1/24 Ferrari 512M.

Looks like a very clean build so far and this is one kit that definitely shouldn't have left the Revell catalog. Here's hoping Quantum sees fit to reissue it promptly.

You're making a great start on what definitely is one of those true grail kits. I'll be happy to see how this progresses.

I decided against a flat black belly pan to keep with the "over-restored" theme of the build. The plan is to mask and spray the rear subframe in semi-gloss black as if this over zealous owner sent the whole thing off to be powder coated. Full defiance of reference materials. lol

The latest on my Dino is having assembled and painted the front suspension assembly. I used AK Extreme Metal Pale Burnt Metal to get the goldish tint of the Ferrari cadmium plating on the control arms. I will freely admit that I'm deviating from several reference pictures here as most Dinos had black control arms and undersurfaces, reflecting their cheaper price points. However, I'm kind of going for an "over-restored" look to the build and I really love the way the cadmium plated parts look on restored Ferraris that I've seen. The Studio 27 detail fret has PE brake rotor faces so I will applying those once the fret arrives from Spot Model. The color I'm using as my Pino Verde is Mr Color C57 Metallic Blue-Green over a silver base coat. I'm quite pleased with it on the underside so I'm really looking forward to it with much more of a shine on the upper surfaces.

That really looks so good with the stance and the detail. It is a shame these kits were such pains in the neck.

Can't wait to get these on my shelves. I love that the box-art is celebrating the new tooling.

Love seeing the work you're putting into this classic kit. I do shudder to think what's going to need to be done - if it can be done at all - to rescue that one wheel from the flash monster. Maybe it'll come down to resin casting a copy of one of the others?

More engine progress has been made and I am incredibly pleased with how it is starting to turn out. The details were mostly painted with a mix of AK Interactive 3rd Gen, Vallejo Model Air, and Vallejo Metal Color paints. Wiring was added using one of Gofer's packages of red ignition wire as I had just restocked it at the shop. I also added a wash of AK Enamels Fuel Stains to the gearbox in order to give a bit more contrast and to pick out its textures a bit better.

I am aware that there's a separate luggage compartment for the Dino, particularly as the Fujimi Enthusiast series kit actually has the luggage compartment as a separately hinged piece from the engine lid. "Frunk" was simply a more concise way of describing the forward compartment. I'd considered adding some lines and possibly even the linkage that connects the brake booster to the pedal box, but ultimately almost all of that gets covered by a shroud that's not easily removable once the chassis is in the body. It's most definitely one of the Enthusiast series kits and Testors even has a call out for Fujimi on the side of the box. It's actually one of the better "cost effective" ways to lay your hands on some of the Enthusiast series kits, although certain ones like the bulk of the Porsches are still in current production with Fujimi and frequently retail for less than their more newly tooled curbsides!

I got extraordinarily lucky with responding to a Facebook Marketplace ad locally and came away with two kits off of my "must build" list for a song. Naturally, I couldn't wait to start working on them and because I'm going to sit on the 250GT California until the wheels of my choosing are readily available, the obvious choice was to begin work on the Dino. I'm still somewhat undecided on color for the project, but the goal is a tidy build with a little extra detail in the form of a Studio 27 photoetch fret and I'll be adding ignition wiring to the engine because it's so hugely visible. The engine block and heads were assembled, plug holes were drilled, and both were given a coat of AK Interactive Xtreme Metal Matte Aluminum. Once that's fully dry, I'll mask and paint the block semi-gloss black. I then decided it would be fun to tackle the frunk since it's a wholly self contained assembly. After a coat of Mr Surfacer 1500 Black, I got to sit down with my brushes, an array of AK, Vallejo, and Mr Color paints, and a few reference pictures and tackle my favorite task - picking out small details with a variety of colors.

This is a lot of very impressive working getting the small things right.

It's always fun to see one of these Monogram sports car kits completed. Yours looks really great with the added details and the alternate color scheme. How were the Speedline decals to work with?

The new Charger and Bronco are both excellent kits and are a big part of my frustration with the Craftsman Plus kits. They're a demonstration of the ability and the capacity to tool modern kits. I have not said they are unable. I have said they are actively choosing to not do so for classic domestic cars. I do understand that even modifications to Mueller era kits - i.e both the full-bumper '70 1/2 Camaro project and the "Supernatural" '67 Impala four door - proved to be far more challenging projects than originally anticipated. However, their direct competitors (Moebius, Salvinos JR, Revell) continue to invest in new and modified modern tooling to say nothing of indirect competitors who may not occupy the same subject matter but are still wholly within the same genre (Hasegawa, ICM, Belkits, NuNu, Aoshima, D Modelkits, Tamiya). Military modeling doesn't have defenders of raised panel lines, open sponsons, incongruous pilot figures with incorrect helmets/suits in place of a full seat, and the numerous other vagaries of obsolete kits when they appear in modern tooling. Why should auto modelers expect poorer treatment and certainly why should auto modelers defend a company that CAN and HAS tooled brilliant kits but now chooses not to as if it's their best friend? Also, circling this back to Johan's truck as opposed to my routinely ground axe, I honestly do hope that this is the final "rattle of the bones" for Johan. Yes it's a storied name but it's earned a solemn death as opposed to Spaulding putting lipstick on the corpse every other big show with big promises of something right around the corner.