Rich Chernosky

Found this kit interesting and bought it to use as a paint exercise. I had recently purchased some Mica Powder in 68 differnt colors and wanted to try it out. Mica powder is like embossing powder and very fine. Comes in a lot of pearlescent and glittery colors. Has to be mixed with clear and airbrushed on with a heavy tip. Tamiya TS13 was the choice. Top opf the car is and apple green over white. Bottom half is a darker glitter green over Tamiya TS20. Hardtop is a black satin and this was sprayed over the clear parts. This kit was probably made for the Japanese market as this car was never meant for export although some made their way to Europe mainly the UK. More explanation in the picture captions. Comments welcome. This kit was painted over a year ago. Fairly simple kit (curbside) and it went together rather quickly. Aoshima put some nice detail into this. The convertible version. Rear veiw with the t-top installed. Two tone paint was done with the airbrush and they were fogged together. Photo doesn't really show it here. side view with the hardtop on. This car was produced in Japan from 1992 to 1998. It was made to conform to the KEI car specs for tax purposes. These standards require it to have a very small displacement engine (just under 660cc) , weigh under 1600lbs, and be very small. The engine is a 3cyl turbocharged DOHV and puts out about 63hp @ 6500rpm. This car was very nimble and was recieved well in the Japanese market. Don't usuall take this shot but Aoshima went to great lengths to replicate the independent suspension and other details. I enjoyed this kit. Thanks for looking.

It was a strange kit but I have to agree with you that the working features made up for it. You really did a great job on it and the extras really make it shine. And who doesn't like a movie or TV car.

As a former owner and racer of a MR-2 Mk1, I gotta like this one. Interesting take on this subject.

Picked this kit up at a show for a very good price. I had built this in 1965 when it was released as and IMC. The build was showing it age so why not re-visit. See if 60yrs iof modeling experience can do. This was painted a while back and recently polished. Color was Testors 1833M Pearl white. I had used their Wet Look clear at the time. The original was just clear over white plastic. It yellowed of course. As a re-visit this was actually a fun project. Although Lindbergh did nothing to improve on the molds it was still a good kit with the usual fit problems. decal sheet was rather unuseable but I got aroumd that. More details in the picture caption. Thanks for looking and feel free to comment. Finished car right out of the box. Wanted to do this like the original but better. Racing stripe is vinyl tape cut down to size. Interior was then matched to the tape. Original showcar was done like this. Rear veiw shows some of the upgrades. Tailpipes opened up, tail lights backed with chrome tape, licence plate cut out of the decal sheet. Here is the car with its optional hardtop. Kit came as a convertible, hardtop or fastback. The original build and some friends. 1/64 dicast are Hotwheels. Almost went with the blue one. Nice of Mattel to make a replica of my model. Original kit had better decals and I changed the tires. Hmmmmm...wouldn't be too hard to switch. All the opening features on display. Wheels steered through the steering wheel and worked nicely. Carpet is white flocking. The Ford 289 engine. Only added the ignition wires. Could have gone full detail but wanted to keep it like it was, just a little nicer. Thanks for looking.

Dave..great job bringing this one back to life. Know this kit well so I can appreciate your work which is always outstanding. Now...to machine new wheels for mine....!

Big fan of the Nissan Skyline..gotta a bunch of em in my collection. You do nice work and the attention to detail is remarkable. Will follow.

Doug..my LHS has that kit and I have been salivating over it. If I didn't already have a NItto version of this car in 1/12, it would be a done deal. Mine is started. Can't wait to see your talents added to that kit. Italeri has really stepped up to the plate with their 1/12 offerings so you will enjoy the build.

Doug, having recently completed two rally cars. one in 1/12 ands 1/24, I can readily appreciate the attention to detail required. Thank you for the comment BTW. And this one is a stunner. You really scored here. The extra engine and all the decal work are amazing. Congrats on a job very well done. Now ...go find something easier. You deserve a break.

Been itching to dig into this kit ever since I aquired it. After finishing a 1/24 Lancia in the same livery it was just my incentive to do this one. Cars were in no way similar as the 1/12 was 4 wheel drive front and the 1/24 was mid-engine 2 wheel drive. This was a big kit with lots of parts, a PE sheet and two big sheets of decals. So it took awhile. Italeri did not disappoint as many details were included. Assembly went well except for some details which I will explain below the pictures. Color on this is Tamiya TS-26 white and LP5 Pure red. Many metallics and different blacks were also used. Thanks for looking and comments welcome. Engine nearing completion. Several different shades of Testors buffing metalizer, blacks, carbon fibre and silvers give this some character. Missing PE on the air filter was eventually replaced Interior nearing completion. Those decals on the dash were very fussy, especially the ones that slid over the PE. Much care has to be taken to gently slide them off the paper into place. they are v-e-r-y thin and fold easily. Bottom of the engine complete before the skid plate is attached. Lots of tiny fiddly details. the steering rack had to be replaced with brass rod as it was way too flimsy to work properly. Suspension works both front and rear. Wheels attach with screws and I added washers to stop some breakage. Rear suspension also complete. Its held together with some very tiny nuts and bolts. The rear strut plungers also had to be replaced with brass when both of them broke while I was showing someone how nicely the suspension worked. They didn't know it but I did. Finished car in all its glory. Hood, rear hatch and doors all opened and fit with no problems. Da engine all stuffed into the front. Lancia did some very interesting engineering to make this car 4wd. All hoses and lines came with the kit and were very easy to work with. Gotta luv silicone tubing. Finished interior in all its glory. Seatbelts and PE were included and there was just enough to complete. Instructions, as good as they were , were very vague on the lengths. Anybody that has this kit is better off doing their own measuring. Seatbelt material had to be varnished to avoid fraying and cut down to fit. None of this was mentioned. Finished car on its wheels. Body fit over the chassis quite easily although the front clip had to be added last. Decals in this kit were, for the most part, amazing. I absolutly luv this livery and have many models (over 50) in this. Rear veiw and lots to see here. Those PE mud flaps were a pain to paint and attach but I managed. This car depicts the Monte Carlo winner driven by Didier Auriol/ Ocello. Lancia had a great amount of success and the late 70's and early 80s and this was one of their most succesful models.

NIce collection of cars. Excellent workmanship. Really like your window trim. Hand painted or airbrush?

Welcome to the forum Kaci. Many of those 1/12 Porsches have been built so there is plenty of good information here. Really like your builds by the way.

Pretty cool. Real nice conversion. I always considered the T-70 to be the sexiest Can-Am car.

The Tamiya LP and TS lines are NOT compatible. I mixed the two of them and found the resulting gelatinous goo totally un-useable. I de-cant a lot of my Tamiya TS paints and they spray quite nicely thinned with MR Color leveling thinner. The LP sprays just as nice and in particular the clear comes up nice and shiny when sprayed and tinned correctly. Just wish some of those paints (clear, white, blacks and silvers) came in larger jars and were more economical.

Great tip Greg. I have 2 Paasche H airbrushes (1 med, 1 heavy tip) That I use on a daily basis. They have been my "go to" for many years now.

Gotta luv rally cars. They are so loaded with detail. I can well apreciate all the work you put into this having just completed one and working on another. Thanks for all the great pictures of the detail. You knocked this one outta da park, Doug.

Interesting project and comparison. Sooooo...you are a fan of the prancing horse.......me too.

Dave,,,you have knocked another one out of the park. That is simply gorgous. Followed your WIP as well and thanks for doing that too.

John...I can certainly identify with working with tiny pieces of photo etch having just completed a project with 100's of tiny pieces. One tip I can give you if you aren't already doing it. To get those attachment points on PE I use the cut-off wheel to the moto-tool. Chuck the wheel into a battery operated unit on at the lowest possible speed. Hold the piece tightly with a good pair of pliers and gently move the piece up against the spinning wheel. Hold the piece on its edge and make sure you use the side spinning away from you. That little attachment piece will disappear very quickly. I work on a full sheet of black construction paper and keep it completely clear of tools and parts. The parts will fly ( and some will fer sure) but they show up on black easily. A magnet sometimes helps too. You are doing a fabulous job on this project. That dash is killer.

Brian...I started racing slot cars (HO first) and building models around 1963-4. That's 62yrs ago. And I have been doing it continuosly ever since. In that kind of time you can accumulate a LOT. I bought things when they came out, persued collections, went to shows. It has never been a hobby to me. More like an obsession. Call me a sick pup.. you're probably right. But on the bright side I am willing to share. Anything I know is yours just for the asking. Now...about that Batmobile ????

Always luv a good rally car. They have so much detail. And this one especially since it fits right in with my extensive Martini collection. Kit was very well engineered with lots of detail but I went the extra step and added the Hiroboy detail up set. Color on this project is Tamiya TS26 white. Mr Color #3 was used for accents. Many more details under the pictures. The chassis on this beast mostly complete. These cars are built like a tank and Aoshima represented this very well. Lots of photo etch was added and I left most of it bare for effect. Hiroboy added material for the seatbelts but I rejected it as it was too stiff. Instead I used silk thread cut down to 2mm. The hardware was nice. The rear engine Abarth tuned and turbo-charged 4 cyl is nestled in there somewhere under all those pipes and radiators. The incredible photo etch dash. This was over 80 of the smallest pieces of PE I have ever attempted. 80+ pieces. Took tyhe better part of 3days to complete but worth it in my opine. Some of the detail in PE on the hood. Thiose hinges comprised of 6 pieces and actually would have worked if I had decided to open this section. Camera never lies and the Martini decal picked up some of the number identification off the sheet. Not really visible to the naked eye. Haven't decided how to correct this . More photo etch detail back here. I lost the exhaust tips from the kit but was going to replace them with antenna tubing anyway. Finished car on its wheels Whew!...what a job to get to here. Body fit well and both the front and rear clip open as well as the wheels steer Rear veiw. Those PE mud flaps were a real treat to build and install. Front flaps wound up being black vinyl tape as the PE ones were never going to fit no matter how much bending it took. This car represents the one Henri Tiovonen / Cresto won the Monte Carlo rally in 1985. Next up on the bench is the 1/12 version of this car. Should be a little easier on these ancient eyes...he says jokingly.