colin

With all the hype before it's release, things have gone dead on Trumpeter's 1/12 GT40. Has anyone purchased or built one yet?

I will be getting back to it very soon. I have two 300SL's to complete first. I will be casting some GT40 pieces. Once I get the rear deck to fit properly I will be casting it.

Thanks for the pictures Brendan..nice builds. I will be starting mine when I get home, sometime in mid April. My next Fisher will be the Lola T70

Thanks to a post somewhere else in this forum I found out about Fisher. I have just ordered and received the Chaparral 2E and 2F....OUTSTANDING. Can't wait to get started on them.

Still batting 1000 but I think I am going to loose it on this one. Intitially I thought it was real. That was based on the headlight covers...too good for a model, plus the detail inside the headlights. Then, I changed my my mind based on the external door hinge. I dont remember that on the REAL car, so it is a model. The original car had a chrome roll bar, but the restored 1:1 is black. The restored 1:1 sits on Goodyears, not Firestones. DEFINITELY A VERY GOOD MODEL.

Really nice looking Cobra. Where did the instrument cluster come from?

Still batting 1000. Gotta go with real. This could ruin my run of good luck, can't last forever. At least if I am wrong, I will be in good company.

I haven't decided yet. Originally it was bought to do the Canadian Comstock Racing Team GT40 that ran at Sebring in '66'. There are so many cool gt40's to choose from, it seems a shame to just paint it white. I have seen a dark blue one (#9) with orange/red trim that appeals. It will be awhile before I have to make that decision, besides, it will keep everyone in suspense:-)

Bob Dylan (love his latest cd, Modern Times), Eric Clapton, J.J. Cale, James Taylor, Pink Floyd, Nathalie Merchant.

Changes to chassis. Stock kit chassis is on the left, new modified chassis on the right. The parts that have been removed will form a new engine bay for the 289 dry sumped engine and gearbox, New rear crossmember will have to be fabricated along with engine mounts and rear suspension

So far I am batting 1000...lets see if I can keep run going. MODEL.

Thanks Bill, appreciate the support. I have never tackled anything this major, even I am surprised at how well it is going. Still, I have ample time for a major screw-up in which case it will get relegated to the back burner for a long long time.

Nicely done!!!!! Ugly, but well done. Now, when are you going to do a chrome bumper version?????

Numerous changed required to the rear bulkhead. The first one...remove the brackets for the rear hood pins and move them towards the top of the bulkhead by 2 1/2" scale inches. Left side done.

I really really like GT40's This one (a real one, not a replica) belongs to a friend in Atlanta and on the odd occassion I get to drive it. This is only one of three built by Ford. I think it is appraised in the 7 figure category. I also got to drive a Superformance continuation GT40 with a Roush big block with 565hp at Road Atlanta. It took a week to get the stupid grin off my face.

I think the box this model came in should carry the same proviso that movies are required "Any similarity between persons (in this case model) living or dead is purely coincidental. I finally finished the front and rear decks to the piont where I can start looking at the chassis and interior. The first thing I have to do is reconstruct/modify the rear bulkhead. Then, throw away the engine and transaxle, design and build a rear suspension, create a complete new interior. This was not percieved as a lifelong challenge. The instrument cluster is too far to center and is completely the wrong shape. The door sills are too wide, this I guess was to accomodate the batteries for the motor. The seats are too narrow and completely the wrong shape. The whole rear of the chasis needs to be reworked. To start with, the bracket that holds the rear deck is at the wrong angle and the deck does not fit square to the chassis behind the rear bulkhead. Because this model employed an electric motor, the engine and transaxle need to be scrubbed. I am going to use a 1:16 289 block out of an AMT '65' Mustang kit. I will have to construct a gearbox and the accompanying suspension.

You are 100% correct on that one. The announcement of the Trumpeter kit sure put a damper on things. As usual, a brick short and a day late:-( I think I will cast a front and rear deck just incase I find another kit ( I am a GT40 fool) and possibly offer it to anyone who wants one. Thanks for the input

True, but just how many of these old Bandai/UPC kits are out there? It took me almost a year to find this one. If I just did a front and rear deck, seats and some suspension detail in the rear to replace the electric motor it may not be worth the cost of the molds. Thank you for your input....just testing the waters:-)

I am currently re-working and old Bandai/UPC 1:16 GT40. It is an intense build with lots of body re-shaping and adding detail. You can see the progress under "Big Boyz". The question: If it were to be duplicated as a fully detailed kit in resin, would anybody be interested. My guess is the cost would be somewhere between $175.00-$200.00 per kit. This would be a full kit with no donor required, includes rubber tyres and decals.

Well Junkman, I hope you are right about symmetry. It's close but still needs a bit of fine tuning for the final shape

Over did it a little? I don't think so. Most eloquently put. You are definitley correct about this being a model site and not a place for bashing. Unfortunately when something near and dear to us is attacked, ones defense mechanism just automatically kicks in. Thank you.

That is a really sweet little TF. Those 72 spoke wheels really do change it's appearance for the better. Shame you had to let it go.

REAL!

Jeez.....What makes you so bitter? Unfortunately a number of inaccuracies in your statement. The car you refer to as a British roadster with a 427 was an AC Ace. The AC Bristol was an Ace with a Bristol engine. The original AC Cobra however was fitted with a 289 Ford, not a 427 side oiler. There was never an MGB roadster that left the factory for retail consumption with a Rover V8. The only V8 MG was the MGB GT V8. The MGC was fitted with the Austin Healey inline 6 cylinder. The Rover V8 is an American engine..a BOP and as fitted to the MGB GT produced 137hp, almost 40 more than the 1798cc 4 cylinder. Comparing 45 year old technology (MGB) to an MX5 would be the same as comparing a P51 Mustang to an F16. Seems to me the technology in domestic cars during the day, late 50's to early 60's was nothing to write home about, but that is another story. The problem with British cars in the North American market was NOT the cars but the drivers. As built, the British sports car fared very well in it's home market, which it was built for. American drivers treated these somewhat delicate roadsters as they would a domestic car, long high speed interstate trips, no maintenance etc. Remember, the average domestic V8 was probably turning around 2000 rpm at 70 mph while the poor little MG was cranking out a whopping 4200rpm at the same speed, unless it was one of the rare models that had overdrive. The MGB may not have been the epitimy of engineering marvels but it provided a lot of drivers with romance, fun and excitment that no domestic car could. Besides...they were chick magnets:-) Relax, take a pill and stick to modelling, which you do quite well BTW.

OK, so where do I start. 1) I have a 1:1 of your exact model sitting in my garage, 75 rubber bumper MGB, Inca yellow. Found it in a shed on a peanut farm in Georgia. 2) I have two Aoshima kits on the shelf, early chrome bumper models. 3) I am restoring the 1:1 and converting it to pre 1968 chrome bumper 4) I will build my kit as per my finished 1:1 5) You guys with all your negative remarks on MGB's tick me off. I bought an MGB in 1965. Drove it as a daily driver and rallied it on weekends. In 1968 with 68,000 miles on it, I took it off the road and converted it to an E/P race car. In 1970 it won the Ontario Region E/P Championship. It consistently beat the Porsche 356's, even Vic Skirmants. 6) That is a really nice build, hope mine comes out as well. 7) If anyone knows where I can get one of the Aoshima Club Racer kits I will pay dearly for it, just to get the Sebring headlight covers and the Minilite wheels. I am building my 1:1 as a track car for vintage racing to replicate my racer from 1970.