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colin

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Posts posted by colin

  1. Anymore updates on this GT40 project Colin? Are you still going to cast some resin pieces?

    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.

  2. Here are my two Fisher Chaparrals.

    I'm hoping he re-releases the 917/30. I had bought mine right before he stopped making the cars. And I need replacements for a bunch of the parts. I contacted him right off the bat and he said the next time he has it out to contact him again. Frustrating cause this is a car I want to build.

    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

  3. 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.

    00004.jpg

  4. This looks terrific so far. I'm really keen to see how far you are going to take this kit. Will the model be light blue with orange stripes in the end?

    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:-)

  5. Changes to chassis. Stock kit chassis is on the left, new modified chassis on the right.

    chassischanges.jpg

    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

  6. Excellent bodywork Colin!! B)

    The sides both look symmetrical to me! Not always an easy task especially with curves involved.

    Fujimi did the same thing BTW with their '69 GT-40 Gulf cars................the 1:1's have very "bulged" front and rear fenders that to my eyes seem a little flat on the kit. It appears that they used basically the same body as the earlier 427 cars I guess to save on tooling costs.

    For us purists though, it's a real pain in the tush to make 'em accurate! ;)

    I've got a 1/24 Lemans Miniatures '69 Gulf GT-40 that I started a few years ago but gave up on because the resin was giving me trouble. I should start that one again sometime since now I have some resin experience under my belt. :)

    Keep us posted on the progress!

    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.

  7. i take it you *really really* like GT40s?

    whew that looks like an incredible lot of work.

    gotta hand it to you though, looks great so far!

    I really really like GT40's

    P1010245.jpg

    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.

  8. 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.

    P1020291.jpg

    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.

    P1020288.jpg

    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.

  9. Colin, I've been folowwing your build here & in the gpma yahoo group & while it's very possible that there would be interest in such a kit, by the same token, with Trumpeter's doing a 1/12 scale GT40 kit in plastic, (roughly around the same price or lower I'm guessing), I'm not sure there's enough of a market to make it worth doing. There may be potential there, but you have to take the 1/12 scale kit into consideration.

    I'm not saying I wouldn't buy one, I'm just saying your timing may be a bit late on this.

    :lol:

    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

  10. I have been following your progress intently, Colin - I have the same kit and agree with your assessment of its accuracy!! Perhaps you may want to offer this as a transkit instead of a complete kit - it might lower the price resistance among modelers and provide you with more potential customers??

    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:-)

  11. 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.

  12. There was only one man ever who replaced the running gear of a British roadster with what actually belongs in them: He stuffed a 427 Side Oiler into an AC-Bristol roadster.

    The MGB never recieved this performance upgrade, since it already has to fight hard not to fall apart when this little four banger it came with was fired up - if it started at all. The handful that left the factory fitted with this asthmatic Rover V8, which has even less power than the four cylinder but the gas mileage of a fighter jet were thanks to their atrocious handling wrapped around trees before anything could go wrong.

    If anyone tells me his MG runs fine, he either had his car restored several times (MGs actually do get better with each careful rebuild) or he just isn't used to proper motoring anymore. Fact is what left the factory was complete and utter rubbish. Funnily enough, even hard core MG lovers seem to agree the best thing to do is replacing the drivetrain with 'something Japanese'. How fed up with the original do you have to be to put you through this? As I said before, the only sensible thing to do is replace the entire contraption with something Japanese - an MX5.

    The model however is a dream to build and really captures the characterful lines of the car. No wonder, it's Japanese too.

    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.

  13. 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.

    mgb85ep.jpg

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