Pete75

Thanks Gareth! Wow, you guys were lucky - and white was definitiely a great colour choice. I think I read they only ever made 11,000, so I guess it's unsurprising you don't see many today. ?

Cheers Carl! ?

"Looks like a case of drugs AND girls!" ?? Seriously, though, looking cool, Pat! ?

Thanks Bruce! Cool truck - think it might be riding a tad high, though? ? Thanks Anthony, you're very kind! ?. I got a lot of satisfaction & new tricks out of this year's build ?

Thanks for checking out the detail! ? Cheers Anders, you're very kind ? Appreciate it - thanks! ?

Thank you all guys - appreciate it! ? Cheers Nigel! I found the photo of your Tamiya build really useful for reference ?

Thanks Bill & Kurt - appreciate it! ?

This is my entry for the MCM forum Cannonball Run group build thread. The theme this year is “race cars in disguise”, so here is the Italeri 1/24 Audi Quattro Rally turned into a street racer designed to fly under the police radar(s!). I used the brief as an opportunity to experiment with customising a kit for the first time and to learn a little about scratch building. It's been fun to let imagination rule over the usual constraints of replica building and the result is less about being “faithful” to anything & more about fun. Details are on my WIP thread, but here’s a list of alterations/additions to the box stock kit: Front indicators reduced in size & bodywork/bumper filled to make the front end more accurate; side repeaters removed out of preference. Scratch built: replacement exhaust system; CB antenna; roll cage rear section; gear shifter & linkage; pedal arms; centre console, including CB radio & police scanner; GPS & tablet screens; wiring loom & junction box; door card levers, winders & pulls. Photo-etched parts: grill badge; door locks; pedals; co-driver footplate; belt buckles; dash toggle switches. Other add-ons: Ronal 15” tarmac alloys (Reji resin); steering wheel (spares box); 2mm ribbon belts; all carbon fibre/Kevlar decals. Colour is Tamiya light gunmetal. Questions/comments welcome. Thanks for looking!

Beautiful job. Amazing paint finish, as usual!

Amazing quality of work - well done!

Thanks very much, Snake! Appreciate the compliment ?

Everything seemed to get slower & slower, but she’s finally done! ? Like before, I ended up having to insert a shim in a front corner of the body in order to lower it, but it was quick & easy. Had a bit of drama with the glasswork, though, which forced me to adapt my approach. Plans to remove the front windows and tint the rear got abandoned midway, but I’m just relieved to have any glass at all - and grateful to have had a second kit! A big issue with this kit is that the one-piece glass insert is barely tall enough to cover the height of the windows: we are talking 1mm-or-less overlap on all sides. Additionally, it is attached to the sprue tree at single point (along the bottom of one side) by an inch-long joint built to withstand an earthquake! It’s almost impossible to separate the thing without damaging the windows, and even at the second attempt there was a bit of a crack left.? Anyway, the short story is that I was able to make one ok piece out of two by cutting them and hiding the join behind the B pillar. The CB antenna was made from a 0.018” guitar string, a micro compression spring (0.8 x 4.6mm found on eBay) and a bit of sprue. I drilled through the roof & glass insert in order to locate & glue it safely. The front end took a lot of effort get right, but I’m pleased with the result. The resizing of the light units & filling of the body were obviously the biggest things, but there was still a bit of intricate masking & brushwork to be done, plus the lenses had to be glued at the correct angles - none of which was aided by the “instructions”, so a bit of research was required. The indicators were painted clear orange over silver & actually came out ok in the end. The PE badge went on fine with a tiny bit of Gorilla glue and the double-sided tape really came into its own in attaching the spot lamps. Interesting fact: I’ve long used Vallejo acrylic gloss varnish to hold light lenses in because it dries 100% clear, gives ages of working time and any surplus just wipes away with water. I wasn’t sure of the strength of the bond though, so the other day I did a side-by-side comparison with Elmers white glue using an old CD and bits of sprue, then left them to set overnight. Result: the Elmers sprue fell away instantly & the varnish one is still in place because I couldn’t budge it! Many surviving Quattros have smoked rear lights. I was quickly sold on the idea as it looks cool, plus it’s more straightforward: just three or four coats of Tamiya smoke and done. The rear fogs are supposed to be red and not orange as the instructions would have it; here I used clear red over silver. So, there we go. I’m happy with the result, but it was a lot of work! I’ll put an Under Glass link below when I take a few pics. Questions & comments welcome - thanks for looking. Finished photos here

#5 Audi Quattro Calling her done! Not the most stealthy appearance, perhaps - with spot lamps & smoked rear lights - but I'm not having something that took so long looking uncool! ? Also, I wouldn't want to drive through the night at 150mph without the best available lighting. The plans for tinted windows were abandoned for various reasons, but at least the hard work on the interior isn't hidden now. Best of luck with all your ongoing builds guys. I'll be here watching ?

Nice one! Got that one in the stash, too. Like the colour choice - it really suits it ?

Awesome build. The TR7 was one of the first cars to catch my eye when I was small. Didn't know the TR8 existed until just now. I see it was a North American thing - more cylinders is better!?

Nice job! Love the wheels & exhaust ?

#5 Audi Quattro: Not that far away now. Body #2 (nearer) has been clear coated, sanded & (mostly) polished. The rubber seals & door handles have been painted. Weirdly, after sanding and polishing, it now looks darker than #1, but if anything I prefer it so all good. The first shell has proved a useful testing ground, and the latest trial is with my scratch built CB whip antenna - made from a guitar string & micro spring (look closely). However, despite having bought the pack of springs especially, I'm not sure I can bring myself to put it on the final car, having now looked at it side by side. The roof is really the only feasible place to mount it, but I think it detracts from the body lines, so the CB may just have to have a retractable (and completely invisible) antenna!! Edit: Ok, after sleeping on it, I've edged back towards the antenna. Not drilling anything yet though, just in case... Tune in later for more intense modelling drama!! ?

All getting very German around here... ? Seriously though, that's gonna be one mean concept car. Look forward to seeing more. Not even asking how you go about making those shapes - I'm still on box kits 101! ?

Definitely going to use your wood effect technique - looking great!

That's going to be one seriously cool Fiat! Love those wheels ?

Thanks Dann. Good to see you back! ?

Cheers Mike! ?

Wow, @Pat Minarick those two look great! Love the weathered bodywork, it looks so realistic. I've officially finished my Audi interior. I decided to do a carbon fibre rear firewall and door cards to go with the Kevlar seats in the name of weight saving/looking cool! It was easier to decal on a flat surface so I stripped the doors and added scratch built winders, levers & pulls. Tried using double sided tape for the belt ribbons - ok, but fiddly & will take some practice. Just waiting for the clear coat to dry on the bodywork now. Keep on Cannonballin' y'all!! ?

Thanks Anton! ? Ok, the interior is officially done. It all went together nicely with the exception of the ribbon belts which turned out to be slightly too thick (depth, not width) to go through the PE buckles twice. I resorted to melting the ribbon ends with a candle and stretching the fabric to make firmer & thinner ends. Turns out the fabric had a fair amount of plastic content because it stretched like melted sprue does! Anyway, it worked out in the end. Just waiting for the clear coat to harden up on the shell #2 now and the end is coming into view - finally! Cheers for looking ?

Cool project. A friend's dad had one of those & they could certainly move! Like the detailing on the wheels & the carpet ?