MarkJ

Got some stuff from Micro-Mark. You know how it goes. You think of one thing you need and then decide, oh yeah, I need that too and then you finally end up ordering 5 things.

M.M. It looks pretty perfect to me. How you got a model that small to end up so crisp in construction and paint and decaling is a major feat. You should definitely be proud of this one.

Amazing work again, Pierre. I'm guessing that's a return spring you created that looks like a garage door spring I have in my garage that I had to replace a couple of years ago. One day it just broke and it sounded like a gunshot went off followed by a violent unwrapping noise. Not something you want to hear in the morning. Again, your scratch building is on another level than us mere mortals who try to do it.

Excellent job on Graham. Looks just like him. I'll bet being a rower helped keep him in shape for driving. Good idea for keeping the suspension from sagging from sitting so long. Can't wait to see some numbers on this excellent creation you have there.

I will make the handles where I can install them after the body is painted and they are painted. should be a lot cleaner looking. I will also make a lock cylinder that will slide in the hole. that will also be pre painted. Starting the process of cutting out the park lights. I've decided to reprime the whole model before I repaint it. Found that Mr. Surfacer 1000 that Andrew recommended at HobLob and will try that. Hoping it sands out smoother than the Vallejo primers I have had a lot of trouble with.

Thats perfect, Pierre. You don't need that other stuff. Let your fingers do the fancy stuff. They work just fine.

Thanks, Mike and Pierre. Yes, Mike it's been one step forward two steps back for over a year now. Pierre, that's my middle name, forgot. But at least I caught it in time.

I was going to start on the repainting of the body, and I realized I needed to make some door handles that eventually got removed from all the body prep that kept on happening the first time I painted it. I also need to make some openings where the park lamps usually go. I need to fill the square holes for the handles with a sunk in tiny piece of plastic for the doors. And the park lamp openings will have some aquarium filter mesh put in them. The door handles on this car were nonfunctional, but they were there so I need to make them. So were the park lamp openings. I will make the handles so I can install them after the model is painted. The oob handles are almost an after thought.

Thanks, Anton for stopping by and commenting on the build. I just wish the real car I'm depicting had not had a white chassis.

Yes, even the hair looks right.

Great. That would not be right if he didn't. That would be like a clean-shaven Earnhardt senior.

Cool idea for a display base. Will you be giving Graham a mustache? Just sayin.

Thanks, Ken. The touchup was hard with the highly contrasting colors of yellow and white right next to black. Tiny brush and thank goodness at 73, I don't have shaky hands yet.

Got some stuff painted and touched up. The parts to put on the chassis are slowly diminishing. I keep having house emergency's I have to fix like auguring the pipe for my kitchen sink. Never a fun task to do. beats having a plumber come out and charge a fortune to do it.

That Mr. Surfacer looks like a great product. The Vallejo primers I have been using don't sand out very well. It kind of balls up instead of sanding smooth. The Vallejo paints polish out well though. I don't understand why their primers don't. Can't wait to see some paint on these babies.

Okay, that splains it.

I believe that is worth a major "YUP". How will you fill in that horizontal crevice right below the driver's compartment?

Wow, Matt. You are really doing an outstanding job with this kit.

I've been thinking and if it warms up enough next week I might sneak outside and repaint the air cleaner with Revell Chrome and try really hard not to touch it anymore. I did get around to installing the rear axle assembly and I need to decal the tires so I can install them to the chassis, but I really need to install the engine and the rest of the parts on the chassis. I still have the body to repaint. Not looking forward to that.

Thanks, Pierre. the wheels are still okay except for the very outer edge because they are mostly inset and your finger doesn't touch most of it when handling it. I went ahead and futured the air cleaner and wheels to hopefully not dull them anymore. I'm going to try to rescribe the air cleaner element and redo the weathering on it. I might just paint the top of the air cleaner aluminum like the engine.

Looks totally clear to me. So, you are making two?

If you go back to page 13 of the wip ,you can see how much better the air cleaner looked right after it was shot with the Revell chrome spray. Like I said, maybe some future will protect it from dulling out from handling it. I guess I should have used plastic gloves but it's not really easy to work with them on if you've ever tried that. It's hard enough for me with no gloves at all.

Finally got the engine finished. Not the results I was looking for. The Revell chrome does not like to be handled. tried a little weathering on the air cleaner element with some soot. That did not turn out well either. Oh well I can just display the engine with the air cleaner off. Time to move on to completion and build something else.

Now you're making my head hurt, Andrew with this talk about removing a scale inch. If I tried that I would remove 5 inches before I could stop and have to get a new kit and start over. Trouble is I could never be able to find and purchase the first kit to begin with. Superior work as usual.

It really looks like Tazio said those exact words with the look he has on his face. Like he's trying to say I accomplished more with less with that sly smile. Great comparison pic of the two engines.