Spottedlaurel

You deserve an award for your devotion to this kit! Looking good so far. I look at my DoH Charger occasionally ( an '00s issue I think) , then move onto something else....

A run of good weather has brought out lots of stuff locally, a little '60s selection here: This one's apparently a 3.4. Tyres look fatter than standard. This Alpine (not Tiger) sounded great This one is from 1965, but with their late '50s US styling these BMC Farinas looked somewhat dated by the early '70s when the final versions were eventually discontinued. I suppose the same can be said of the Humber above, which was replaced in 1967 or so.

Very nicely done Michael, the colour suits it perfectly.

Very impressive! That engine bay...... The S20 swap from the Skyline does seem like a natural thing to do (and gives a spare L-series engine for dropping into another Datsun). I wonder if Tamiya will eventually produce one or two more variants, it would be easy to do with how they've got separate mouldings for the nosecone etc. I have one in the stash, it's a fantastic kit. Those separate chrome moulding for the window trims are something to behold, I just hope I can do it justice!

Great to see your progress on various fronts Luke, inspirational as ever! The Laurel looks amazing in the paint, along with the big arches it really helps to break up its heavy look.

You've certainly captured the cartoonish look, nice one!

Made use of the great weather here to get 'viable' paint finishes down onto a couple of current WIPs: The AMT Matchbox Hilux's solid red without clear looks like it will need minimal polishing, should be just right for a new truck look, not a show queen. The Toyota Celsior (Lexus LS400) will need a bit of Micromesh etc, but from experience the very fine peely finish it has now will polish out OK. I hope so, this is the second time around for it....

Thanks all! Yes, amazing when you look at a modern Hyundai then go back to where they were in early-mid '80s with the RWD Pony and Stellar. I wonder if the Pony wheels would be big enough? Depends how accurate the scaling is of course, but in theory they're 13" and I'd have thought a Mk2 Transit would be 14-15"? Taller van-type tyres might do the job though, perhaps with the addition of a sleeve around the Pony wheel. I have both kits, I'll compare them at some point.

Very nice. One for the boss of RJ's? Whoever was lucky enought to have the keys would certainly get between the sites prettty quickly....

That's really nice Tom, a super-clean build of a great-looking car.

Well worth the effort over all those years, it looks amazing. I thought the same thing! Quite a handful at 1:1 I'd imagine.....

That's really nice Gary, very subtle. What does an American 'six' sound like, and how do they rev and respond to tuning? I've got a 2.4 6-cyl lump in my 1:1 Datsun, it's probably strangled by its single carb and limited breathing in the cylinder head, so best just to row it along on the torque and enjoy the noise (which is a bit like a boat I often think). But I know the 240Z etc uses the same engine to much better effect. Just curious, V8s get all the attention and the 6-cyl engines seem like a poor relation, but in other markets they were the top-of-the-line unit.

Very nice! You've really done it justice, it looks wonderful. Always a pleasure to see one or two of these at 1:1 when I go on holiday in France.

That's great Steve, you certainly nailed the brief to create something cartoonish and fun! I built a stock one of these some years ago when my son was young.

Thanks JC. I'm hoping to make some good progress on this over the long Easter weekend, this is where I've got to so far....... Front bumper and winch before. And during! I couldn't find an easy way of shaving the winch and bar from the bumper so it's ended up in pieces. The centre section of the bumper is a fairly simple shape so I'll try and scratchbuild that from some flat styrene glued together, shaped and filled. The Hilux sold here had one-piece windows, so I've cut out and smoothed this little frame. I've also choped off the rear bumper/step and removed the little tab that fits into the bed, as I've filled that slot and I'll glue it on. I filled various holes in the bed floor along with the sink marks in the rear quarter panel. As it is now, in red primer awaiting a solid red topcoat. Since the photo above I've filled and primed the slots above the rear window - they're to locate the rollbar, which I'm not using. I've also filled the holes in the front valance where the under-bumper lights would fit. The bumper-less chassis was given a squirt of satin black, it fits nicely. Looks like we're due some decent weather over the holiday weekend so I'm hoping to make good progress on this one.

It was my birthday earlier in the week, so I treated myself to a few things which are now on their way to me. I got this one wrapped up on the day (having bought it a few days beforehand!): Looks like a really nice kit, with some alternative parts to build a different year/version. The obvious temptaton is to sit it low on some period alloys, but I might resist that and build it to replicate a 1:1 I saw some years ago.

Nice work, and unlike some car-based, home-made pickup conversions it looks like it would be a surprisingly useful thing at 1:1!

Great to see that GT-R. Indeed so. Don't forget about the Doyusha version. Then again.....

That's very clean, nice one. I keep seeing this one coming up in listings and have dismissed it. Now I see what it's like I'll pay a bit more attention to them.....

A couple of Mazda-related items for me: A bit of an oddity, but something that I think would be pretty useful at 1:1: It came with no wheels and tyres as the seller had used them on another project, but that's fine. It might end up sitting low on a set of 8-spoke Watanabes or similar, whatever looks good from the spares box. I think I'll have my work cut out with this one....

Great to see an obscure kit like this built-up, nice job! Many of these older Japanese kits are quite toy-like, best just to go with it and have fun.

Good to see one of these in progress, it's coming together nicely. I've had one of these in the stash for quite a few years, I need some inspiration to get building it!

That's wild! Looks like something from a 1980s issue of Chrome & Flames magazine.

Excellent! A really nice recreation of your 1:1, it came together very nicely.

That's fantastic Gary, looks really sharp and great to hear the story behind it.