Spottedlaurel

Looks fantastic! It's a really nicely detailed kit and great to see an older subject given modern standards of kit design and engineering, you've really done it justice.

Thanks! Toyota Corona, and yes I just slotted the holes where the struts mount. On both of these I had to use BMF to do the brightwork on the grille, as mentioned above there aren't as many plated pieces as you'd hope/expect. I think most of those in my stash do at least have chrome bumpers, apart from the Celica Liftback (from memory).

I have a few in the stash, even those with a stock car on the box art often have lots of extra parts. Those I've built so far have been without the wide arches etc, but I did make use of the lowered suspension....

Thanks Les. That would be simpler, but I got the Caprice by chance and I have a 1990s Corvette or two specifically bought as engine donors 😄

In my experience it's not what it used to be. I occasionally buy a tin or two, then always regret it and end up getting a Revell enamel instead. But I have one or two Humbrols from the 1980-90s that I still use....

Thanks Jim, sounds great! Perhaps a good recipient for a Corvette engine, with a bit of a hi-po street sleeper look?

Odds and ends over the last 2-3 weeks: This one needs a bit of TLC as it had sustained damage to the body, but I bought it knowing that. Note the GB address on the Z. No lightbar with this one, but I wouldn't want to build it as a police car anyway.

I see you're spraying with the tailgate and fuel filler flap in place, are they permanently fitted? I wasn't brave enough to cut out the roof supports before polishing, I thought I needed a bit more robustness - those front pillars are so delicate!

Another quick, simple build on the go for me at present: Fujimi Daihatsu Move kei-car, on Tom's Rally wheels.

It'll be great to see you work your magic on this one Chang!

Many thanks Luke, very useful! Have saved them onto my PC for future reference.

I 'need' to do this to one or two things in my stash, presumably just styrene sheet and a bit of filler?

The recent quick, simple build of a Monogram Triumph TR7 helped me to realise what I mostly enjoy, or at least have time for at present, so I picked another fairly basic but nicely proportioned kit out of the stash: Something of a rarity outside Japan, and early ones like this are probably rather scarce there too as apparently they only made around 50 a year until 1972, then it kept going in higher volume production until 1981. Quite advanced with a DOHC engine, although still a solid rear axle on leaf springs. Apparently this Fujimi kit dates back to 2004 and my issue had a few extra PE parts (not all of which I used). It's infinitely better than the Doyusha/Nostalgic Hero kit, and compares well with the more recent Hasegawa version (well, multiple versions!). Mostly an OOB build, but with Dunlop alloy wheels and and period tyres from the Tamiya Lotus Europa Special kit. Paintwork is Halfords automotive white primer, Tamiya TS-88 Titanium Silver and Mr Hobby gloss clear. All sprayed with cans. Like the recent Tamiya Nissan 240ZG kit the side window mouldings are separate, plated parts. They seemed too shiny to me and wouldn't have matched the front and rear window trims so I covered them with BMF. For similar reasons I coated the wing mirrors with semi-gloss clear but I left the bumpers as they were. The front grille was completely plated and was detailed with matt black paint then wiped off the highlights. Dashboard came out nicely with decals (apart from one that broke up) and PE bezels. Seats were painted brown, smoke and semi-gloss clear to recreate the rich leather trim I saw in a photo. Carpeted areas were done with imitation suede elbow patches. I restricted my detailing of the underside to painting the mostly moulded-in exhaust system. Turned out to be a delicate and attractive car, I'm pleased to have it in the cabinet.

Got my current WIP Fujimi Isuzu 117 Coupe very near to completion, hopefully I'll have it Under Glass here next weekend.

These came last week: Both cars I like a lot at 1:1, and I already have different versions but I can think of varous ways of building them.

Fairly simple curbside but nicely porportioned and detailed kit by Fujimi of the Isuzu 117 Coupe: Painted Tamiya Titanium Silver and clearcoated but not yet polished. Period-looking Dunlop wheels and tyres are from the Tamiya Lotus Europa Special.

Finished result looks amazing Steve, brilliantly done!

There seems to be a theme here: I appreciate that these aren't their latest releases, but Hasegawa are turning out some great stuff right now. Still 'need' to get the RWD Starlet KP61 and Silvia S110 kits, and who knows what they've got in the pipeline.....

I put this together as an attempt to do a quick, simple build over Christmas - just about managed to complete it before I started back at work a few days ago so mission accomplished. There's a fair degree of nostalgia in this kit as I first built one in the very early 1980s, probably aged about 11-12. I left the yellow bodyshell but did a bit of matt black 'detail' painting. Sadly only the wheels, tyres and a few decal offcuts survive, and I had to spend a bit to eventually get hold of another one. Modest parts count! After two weeks: Essentially OOB, but with wheels from the 1980s MPC Dodge Daytona and tyres from an Aoshima kit. Grey primer then Tamiya TS-35 Park Green which is pretty close to the original Java Green (see photos of 1:1 car at the end). That was applied straight from the can with no clear, polished with Micromesh 3600-12000 then Zero Paints fine compound and finally Auto-Glym resin polish. Windscreen trim done with BMF, vinyl roof Revell #9 and rest of the bumpers, trim etc their SM302, all brush-painted following some tedious masking. Rear bumper fitment is somewhat reliant on a generous amount of superglue. The rest of it fits together well, almost on the verge of being a snap-fit as little glue is required. I don't know if I realised that in my younger days! The top of the door is a bit flatter this side. Otherwise I think it's a pretty decent rendition of the TR7 and its distinctive, very period looks. Exhaust tip was drilled out and tailpipe painted with Gundam chromemarker. I could only use the registration plate decals, the rest at 45+ years old were no use. No decals for the gauges so I detailed them as best I could. The 1:1 I looked at had a fairly sombre black cloth/nylon and vinyl interior, so I didn't have to think about the tartan that some later models had. Reference car, a UK-spec RHD example so some differences to Monogram's interpretation: As I've found with others in this Exotics series they're an enjoyable build, giving the option of either quickly putting them together (as I went for here!) or paying a bit of attention to detail and coming up with something beyond what was probably originally intended with them. Thanks for looking.

I like that, very nicely done. It has a low parts count but I think this is a really good kit. I built one a while back and with a little thought and TLC as you've done here it makes for a good-looking replica.

Great to see one of these built so cleanly, it looks fantastic. You overcame the problems very well.

Thank you Brian, so it has a decent basic engine already included? That makes life easier! It has the added bonus for me of being a birth year build, picking up on a previous CBR theme which I never managed to complete (or really start). Not yet decided, will see what else takes my fancy over the next few days.....

Still pondering my entry for this one, all three of my completed CBR entries have been Japanese and I'd like to use this as an excuse to build something American this time around. As a base vehicle I'm favouring the AMT '70 Ford sedan, but wondering about a suitably hi-po period engine option. It'd have to be from the Ford stable as I don't like mixing makes, and presumably a big block? I have only a limited choice in my stash, the '69 Cougar CJ428 comes to mind, maybe with a different intake/filter set-up? While I'm off work for the next few days I'll have a play then declare my entry. Could end up being something entirely different.....

That's a really nice kit, I enjoyed putting one together a few years ago. As I recall getting the assembled chassis and interior into the bodyshell was a bit tight but it looks great once complete.

Very nice, great to see it finished and such care taken in putting it together. I would like to get one of these someday, to sit alongside the Princess and Alpine A310 that I've already built. Definitely some challenges with them, but they look good once completed and are a nice way of filling up small gaps in the cabinet.