Spottedlaurel

This is an oddity I have, never heard of this Noppo range until I found one on eBay well over a decade ago: 1:24 Nissan Skyline 'Ken & Mary'; Noppo 4dr (C110) by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Until relatively recently I was going to use its wheels on another project. Then I looked to see how much they go for now, so it's become one of the few kits in my collection that will remain intact until I'm really, really ready to build it and certainly not get robbed of parts.....

Engine looks great and some very inventive detailing here!

Looks good to me, I'm interested to see how this works out. Speaking as someone who's owned a few and seen many others over the years, is it possible to overdo the rust on a 1970s Datsun?..........

What a beast! That's great, the weathered look suits it perfectly.

All these NASCAR racers sacrificing themselves! If I get the Leopard finished in good time maybe I'll do that with one of mine, I have limited interest in building it as it's meant to be (too much decal work if nothing else!).

Great news - can't believe it's taken them 40 years to get around to it in 1:24 scale! In fairness it might not have been so good if they'd done it in the early '80s, but it would have fitted in perfectly with the classics they did back in the '90s. Be nice if they give the option to build it without the G nose, as Hasegawa do. Could then use the C10 GT-R's engine to create a Z432? I've been contemplating building my Fujimi kit recently, I'm planning to build it without the engine and use the L24 in something else. I think the Hasegawa kit edges it however, especially with its separate arches and option to build with or without the G nose. If Tamiya give some options then it could trump them all.

A very worthwhile restoration exercise, I think it looks great. The mica paintwork nicely brings out the shape.

Look forward to seeing you work your magic on this one. I have one of these too (a Street Machine version) that I'm looking to build one day soon. They're reasonably popular on here, @disconovaman and @Rockford will be pleased to see another one.

Really nice work on the interior and chassis Roger, the latter in particular looks so clean and straight, just like you'd hope to see.

Fantastic! Great concept, the finished result looks excellent. Also enjoying seeing what everyone else is up to. Having virtually finished another build I thought I'd spend a few minutes on my Skyline/Leopard mash-up - as it's a little more involved than my usual thing I musn't leave it until the last minute! 1:24 Tamiya Nissan Leopard kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Using my helpful assembled chassis from the Skyline I built A Long Time Ago, I could see that some of this plastic behind the front bumper needed to be removed. 1:24 Tamiya Nissan Leopard kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr That's left me with just the pins and a tiny bit of material to take off the front of the Skyline chassis - I'm not doing that to this one, as it needs to go back under a Skyline! It's very helpful to know what to expect when I start on the fresh chassis. 1:24 Tamiya Nissan Leopard kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Next job was to open-up the bonnet. It went OK without too much collateral damage, helped by the Leopard's body being quite a thick, solid moulding. 1:24 Tamiya Nissan Leopard kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr One reason for choosing the Leopard was that its bonnet could be removed whilst still leaving a cowl in front of the windscreen (some of the options I looked at had the bonnet extending to the bottom of the glass, which would have meant extra work and hassle). Looks like just a bit of infill between the cowl and bulkhead will be required. The complete Skyline engine, radiator, inner wings etc seem to fit under the Leopard's front end like it was meant to be. 1:24 Tamiya Nissan Leopard kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr I'm contemplating swapping it to LHD, figuring that it would suit the roads better and I found this spare one from a Tamiya Nissan Silvia that should do the job. It doesn't matter that it won't match the Skyline interior tub, as I plan on removing the sides from it and using those from the Leopard, all I want is the base and its mounting points for the rollcage. Found some CB sets and a fire extinguisher when I was looking through the parts box for something else. 1:24 Tamiya Nissan Leopard kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Having established that the basic concept will work I can get onto the important business of choosing wheels. I don't want anything too racy, I was going to go for a set of mesh wheels of some sort, then I remembered this accessory set of Volk Racing GTP wheels that came with a later Nissan Leopard. I like the fact that they're 6-spoke, similar to the original 14" alloys. I need to check a few brake disc options, wanting to get something as large as possible inside these wheels.

Very nice build of a great-looking car, I like it. Gives me a few things to consider with the same kit I'm building at present.

Stunning work Chang! Surely your best yet? Great photos too. I remember a few '02s from my youth and this kit does appeal to me

That's really nice, well detailed and great colour choice - looks perfect against the backdrop.

Thanks Gareth. I'm not sure if I have any redlines, and I think I've now settled on the best tyres (can't remember what they're from, probably Fujimi or Aoshima). Thank you Tom, and I can only take your word for that! Just seen a nice build on here of a 1966 Cadillac in Bahama Sand which also looked similar, so it feels like the right kind of colour for the era. Thanks David. I only hope I can achieve that stance in reality. It's difficult to mock-up with the suspension dry-fitted, and I've a feeling it may change slightly when the full interior and glass are installed, so final adjustment may have to take place when it's almost complete. If I can get close to how this one sits I'll be happy: This one's good too, although I think the tyres are a little too shallow in the sidewall: Just noticed the various grille/light/bumper treatments. Looks like the AMT kit is closest to this one: At present I've got unpainted vertical pieces, but I like the look of it with them painted as it gives the front end more horizontal emphasis, making it look wider and cleaner - might give that a try. 1:25 AMT 1967 Chevrolet Impala kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr 1:25 AMT 1967 Chevrolet Impala kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr I'm not sure if it had been polished when I took these photos, but it has been now and it's got the look I was after. 1:25 AMT 1967 Chevrolet Impala kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Still no fitment issues now the engine has most of its ancillaries fitted. I'm hoing to use the Corvette's twin-fan radiator set-up as that also includes the air intake. At this point I'm debating what to about the underbonnet area. I suspect some of those moulded-in hoses and components wouldn't be necessary with the LT5 installation, should've thought of that before I painted the bodyshell.......

Nice work. A lot of detailing here to deal with, the finished result looks great. Colour is reminiscent of a beige I'm using on my '67 Impala build.

Thanks Sonny. It's making for an undemanding but satisfying build. I recall the colour, but I don't remember the name (not like I do the late '70s Ford colours, from intense studying of Ford brochures when I was young). Excellent inspiration, thanks Matthijs. The Corvette is sitting perfectly on those BBS wheels, and I think you're right it would look better on them. But, I have other projects that I'd like to use them for so I'm going for the Volks. As I wanted something relatively easy to put together I've been concentrating on this build over the last couple of weekends, this is where I'm at now: 1:25 AMT Corvette ZR-1 kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr 1:25 AMT Corvette ZR-1 kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Clearcoat fresh out of the can. As I'd used a Halfords automotive paint I stuck with their topcoat. Has since polished up nicely. 1:25 AMT Corvette ZR-1 kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr 1:25 AMT Corvette ZR-1 kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Crude mock-up. I'll pay attention to the wheel position in the arch, the rear certainly isn't right and the front end needs to be a touch lower. 1:25 AMT Corvette ZR-1 kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Straightforward interior, in a dull '90s colour scheme. I haven't followed the instructions or looked at any reference shots, I just painted what looked right to me for what's only meant to be a cabinet display piece. Might do a little more detailing and cleaning-up (those mould marks at the back might be visible through the tailgate?). 1:25 AMT Corvette ZR-1 kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Wheel installation is taking a bit of work, but I quite enjoy this stage. The wheels are by Aoshima, but I've used them with staggered Fujimi tyres. The inner part of the rim was cut back to suit the AMT backing plate, although I may not end up using them. I don't think the kit came with any brake discs (as you can tell, I'm not paying a lot of attention to the instructions, and some of the sprues are in the Impala box) so I've used front dics with Brembo calipers by Fujimi, and for the back end I've got the front discs from a Tamiya Nissan Silvia - maybe a touch small, but better than nothing. Once the discs are fitted inside the wheel I can see what mounting arrangement works best - I might glue the AMT centre piece direct onto the back of the wheels and lose the backing plate. 1:25 AMT Corvette ZR-1 kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr With one or two pieces still in the box, this is where I'm at now. Might just be able to finish it today (the weather isn't looking great for the outdoor job I had in mind) if not it'll be an easy completion next weekend.

That's very nice, no need for any mod's. Looks great outside in the winter sunshine.

A nicely done tribute to your father and his car.

Definitely something I have in mind to do on some of mine, and I suppose I have done/am doing with the Chevy LT5 engine swaps into '65 Corvette and '67 Impala. Gives a bit of freedom as to what can be done. My take on a Restomod is something that looks pretty much like it would have done when new, very clean in an original-ish colour with brightwork still in place, but with different wheels and lowered suspension hinting that something interesting is going on, then whatever running gear swaps/upgrades can fitted under the standard bodywork. Pro Touring is more obviously modified, like the excellent example of Brian's Mustang above. At the end of the day, just build what looks good and feels right - the beauty of working in plastic is we're not usually dealing with something too rare/valuable. Nor having to worry about getting rid of rust before making a start on the mod's.......

Good to see how you did it, worked very well.

Very nicely done, looks so much better than the box art. Have you opened up the grille or replaced it with mesh?

It may be a simple kit but the finished look is very effective, it's turned out really well.

Very nice. Really crisp edging between the blue and black painted areas of bodywork.

Always a pleasure to see one of your builds "Under Glass", this one's amazing! Some very inventive thinking, very well executed.

Great to see, it looks really good. I have no experience of the 1:1 version whatsoever, but the V6 engine conversion certainly looks effective.