Spottedlaurel

Very nice build! Great to see one in a colour other than the green/gold they mostly seemed to be.

I imagine that braking system to be more thorough and effective than whatever it was originally fitted with........

It's great to see how this has come together, it's looking really good. The colour is fantastic. I saw a nicely rodded 1:1 example out and about on Sunday, looked so small next to the modern stuff around it. The shots where you're holding yours emphasise that fact!

Great to see some thought and attention being given to a kit like this, I think your efforts have paid-off really well.

Excellent work. I have no ability to say how authentic the colour is, but the combination has worked out very well.

Do you have anywhere near you that mixes them up in aerosols? I've had several made up at a couple of different local car parts shops, neither of them big or specialists in paintwork.

That looks great Roger! The updated interior suits the look of it very well. It looks an awful lot better than the same kit I built back in the '80s, which is sorely in need of a rebuild.

Really nice build, great colour choice. - I think it looks very good.

I'm going to have to try your vinyl roof method, it looks very effective. I think these look great at 1:1, look forward to seeing this one come together.

Very effective! Reminded me of this one saw here in the UK a few years ago: 1978 Pontiac Firebird by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Was a bit more than $800 though - sold on eBay for over £2.5k......

Great work! A lot of effort has gone that paintwork and there are some nice details. Is it the Fujimi or Aoshima kit? These are a bit of a personal favourite of mine at 1:1, although buying a grille from one I found in a scrapyard is probably as close as I'll get to having a real example.

Very nice Gareth. Nowhere to hide with straight black paint!

Thanks all of you!

They're great to see, fantastic for them to have survived and for us to enjoy them now.

It may have been a tough one, but it looks like the effort really paid off - and interesting subject and it looks excellent.

Great to see this one moving forwards. Always frustrating when those attachment points are on a chrome piece that's going to be visible - why did they choose to do it that way?! How are you going to do the bonnet badge and 'V' emblem?

Thanks for the comments! Made more progress this weekend. The Silvia got micromeshed and resin polished, it's come out nicely and now awaiting detailing. Only the silver Skyline now needs clearcoat. Here's another one of them, effectively a FWD coupe version of the mid '80s Corolla: 1:24 Tamiya Toyota Sprinter Trueno kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr 1:24 Tamiya Toyota Sprinter Trueno kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Decided on a colour change: 1:24 Tamiya Toyota Sprinter Trueno kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Used black chrome BMF as masking for the window trims. Glad I wasn't using it for its intended purpose, it doesn't go down as nicely as the chrome stuff. 1:24 Tamiya Toyota and Honda kits by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Lots of grey painting this weekend. 1:24 Tamiya Honda City kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr The Honda City interior is now finished too. I'm hoping to get at least a couple of them finished by the end of the month, should be on track for that.

Just gone 8.30am here, and while I'm waiting for daughter to get ready so I can give her a lift to work I've already micromesh polished one bodyshell and assembled two interiors I was detail painting last night. Trying to make a push on several of my current WIPs so I can get a few finished during a week off work at the end of the month.

Thanks! The '71 Cedric is one of the better ones, I have that to do someday. I'll take a look to see how it looks scale-wise against the later one I'm building.

Is that for real?! Never seen that version before. Foresaw the day when Toyota would use BMW diesel engines and the Supra would become a badge-engineered Z4.......

The ability to get macro shots and zoom in on a screen means we see far more than before, be that good or bad! I had a look this afternoon and was reminded that my Crown kit also has flared arches - from memory the wheel openings have been opened-up to accommodate the wide wheels, so without major surgery I'll have to build it that way: Fujimi 1:24 Toyota Crown 2800 Benz Mask by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

You kept my attention, it's excellent! Great photos and the Crown is very nicely built - I really like the finished look of it. The extra details work very well. I love the big Japanese stuff from this era, I own a 1:1 Datsun Laurel. I have a "Benz Mask" version of this kit, basically a Mercedes grille planted onto it......

Odds and ends over the last week or so: 1:24 Doyusha 1969 Nissan Bluebird 510 Coupe kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr I wonder if this had been used as a slot car? I have others in this Doyusha Nostalgic Hero series, which also have the pancake interior moulding. The thick orange paint needs to be stripped-off, then it'll be interesting to see if Hasegawa grille, lights etc will fit. 1:24 Hasegawa 1991 Suzuki Jimny kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Nicely detailed, and has alternative wheels and suspension lift parts. 1:25 Revell 1992 Mercury Cougar XR-7 kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Seems to be missing the lowrider wheels and roof cover, but in fairness the eBay seller said it might not be complete and I think everything else is there for it be built stock or as some sort of street machine.

Really good to see, it's turned out very nicely. I have an old California Sunshine version of the 620, it looks like it has parts in it to build near-stock. I've been slightly nervous about starting it, must get on with it!

I'd love to see your build of that. I presume it's an update of the kit I have as a standard road model and Safari Rally car. They look very nicely detailed, must get and on do something with them!