Spottedlaurel

Great to see some WIP photos behind one of your fantastic builds. End result looks really good.

Your descriptions make it sound so easy, but it's another great-looking peice of work.

Stunning! Amazing quality of work and the styling is fantastic.

Does this kit differ from the current Escort Mk2 that's available? Arches look different if nothing else. 1:24 Hasegawa Toyota Corolla AE102 Fujitsu Ten Tom's kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr This one came in today's post. Had some minor damage to the slender roof pillars but looks like it should be OK. Will probably end up as a fast road/trackday toy. Also, I got these early on in lockdown in exhange for some diecasts: 1:25 Revell and MPC Dragster kits by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Decals useless with both, but otherwise they appear to be complete and undamaged despite the boxes being in a bit of a state. Revellution has been partly started, basically the bodyshell assembled. Other one includes the body parts from the Jawbreaker version. Not entirely sure what I'm going to do with them yet.

Little bits of progress in the evenings after work have got me to this point: 1:25 Revell 1966 Chevelle Wagon kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr 1:25 Revell 1966 Chevelle Wagon kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr 1:25 Revell 1966 Chevelle Wagon kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr BMF applied, glass smoked (doesn't look quite as dark as the photos suggest) and various bits and bobs put together so I should be ready to finish it over the weekend. Panel line wash the main job still to do. For some reason I forgot to attach the exhausts before I installed the rear axle - there might have been room to wriggle them through if I hadn't lowered it, but there was no way they'd go in so I had to cut each one behind the rear silencer and rejoin them. Even then it was like one of those Chinese puzzles with the two bent bits of metal....

Thanks! It's a nice kit, if you can get hold of one it's a good model with a lot of opportunities. See what Luke did with his for a more radical example! What I like about it is that the main bodyshell comes as one piece, with the loadbay sittiig inside it. It doesn't rely on a loose assembly of separate pieces. The paint is a genuine Datsun colour which I had mixed-up to use on my real car, 931 Ochre from memory. I went to a local car parts shop where they make up aerosols to any colour reference.

Amazing work! Having just built one of these myself I can see how many changes you've made, it's interesting to see how two different builds can go when starting with exactly the same kit. For anyone who doesn't appreciate how much effort has gone into this, it would be worth looking at my much more standard example: Then doing a bit of compare and contrast. Look at the work on the rear chassis for example, to give it IRS and fit those wide rear tyres, and an air tank? In real life these things are very light, I think my saloon weighs around 700kg. The thought of a modern twin-turbo 3.8-litre engine powering it is a bit of an eye-opener.....

Thanks Roger. The colour is very much of its time......

Yet another stunner from you! Looks fantastic.

Looks forward to seeing it progress. I built the Ferrai Mythos (similar underneath I believe) in the early-mid '90s, it went together nicely as I recall and it's still in my cabinet now.

More BMF on the Chevelle, and finished spraying Tamiya Smoke on its side and rear windows.

Great to see them together, they do make for a fine collection.

Tamiya's Racing White is a good off-white colour, I used it for the first time recently. The decals helpfully give you an oval plate indentifying the various countries. Looks to me like you have 2x UK, 2x Germany, France, Holland, Austria, Italy, Ireland, Belgium and Switzerland. Land Rover wouldn't be so common in any of those countries, France is the country I visit most regularly and there the Toyota Land Cruiser is more popular.

Yup, take two is definitely the one for me, looks good.

I regularly go to the banger racing at my local track (well, usually!) and over the years I've had bits and bobs off various racers. I know some car enthusiasts don't like them or what they do, but at the end of the day they're having fun with cars the same as the rest of us and the vast bulk of what they race is beyond hope or common enough not to worry about. Some impressive driving and building skills to be seen there. I have one or two kits I want to build up as a banger for various reasons, first I need to work out a few details as to how to make it look effective.

Looks good! It wasn't a model I'd ever really contemplated before seeing your WIP thread, but by chance I ended up getting one off eBay a few days ago and I'm already pondering what to do with it.......

Nice progress, colour looks great. First time I've seen one of these as a WIP, some useful tips for me as I have one in the stash (the version with the race car trailer).

It's interesting and amusing to read the views above of the Land Rover. It's difficult to go very far without seeing one here, maybe a newer one still in use as a working vehicle, an older example rotting away on a farm, or perhaps a pampered classic. Lots get modified, and some owners are a bit 'inventive' with what they do to an older model (or at least its identity!) to qualify for free historic vehicle road tax...... We also see ex-military vehicles, so there are lightweights and oddities like the Minerva (which I saw the other day). The ex-Buick Rover V8 engine was a popular upgrade beside it being offered as a factory model, and Japanese diesels also get fitted. Years ago I put a car into a ditch and was rescued by someone with a SWB model which had a little Daihatsu Fourtrak engine - it did the job well. I believe the standard round lights are 7" units.

Wow, that's very impressive. When I quickly looked earlier I didn't realise it was a one-off enlargement of a smaller diecast. The finished result is fantastic, nicely captures the wonderful look of the original.

Some fairly subtle mod's, but very effective - it looks great! Much longer and leaner.

Hey, you stole the idea of what I wanted to build at 1:24 ? That looks great. Really enjoying looking back through this topic and seeing the variety of stuff owned by members on here. It would be unfair to pick out any favourites!

My current cars, had most of the older ones for a few years now but there is a recent addition: 1992 LS400 purchased on Saturday, I left my number with the owner back in 2013 and I was very pleased to finally get a call from him. I had a slightly newer LS400 a few years ago, they're fantastic things. A lot here get banger raced, I want to try and keep this one from that fate for as long as I can but parts supply/expense is going to become an issue and it may become difficult to keep going. The 2014 RX450h is my daily/family transport, although I try and use the older cars more at this time of year. Definitely a day for the LS today! 1993 Toyota Camry 2.2 Estate by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr My tatty workhorse. Had this since 2011, in 2013 it got written-off after being driven into by an Audi A4, hence the different colour tailgate I had spare from another one I used to own. Just a 2.2 manual but it drives really nicely. I have another Camry for spares and at one time I owned five different examples (yes, all at the same time). Sunny Sunday and Cherry Blossom by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Datsuns on the prom by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr The older half of my fleet. 1980 Laurel is a 2.4 manual, a nice old cruiser I've had since 2008. The 1973 1200 is a super-basic model with no carpets, radio, cigarette lighter, clock etc, owned by one old lady from new until I got it in 2015. One day it will need a lot of work to deal with the rust, for now I just sympathetically use it locally, it's fun on the country roads. The 1988 Sunny is a low mileage car again owned by one older driver from new, I left a note on it one day, he rang me back that afternoon and it was on my driveway a few days later.

My first time seeing this thread. Simply saying it looks excellent doesn't really do justice to your incredible work and thought that's going into it.

More great work, and that little cap looks very effective. A small detail (literally!) but I imagine you'll find it very satisfying knowing that it's there.

Looks great, colour suits it nicely.