Spottedlaurel

I look forward to seeing this one progress, and the review made for excellent breakfast reading. I'd love to build one someday. As Sonny says, they're not cheap here - anything Ford UK/Europe related seems to command a premium. I was a teenager in the '80s so cars like this were my formative influence. The SIerra was of course absolutely everywhere and the XR models were reasonably common - I had an uncle who worked for Ford in Essex, he had an XR4i for a while. The 3-door XR didn't last for long, just 1983-85, and it mutated into the 5-door XR4x4. My mum and stepdad had one of them, I used to enjoy the odd drive around the block in it.

That looks sinister! An interesting choice for a lowrider, and you have nowhere to hide with that black paint - it looks excellent.

Thanks Atin! This was the real one I had for approaching 10 years: 1979 Datsun 240K GT (C210) by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr But the Nichimo facelift kit is a better reminder of this one I should have made an offer on back in the '90s: 1981 Datsun Skyline (C210) Ipswich c.1994/95 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr I do have a 1:24 round headlight kit and even the right wheels to build a fairly accurate replica of my old car, one day.....

A great start you've made, I look forward to seeing it progress. Love that old photo! Can you build a bike to go with the Chevelle?......

Brilliant work Matt. I shan't be going to the same level of detail when I do mine....

This is great to see, your reasoning is exactly why I'm building this thing: 1:24 Monogram Maserati 3500 GT kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr I'm even using some bits from the same '57 Chevy donor (although I can't remember where the basic V8 engine and 'box came from in mine). Rear arch aside the basic Ferrari bodyshell does look like a good rendition of the real thing. Are you going to be equally heretical on the colour and paint it something other than red? Good work on the wheels.

Excellent progress, looks great. Just detail work on the body, lights etc to do now?

Thank you Andre, I only found them by chance but they look better than I could have imagined. Found another set of billet wheels in another kit, so I might build a companion to this at some point. Quick update on how it looks after a couple of coats of paint at 7am before work: It needs another coat or two, but it's promising.

Thanks David, I'm pleased with how it's coming together.

Thanks everyone! I'm really not sure why I stopped progress on this one a few years ago - it was fully painted and poilshed, just needed detailing and the various interior/engine/suspension parts painting and assembling. 1:20 scale was certainly easier on my eyes than the 1:43 build I'd completely immediately before it. Thanks. The only other one I think I have is a 1:24 Celica XX (so a Supra) in their "Super Winker" range. Basically working indicators.....

I enjoyed reading your WIP thread, the end result looks really good. I saw you had quite a bit of work to do on the rear light panel, were there any other issues? I have one on the shelf to do someday. Saw a really smart previous-gen RX7 on the road yesterday, it got me thinking about them.....

That looks great, very inventive! Are they Honda Beat wheel centres?

Thanks everyone! I'm seeing some great stuff on here, and it's spurring me on with my own projects.

Great to see them, and well done for keeping them intact.

Great to see something unusual like this being built, and some impressive effort going into making it look good.

Nice work on both of them. The black one in particular has the look of a surviving real car from the '60s, an old racer from back in the day that's been stashed in a barn and forogtten about for a few decades then resurrected and sympathetically refurbished - which is just what you've done.....

When I'm at work in the week I like to find a quality thread with lots of detail in which to absorb myself over lunchtime, and this has perfectly met my requirements! It looks great so far, with some fantastic detailing. I think it may be the first time I have read about someone polishing the chassis.

Looks good so far, I like it. Brings back memories of building one in the '90s, went together nicely as I recall and I still have it on display.

Interesting to know about the rally version. I have a 2014 RX450h as my daily driver, that Harrier kit is as close as I'll probably get to a model version at 1:24. I have that one, seems like a good kit just a shame it has no engine. Fujimi offerings can be variable, some of their offerings from the 1980s are pretty poor with terrible rooflines and generic chassis, then they do others that are really nicely detailed. Today the postman bought me a Fujimi Integra Type R, it looks like a decent rendition.

Thanks Dann! Had a gap in 'work' on the Chevelle, so used the time to do a bit more on the Maserati bitsa: 1:24 Monogram Maserati 3500 GT kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr 1:24 Monogram Maserati 3500 GT kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr First time with the doors loosely fitted, not too bad. 1:24 Monogram Maserati 3500 GT kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Pleased to start assembling more of it after such a long period of nothing happening. 1:24 Monogram Maserati 3500 GT kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Gave everything a covering of the same blue paint, as I think I must have used another can when I first painted the bodyshell and there was a difference to what I painted last weekend. Finished it off with a 'wet' coat, unusually for a metallic I wonder if it needs a clear coat? Will see how it dries out.

Great colour choice, the engine's coming together very nicely (despite Revell's best efforts to confuse you!).

Thanks! Made reasonable progress on it this weekend: 1:25 Revell 1966 Chevell Wagon kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr It was ready for a base coat of white paint over the primer, but more filling was required on the bodyshell so only the bonnet ended up being able to get a quick squirt of Camel Yellow today. I'm hoping the grille fitment will be improved when I finally assemble it..... 1:25 Revell 1966 Chevell Wagon kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Both front and rear suspension are fully installed, so this is how it will sit. 1:25 Revell 1966 Chevell Wagon kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr The base coat I used was Tamiya's Racing White, as I had some spare and no plans to use it. Looked good, will think about what it could go on in future. This photo slightly flatters my filling of the tailgate, it had more filler and sanding after this shot. 1:25 Revell 1966 Chevell Wagon kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Interior largely there, awaiting the bucket seats which are on their way to me (thanks again Tim!). Loadbay was given a carpet, in reality a bit of wet-n-dry paper painted flat black. It may well get smoked windows, so not much of it will be particularly visible. 1:25 Revell 1966 Chevell Wagon kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Bodyshell now in the airing cupboard, hoping to get some Camel Yellow on it during the week then I'll take a view on whether it needs a clear coat. If nothing else it will give me a bit less risk of going through to the base coat when I polish it.....

Looking great so far, good luck with that wiring!

Good to see it progressing, looking great so far. Hasegawa are bringing out some nice kits, this one is definitely on my list to get someday.

I like this, has a pleasingly real look to me.