Spottedlaurel

My thoughts are positive so far, it's a nice kit. Some thought obviously went into it and it's going together nicely. Oddly, despite playing 'spot the difference' with 300 and Malibu photos I hadn't noticed the hood scoops! I must admit the flat bonnet does look smoother, but the scoops might be beneficial to my carb set-up and let's say the owner did a bit of mix-and-match upgrading when it was built back in the day...... Tailgate and sills have been filled as you'll see below. I don't want to to go airbag/hydraulics low, just give it a nice street stance with a touch of rake. I'm not sure about the US, but here I'd say the custom/modified scene was influenced by Cal Look VWs, which included much of what you describe. I'm reading through a pile of my old Street Machine magazines to give me inspiration...... This is where I'm at now after a busy day in the shed - it was rainy, we're in lockdown and my wife needed the computer and wanted to work without distraction so I had the perfect excuse to spend all day and evening out there! 1:25 Revell 1966 Chevelle Wagon kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr 1:25 Revell 1966 Chevelle Wagon kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Engine painted orange - oddly the instructions say aluminium, but all the old photos I looked at showed it orange so I sprayed it with Tamiya TS-12. Some colours will be less than authentic, the perils of building when the shops aren't open! As it's been a while since I built an American kit it was fun to get back to the familiar routine of building up the engine halves, adding the heads etc etc. I don't have a computer out in the shed so this is my faourite reference on 1960s/70s American car builds: The Great Book of Muscle Cars by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr It's not exhaustive, but it has a good selection and for the level of detail I want to show it's more than adequate. Quite a bit done on the bodywork - tailgate and sill recesses filled, door handles and locks removed and filled, badges shaved and converted to one-piece front windows, all to give it a smoother look. At the time I know there was a lot of dechroming and colour coding, but I do want to keep a bit of brightwork on it, just simplify where it is and do everything I can to bring out the basic attractive shape (which the box art doesn't portray!). Panel lines have been scribed, although they weren't too bad. Will get some primer on it today. One thing I didn't consider when I cut out the front quarterlights was that the front screen would also have to be trimmed. I don't enjoy cutting 'glass'! I took a brave pill, picked up the razor saw and knife and managed to cut the screen back without cracking it, phew. 1:25 Revell 1966 Chevelle Wagon kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Dual carb set-up I believe came from the Monogram '57 Chevy. Since this shot I installed the exhaust manfolds, then found that they have to be fitted quite snug to the block so they might need reattaching. Lots of interior and suspension components have been painted. Nothing fancy or super-detailed, mostly varying shades/finishes of black and dark grey. May install some individual front seats instead of the bench, found some in the parts box which look appropriate. When I started thinking about the build of this kit I envisaged it in a period metallic colour with Rally wheels, but I like the alternative direction this is now taking and it reminds me of the cars I used to read about and see at the odd show when I was in my late teens.

Looks good so far, great that the old kit will be of use. I was looking at photos of some Altereds the other day, looks like they moved the front wheels forwards on some of them? At least you don't have to contend with that.

Thanks everyone! This has definitely become one of my favourite builds, and the little personal touches that make it mean something to me are why I prefer kits to diecasts. I have quite a few of the latter too, but I like remembering the concept and process of how I ended up with the completed build in my cabinet.

Thanks all! One thing I enjoyed was the nostalgia of building something I first did 36 years ago, and using pieces that I still had from back then. A good lesson in not throwing even the poorest kit away!

Thanks for the welcome! Didn't get to spend as long as I would have liked looking around on here yesterday, but the flipside of that was that I had a very solid day of working on a couple of kits......

Thanks! It won't be anything too radical, I need to keep it achievable and fun..... I mocked it up on the standard suspension: 1:25 Revell 1966 Chevelle Wagon by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr 1:25 Revell 1966 Chevelle Wagon by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Front not too bad, probably helped by the smaller wheels, but the back is a little too high. Try it without rear springs, with the inner arches resting on top of the tyres: 1:25 Revell 1966 Chevelle Wagon by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr 1:25 Revell 1966 Chevelle Wagon by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr That's better. Front might now need to come down a bit too, just to keep a bit of rake, but it's nearly there. Can't wait to to at least get some primer on it, so it's a bit easier to photograph, but I need to do a bit of filling first. That little fin moulding on the bonnet has got to go!

Thanks! The rally car was a lucky find by my stepdad, I think it was at a house he was working at. I presume someone got given it as a gift, they made a tentative start, realised it wasn't for them and it was about to go into a skip..... Looking at the prices they go for now, I'm glad I didn't have to buy two kits to create this project......

This is a kit I have a bit of history with, I first built the road car very quickly and poorly in the space of weekend, back when I was 14. Hopefully it's obvious enough here which is the old one: 1:24 Tamiya Audi Quattro kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr 1:24 Tamiya Audi Quattro kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr A few years later I got given the rally version which someone was about to throw away. As I'm not so keen on building full competition cars (too much decal work!) I decided to combine the best of both of them. 1:24 Tamiya Audi Quattro kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Started it in April, with the great weather and lazy lockdown weekends I finished it in May: 1:24 Tamiya Audi Quattro kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr 1:24 Tamiya Audi Quattro kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr 1:24 Tamiya Audi Quattro kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr 1:24 Tamiya Audi Quattro kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Colour is Tamiya TS-19 Metallic Blue + TS-13 Clear, all from a rattle can. Miraculously I found the various loose parts I needed from the original road car in various boxes, despite it having been in pieces for maybe 30+ years. It's not perfect, but it was great to realise the concept I had in my mind for years and years, basically a hi-po road car that Audi created for one of their works rally drivers.

That is very, very nice. Sadly we never got the 2-door nor the fixed-light front end here, but they look great and your build captures the clean look of the 1:1 very nicely. It could easily be one of those reference shots in the back of a JDM brochure. Along with things like the LS400, Honda NSX and Skyline GT-R they're one of those cars that defines a real turning point in what the Japanese were making.

A great concept and very effective weathering - it really brings it to life. I wish that's something I could do, there are some subjects which just look 'right' that way (and this is one of them).

Thanks! It's a really nice little kit, don't leave it too long. There are a lot of modified 1:1 examples out there now, but I wanted to go for something a little bit older style. This was a bit of my inspiration: Datsun 1200 Truck (B120) by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

My most recent completion, started and finished within the same month which I haven't done for a long time. 1:24 Hasegawa Nissan Sunny GB121 Truck kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr I'd had it on the shelf for a while and had a look in mind inspired by my 1:1 Datsun 1200 but with some subtle mod's. 1:24 Hasegawa Nissan Sunny Truck kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Compared to some other trucks I have waiting their turn this one fitted together in a positive, straightforward way. A previous owner had assembled the loadbay. Sadly this was all there was of the engine, given the nice job Hasegawa had done on the rest of the kit it could have been really good. 1:24 Hasegawa Nissan Sunny Truck kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr I didn't beat myself up by super detailing the interior. My road car has a very plain black vinyl interior and I wanted to recreate the feel of that. 1:24 Hasegawa Nissan Sunny Truck kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr 1:24 Hasegawa Nissan Sunny Truck kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr 1:24 Hasegawa Nissan Sunny Truck kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr 1:24 Hasegawa Nissan Sunny Truck kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr 1:24 Hasegawa Nissan Sunny Truck kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr 1:24 Hasegawa Nissan Sunny Truck kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr 1:24 Hasegawa Nissan Sunny Truck kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr It's the ideal tool to deliver parts for my next project..... Paint was an automotive touch-up can I'd bought for the real car. Wheels were taken from a Monogram Datsun 280Z, inspired by an old article I had. The kit had parts to lower the suspension, but I still had to do a bit of work on the front end and the wheels needed modifying. It was a really enjoyable kit to work on, very nicely captured the feel of the real thing. If I was clever enough I'd use the truck as the basis to build a replica of the car, but I'm not!

I like where you're going with this one, it's excellent what you've done on the arches.

My first WIP here. As a change from the Japanese kits I've been building for some time I thought I'd give this one a go: 1:25 Revell 1966 Chevelle Wagon kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr 1:25 Revell 1966 Chevelle Wagon kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Plans are to build it as something from the mid-late '80s, so period wheels (probably the big and littles from the Fat Fendered '37 Ford) and clean bodywork in a single bright colour, likely to be Tamiya Camel Yellow. Having looked at a few images online I like the cleaner look of the 300 version rather than the Malibu, so I'm planning to remove some of the chromework along with a bit of shaving and debadging that's part of the look I have in mind. Perhaps smoke the side and rear glass too? I'm not proposing to do much with the engine, my plans pre-date the widespread fitment of modern fuel injected lumps or pro-touring, so I'll see what I can find in the parts box. I've got loads of old British and American magazines out in the shed, I'll see what I can find to give me a bit of inspiration. Managed to stock up on some more primer and matt/satin black paint today so hopefully I can make a decent start on it this weekend.

Hi there! I've been doing some research on my next project and I kept ending up looking at threads on here, so I thought I should join and participate. I've been building since I was about 12, back in the early 1980s. As to be expected a bit on-and-off during that time, with houses, family, work and general 1:1 life to consider, but even when I wasn't building I was still accumulating kits and over the last 10-15 years or so I've managed to spend more time on them again. Mostly Tamiya and Monogram kits back in my younger days, which were readily available from toy and model shops and affordable with my paper round/Saturday job money, and a few were gifts. Most of them survive, not many of them complete, but they do at least donate parts to current projects, or they might even get restored one day. Back in 2008 we moved to a new place with a big shed at bottom of the garden, it had been a joinery workshop, and this is where I keep my stash and build when the weather's warm enough: The Shed, 2020 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr WIth the internet and eBay I started discovering and buying more interesting/unusual kits, with more relevance to my 1:1 interest in older Japanese cars: Sunny Sunday and Cherry Blossom by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr I've also got a 1993 Camry estate (wagon!) and a modern Lexus RX. My plastic collection consists of lots of Tamiya, Aoshima, Fujimi, Hasegawa and other obscure Japanese makes, plus some Monogram, AMT, MPC and Revell and a few odds and ends from Heller and other European makers. I tend not to build anything 100% standard, even if its just a change of wheels and maybe lowering. I like a clean, simple look and I try to limit modifications to something achievable - I have one or two more ambitious WIPs that have been on the go for 25+ years now..... Monogram 1:24 Maserati 3500GT by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr This Monogram Maserati with randon American V8 being one of them! Also got a '55 Chevy which was meant to be a loose replica of the Two Lane Blacktop car and a hearse conversion of the Cadillac Ecto ambulance which have both stalled for various reasons. A few older builds: 1:24 Tamiya Toyota Celica LB Turbo Gr.5 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr The oldest build which survives in one piece, after a minor resto when I found the missing rear spoiler. Doyusha 1:24-ish Nissan Cherry X-1R (E10) by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr I have a few of the Doyusha Nostalgic Hero kits, odd scaling and poor detailing but interesting subject material. Monogram 1:24 Plymouth, Buick and Ford Torino by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr AMT 1:25 Dodge Monaco by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Ought to get some better photos of these one day. Monogram 1:24 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air 'High Roller' by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr This neatly illustrates the two opposite ends of what I enjoy building. I liked doing a '57 when I was young, but thought I'd do my next version of it in a different way! A Monogram Camaro High Roller donated parts. Revell 1:24 MGB Roadster by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr MGB built for my stepdad as a replica of the real version he had at the time. Tamiya 1:24 Nissan Silvia K's (S13) by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr 1:24 Tamiya Skyline (R30) Complete at last! by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Tamiya 1:24 Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-Z by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Tamiya 1:24 Nissan Skyline 2000 Turbo (R30) by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Some of my more recent Japanese car builds. Regrettably some of the above don't look as good any more, after being left on display on my dashboard at a show on a sunny day: Model car mishap by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Clearly not a clever thing to do! I've moved on and done others since, I'll show them in the relevant place. Thanks for looking and listening to my waffle, I'm looking forward to seeing what else is happening here and getting some inspiration for my own projects.