The Creative Explorer

Thank you!

This was a project that was put together and then slumbered. Until there was a groupbuild from the Dutch IPMS chapter and I went a different direction with it. Normally I build shiny vehicles, not muddy, rusty or with a diorama. But at some point it hit me, the HY-van had to be a chicken coop, so a diorama had to be made as well. I wasn't expected it, but I actually had fun. Normally I can't be focussed enough for the final detailling and leave it at that, but now I kept going and even painting the 80 chickens wasn't that bad. Overall it was a fun project and even though I took it serious with all the different techniques, I also had to hide a few jokes in :-). I just had to haha. The kit is from Heller and is not bad at all, the molded in glass is an annoyance, but so be it, it worked for this project. . . . . . . . . . . . .

I was looking for a video of the 2025 Shizuoka modelshow and found a video that I partially watched in 2024. What I liked from that video were a couple of Japanese Bosozoku cars in Egg-plane style. It reminded me somewhat of those Neko Works cars, but these are more modelkits than those Neko Works. I have been trying to see if they are available from somewhere, but I am affraid these might be a stock-modelkit and some labour-intensive scratchwork to get them in these proportions. I hope that I am wrong, because I really dig them and want to get some, they seem fun, wild projects to do.

I was at a Belgian modelshow last weekend and ran accros the 205 from Heller.

In the preview catalogue, it is announced as a new-tooled 1:24 kit. So, no 1/12th unfortunately

No, there isn't any.

I saw this picture on the Facebook page of Italeri. Is this a hint of what is coming up? The Stratos is a new 1/12 release after their 1/12 Delta. So, might be this a new 1/12 announcement for next year? I would hope so! It would be awesome and I personally would get me a few.

I painted the surround of the taillights black, which resembles the rubber seal. I wish the car had the inner works in the taillights, it looks bit empty this way. The spare wheel is not bolted down, I think it should've been. The screws are too long and they were the shortest. So, multitool to the rescue and made them shorter. I think the belts should've been longer and bolted down to something, I superglued them now to the inside of the sparewheel. And for now, masked the doors in order for airbrush the windowtrim black and the inside of the door grey-ish.

Hard to see, but in picture 19, TU-4 80mm is difficult to place, and when in place it is too short for it to sit nicely Next frustration, getting the stabiliser through the frame: Impossible. I loosened the top frame and tilted the X-frame forwards in order to create space for the stabiliser to pass and turn. And finally it is there. The hole for this screw is too big, it does not catch. I tried a M1.6 screw, but that was too small. So I used a small dot of superglue to hold it in place. Re-threading was necessary, but some places were easier to reach than others. Another frustration, getting this stabiliser into place. It had to be pre-assembled according to the manual, but it is impossible to place the subassembly in place as the stabiliser can not make the turn. Best is to let it off and assemble after the subassembly is attached to the frame. Another frustration; the screw hole for the fender is locate underneath this box! I managed with prying to get to the screw. To add a bit more realism, I added BMF to the frame for the taillights It will reflect light and makes it more realistic These frame bars had to be forced into position

Time flies by and so does the progress, even though I was busy with a modelshow and personal stuff last past weeks. The further into the build, the more the joy disappears and frustration appears. I still love the kit and it's details and looks. But the the build-order should be revised for a less frustrated build. Some parts can't be installed without disassembling parts or re-do parts. Don't get me wrong, I love puzzles and challenges, but it has to be doable. We start with painting parts again. I added the metal frame to the box Later on, these parts will be a pain in the buttocks, trust me. After airbrushing the part, I painted the inlet parts silvery metallic and added the clear tubing. From some 3M material, I cut a strip and stuck it on the box. This subassembly is ready, pay attention that part H-20 is not attached to something and is loose for now. This is one of those frustrations, in order to get the coolant hoses attached, the subassembly has to be assembled and put into the engine bay, the box should be removed in order to add the couplers to the firewall and then the coolant hoses can be attached. When that is done, the box can be glued in place again.

I have to disagree, categorically :-). Yes, there are many differences between the kits, hence the Monogram simplified tooling. However, if you look at the Imai/Bandai tooling and compare to the Monogram tooling, you can see that they share (some of) the tooling, It can be best seen in the plastic parts. The sprues have mostly the same parts and sprue-lay-out. The body was retooled and so was the hood, as it was a complicated one-piece. Monogram did change the tooling for a cheaper/easier to produce 2 part hood. The Agora is also nice, but I just like to put the Monogram E-type together, it is just a fun kit without breaking the bank a bit too much. (I have 3 build, 2 in progress and 8 in stash 🙂 ).

Revell bought the moulds from them and simplified a few things, but in essence, it is the same kit as the Revell/Monogram.