Pierre Rivard

Welcome to my world Mike. I live in a condo and brush painting is what I do... for everything. Now I am not promoting brush painting over spraying but I am always surprised to see builders get into very complicated masking operations just to airbrush something like a headlamp pocket when brush painting such a small surface is so easy. For small/medium parts a simple synthetic brush will do (I use a variety of AK brushes). I use acrylic paint and the best are Vallejo. Model color needs to be thinned about 1/1 with a dedicated acrylic paint thinner (I use GSW), Vallejo Air needs less thinning. I do a few thin coats with about 10 min dry time intervals. I take the liberty to post an example below and I hope you won't mind. Everything is brushed and I have also added washes and dry pigments to create weathering. Takes practice but it's quite doable.

I love vintage kits and I buy to build. I was not in the hobby 20 years ago so I deal with what's available TODAY. Ebay is my principal source but patience and discipline are essential. My gig is 1960's and earlier racing cars and I can circle around a kit on Ebay for quite a while before pulling the trigger, sometimes considering if I really want that kit, sometimes waiting for the seller to offer a discount or ask for an offer. I also pay attention to shipping cost (some sellers ask silly money for shipping to Canada). I make sure I enjoy the chase and try to resist impulse buys. The results of my hunt in the last 24 months: Monogram Chaparral 2D ($68 incl. shipping), Monogram Ferrari 275P ($56 incl. shipping), Lindberg MB SSK ($44 incl. shipping), Monogram XK120 ($88 incl. shipping), Monogram Aston DB4 ($64 incl shipping) Otaki BMW 3.5csl ($60 incl shipping), Ben Hobby Porsche 935/78 ($73 incl shipping). No steals there but within what I am willing to pay for kits that I really want to build. To date 4 have been built and a one is on the bench.

It is a simple car as you say Ken, but turning it into a snowmobile makes it very interesting. The chassis/suspension pieces are very visible on this so your exquisite craftsmanship pays off. I love what you do with paint finishes. For example the perfect sheen on the seat that gives perfectly replicates leather. It's the addition of all these little thing that provide the realism of a scale model.

Interesting, I am scheming a future build, a salt-flat racer and have come empty on a search for wheels & tires. Will be interested to see what you come up with. Other possibility is getting someone to design & print them.

Fabrication of the oil reservoir. FYI the weld balls are 0.6 mm & the whole assembly is half the diameter of a dime.

Thanks Andy. 0.8mm straight brass wire, Amazon delivering free (prime) overnight. Should be a good fit for the brake pull rods I want to replicate.

When I started in the hobby and joined this forum just a few years ago you helped me figure out the various Cobra kits and from there we got going. You helped me a lot and now I hope some bit of what I share might help a few others. Exchange of information and learnings is the essence of this forum. Happy new year Gary and I hope you'll be posting many of your classics in 2025.

Thank you Brian, appreciate you following my attempts to give life to this old kit. I drop small parts all the time, drives me nuts. No doubt the drivers had to be strong. Steering assist came from shoulders (sitting close to the wheel) and I would believe a high box ration resulting in 4+ turns lock to lock. Even though, these were probably almost impossible to turn at low speed. Taking my time trying to figure out how to make things. More research than bench time it feels. Merci Francis. I think I need your advice going forward. I'll need something other than 0.5mm styrene rods (too fragile) for the braking pull rods. What material, where to find it, etc 30, wow that's a lot of work to do. I'm heading the opposite path, just one build and slowly learn how to make it more precise. It's a constant learning exercise but fun. Every task is a first. Thanks Daniel. Now that it's done I have ideas on a better way, but gotta move on... Thanks Helmut. My 2025 resolution: reduce the build count ant up my game on the details. I hope this one sticks because the gym, booze and sugar resolutions I have broken already...🤣

Thank you all for taking the time to review and comment. I presented these not in chronological but least to most liked projects. Turns out my 3 favorites were the ones giving me the biggest challenges because the kits were either grossly inaccurate (AMT/ESCI Ferrari) or extensive modifications/fabrication were required to achieve a specific car I wanted to replicate (300SLR, BMW3.5csl). A good exercise because it helps me set objectives for 2025. I plan to build less (3-4) but focus on more complicated projects I really want to do despite the fear of the challenge. Happy 2025 build year fellow modelers!

PERFECT!

The essence of the 935/78 is the long tail. It is the ultimate expression the group 5 styling & excess. The 935/78 is outrageously excessive. Not pretty but damn interesting. The MFH's tail looks quite accurate and with efforts normalizing such an abnormal car you might lose the wild look that is the DNA of this car.

Happy new year Daniel. The key components are just components until the wiring/plumbing is achieved and ties everything together and creates a system. This fuel system is wonderful and we can envision it's functionality by looking at it. Great stuff!

Chassis and engine have the look of a well used car. Well done Fabrizio. Please share your methods for weathering, it's very lifelike

Happy new year folks. Before the party begins, summary of last 2 day's work. First picture shows the front end of the 1 part steering system supplied with the kit. I decided to fabricate replacement parts to add a more functional looking unit and a worm gear box that was just not part of this kit. It's all a bit oversized but should look ok with some paint and weathering

Gorgeous replica Mr. Chernosky. Low part count, metal kit... we should not expect much but again you have defied the odds and created a rich, full of realism model. Another one hit out of the park.

I love this era of racing and your replica portrays it very well. Has Fernando provided an engine with this beauty?

Wonderful subject. Looks like you already have a lot done. Does this kit have a complete chassis/engine or curbside?

Another cool one to follow!

While research on how to make and route this "oiling system" goes on, I started adressing the steering system. Picture below shows the nonsense steering system that comes with the kit. The designer really mailed it in with that one. Worm & gear box and all links to front left wheel need to be built in a way that appears more like it should. Updates coming.

Thanks Rich, this is the fun stuff Could be. Finding the routing of all these lines would bring light to it. Only time I plan to use the dime, as a homage to your great work. Back to the bench!

Thanks for posting that brilliant cutaway Cliff. I think we're all converging to some sort of oiling system. Sort of knowing for sure if we could find the routing of these lines to I could try to mimic that.... within the limits of my old eyes and fat fingers.

A toss up between Bill's choice and this one

A great year Bruce. CA cool and diverse bunch. I'd love to build a Daytona some day. Looking at peer's builds does that, expand our own wish list...

I built it with the metal body. Same as your's apart from the body material. Nice kit, chassis vintage Monogram.

So happy this one circled back because I missed it when it was first posted (gotta check the model car section more often). I find this replica both gorgeous, convincing and very inspiring. Very creative and I'm sure research time was just as extensive as building time. Awesome work Noel, Bugatti Fan should be renamed Bugatti Master!