Pierre Rivard

Indeed they are, beautiful craftsmanship.

That time of year. I hope others will follow and post their's A very productive year for me. I usually only build for about 6 months a year, mainly taking the summer off to dedicate myself in ruining my golf handicap. So this year I kept on building while still laboring on the golf course and upped my production of 4-5 to a record grand total of 7. I usually alternated between OOBish builds and more challenging ones. Easiest was definitely the OOB Lancia Stratos and the hardest was my foolish effort to make the ESCI Ferrari SWB look like... a Ferrari SWB. I am so happy I discovered the hobby and this forum about 7 years ago. The exchanges with such a classy and talented group of peers has provided perhaps even more enjoyment than actually building the models. So thank you all for the teaching, information, opinions and humour. Happy holidays friends!

Quite the transformation making this DB5 into a DB4 GT. You nailed the Aston green color and it looks superb with the black wires. Well well done sir!

You are a brave man Donald. It's hard to see a 356 in that body kit. I understand your quest as went on the same path with the infamous ESCI Ferrari 250SWB and almost lost my mind trying to make it respectable. It might be doable but persistence... no, stubbornness will be needed.

Only in the very best hands (like your's) can this miserable kit be salvaged. I have great admiration for what you have achieved here. Incomprehensible that there are no good kits of this fabulous automotive brand.

The coil overs you scratch built are great and since they are so visible on this car they will add a ton of realism.

Awesome work on the body. The big block Traco engine with your own headers looks right at hone in this chassis.

Twice I've done side by side builds and I then realized it felt more like an assembly line than a hobby. I've since realized that the source of my boredom was working on something I already knew too well or a kit that goes together ... to easily? So my way to avoid boredom is take on kits I know nothing about and take on projects requiring some level of scratch building.

Excellent start gentlemen. Two iconic race cars. Still traumatized from my first attempt with a metal bodied car (XK120) so I expect to learn a lot watching this combo WIP.

No need to run Rich. Andy's Lotus 25 will cross path with a Maserati, a Ferrari and other Lotuses. Take 3 years and my bet is you still win the race! 🤣

Thanks Trevor. That was the first of a long list of fabrication/mods I plan for this build. I have a list of 30 items so far. Not sure how many I'll be capable of doing. Stay tuned!

My thoughts were... outsource engine turning operations to Miami... backup plan is the proletarian version of the M06 engine...

I too have Vallejo washes in my arsenal as weathering purposes and I also use them for panel line. They are acrylic bases and clean easy with water. I usually choose a color just a bit darker than the exterior to provide a subtle effect. Example on this car I used light gray.

Actually looks better from the angle of this new photo. Go for it Dave!

Nice builds, particularly nice considering they are 40 years old. I'm developing a big interest for pre-war Monogram kits. Your fault my friend. 😄

Complete kit with chassis or a donor will be needed? Looks like a great project. Perhaps just the angle of the photo... but the windshield looks very upright.

Ouch... my gears!

I've seen what you can do with these white metal kit so I hope you will entertain us with this one soon. I see you favor the SSKL 1931 Mille Miglia look and concur it is a winner. We'll see where this one goes, in the meanwhile focus is on the engine/chassis

The plan is to review components to see if some details need to be added and eventually get into added external components like fuel lines, actuators etc. I'm not very good at this but I'll add within my capabilities. First simple change is adding a horizontal fin to the compressor to carb casting. Second element is the big 2 piece oil pan leaving that ugly seam in the middle (I hate that). After sanding that off I added cooling ribs to reflect how the engine really was. Using Evergreen 0.5x1.0 mm and sanding off the edges. A bit oversized but a good improvement still.

Thank you guys for bringing all these great ideas. Cliff, the engine pics from Revs will be very helpful when I attempt to add a bit of detailing to the engine. Alan & Harry, I like the suggestions, just letting it sink in and delaying that decision a bit. Thanks Helmut for the link to MB archives, lots of details info about what these looked in race trim and exactly what I need. John, thanks for the idea, I'l see if I need to go that way. This feels like a new concept group build. Your ideas, my fat fingers. If I fail, you own half of it... 🤣 I decided to start with the heart of this car. The big 7 liter lump. I like this period picture of it and the first step is taking stock of the starting point and seing possibilities. A simple kit engine, so at first a mock up to see how it stacks up to the reference.

Another beautiful build Rich. The working steering/suspension setup looks quite delicate for resin pieces and it must have been a tricky job to make it work. Beautiful paint and a great livery for a Ferrari. Back to the bench bud, you have another 249 waiting for your skilled hands to take on!

Looking good Mr. Libby. Primer day is always a big event. Make up the list of areas needing some surface finessing but mostly start envisioning beautiful color and shine. The home stretch.

Thanks for posting Bill. Looks like good reflexes are a must for handling this cat and staying off the walls.

My setup is quite similar to your's Bill. I too have switched the incandescent bulb to LED. I recently purchases a set of Ecosmart LED bulbs at Home Depot. 14 W (equivalent approx 100W incandescent) with an interesting feature, an integrated switch allowing setting temperature of 2700, 3000, 3500, 4000 or 5000K. Quite useful so I thought it would be good to share. So far ma settings tend to be 3500 or 4000.

That would be cool and a good fit for the Johan coupe kit. I'm always looking for something different to try. Never done a salt flats car. But first this SSK road racer... Yes Cliff, please post the engine pics. Timely because that's what I plan to start with. The Dorothy Paget SSK looks stunning. Not as sexy as the Alfa 33, but variety is the spice of life! Thanks Noel, and if you have good ideas for this one please share, I'm still quite undecided about this one. Thanks Gary. I don't have a firm path for this one, if you got any ideas...