Pierre Rivard

Thank you all, your comments are much appreciated. I forgot to mention that the wheels & tires are aftermarket, Historic Racing Miniatures resin cast. Dave B, If you want specifics on how I brush paint I can PM you list of materials and methods. Vallejo chrome works well for small surfaces over a gray or black primer. One thin layer, wait 10 minutes then another coat and dry brushing it to allow the shine to come through. Smiles, I hear you. I got into the hobby 6 years ago when retiring and moving back to the city in a flat. Spray painting not an option! Same offer if you want info just PM me.

Nice build Dave. Looks like the Fisher casting has captured the shape of the LH really well.

Mr. Hadden, this is one of the very best scale model I have ever seen. The detailing, accuracy and finishes are all impeccable and your great photography setup seals the deal. Possibly the best NASCAR build I have ever seen. WOW!

Entry #1, Cobra csx2196 427 Prototype is done. I am posting a few pictures here and a link to the underglass section where I have done a summary of the build and a complete set of pics.

This a completed build as part of the 64 Sebring group build (in w.i.p. section) The car was prepared as a heavily modified leaf sprung (gen 1) roadster with a big block dropped in it for the race. As such it could not run in GT and was run as a prototype. Ken Miles hit a tree during practice and worked through the night to fix a broken suspension and significant body damage but they made it for the race starting from the back (no time set). Ken Miles took the start despite undisclosed bruised ribs and started running up the field. John Morton took over after 2 hours and spun the car twice before getting a hold of the nose heavy and underdeveloped car and fought his way through until the engine gave up. Morton later said the car handled like a 49 Buick. Might be how the car earned the nickname "The Turd" I started out with the AMT 63 Cobra slab side body as a foundation. Body mods: Flared fenders, side vents, hood scoop, enlarged nose opening as well as the 3 GTO style nostrils (plus 2 more on the hood), auxiliary headlamps with attaching structure, front & rear jack hooks, side and center racing style mirrors, racing fuel cap and trunk lid dimples. Interior mods: lever style racing lap belts, driver figure, FIA style gauges. Chassis mods: swapped kit 289 engine with a 427 engine sourced from a Polar Lights Nascar kit. Many upgrades include carb and air filter, breathers, coolant overflow, distributor and cables, fuel lines, accessory pulleys, exhaust headers and pipes are all combination of aftermarket and scratch building. The interior tub was reworked to make room for the upgraded engine. Minimal other chassis mods are home made shock absorbers and reworking the suspension geometry to lower the ride height by about 2mm. All paint finishes brush painted using a mix of Vallejo primers & colors and Tamiya clear. Light blue color is my own mix, basically mix of silver and blue.

Andrew, that kit looks very nice. Sharp casting for sure. No doubt it will be a great foundation for Jim Clark's ride. Think about it, Jim Clark, F1 world champion, driving a saloon in an endurance race. You think Lewis or Max would do this?

Phil, I will be looking at this one with great interest. It's a great kit but it has it's challenges. You won't need the Nassau hood because Penske used it at...Nassau. For Sebring it was the louvers i.e. the kit hood.

I'm not saying no...but definitely not another Cobra I'd love to do one of the 275P/330P Ferraris but I don't have a kit and Ebay is not my thing. I'll keep my eyes peeled if I see something pop up at Model Roundup or some other vendor. Would also consider some of the British cars like the Austin Healy of MGB...if a good kit appears... First things first, Cobra entry #1 is 99.9% done, pics later today!

JC's CSX2260 looks awesome. Obviously it has received numerous upgrades + special fabrication to enhance the Sunny/Minicraf kit it appears to be based on. Superb!

Last W.I.P. for entry #1. Paint and decals are done. While the seal coat cures fully I will finish the last bits of exterior trim parts and that's it. Andy, when I'm done I assume you will want one pic of the completed build posted here?

That's a very beautiful build. This thing raced in GT1 right?

Harald, your figures are mind blowing...so expressive and realistic. I just did a 1/24 scale driver for the Sebring 64 group build and it pales in comparison to your 1/32 figures. Wonderful work. The best diorama ever!

Thanks guys, this is all very valuable input. Much appreciated! p.s. Mario I very much like your photo set up.

Welcome to the group James. I've taken on the hobby when I retired 6 years ago and never looked back. Tons of fun and a great community here on MCM forums for exchanging and learning from each other. This is a fairly ambitious project with lot's of new stuff to try. Go for it!

Interior for entry #1 is done. The little figurine painted and weathered (perhaps a bit too much). Made my own dash panel with gauges with PE rings and scratch built rocher switches. Seatbelts are a mix of PE and some scratch building.

Very very nice Road Runner. How did you finish the bumpers? The lower gloss on them looks great for a racer.

Superb group of racers sir!

Looks very very nice Tim. All the upgrades add up to a great replica of this beautiful racer.

A beautiful build. Paint looks perfect, almost too much for a race car!

Just PM me your address....you know, for the invoice!

Beautiful work on a unique iconic car. The carbon fiber work is very impressive. Great stuff and I hope you will keep posting updates.

I polish the clear layer on my models, then decals, then a seal coat of Future applied with a soft bristle flat brush. I am wondering if the seal coat is justified or a bit of overkill. Asking other builders if they seal after decals and why? Here's an example of one of my models with the Future seal coat. Thanks.

Good progress on that Coupe. Seems like there is some curvature on the chassis rails. Is that the way they were designed or a visual distortion from the pictures? Just wondering cause the frame on my AMT kit is straight.

Steering arm running in between exhaust header pipes... now that's packaging creativity and will be fun to model in 1/24 scale!

Vallejo for primer and color coats. In my experiments the only brand that I could successfully brush paint plus the ability to mix my own colors.