papajohn97

Great job Mario on this famous and very expensive car. You really nailed the unusual “saffron” orange and polished aluminum. The Alclad paint work is also very nice - which specific metal shade(s) did you use and what did you spray it over (black lacquer? Enamel?). Italeri has kitted some interesting 1/24 classic auto subjects. I have the ‘33 Cadillac Fleetwood which I hope to do once I feel a little more competent painting gloss black bodies.

Oops, you are correct, it’s the Gx112 gloss that I should have recommended, thank you Mr. Thorne!

My favorite clear coat on car models for years was Tamiya TS-13 gloss lacquer but I never had much luck spraying it over decals (the solvents in the lacquer can sometimes attack decals when a heavy “wet coat” is applied). I switched over to Mr. Color “UV Cut GX” (GX113) clear lacquer thinned with Mr. Color self-leveling thinner, airbrushed. It seems to work as well as TS-13 without any decal damage, even when a heavy wet coat is applied. I haven’t tried polishing it wet so I don’t know if it will polish up as well as other lacquers or acrylic clear coats. The “2k” two-part urethane clear coats look fantastic and are decal-friendly but I’ve avoided using them due to the health hazard issues.

I can see this bad boy in the staging line at Lions in ‘65! Very nice job on the altered wheel base body and chassis mods and stance as well as that red&white two-tone paint and decal work. I grew up in Lakewood near Long Beach in the 50’s -60’s and have a soft spot for local sponsors like Reath and Cal Worthington. I’ve had a hankering to build a fantasy early to mid-60’s super stock drag car sponsored by a local no longer existing dealer (Mike Salta Pontiac? Parkwood Chevrolet? Mel Burns Ford?).

Correction, I've built nine of these 1/20 scale F1 kits to date and have ten more in my stash! Like some guys keep building Me109's, I seem to have an addiction to 1/20 F1's and 1/25 sixties super stocks. What a fun hobby!

This is built from the re-issued orange box kit to which I added the Tamiya photo-etch set and after-market cigarette sponsor decals from MSM Creation. The exterior was airbrushed using red and white McLaren colors Zero base paints. All of the kit chromed parts were oven cleaner stripped and re-metallized using Alclad over black lacquer. The remaining parts were painted using airbrushed Tamiya acrylics per the instruction call-outs. This is the first kit that I have clear coated using airbrushed Mr Color “Super Clear UV Cut” lacquer and self-leveling thinner (50/50) which, unlike Tamiya TS-13 clear coat that I’ve used on past builds, had no effect on the decals - I’m sold! I added MFH fuel lines and additional black shrink tubing oil cooler lines and fittings and seat belt material from Tuner Model Manufactory (unfortunately I only had black, they should be blue). This kit went together seamlessly until I installed the roll bar and support after which the cockpit and engine cover location pins refused to fit into the mating holes on the lower body shell. I was able to fix this by removing plastic from the rear white crossmember on the cockpit cover which was interfering with the front of the roll bar. Otherwise typical Tamiya smooth going. I like building classic race cars that I actually saw race in the period - this one with James Hunt and Jochen Mass driving in Long Beach in ‘77. Between these 1/20 Tamiya seventies F1 kits and the 60’s -70’s 1/20 kits from Ebbro and Hasegawa, I have built seven thus far and have another 8 - 9 in my stash. Even built OOTB, I find this 1/20 scale ideal for creating detailed models of these classic racing machines without taking up a lot of shelf space (or box space in the closet in my case!). Hope you like this one. Cheers, John

Came out beautiful Pierre! The lowering job you did as well as substituting the kit tires with the GT40 tires has really cranked up the realism on this GS. Much better than OOB! I am in awe of your brush painting skills. Normally I encourage my adult friends who are new to scale modeling to invest in an airbrush but, it in your case, it look’s like it would be an unnecessary expenditure! This Corvette has got to be the best looking brush-painted car model I’ve ever seen posted here. Bravo!

Thanks for reminding me about that option, great idea! Thought about doing a long hood AWB body using the Revell kit but it’s 1/24. An AMT re-pop of the 1/25 ‘66 FB will also be useful for building the H-M A/FX cars using the Moebius SOHC. Can’t wait!

Very nice rendition of one of the early non-flipper Mustang FC’s. This early transition period from the ‘65 A/FX cars to the steel/ fiberglass AWB “door slammer” funny cars is particularly interesting to me. The evolution of all the SWC cars and how they kept recycling chassis’s and engines is also fascinating. Sad to think that Doug Cook ended his driving career in this car after suffering major back injuries in a match racing crash in Ill. I’ve wanted to parts bash the Gas Ronda stretched front end injected FC Mustang for some time but the resin body and parts from Speed City have been unavailable for a few years now. I’ll have to take a look at the Fremont as an option. Joe Curtis’s decals are wonderful. Thanks Mike for posting yet another beautiful B-T-C drag car build!

Just walked into the theater on this WIP and so glad I did. I built one of these a few years back and I recall it being a humbling scale modeling experience. I remember multiple fit struggles particularly in the front end, engine mounting, exhausts/ chassis interference and getting that hood to close all the way! Lots of “unconstrained design ambiguity” in this AM kit! This very well documented WIP that you have been posting will be tremendously helpful to me if I ever tackle the second one of these GS’s I have in my stash - thank you Pierre! A side note on the subject of “clear-coat” sealing of decals. Future should work great and I only wanted to throw out a second option that I recently had a good experience with. My CC of choice has always been Tamiya TS-13 rattle can but it tends to attack decals when the final wet coat is applied. I read on another modeling forum about “Mr. Color UV Cut GX Super Clear Coat” lacquer-based bottle paint being decal-friendly (I believe it’s tolulene-free). I tried it thinned 1:1 with Mr. Color Leveling Thinner and airbrushed over some very thin/fragile IndyCals (applied over a TS-13CC) and it worked fantastic even with heavy wet coats.

Great job Ryan on an amazingly detailed but not-easy-to-assemble kit. Your ride height adjustment look’s spot-on. I have built two of these Fujimi 356 kits, a coupe and a roadster, and all four tires struggle to simultaneously touch the ground on both of my builds! Despite my errors, both were a joy to build and look very realistic when finished. Best wheels of any car kit out there IMO. I particularly like the job you did on that dash. Did you use a Molotow pen for the radio and trim? Try to find and build a roadster if you can, they’re a little easier than a coupe and that fabulous interior is even more visible.

Mike, on the Lotus 33 headers, leave the bond joints between headers and block to the very end, after you’ve aligned the header extensions and wire support thingy that’s attached to the rear of the chassis. If you follow the instructions and pre-bond the headers to the block earlier on, you’ll regret it. Almost took a hammer to one I built after following the instructions!

Hi Mike , I built this one recently which includes some of the molded parts from the Tamiya Lotus 25 along with new tooled parts from Ebbro. The best part of this kit is the machined aluminum injector stacks that are included, wish these were available aftermarket. I had a bear of a time getting the upper cowling and engine cover to fit/ fully seat onto the lower tub. I recommend doing lots of dry-fitting and tuning if your kit parts fit like mine did (hopefully yours will fit better!). The assembly and alignment of the exhaust headers was also a test. It’s a beauty when completed and I hope someday to build another one of these along with a Lotus 25. Good luck! John

What a beautiful blue fade paint job! This one as well as your previously posted altered roadster is inspiring me to pull my AMT ‘29 roadster out of my stash and take a stab at a similar vintage drag roadster. The cycle fenders and stance on both of these roadsters are particularly appealing to me. Love both of them Tim, thanks for posting!

Great job Mike on another legendary super stock cover car. These T-bolts look good in this two-tone gold over maroon. I agree with you on these Revell Thunderbolts, I’ve built two which were both a joy and could easily build a few more as well as horde a few extra kits for the nice parts (427 FE engine, headers, chassis, traction bars, two nice wheel sets….)

Very nice build execution of an awful kit. I’ve seen these Protar kits at model swap meets and am glad I resisted buying despite the wonderful classic F1 subjects. The wheels/ tires on this 196 are just so wrong. I got to see Juan Manuel Fangio drive this one while chasing Moss in the 300 SLR at the Monterey Historics Laguna Seca in 1986, a wonderful memory.

Beautiful job on the paint and detailing on the bright work trim and front and rear ends. I had a full size one of these in ‘76, the first new car for me after driving $300 beaters thru college, mine was the metallic green with tan interior, the performance was mediocre (like most 70’s cars) but the build quality and reliability was rock solid. It was the first car I could take stress-free road trips in. Also my first car with an FM radio and a 5 spd stick. I still love the downsized Mustang styling of these.

First one of these I’ve ever seen with gangster white walls - amazing how those WW tires change the appearance of this car - I like it! Also love the weird French styling, especially the weird roof and steering wheel! Beautiful job on the paint, engine and interior detailing. You’ve inspired me to keep my eyes out for one of these Ebbro kits (rare these days?)

So glad to see the “Michelangelo of car models” has resumed posting masterpieces here! We missed you Mr. Teresi! Your paintwork is unbelievably! Looking forward to seeing outdoor pics of this unique and innovative FC.

Scott @ SCR - please count me in for at least two of these cammer Hilborn Fi manifolds if you ever offer them in resin. I have no knowledge of/ experience with the AMT ‘69 Galaxie SOHC but IMO the AMT Mustang funny car engine parts are like cartoon toy parts compared with the Moebius SOHC. I’ve bought two of the Moebius Comet A/FX kits just for the engines. Love that engine!

Beautifully built and painted! The metallic blue, white trim, steelies+dog dishes + black walls, interior color choices all just period perfect. The Revell kit I assume?

We’ll done! Like me, you must also love reading the HAMB forum for modeling ideas!

That “marblized/ psychedelic” paint work is amazing! How did you do that? Paint mask? Skillful manual brush splatter? I’m also impressed with your homemade “Rushin’ Hippie” decals, they look “store-bought”! When I first looked at your pics, I just assumed that this car actually existed it’s so appropriate looking for the period. Great job! I think a lot of us modelers here like building these older drag subjects because we all miss those wonderful years of innovation, craftsmanship, creativity, variety. It’s understandable to me why most forms of auto racing (NHRA, NASCAR, Indy, F1) are fading in popularity.

Very nice, especially that shade of green metallic with the light green dash and wheels and white upholstery and top, beautiful! I also like the slightly raked stance and that you used the stock steelies and hub caps, both gives this build a very 50’s -60’s “period correct” mild street custom look. I can see this car cruising the streets of LA of my childhood.

Nice job Jim, the blacked-out chrome on this titanium/black two-tone looks sweet. I love love love this Revell kit, one of their best, wished I bought more than one when they were still cheap!