happy grumpy

Gorgeous Impala. Great details on the engine. Call me nostalgic but there are times when I really miss those yesteryears where these where everywhere. Really nice job you did. ?

Thanks everyone for your kind words, Rusty, the colors I used were tamiya acrylic metallic brown , bronze and metallic gold. The only thing to be careful of is to wait a few days to let the acrylic cure, especially the metallic, If you use TS 13 clear too soon it washes the metallic particles and it looks bad. I always wait at least a week before I clear, and another 2 to 3 days before I polish. The non metallic paint is more forgiving but I treat it the same . I found that if you wait longer , the clear does not sink in the paint as much and it gives a better finish with less coats. I hope this makes sense . It works for me. regards

Beautiful bug Steve. Indeed this kit is really good I build several of them as well as the tamiya 66. You did a great job on yours. Nice photography BTW.

Great job there Helmut, It always rewarding to re visit old kits and build them like we intended to. It's a good way to measure how one's skill have evolved over the years. I did that to some of my earlier builds. Besides it saves you from buying another one , if they are still available.

It sure is a nice face lift. Mopars and light green are like peanut butter and jelly, they do well together. Great save, I like the garage too .

Great looking custom chevy. You hard work paid off, that color is so cool. I like the halfway top and opened trunk.

Spectacular model. Great idea. That shade of green is perfect for it. Now I hope you have A/C in that thing while cruisin' on Hollywood blvd ???

When art meets talent. Awesome way of paying tribute to your friend. I wish I could achieve that kind of painting.

My first big rig build after coming back in the hobby some years ago. I chose an easy kit, the revell ex- snap kit or so it seems because a lot of parts fit by pressure. Just built it box stock and the results aren't bad. The trailer is from AMT.

Build from 2 Chevy kits. the snow plow and the Chevy sport. I extended the frame , the cab and the box. the fenders are extended from the front and the rear. The junkyard guy near my former home had one like this and it was about in the same condition. This is my all time favorite generation of chevy pick up. The cab and box arch up a litle bit but I did dare trying to fix it so I left it as is. regards,

I built this when I was trying to figure out the Tamiya acrylic metallic paints to mix custom colors. It ended up giving good results. I did not care much if I botched it, I got this kit dirt cheap and I did not care much about the subject matter. When I looked at the finish model I got to say, that's a nice little car with an undeserved reputation back in the day. If this hobby has taught me anything , it's given me a new appreciation for cars that I did not really catch my eye back then, now with hindsight, I appreciate them more now that are mostly gone from the roads. I have close to 300 model cars and I like every single one of them. cheers.

Hi Nigel. Of all the old Heller kits that I have built, this one is really simple and builds quite well, I have build the De Lahaye 135 and the Citroen 15 and believe me it's a struggle from A to Z. however, the newer kits are a different story, the Citroen fourgonette, the Renault 4gl, the newly tooedl estafette are much on par with modern kits, they build nice and they are finely detailed. hope this answers your question.

Welcome Michael, looking forward to see your work.

Thank you all for your comments. A lot of you inspire me to build models I would probably not consider but when you see those wonderful builds and ideas, it sometimes gives me that little push to go ahead and build. now on to finish this 70 1/2 Camaro full bumper , not the easiest kit to build, good thing I no longer have hair ?

I agree Thomas, When I bought this kit there was no question it was to be yellow, Your cougar is awesome . Thanks for sharing.

The DS was way ahead of it's time and even today it looks futuristic. "I had the chance to test drive one in the 80's and the ride is like you're not touching the ground. The suspension in my opinion was never equaled by any mass market manufacturer. Your model does it justice. The paint is glass looking. I wonder why Heller never produce it in 1/24th scale. I think I will eventually shell some $$ for the high price of the Ebro kit, I hear it's quite high quality. Great job.

I will join the chorus and say that you raised the bar quite high on this model. Although MPC and AMT can be challenging at times, they can build into nice model if one puts time and efforts. You certainly nailed this one. Outstanding model all around.

Beautiful scene, A little lighting will bring it to life.

Fantastic diorama, Now where is that case of Corona ? In the fridge, maybe ? ??

An impressive lot. The outside shots add to authenticity. You have a beautiful collection and you've really been busy. Looking forward to see more. ?

very cool looking livery.

Thanks everyone for the kind words. Pat, I'm pretty sure that's the one I saw. Thanks to you for inspiring me to do it . This car looks so nice like this. Would be fun to see one done for real. thanks for sharing.

I think the one I saw was yellow or light orange i can't remember for sure. It was at least 4 or 5 years ago. Anyway, yours looks just as cool. I wonder why Ford did not offer a fast back option for the cougar, it looks so natural in this configuration. I guess someone at ford did not want to compete directly with the Mustang unlike Camaro and Firebird. Thanks for sharing your take on the cougar. Proof that I am not the only one who likes this iteration of an already nice car.

Welcome to the forum Phillip, looking forward to see your work.

Finished this last week. New box of an old kit . Glad they re-issued this , the prices for an old kit on e-vil bay was out of budget. Simple kit that builds without any major issue. I built it to match the beautiful box art. hope you enjoy.