Junkman

Why didn't you post this 40 years ago? Now I can never again look at my models built hitherto. There will not be another model built by me without applying this cheap trick wherever I can.

You will never believe this - I had some unbelievably valuable plastic kits, mint/boxed. And guess what I did with them? Now they are worth bugger all. I wouldn't hesitate a second to do what Tom did to an old toy, especially if it turns out as nice as his effort did. Albeit the values of modified toys will always trail the values of original minters, there now seems to develop an ever growing community of collectors who do cherish good restorations and even Code 3s. Lately I've seen prices of well made restorations and Code 3s surpass the prices of worn originals quite often. So the all-out puritanism among the toy collector crowd finally does seem to soften.

Cheers! The 'secret' is using a tea sieve. Really, that's it.

:P

You get your tyres and many other spares for old diecasts here: http://www.model-supplies.co.uk/ I have very good experience with them, but be prepared to wait three weeks until the spares are delivered and no correspondence in between. It takes long, but the quality is top notch, the prices are ok, and the fill rate is 100% so far.

We all in here know the facts. But the majority of the population are controlled lemmings brainwashed into believing the global warming scam. Hence they approve of closing a race track as if that would make a bloody difference. Anyway, the 'Ring fell victim to a financial fraud scheme for which now a warrant is out in Germany for Ecclestone.

Those dog leg hinges can only be found on very old toolings. I haven't seen a new diecast with them for at least ten years. The progress is unbelievable. This Yatming dates back to the 90s and it was a cheap model to begin with. The 'upgrades' I only made so it can be displayed next to more currently released models without looking downright stupid. You should see the latest releases by Sunstar in comparison. I will go further with this model, it's one of my favourites. Next, I want to paint the entire underside of the body flat black, and this will probably include the doglegs. I also want to paint the interior soft trim to make it less 'plasticky' looking. I may even do something to the engine compartment. This model is not finished yet!

It's called 'fraud', 'corruption' and 'nepotism'. What besides being indebted by half a billion do you expect anything 'public' to be? But debts are never a problem, unless 'they' want to do away with something. The 'Ring is public, i.e. owned by the country of Rhineland-Palatinate, but the 'organisation' and 'operation' has been outsourced to a 'private' (cough, cough) company a few years ago under one of crook Ecclestone's scams, which involved 26 million Euros in bribe money. They are currently trying to pull the same trick with the Hockenheimring (46 million bribe money this time), so that's going to file for bankrupcy within the next few years. The scam is easy: You take over a public race track with a 'private' organisation, then just pocket huge sums of money which are going to be backfilled with taxpayers' money for a few years (the latter is partially done via the banksters, to make it less obvious. The banks shell out the money, then get 'bailed out' (hahaha) with tax money). Once the flow of tax money stops or gets interrupted, you file for bankrupcy and close the whole thing down. But you walk away with tens of billions.

Not only can I see it simply cease to exist in today's world, but I'm actually surprised that it lasted this long. People had fun there doing something dangerous involving burning petrol and creating CO2. How many more nonos do you want in one sentence? The powers that be probably just waited for the GmbH to go belly up, so they can convert it into a nature reserve. Not sure if you heard about the current Hockenheimring scandal overshadowing the German Grand Prix? I bet its days are numbered, too.

Well, I used another two in my Welly Peugeot 504: So that's 4 down, a myriad to go...

I know exactly what you should do with the '63 Dodge. I sure doubt you will do exactly that though.

You need these beads: This is a lifetime supply and then some. I got it off Ebay for 2 quid. Only two beads are needed: Also needed are two German spec clothes pins (courtesy of Ebay.de, they cost pennies. Go to ebay.de and search for "Stecknadeln"): Tamiya Clear is used as a glue: Simply on the grounds that it sticks like ###### and will stay clear until long after the last archeologist is dead. Glue the two beads onto the two pins with Tamiya clear like this: Glue the pins with beads into the reflectors with Tamiya Clear like this: After the above has dried, glue the lenses back to the reflectors with Tamiya Clear: Cut the pins flush with the reflectors and glue the whole shebang to the model with - you guessed it - Tamiya clear. The effect is very convincing:

OK, it's a diecast. But the same principles apply to all the Heller kits, and the yellow fog or driving lights also found on American cars. I'm using this Maisto Citroen 2CV as a demonstrator: It also has one of my pet hates, the headlamp lens is attached with a stalk: I'll take care of this too, but it doesn't apply to most kits. Pop, pop, lenses and reflectors come out: Poor eyeless ugly duckling: Reflectors with lenses: Pry apart: Cut stalks off:

Chrysler was still lightyears away from Simca in those days. If there was any American influence at the time, then it would have been from Ford. Those Simcas were a continuation of the Ford (France) Vedette, complete with flathead V8. The Vedette was a Ford USA small car development from the Forties, and it looked like a 7/8 scale model of a '49 Mercury or Lincoln. Since America didn't need a 'small' car right after the war, the project ended up in France via the Marshall Plan. The French continued to develop it at Ford France, and after Ford France was taken over by Simca in the mid Fifties, Simca launched a new generation Vedette in the late Fifties, which is what my box art depicts (Versailles is just a trim level). The flathead was built by Simca until well into the Sixties, and then at Simca Brazil well into the Seventies. Chrysler had no stakes in Simca until around 1970.

Which base model did you use?

I envy everyone who can paint cars or models black. Would you mind to share your technique?

OK, out comes the Bare Metal Foil. For Bare Metal Foil, I need exactly four tools. My metal ruler, a sharp X-Acto blade, a toothpick, and a Fingernail. Now, as for the fingernail, if you are a bit challenged in that respect, like I am, they are available in every shop that sells cosmetics... I got this pack from a pound shop for 1.50: It contains 18 (!) pairs of nails, a tube of Cyanoacrylate glue, and a nice sanding stick, which may come in handy some time. All this for 1.50! So here I start to apply the foil: The wheelarch trim needs to be foiled, too: And this is the end result: Certainly not AutoArt, but it will hold its own next to a Sun Star or Highway 61. And all that was necessary are two evenings of work and a few quid in materials.

For flocking, I brush paint the area I want to flock with semi gloss clear enamel varnish. Select a slow drying one, it stays sticky longer. I then rub the flocking through a tea sieve, let it sit for a few minutes, then shake the excess flocking off. It will not look very convincing at this stage: But all you have to do is stay patient and wait. Once the clear varnish is dry, the appearance will be very uniform and smooth. The lower portion of the door cards was carpeted too and hence also needs to be flocked: Next is the grille. The entire bumper/grille assy can be removed by cutting away the heat riveting from behind: Please note, that the bumper has neither a mold separation line, nor sink marks, nor was it ever attached to a sprue in a visible location. This is modern industry standard, but according to the model kit industry technically impossible. Bloody ridiculous. Albeit this isn't apparent at first glance, the grille can be separated from the bumper: Here is the grille after a healthy dose of black wash: A lot more convincing, isn't it? Nay worries, it looks better once the paint has dried flat. I filled the 'nostrils' in the bumper with black wash too: You can also see that I prepared some Tamiya clear orange. This is used for the indicators. I know, it is factually wrong, but it just looks better. Here is the end result: And this is what the flocked interior looks like when it is back in the car: Entirely btw., the body colour Yat Ming applied does a good job approximating 1959 Buick Lido Lavender Poly:

The model needs some help. - the most annoing thing is the silver painted trim around the beltline. This needs to be covered with Bare Metal Foil. - the interior could be improved with a flocked 'carpet'. - the grille is way too bling-bling. Disassembly is very straightforward, the model is simply held together with six screws. Just take them out and the model comes apart. You can just pull off the front seat cushions, and you will see, that the front seats are screwed on from above: The back seat is screwed on from underneath: Kit builders, eat your heart out! Each front seat consists of SIX (!!!) pieces, two of which are plated. The pedal assy is heat riveted in place: Just scrape off the heat riveting from the back with an X-Acto knive and the pedals can be removed. Out comes a well stocked flocking collection: This colour is already very close: but a bit too dark. It has to be mixed with a dash of light grey: See:

In which part of the world?

The last take makes me think of another possibility - an LSR. One could put the Rolls jet engine from the Airfix Harrier in it...

That's the very idea. It only goes into hover mode, when it is on the specially built track with the guide rails, where it reaches speeds of 300+ mph. In this mode, the wheels are retracted.