Simon

Hi Lee, nice K100. The diesel tanks look good in your photos, I personally like the slightly duller finish of a working truck. Speaking of KFS, I recently ordered a resin flat roof for the Revell K100 with the idea of making a tougher-looking working truck with Budd wheels. I'd also like to try the metal parts but they're pricey

Hi Robert, I was considering a similar project using the Revell K100, though I've changed my plans since then. Anyway, here are a couple of photos I dug up while I was looking for inspiration.

Very impressive. There's no doubt that the manufacturers are getting increasingly clever with fuel economy, though the consensus among petrolheads in the UK seems to be that ecomony-optimised conventional cars make more sense - and may actually be more economical - than hybrids. Audi have been involved in economy challenges for years, getting executive saloons to go 1,000 miles on a single tankful, and many small diesel cars will now manage 60mpg. Still, 81mpg in that Ford is excellent (especially if that's the smaller US gallon, is that still used in the US instead of the larger imperial gallon = 4.5 litres in the UK?). And if hybrids or electric cars are the future, we have to start somewhere - they can't be perfect straight away, in the same way that mobile/cell phones, microwave meals and Celine Dione's teeth weren't perfect to begin with

Wonderful! I was a schoolboy when the F40 was launched and it was my dream car, I couldn't believe it - a 200mph racing car for the road, and mean-looking too. Really nice build, excellent paint, like the choice of wheels.

That's beautiful! Lovely paint.

Beautiful! If my next build is half as nice, I'll be very pleased.

This kind of information is very helpful indeed. It might seem dull if you are familiar with what the numbers and various plates are all for, but if you don't understand US trucking regulations the numbers, decals and plates are a complete mystery I'll look again at this thread when I start my next truck.

That's very smart Curt, it's a really tidy build and you have handled all that glazing very well. The colour looks like one of the original XJ220 colours too. I've just been looking at your photos and trying to figure out if the model is based on the pre-production XJ220 (which I saw at the motor show in Birmingham in 1988!) or a production car. I can't remember what the diffferences are, though I recall that the production models had different mirrors on the left and right sides - in fact I think the left (passenger) side mirror was mounted on the front wing, while the driver's miror was mounted on the driver's door. I've also got a feeling that either the prototype or the production models had exposed rear lights, rather than the covered rear lights on your model. I saw one on the road in about 1997 and it was as wide as a house. Shame it ended up with a V6 in it.... Nice build, don't see many of these done.

Yeah, your 'rough around the edges' build looks a lot like I always want mine to turn out! Looks great.

Terry, most military kits have plastic tyres rather than the vinyl ones you get in car kits. I actually prefer the look of painted tyres. What I tend to do is paint them with matt black, then dry brush with successively lighter shades of grey - say charcoal, followed by mid grey, follwed by a VERY dry brush with pale grey. This example is perhaps a little more weathered-looking than you have in mind, but you get the idea.

Thanks Tim. Your website is a major source of inspiration to me. In fact, I blame you personally for the additional K100 and Pete 378 that are now in my stash

I didn't manage to find the decal paper for sale in the shops anywhere, Tommy. This US Ebay store has it though: click here As for the brand, it was a name I'd never heard before. I don't know if the big companies also sell it, it is a niche product I suppose.

Thanks for the kind comments lads. I think you're right Tommy, a little more visible wear and tear would probably improve it. It's simple Dave, as long as you have access to a colour printer. Luckily there is a colour laser printer where I work, though I'm sure any local printing shop could print it out for you if you took your designs to them on a USB memory stick or whatever. You will need special laser printer decal paper too. If you are printing with an inkjet printer, apparently you need inkjet decal paper, plus a clear coat to spray the finished decals with to waterproof them. I didn't use any special software, I just typed out what I wanted in Word, in the colour I wanted and in a kind of 'wild west' font. Then I printed it onto special decal paper which can be bought on Ebay, I think it was a fiver for 3 sheets. I set the printer to a glossy paper setting, and it turned out perfectly. You just have to be careful about getting the size right, and remember that a normal office printer can't print white. It's best to print a few test sheets on normal paper first, so you can check the sizes, quality of the printing, colour reproduction etc. As you have to print a whole A4 sheet at a time, I decided to make up decals for a couple of other projects at the same time, all on the same sheet. Give it a go - if I can do it, anybody can. If I can help you with anything, let me know!

Looks great! The dark colour shows off those nice lines. Not sure why you're not happy with the paint though

Got this finished off in the week. I'm not sure it was the best colour choice, and the gloss didn't really work out, but it has built up nicely. More or less box stock, apart from covering up the chrome with Alclad (mainly to hide joins and seams on the chrome parts), some blue tint for the windows and some junk for the interior. I also discarded the fancy rear bumper in the kit, I didn't think it was right for a 1980s working truck, and made up some new rear lights and mud flap hangers to finish the rear off. Simple decals printed on a laser printer. A big thank you to the guys who told me the situation on licence plates and fuel decals, especially Mr Shaver, an endless spring of knowledge on trucking regulations.

Nice build! I see you have also ditched the big mudgaurds/fenders that come with the kit. Looks like you replaced the tyres too, looks much improved.

That looks great! I have always liked the 959, a true practical supercar. Nice workshop too.

That's beautiful. The home made wheels and tyres are incredible. I'm especially pleased to see this build, as I am going to convert a Revell K100 into a car carrier. I wasn't too sure if the flatbed body would suit the COE, but yours really does. You need to look closely at these photos to appreciate the level of detailing which has been done here, even down to sprung bases for the CB aerials.

I couldn't see a section called 'Under Dust', so I've put this in 'Under Glass'. Another old build of mine from the vaults, I'd say about 1993. If I remember correctly, it went together nicely but the nice features (tail lights, stance, general fit) were marred by odd failings - headlights moulded in with the grill?? Sprayed with acrylic car spray paint straight onto the styrene. My first attempt at plug leads, I think I bought special wire for the job - Mr Big. Headlights painted with white enamel, then overcoated with Humbrol Metalizer Gun Metal and polished. Hey - all that Guinness hasn't damaged my memory as badly as I thought! I like this, might give it a revamp soon.

Amazing! Such a nice cosy garage, too! The age and weathering on the cars is excellent. Edit - just noticed the can of WD-40 on the bench - superb!!

I build some military, though I tend to get bogged down with planning dioramas instead of finishing builds.

Hi Will, this looks very nice. As a fan of natural metal finishes, I like how you have painted the engine, it's very convincing. I'm not much of a Ferrari man myself but I find the 250GTO fascinating - beautiful, brutal and priceless. I fancy trying the Revell kit. I wouldn't worry too much about the body shape issue. If it looks good to you, fine. I have heard comments about the inaccuracy of other old kits, Camaros and Cudas, but having never seen a real one, I'd probably still be happy with the finished build! Just as the 250GTO is not a familiar sight to most of us. That's just my own build ethic - if it looks good, it must be good. Having passed these noble sentiments, I must admit that it can make you rub your chin when kit manufacturers get it obviously wrong, as I found with Tamiya's old Celica GT-R (about 1993?), which I built for my mum when I was young. The rear light shape is just... wrong, which you don't expect from a Japanese company building the only available kit of a new Japanese car.

Hi Will, I have had some success using a mixture of Johnson's Future (called Klear in the UK) and food colouring. You can just brush it on, one light coat at a time, and it pretty much levels out. Just don't go to mad with it, as I recently ruined a set of glazing by applying heavy coats, leaving an uneven tint which looked terrible and wouldn't come off. Also if you brush it on, you can end up with little particles stuck to the glazing, so a clean brush is essential. I did this Impala with this method. I don't think it would be ideal for a darker tint, as I think any unevenness would become more obvious, giving light and dark streaks, but I could be wrong. I'lll have to try spraying it and see how that goes.

That looks very smart, James. I never get aything like that kind of shine using Future (sold as Johnson's Klear over here), what's the secret? Why do you clear first and then Future? I want to learn this, as Klear/Future is cheap and safe to use indoors.

A couple of shots of one of my old builds. I can't remember what year this AMT Corvette actually is, maybe 1989? Anyway, I must have built it in about 1993. I think it was painted with acrylic auto spray paint straight onto the plastic, then polished with rubbing compound. It's got nice tyres. Sorry about the poor photos.