Bainford

Nice improvising, Ulf. Good looking Moon caps. I do something similar with a bench top drill press. It's a bit of a pain working vertically, but my turnings are pretty simple, and it gets the job done. One of these years I'll pull the trigger on a proper lathe.

Looks like the Polar Lights is the winner of that lot. Since I had a couple nearby, I checked out the MPC 70s Firebird. Lacks fidelity.

Very cool little model, and very cool subject. Nicely done. Such an interesting machine from the heady, early days of the automobile. Bet she handles great.

That is looking great! Quite an extensive conversion. Everything looks right. It’s going to be cool.

Cool project. I like your vision. This will be a fun build.

Your project is really shaping up well. It strongly evokes some of the crazy configurations that cropped up in the 50s/60s. The engine looks good with the variety of shades/textures used for the various components, and your plug boot solution looks great. Very cool project. Cool! What's he building? Has he posted a build thread?

Greg, I think you may have hit upon the potential for an excellent idea here. It is certainly worth some experimentation. I've devised and tested nearly a dozen methods and techniques for cleanly punching or cutting out small round discs. A couple ideas show small promise, but lack consistency. It's a problem I am keen to solve, and I think there may be potential in your suggestion. I'm picturing two drill gauges clamped together with the material to be punched sandwiched in the middle. The two gauges can be aligned with a couple of drill bits. The gauges will need a good, square edge at the 'die' edge, which can be accomplished with some lapping of the gauge on a flat surface, if necessary. The drill bit shank (the punch) can be ground at an angle, keeping the edge sharp, to facilitate clean cutting of the disc. Some experimentation is in order. I'm going to keep an eye out for a couple of hardened drill gauges.

Great tip, Steve. Cheers.

Sweet kit, and your build is looking great. Nice detailing and weathering. Your copper piping looks very neatly done.

Coming along great. Looks like a nicely detailed kit, and you certainly have a handle on it. I haven't seen one of the Nunu kits built yet, so watching for sure.

Awesome looking kit, Matt. Looking forward to watching this one come together.

Coming along very nicely, Bob. I haven't picked up a Salvino's kit yet, but been thinking about getting one of these Petty Plymouths. Your build is adding some fuel to that flame.

Brilliant work, Francis.

Another example of dash detailing. Basically everything on the dashboard is scratch built. This is the dash from my current Lotus Europa project. When it comes to scratch building dash components, old sports car are more straightforward than the complex dashboard on large American cars, such as Steve’s shown above.

Welcome to the forum, Bob. You’ve got some cool projects on deck. Looking forward to the Junior Hanley car coming around. Cheers.

Aside from my interest in all things mechanical, I'm not a plane guy at all. However, anything in 1/25 or 1/24 scale interests me, so many years ago I picked up an Airfix 1/24 scale P-51 Mustang. I've not built it, but it appears to be an exceptional kit, tons of detail, including a very detailed engine. I even picked up a second kit years later just to rob the Rolls Royce Merlin engine from (which will eventually end up in a custom Rolls project). It's a large and lovely kit. From a guy who is not up to speed on plane kits, I highly recommend the Airfix 1/24 Mustang.

Very cool Countach. Good, clean work, and the paint shows very well. I like the texture you achieved on the airbox in the first photo. Looks good without the big, greasy wing. Love it.

Looks great all foiled up, Lee.

Looking good. When airbrushing a complex assembly such as an assembled engine, try dialing down the air pressure and getting the airbrush in a bit closer.

I feel your pain. When I heard it was being discontinued, I raided the paint rack at the hobby shop and managed to score two or three bottles, but I've been keeping an eye out for a good substitute. I have a good selection of flat black and semi-gloss black paints in enamel, lacquer, and acrylic, but none have the right combination of texture and 'blackness' or sheen.

They don't make it anymore and it's hard to get.

I polish kit glass with Tamiya polishes, all three grits, unless the glass is very good to begin with, then start with Fine. Give it a good second work-out with the Finish grit. Follow up with Tamiya wax. If the glass has significant waviness or optical distortion, I first sand it with fine sand paper, used wet, and with a drafting eraser for a sanding block. When the surfaces are good and flat (so to speak), I give it a work-out with micromesh pads up to at least 8000 grit, then hit it with the Tamiya polishes. Kit glass can be greatly improved, and a much better result then dipping in Future. The very best method is illustrated by Steve's Pontiac above. I'm moving in that direction more as time goes on, but struggling somewhat with acceptable results (though, I'm being highly critical when assessing those results). I think I need to change the brand of clear plastic I'm using. I'll keep trying it. The potential for excellent realism is there.

I've been curious about this stuff, too. Being an epoxy, there should be no shrinkage at all.

Ditto

Exquisite build! Your Tolbot Lago is simply gorgeous. Fine detailing and cleanly built. Hats off for a stunning model.