Bainford

Very nice! That is some beautiful paint.

I was struck by how many of them are no longer active.

Fantastic model building here. Very nice work.

This build is not just entertaining, but educational. Never heard of the Theme Lotus book. I'll have to look that up. Re: Lotus XI, it will be a while before it makes it 'round to the bench. It may be built curbside, but not sure. It is my desire to build everything full detail, but even curbsides spend over a year on my bench. A good number of my more recent builds have all been curbside just to get something completed and on the shelf. Should I go full detail, I will be knocking on your door. Cheers. I have been thinking of trying to convert a Monogram Scarab into 23 (my favourite early Lotus race car) and if I ever get around to that project it will be full detail. That one will have a Lotus Twin Cam, of course.

Beautiful work here. The engine is fantastic and the paint & foil are stunning.

Cool project Greg, and it's looking good. Nice work around the bed rails and roof integration. Of all the old AMT kits I built over the years, the '55 Nomad is the only one of which I used the custom parts. I am going to do another one some day.

About 15 years ago I was frustrated with how little bench time I was getting. There were always chores that needed doing and I often felt I should be taking care of that first. I solved the problem by declaring Wednesday night as Model Night. My job now on every Wednesday evening is to be at the bench, allowing me to spend time there guilt free. I buy take-out on the way home so I can hit the bench as soon as I get home (though the last few years I find a pre-bench nap is required). Then five years ago our company implemented a work-from-home scheme allowing me to work from home two days a week. I do that on Thursdays so I can stay up later on the Wednesday model night, extending the session. I look forward to those Wednesday nights. Once I was doing more model work, I was getting deeper into projects which was encouraging me to find even more time at the bench like a Saturday here and there. Sometimes I get a bunch of vacation time built up, and in the winters I will take a whole week off for the sole purpose of spending it all at the bench. I love those weeks. About ten years ago the company had a huge multi-year project during which I worked a lot of overtime. I always take vacation time instead of money as payment, and I built up a lot of vacation time. Once the project was finished I spent nine individual weeks of vacation time at the bench, spread over a two year period. Loved it!

Mark, my first time stopping by so I just took an enjoyable tour through the entire build. Beautiful work. The chassis is looking great and the top half of the engine is fantastic. And it's old news now, but the paint work is impressive. One of your best yet. This is shaping up to be one awesome stock car.

Very tidy work, Chris, and the engine is spectacular. Just a beautiful thing to look at.

The Tamiya Lotus Super 7 has a set of wheels and hub caps that are very much like the Lotus Cortina wheels, except that they are too narrow. Widening them might be a bit of work but would make a pretty fair set of Cortina wheels.

Cool looking Messerschmitt. I am not aware of the movie, though. If Terry Gilliam is behind it, then I need to watch it. In fact, by looking at that build, I can tell I need to see this movie.

Welcome to the forum, Buster. You have found the right place to get back into the modelling groove. Good bunch of helpful folks here. Good luck with your build and enjoy the forum.

Welcome to the forum, Brian. Another fellow Canadian here, but from the opposite side of the country. Your snow plow project looks awesome. Looking forward to seeing it come to life. It will make for a very impressive model. Cheers and enjoy.

I am loving the idea behind this project, and it's looking fantastic. Very convincing aging of the finish. This is going to be cool. I have always liked the idea of mechanical restoration to a fully functional standard while preserving the age and patina of its years. So much more interesting than a full resto trailer queen. And regardless of their rarity or value, they should be driven, and I mean properly driven, not just puttering out to cars & coffee or chauffeuring the homecoming queen in the Founder's Day parade.

Superb! Lovely work.

Very nice! Those tires look great, much better than decals. Very tidy, too.

Helmut, I'm glad you decided to do a WIP on this project. Such a great looking race car, and with DFV power to boot. Lots of great work so far. Too bad about the rear deck work, but the re-work looks good. This is a fun one to watch come together.

Yeah, me too. I buy very little on ebay now. International shipping is already a killer. Now, no matter how good the original selling price may be, it's no longer a deal when it gets here. Combined shipping was a way to help mitigate those costs, but no more. On top of that, ebay's preferred international shipper is DHL which, like UPS, always tacks on $30-40 in extra fees by the time it gets here (in addition to the already agreed upon shipping price). Why the heck am I paying duty on an ancient, used model kit that wasn't even manufactured in the US in the first place, and then they tack on a $10 customs fee for the privilege of doing so. Yeah, I'm about fed up.

Right you are, Bill! I see now it was the Monogram kit. Cheers.

I believe you're right. I have a more recent SMER issue of the Talbot Lago which is also pretty cool. The seller of the XI also had a built/complete Merit Scarab which I wanted, but ebay's new international shipping policy doesn't allow for combined shipping (apparently) and shipping one kit to Canada is too much already. I thought the Scarab might be a good starting point for a Lotus 23 build.

Just received this 1/24 Merit Lotus XI for a reasonable price considering it's a pristine, unbuilt, 68 year old kit in a presentable box. Been looking for a decent one for some time. Seller had it listed as 1/32 scale Lotus VI. Check out the tiny box. The Tamiya box used for comparison is itself a small box.

Nice finish on the exhaust manifolds.

Purely a shot in the dark, but maybe the Revell '55 Chevy chassis. I haven't built the Revell Chevy, but the chassis looks like an era-correct Chevy chassis. The bracing looks like it may even be a convertible chassis.

What does it mean when it says "Genuine aluminum wheels are included"? Are they actually cast aluminum?

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