Jordan White

I like to use the metallic silver Recollections brand markers from Micheals. Medium point seems to be the best balance between area and precision.

Yes I know it has been about a month since I started this post, but work has been busy lately and I've finally had time to post my progress. First up is the body itself. I filled the holes in the firewall where the kit hinges would go, since I'm going to try and make something closer to the 1:1 vehicle. I also filled in the gaps on the rear for the tailgate hinges, filled in the kit spare-carrier holes, shaved the rear sidemarkers (since the '85 had them on the taillights), and filled in a major sinkmark that followed all around the rear wheel arches. Additionally, I filled some holes in the floor, and added some material to the inside walls, since they seemed too thin compared to the 1:1. Next is the rollbar. I used part of the kit rollbar (which is meant to be a late 70's style converted to a full cage) and added a piece in the middle to get it to the correct width. I have it clamped to the body to figure out the rear supports. The chassis had the pockets filled in where the kit leaf springs would mount, and I attached the skidplate and fuel tank. The rear axle had the tubes replaced with styrene tubing, and I created the brake backing plates (will create some drums a bit later). Finally, I filled in some holes on the engine (starter mounting holes and a mounting nub on the oil pan) and painted it gloss black. The transmission will be painted silver. I also drilled holes in the valve covers for the oil fill cap and pcv hoses, along with reamed out the valleys for where the mounting bolts would be.

For a while now I've had a Revell 1/16 Jeep Golden Hawk CJ7 kit in my stash, and so I've finally decided what I want to do with it. The kit is meant to be a 1979 (based on the copyright date), but will be built into a 1985 version. There are really only minor differences between the years, with the main things being lack of rear sidemarker lenses (attached to the taillights on later models), different seats and a dash pad, and lack of V8 on the newer model. Besides not using the kit decals, I'm going to be scratchbuilding different bumpers, filling in the sunroof holes in the hardtop, making a factory-style spare tire carrier, giving it a bit of a suspension lift, 3D printing some different wheels, and giving it a different engine. The engine and transmission I'll be using is a Chevy TPI 350 and T10 4-speed out of one of the 1/16 Camaro kits, which will be connected to the stock transfer case and axles.

Is there going to be any optional themes or styles? Personally I think there's just too much white space with this new design.

The Lambo may be one of few that weren't, I don't have it to say for sure, but I can say that the Mercedes, Corvette, Mustang, and Trans Am definitely were.

Disagree. The engine is larger in order to facilitate an electric motor, and the rear differential or axle is larger in order to be able to house gears. Why else would the Corvette have a solid axle, if not to allow for metal axle shafts to pass through. Also, note the driveshafts which are all given actual u-joints. They may not have all been sold as motorized kits in the past, but they all were designed to be able to be motorized.

Here's the one I got that I used as reference

True, I forgot that they should be silver and not white. Also thank you for the engine clarification, I didn't have the instructions handy.

The final set is the sporty cars. Two Italian, one Japanese, and one German. The Italian offerings are both Countaches, with one being the original LP400, and the other being the late 70's LP500S (should be labeled the LP400S). It appears that the headlights are able to be opened on both kits. The Japanese offering is the Honda S800 convertible. I don't have this one, so I can't say much about it. The final kit is from Germany, and is labeled as the Porsche 911 Turbo. I have this kit and have been doing some research to determine what year it is. The odd thing is while it is labeled as a Turbo, the engine is naturally aspirated. What I did find though is this kit body is based on the 1974 911 Turbo concept car, rather than the production car (though I have yet to determine which engine it is). The bumpers were in fact used on the 1974 Carrera 3.0RS, but there are no decals included to make one. It comes with the popular Fusch 5-spoke wheels, and the tires seem to be very wide compared to the actual car. And that's all of them!

The Race Cars There are three kits in this category, on two subjects. I don't have any, so I can't comment on any specifics. The first is the 1975 BMW 3.5CSL racecar that was used in the IMSA race series. The other two are both based on the Lancia Stratos HF. One is meant to represent the Safari version, while the other features the Pirelli paint scheme.

The next set is the Muscle Cars. The first is meant to represent a 1978 Chevy Corvette Stingray. It comes with the decals for the anniversary edition, the T-top roof panels, and the L48 350 V8. I believe the headlights are also able to pop up. The other GM offering is the 1973 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. This one features the 6.6L V8 and shaker hood scoop. It also comes with decals in three colors for the available paint schemes. Finally, from Ford, is the 1971 Mustang Mach 1. This kit came with the 429 V8, but not the front or rear spoilers that were popular on the 1:1 car. I don't have the kit handy, so I can't remember if the decal sheet comes with both silver and black stripes, or just the black stripes only. There were two versions released, one with the standard pale green plastic that they loved to use, and one that is molded in yellow (possibly to capitalize on the Gone in 60 Seconds movie?).

This will be a look back at the series of 1/12 kits that were released by Doyusha (and I believe some earlier by Otaki, though they were the same kit). There were 14 kits in total, all with opening doors/trunk/hood, working suspension, and posable front wheels. They did all come with plenty of detail, however they were also designed to be motorized if chosen by the builder. This means that the engine is slightly overscaled and blocky in order to house an electric motor. The driveshaft(s) have actual u-joints so that they can turn, and the rear differentials (for the ones that are separate of the transmission) are also oversized and blocky to fit a set of gears. All of these axles are solid-style, regardless of whether the real car is or not in order to utilize solid axle shafts. I will start with the four Mercedes-Benz kits, two are the SLC coupe and two are the SL convertible. Both styles came in a factory version and an AMG version, and I believe all are mid-70's age. The most common is probably the factory 450SLC Coupe, which came with two wheel styles: the body-color wheel covers and the available aluminum wheels. They also came with both US and Europe headlight styles. Plus, as an added bonus, they came with a set of golf clubs! Next is the factory 450SL convertible. I'm not sure if this kit has both sets of headlights or both sets of wheels, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did. Otherwise, it's pretty much the same as the coupe kit, just with no roof and a shorter wheelbase. On the sporty side, there is the AMG version of the SLC coupe. This kit only comes with the European headlights, 17" BBS alloy wheels with larger tires, AMG specific air dam, and rear spoiler. Sorry, no golf clubs here! Finally, there's the rarest version, the AMG version of the SL convertible. So rare in fact, that I couldn't find any pictures of the box art on Google! I'm guessing it's just the regular SL with the AMG bits from the SLC kit.

Today I cut out the fuel tanks and the cab floor away from the frame. I am going to extend the crossmembers and then reconfigure the frame for both a regular cab and for a slightly longer wheelbase.

Oh yeah, you're doing the custom one with the Chevy truck. I've been watching that one actually since I'm intrigued to see how it turns out.

That's the best part about building models, you can build anything no matter how mundane it may be! Anyways, quick update. Been mostly glueing part-halves together, so nothing too interesting. I did get the cab scratchbuilding done, so now it's on to putty, sanding, and primer. I also picked up 2 sets of tires (8 tires total) that look a bit more appropriate than the (blank sidewall) Goodyear kit tires that I was originally going to use. These are blank as well, but the tread pattern will work better along with the more square shouldered look.

This build is also featured in the Light Commercial community build project, but I figured I would post it here as well for those who don't venture that way. As the title states, this build will ultimately be a U-haul truck based on a 1991 Ford F-350 dually chassis-cab. It will be 2wd, and feature the 7.5L/460 V8 and 4-speed automatic. As for the kit, it's rather a mashup between parts from the Monogram F-350 dually kit, and the Monogram F-250 kit. I'm using both because I plan on using a majority of the Dually kit for another build, and thus only needed the badges, wheels/tires, and wheel spacers. I will also be shortening the cab to a regular cab configuration, and plan on rebuilding the rear chassis section. An example of one (sorry for the large pic ) Here's the cab shortened and the driver's side molding removed. The cab was already previously cut for a different project, so I had to use some scrap styrene to fill in the gaps. Once I get the molding removed on the opposite side, and the gaps filled on the back, then I'll be able to throw on some putty.

Not there, considering it's a curbside.

Which is a shame since there are quite a few cars that could stand to be kitted. However I wonder if he's including 1/16 scale in that statement. They're only slightly larger than 1:18 scale diecasts, and still offer plenty of opportunity for large scale detailing.

The only thing is the Foose F100 has the front wheel wells moved forwards in the fenders compared to stock, so it wouldn't be an exact copy of his build if it were going to be also offered as stock. I'm really hoping this gives them a reason to rerelease the 1/12 Corvette kit in the same way as the Camaro.

Ah okay, I was hoping it was a new kit!

What's the scoop on the Skyline? I see 1/12 on the card, and it would appear to have the sport parts from the recent Datsun kit.

If you would like something that doesn't need a lot of prep work, don't get the recent Ed Roth '57 kit. Its based on a tooling from the 60's, so there's a bunch of sanding that needs to be done. Plus, its an "all doors open" kit, and the parts are fidly to get to sit right.

The majority of my kits are 1/24 and 1/25. However, I have recently started collecting up several 1/16 and 1/12 kits, as well as two 1/8 kits for the detail that I could put into them.

I do like those Darts, however I am more partial to the styling of the 'Cuda.

Otaki/Doyusha actually made quite a few 1/12 kits, with the American subjects of the '71 Mach 1 Mustang, the '78 Corvette Stingray, and the '73 Firebird Trans Am. The one that I would love to see, and I think would sell well, is a 1970 or 1971 'Cuda. I believe at this point, MOPAR is the only group that has yet to be represented at this scale.