Foxer

One

Welcome to the forum! ... and I spent 18 months in Neckarsulm .. I loved it there!

Now, that's one proud Trabant owner driving that color around! .. I like that!

Great photos from where I'll never get to see .. nice office!

Since I don't finish a kit very often, they are simply storage ... until I get back to it.

It's amazing how good those "old" kits can look ... with some skilled hands. Very well done!

Monogram Ferrari 250 GTO OK .. I'm commiting to a group build .. I have trouble finishing any of these I start, but I have trouble finishing any build I start! I'm going to really try to get this one in the race. (please note that this story is pure conjecture and imagination based loosely on fact) This is the one out of 39 Ferrari 250 GTO's that has disappeared since it was rumored to have been sold in 2014 for $39 million. It was owned by the Violati family since 1965 and , again per rumors, to have resided in an old wine brewery in northern Italy. Found by Ricardo Violati who used the barn to house his wrecked Lamborgini's and newer Ferraris from his father after his drunken rides through the Itialian alps. Ricardo had no respect for the value of money. He was handed anything he desired by his wealthy family and cast all aside as he was given new toys. He also had no respect for the great engineering that created the automobiles that he so carlessly abused and cast aside. Yes, Ricardo was a spoiled rich kid. Despite his disrespect for the automobile, his favorite movie was " Cannonball Run", not for the excitement of the various vehicles but for the way they were abused. On reading of a new Cannonball Run for 2015 he decided he HAD to participate in this American tradition and "show those amatures how to drive!". Reading rule two ...If the car IS normally thought of as fast, it should be in such poor condition/appearance, that no one would give it a second glance .. he decided he had many cars to chose from. He ricochetedoff the the Alps to his winery cache and chose the missing 250 GTO he spent a night polishing the seat with the acidic heaving of his stomach. The winery rats had had their way with the seats and the leaking winery roof took it's toll on the body. The smashed right front fender he crushed on that last night could be replaced easily with a replica. Mysteriously one of the wire wheels was missing ... he wondered if it might have been that bothersome guy trying to buy this derelict. It would be cool to see a set of American mags on the GTO anyway ... nice fat ones in back! The rest could be fixed with duct tape and paint from the local ValMart. This model is a glue bomb from an ebay jumk pile of sports cars I got for a Porsche 944 build. It had virtually no paint, other than the oddly used black in body panels. The builder had troubles applying the tube glue effectivly as it was sparce in some places and way over glued in others. The glue could be plainly seen everywhere. Looking at the car cloesly I could see why the Monogram Ferrari 250 GTO was released by many companies .. it is a very nice kit for it's age and nicely detailed. So, I threw it in the freezer to see if it could be taken apart. It all reverted to it's "natural" stay pretty well .. many broken locator pins, but they are easily replaced. The only piece that remains stubborn is the glass ... it refuses to budge loose. I started to just grind it out but it still won't come loose. I may just leave it and mask off for painting. No box art but here's the starting condition and what I've done to date .. and now ..

Thanks for the photo link. Tom. Like all my builds, I'll get back to the engine eventually. Now I'm thinking of notching the smallest aluminum tube available and bending it to 90 degrees. That might be oversize but look right after some corrosion is applied.

All the wiring adds so much and looks right .. slight color shows through all your heavy rust adding to the realism. I'm sure glimpses of all this will show through in th eend and makes it all worth the trouble. Plus, WE get to see it all as it's being built!

Those old sixes sure leave plenty of room to work on them ... and for trees! Looks great .. !

Wow .. new answers! Thanks guys ... I haven't done this yet, so it's much appreciated. I have some sparkplugs already so don't have to do those. I was going to try Jantrix's suggestion ... may just do it.

Love these wild custons .. looking good.

Pulleys do look good! Now we're into my problem. Most of my center finding on rods has been solved with the simple centering tool shown below. It's made from short peices of successive brass tubes that fit with close tolerances. The smallest piece is a sharpened brass rod, but I also use drill bits as the "punch" to mark the rod. The white rod in the photo is .04" hex rod. Unfortunitly it is too small fo fit tight in the closest tube so will no twork with these tubes easily. Maybe some masking tape wrap would do it. Do look back at the link I posted as this is the same question I asked. other than it being a hex rod. a .02 hole in a .04 rod IS very small and tight tolarance. I have recently drilled some .04 hex rod but by eye. It got close enough to make a couple hex nuts when cut and didnt need to go 100% straight .. was "straight enough".

His site has good photos of the decal sheets but offers no information as to how or where to order.

I can't wait to see some of your new builds after seeing you 1:1's .. definatly some good design sense there!

I've been watching this build and fully enjoying it. And I've reached a conclusion, Geoff .. I believe the quality of your build far surpasses the build quality of the 1:1 !

After hemming and hawing for years looking at vises' I got the Panavise you picture. It's bolted to my side bench and has seen much duty. I am completly appy with everything about this tool.

Oh, of course .. the Ronald Reagan Library .. must be Washington D.C.

Interesting. Hadn't seen transfer punches before and I see how they worked. It might make my problem of getting the center on the end of a solid rod also a bit easier .. just need a sleeve with ID same as the rod OD. And a punch that will go in. You'll have to show your pulleys here Joe!

Very convincing well worn Bug! Weathering is well thought out and seems to be a reason for every spot .. bumpers DO look realistic to me after owning three Beetles. Can I suggest applying the BMF window trim before installing the glass .. makes it very easy and gets sharp edges.

use a set of brass tubes that fit inside each other and use a sharpened rod to mark the center. Good if one tube will fit tightly around the circle you want the center of. I asked this here and there are some good ideas in this thread ....

My brother had a DS 19 and had to change a tire. So he raises it up with the hydraulics. sticks a rock under the axle and lowers the car on the rock. Pulls the tire off, new one on and reverses the sequence. Rock or car not hurt in this operation. I really liked the car for th eone-armed steering wheel.

Nice stuff here. My plans are to continue working on all the ones I have been.

Looks like my completion list. Nice contrasts between hotspot and ,and wall, but should have used BMF masking between the spot and floor for a sharper line.

Great van idea and wonderfully executied!