Foxer

Plymouth? .. looks cool!

Got a feeling you may become a favorite grandson. Beautiful.

Now I remember why I sold it ...

I really like that paint color on it. Good to see it back in the shop.

The TR4A introduced IRS (Independent Rear Suspension) to the Triumph line. Would you believe, I sold the TR4A when I went back to college assuming I could never get my speakers and gear in it for the 14 hour drive to Indiana. I got a VW Beetle for that move. I was always sorry for it .... The Air-Trax kit actually comes with a one piece engine and a few pieces that look like the intake manifold (they are all out in the Westley's Bleach right now and can't look). I keep thinking it would be great to open the hood and drop the engine in, but it would triple the work I'd have to do and my competition rate has been bad enough as it is!

These are very nice! I'd never guess 1/32 without being told!

The Air-Trax body is pretty thick and needed some grinding to fit the "frame/wheel wells" from the donor kits. The Gunze kit has the floor pan molded separately needing the firewall and front wheel wells added. I glued them with superglue so I could test fit. Below is the body and a couple shots after grinding. Here is the Gunze Sangyo frame assembly stuck into the body. This will need additional massaging to fit. The Minicraft frame is all one piece and I like how it fits. I cut about an eight of an inch off the back and cut it flush to the wheel wells at the front. I think this one is gonna be the keeper for the build. The rear of the front wheel wells needs to be rebuilt to slope backwards to match the body openings. I welcome all questions, comments, or criticisms

This is a build of the 1967 TR4A I bought when I exited the Army in 1969. I have an Air-Trax TR4A kit which is pretty detailed for a 1/32 model including a full engine, but, I'm a scale tyrant and I like all the builds on my shelf to match, so 1/25 - 1/24 is my preference. Therefore I picked up the Air-Trax TR4 1/24 resin kit. The link has some photos of what is included in this resin kit. A Gunze Sangyo Triumph TR3 is the recommended donor kit and the Minicraft 1958 Triumph TR3A kit is mentioned as another possible donor. I have both kits so will show a bit of both and how I decided which to use. So here's a few shots of my 1:1 to start. I drove it all year as I was stationed about a hour and half away at Ft. Devens, MA waiting for my Medical Discharge. just throw some chains on for those bad days.

I can't believe all the photographers appear to have walked away!

we are RACING!

paste is ctrl P

Well, I have a 2008 Skyline (Infiniti G37 Coupe) in my garage and there is talk of Nissan putting 4 banger Mercedes engines in them! I'd rather this.

You definably deserve the right to "artistic license"! That's looking really good!

Congrats, Daniel! I'm with George .. 39 years this month. Who'd a thought .... edit: oh wait,read that over ... NOT with George.. no way!

Unfortunately, the exact same cars going round in a circle bores me. That's some unfortunate action before the race ...

I'm not sure if both wheels available on the'84 944 were made by Fuch. Below is the standard wheel, but it was painted black. This wheel has been refinished but the shape is clear. The one below was called a Cookie Cutter and was available as an option on 944's. Is this the one you're referring to? Both were also on 911's. I never heard of any difference in the spoke shapes, but I'm no expert. Would be interesting if there was. Which wheels did your 944 have ... the Cookie Cutters?

The 944 used mostly wheels from other Porsches .. the 928 and 911. I had 3 944's and they had classic 911 Fuch's, 928 phone dials and the big flat slotted 928 wheels. All were non-turbo. I'd look to the 911 kits for wheels. I found the flat disk ones for my '92 build in a 911 kit.

A Carrera GTS would be a cool conversion. Wheel arches from a 944 might make this easier. Here's a shot with all 3 wheels. The Monograms have a bit heavy bars on them and need chrome stripping and painting. The Arii's have thinner bars but a recessed hub with a plain crest. Neither has any crest decals .. for the hub or body. Both also scale to 15" diameter correctly. I think I'm going to just use the monogram wheels, but it may depend on the tires. As you see, the tires are really off in both kits. The 1:1 car had 185-70 VR15 tires. They would be about 25.2" in diameter according to this site. The monogram tires scale to 22.92" OD. The sidewalls say 225/50 VR 15 which would be 23.9" OD. These are too small in diameter and are too low profile. They are marked as Pirelli Cinturato P7. The Arii tires scale to 24.7" ... closer. They have weird tires sizes on sidewalls ... 85SR14 on one side and 145R10 on other. Marked as Michelin XZX. I'm going to have to see what I have around before deciding on which tires I use. I just noticed the 1:1 wheel photo has the center cover missing. It's a flush disk with the Porsche crest recessed in black. Cover is same color as the rim.

Since we started comparing the Monogram and Arii 924 Turbo kits here I'm going to add more of what I have discovered. I ended up with both kits and I definably prefer the Monogram as more accurate. In all photos below, the Monogram is in BLACK plastic and the Arii in WHITE. The front end is shaped much more accurate. Arii seems to have cut corners on all the subtle curves on the car. The shape at the ends of the front bumper and the small front spoiler lip is more accurate on the Monogram. The NACA dusts on the Monogram are correct in length and shape. The Arii's are short and shape is straightened out somewhat. The Arii dusts ARE molded open, but it was an easy task to open them on the Monogram. The rear areas are much more accurate on the Monogram. Where the rear clip meets the body Arii has made it straight while it actually slopes forward at the bottom as on the Monogram. The Monogram also has the black plastic bumper spacers (closures?) molded. And Monogram has the rear side reflectors molded. I believe this reflects much of the differences between the American and European versions of this car. The American has the 5 mph bumpers that were new at the time and the other country version had the ones that didn't stick out. So, I'm building my 924 Turbo completely from the Monogram kit. The separate pieces of the rear end on the Arii that I thought I might adapt are about a quarter inch too wide even!

It's not as bad as it sounds ... I started a Porsche 924 Turbo a couple weeks ago and now onto another. But, I AM working on my daughter's Van still, just getting the 8-lug wheels rusty. This Honda Civic Tuner I just picked up at the LHS on a whim and started doing some bodywork. I cut the grill from the front clip and added it to the hood ... more of a '50 type of hood. The photos are before and after the first primer for bodywork check. Plans for this are being developed as I go. The wheels are going to be pushed out and fender flares added. I'll see how much I lower it as I go .. depends how much I can actually do. I want to cover the ribs on sides of the front clip with scoops to get more to the radiator and possibly an intercooler ... for a turbo. I have a blister pack with bumps that look like they may work. Thinking about side sills .. maybe something that blends the fender flares. I mistakenly attached the stock rear clip but I'll modify it in some way just so it doesn't look like every other Revell Civic out there. I'm not looking to make any "type" of custom mod to this.. the more it not classed as a tuner the better.. but it still might be one. I'd rather it be just a custom Civic. I welcome all questions, comments, or criticisms

I don't get why everyone doesn't use the "View New Content" link ... I never miss ANYTHING in ANY forum.

Welcome to the insanity ...

It sounds like you're basically doing it right. Milliput is probably ok to crudely fill a large opening, but I usually uses some plastic filler and putty. Squadron white is not too bad but I've left it on the shelf long ago. It will shrink over time .. similar to one part body putty (1:1). It's ok for thin coatings though. The best body putty is the 1:1 two part stuff. This will not shrink and cures fast. Bondo and Everlast are two commonly used ones, but I don't have the exact type at hand. I'm sure others will give some exact names. The sandpapers you are using are fine.. I usually only go to 400 or 600 grits before painting. Do use a sandable auto primer as a final smoothing. It will show any areas needing more putty and it fills small scratches. Use a padded sanding stick or just wrap the paper around a stiff board, Popsicle stick or coffee stirrer. anything stiff to get a smooth transition to the plastic and an even surface.

I love blue with tan interiors! A great looking build.

Pro Built! ... this guy has build at least ONE model kit before this one.