sjordan2

Yeah, the lack of accurate Bugatti T 59 piano wire wheels is an issue. I have both the Pyro kit and the AMT boxing of the Matchbox kit; since the Pyro is based on an actual car I've researched, which has pontoon style cycle fenders, I plan to bash them together. But I'm still not quite sure about the wheels, which probably will have to be custom photoetched from a simplified design. But I figure if this guy can do a totally scratchbuilt version in 1/43, it's doable. I got a nice set of accurate wires for my 1/18 Bburago T59 kit (actually, somewhere between 1/16 and 1/15), however.

Correction: If the Legends race starts at 10:05 am there, it would be 4:05 am Eastern here.

From ulimatecarpage.com on Thursday's qualifying round of the Legends. Sad to hear about Moss hanging up his helmet after 60 years... "Earlier on Thursday the supporting 'Le Mans Legend' cars took to the track for their one-hour qualifying. The field was a mix of evocative sports racers of the 1950s and '60s and included several class and outright winners like the 1959 Aston Martin DBR1 and 1955 Jaguar D-Type. The big news, however, that Sir Stirling Moss announced his retirement from competition after over 60 years behind the wheel of all sorts of competition cars. He completed one lap in his Porsche RS61 and concluded that he was no longer up to it, pulled into the pitlane and hung up his helmet at the spot. Another historic occurrence was the return to Le Mans of the glorious Mazda 787B that won the race exactly twenty years ago. Yesterday actor Patrick Dempsey drove the howling machine and it will be back out just before the race on Saturday." Anyway, here's Saturday's schedule (don't forget that US Eastern time is 6 hours earlier than the times below, so if the Legends race is streamed live it would start at 4 am EDT. They'll probably show highlights on SPEED): 09:00hrs - 09:45hrs Warm-up for 24 Heures du Mans ® 10:05hrs - 10:50hrs Race Le Mans Legends 11:15hrs - 12:00hrs Race Challenge Ferrari Trophée Pirelli 12:10hrs - 12:30hrs Exhibition Le Mans for the future 14:22hrs Starting procedures for the 24 Heures du Mans ® 15:00hrs Start of the 79th race of the 24 Heures du Mans ®

It would be nice to see some crisper pictures, especially if we could see a bit of the interior. According to one diecast enthusiasts' forum, this discontinued Pantera is pretty rare and expensive. It was initially offered as a red assembly kit, then reissued as built yellow and blue versions. http://www.diecastxchange.com/forum1/topic/53242-latest-addition-hot-wheels-detomaso-pantera/

This is amazingly amazing. I recently got a 1/32 Pyro Bugatti T59 kit made eons ago, which is very nicely done, but MAN, it's small. Hats off to such a fine piece of work, especially at this scale.

One way or another, the wire wheels will be quite expensive. You might get some advice from this guy: http://www.scalemotorcars.com/forum/workbench/438-scale-model-wire-wheels.html And for your specific large-scale needs, you could ask the same questions at this site, which specializes in bigger models: www.scalemotorcars.com

And now for something completely different for those who would like to give their scratchbuilding skills a workout... http://www.germancarblog.com/2007/08/porsche-944-shooting-break-for-sale-on.html

Thanks for the links, guys. Got to see the Bimmer Bummer moment when it crashed into a wall.

You might see if you can track down some Pocher Mercedes wire wheels, but I'm sure they'll be incredibly expensive. You can get period-correct stock tires here ($25-$35 each): http://www.modelmotorcars.com/store/store_mb.htm Here's a bookmark I use for checking out 1/8 kits and parts on eBay: http://toys.shop.ebay.com/Automotive-/2580/i.html?_nkw=1%2F8&_trkparms=65%253A10%257C66%253A2%257C39%253A1&rt=nc&_ipg=&_pcats=1188%2C220&_sop=10&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14.l1513&_pgn=2 There are a couple of 1/8 small block Chevy engines there right now.You might also be able to get one from one of the 1/8 Corvette kits.

Yes, the cookie cutters. But I've never seen them on a 911.

Yeah, but the Fuchs wheels aren't the same. The Fuchs spokes are flat, somewhat convex, whereas the 944 had depressions in the spokes,

I have the Monogram kit, too, and I would also like a non-turbo 944 like the one I owned, in dark warm gunmetal. I've never found similar wheels in kit form, though.

Hey, Harry – you need to post this notice in ALL the forums so the people who only visit one or two get the picture

After a bit of research, Minicraft apparently doesn't make a 1/16 version of this kit, and if they did, it wouldn't fit in a box this small, which is just 2" deep, or about half the depth of most 1/16 kits. But you can't tell that on an eBay listing.

Just to add to my prior post, sometimes sellers don't even know what they've got. The following kit I just received was advertised on eBay as being new, sealed, and definitely 1/16 scale and not 1/24 (as shown on the box lid below). However, Minicraft screwed up the packaging and it is actually the same 1/24 POS kit they sell. As for "sealed," you will see the sticker below that was on the bottom of the box under the shrinkwrap. I got a $15 credit from the seller.

On the other hand, I buy older, somewhat expensive vintage kits in 1/16 and up. I have learned that I need to ask the seller to open the sealed kit to make sure it hasn't become warped or may have broken parts like bad A pillars. And a "sealed" kit is not necessarily a FACTORY sealed kit. I've gotten a few that have clearly been re-wrapped (my last one had a sticker UNDER the shinkwrap on the bottom of the box that said it had been donated by a US Veterans organization).

Boy, you've got that straight. ALWAYS check shipping costs before bidding. I've got my eye on an item in England, but, (typical of British shipping costs) it's going to cost $25 to ship it. So I just have to wrap that into how much I'm willing to pay.

I really don't know how a buyer can set an automatic bid unless they've got a "shill"– a friend with a different IP address in cahoots with them – who has set a high maximum bid that automatically kicks in when new, lower bids are entered by others. The seller may or may not get the price he wants. But a phony "winner" doesn't have to pay anything and the auction will eventually be closed, only to reappear at another time. As for me, when it gets to the last minute of an auction, I set my maximum bid, and it automatically re-bids at a small increment every time someone exceeds my prior bid. But if a seller has set a reserve price, he shouldn't have to bother with that. Your bid will be responded to, simply, with a response of "reserve not met." So you just have to keep going until you pass the reserve, or withdraw.

I needed to strip chrome parts. Overnight in the Purple Pond and done with no problem.

Always great to see a man who raised the bar raise it again. Just astonishing.

It's okay if you want the material now. That may help you plan ahead for what you want to do with the kit. Just send me your mailing address.

My reference material is enormous, about 1 gigabyte, and takes a long time to transfer to 2 to 3 CDs. I will be happy to send it to you if you will PM me with your mailing address. I might add that this is probably the world's largest Gullwing image reference available from a single source, and I am glad to share it with anyone for free. However, if you are not ready to do anything with it, it's quite a pain and expense to burn it and mail it. Please let me know when you're ready to build your kit.

If you're not getting paid for something like this, you need a therapist.

Hmmm. This might get more specific if you describe your actual application for this color.

Yes, I saw that, and while many people could find it boring, I thought it was fabulous (for a car nut like me). Of course, Lelouch did some very cool car scenes in his romantic dramas, "A Man and a Woman," both 1 & 2. The first one (1966) is definitely for car and racing aficionados, with its study of a GT40 race driver/test driver and his daily-driver Mustang convertible, and the sequel (1986) places the original cast in dire straits during the Paris-Dakar rally. Love both of those movies.