sjordan2

One thing I discovered while reviewing the body issues ( a "d'oh!" moment for me) is that Italeri apparently derived the main body from their 300 SL roadster kit. The coupe and roadster may look the same, but they're not. Besides the obvious door differences, Mercedes made a number of modifications to the design when they came up with the roadster (after the Gullwing): According to Mercedes expert Dennis Adler in his definitive book, "300 SL," the roadster has more pronounced front fenders and a larger grille, for a more modern and aggressive look. Plus, if you compare the "eyebrows" over the wheel wells, you'll see that the roadster's are more curved. And like the roadster, the Italeri Gullwing doesn't have a full body pan. Everything in Italeri's Gullwing engine bay is the same as their roadster, but there are differences between the 1:1 cars. All of this is carried over into the Italeri Gullwing. Hopefully, Cato will show the outstanding work he's done to fix some of these issues. Generally, the 1/16 Italeri roadster is very accurate, except for a wrong windshield shape (easy to fix). The 1/16 Minicraft Gullwing is more accurate than the Italeri, with a one-piece body shell without the separate nose and tail valances like Italeri or their other mistakes, and includes a complete space frame (a bit hard to fit). However, the window trim is molded on and needs foiling, unlike Italeri's separate chrome trim, and there is no firewall. Italeri's engine has crisper detail, and is crisper overall. Italeri's interior is more complete.

Minicraft 1/24 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud (originally a Hubley promo): Fairly accurate body shape, but with horrible mold seams. Wire axle, blob of an engine top, hubcaps are totally flat without proper dimension. Flying Lady is twice the size it should be. Interior tub is a joke.

I see that the subscription is now available in Europe, with a first-issue price of 1 euro (about $1.35). How much are each of the following issues? Here's an overview for those with a passing knowledge of French: http://www.mechanicsinmotion.fr/altaya-ford-mustang-shelby-gt-500-au-1-8-e/

Killer! Keep in touch with the moderators (Harry P., Casey) to see if they want to follow this for inclusion in the magazine.

Revell's 1/12 Ferrari 275 GTB. Awesomely inaccurate junk in every way (originally Renwal).

Looks terrific. But I think you could sand off the bottom 1/3 of the hubcaps, and fill in the pie shapes inside the star there. But you solved the larger problem of the grille logo sticking out so much.

Those were probably made for their own amusement and I seriously doubt there were any licensing agreements for commercial use.

You're going to find a wide range of quality variations in Minicraft kits since so many of them were originally issued by different manufacturers. You can see several builds and commentaries on them here. Regardless of original manufacturer, most of the 1/16 kits listed (except Rolls) have been issued by Minicraft. http://www.freewebs.com/martsmodels/

Here's information on that kit. I think it's the same one I referenced above. Don't know where you can find it. According to the site, the company is out of business. http://www.hapico.com/01_12th/ML/1216/00.htm This is an international site for builders of large-scale car models. You might ask there if anyone can help you. http://www.scalemotorcars.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?48-Large-Scale-Cars

A new thread on this site: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=91721

Astonishingly astonishing.

Another masterpiece, showing how awesome this kit can be. What was your source for the wheels? What's the purpose of the modification to the air filter?

What scale do you want to build? 1. There is no kit. (But there once was a 1/12 resin kit by Total Model for about $3000, long out of production) 2. Franklin Mint diecasts are very high-end and usually far more detailed than any kit. You can always take one apart and add your own detail if you're not satisfied. The 1:24 one in Harry's link for $66 looks like a steal.

Gerald Wingrove has a reasonably extensive chapter about his building of this car in his book, "The Complete Car Modeller Vol. 1." http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Car-Modeller-1/dp/1861266448/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1405801611&sr=1-1&keywords=gerald+wingrove He has two galleries and a video here: http://www.wworkshop.net/Hispano_Suiza/The_Story.html While the book doesn't have his drawings, he is an extremely nice guy and you should contact him with any questions you have at the site in the link.

Here's one person's attempt at a Challenger... http://gregkmk.deviantart.com/art/Cars-Charlie-Dodge-Challenger-1920x1080-421697042 A different but somewhat similar Renault... http://neonspider.deviantart.com/art/IRL-Disney-quot-Cars-quot-177130839 Maybe someone could use those for reference.

To show how complex the issue can get, a German F1 Mercedes driver, during the current qualifying for this weekend's German Grand Prix, sported a FIFA logo on his car to celebrate Germany's World Cup victory. FIFA asked for it to be removed since it was on a competing brand that conflicted with Hyundai's official FIFA sponsorship.

Are you talking about the chrome panels around the exhausts?

I'd love to see this finished product in person. I have a glue bomb beside me for reference, and at 15" long and about 4-1/2" tall, it's still impressive.

Excellent job. Very tricky to put chrome on the nose/sides.

Beyond spectacular. Looks amazingly real. Great photos.

I wish the kit was lovely. But Henry's doing a great job to make it so.

Great job. Show us more!

Just saw on the news this morning that Staples is going to sell 3D printers.

You appear to be correct and I seem to have been misinformed on certain matters. This has a lot to do with the fact that they seem not to observe automotive patents or copyrights very closely (Wikipedia): Intellectual property rights (IPRs) have been acknowledged and protected in the People's Republic of China since 1979. The People's Republic of China has acceded to the major international conventions on protection of IPRs. Domestically, protection of intellectual property law has also been established by government legislation, administrative regulations, and decrees in the areas of trademark, copyright and patent. This has led to the creation of a comprehensive legal framework to protect both local and foreign intellectual property. Despite this, copyright violations are common in the PRC,[1] and intellectual property violations are committed by prominent members of the automotive and electronics industries.

As has been covered on another thread, China does not participate in international agreements regarding intellectual property. They have their own system, which allows Chinese manufacturers to obtain patents for products that are pirated copies of other products, including automobiles and trucks. For those who want more info on Jay's superb build of the Ferrari 250 California spyder, here's a review and build of the original Italeri kit by Alex Kustov... http://www.italianhorses.net/Gallery/Italeri/Ital250Cal/250CalSp.htm