Art Laski

Thanks, Johnny! Yeah, Gregg, I've been warned that they are addicting!

I am definitely having fun with it. I'm glad Peggy gave me such a deal on it. It seems like a decent one to start with. I did notice that the decals took a while to loosen off of the sheet when I did the tires. I guess patience is the key there.

I thought I would try something new, so I decided to try to build my first 1/43 scale resin kit. I bought this a couple of years ago from Model Car Masterpieces before they closed up shop, but just never got started on it. I wanted to take a little break from a long-term project I had been working on, so i thought this might be a good one to get "Done". This is a shot of the real car, although I couldn't find any shots of the car as raced at Daytona, which is what the kit depicts. I'm pretty much just building it straight out of the box. Here's what's in the kit: The directions are kinda horrible. They consists of some pictures and some hand-labeled letters to try to point out where stuff goes, but it leaves a lot to be desired. I started on the wheels and tires first, because I was really anxious to see what they looked like built up and decaled. They're not quite done, but close. I had to sand them down, so I chucked up a wheel in the Dremel and slipped a tire over it and sanded it. After the tires were sanded, I chucked up each wheel and spun them with a piece of t-shirt with some Blus Magic metal polish on it. They polished up real nice. I painted the tires with some inexpensive craft acrylic paint, but there were some irregularities, like little pebbles or something in the rubber that showed through. So I got some putty and filled it in, which is visible on the tires here. I also put the decals on, which were fairly easy to work with. I also assembled the rear wing and the wing support. I temporarily taped and clamped the support to the chassis to hold it while the glue for the brackets dried. More to come...

Dave, I'm sorry to say I missed the WIP on this, because this one is beautiful! Very nicely done. -Art

I got excited for a moment that there might be another local contest, but Texas is a bit away from Laguna Niguel!

Having seen it with my own eyes last weekend, I have to agree with Cranky...

Cool, man. Even though I agree with Donn's comments, I just want you to enjoy the hobby. Getting overly frustrated makes it a lot less appealing...

Clifford, That is a great model and you executed it very well. I never realized how detailed it is in just its stock form. I have mostly seen pictures of Mark's cars, and they had a lot of added detail, but it seems even out of the box there's a lot there. I'd like to see yours someday, Mark. Any chance you can bring one to the meeting sometime? -Art

Andy, Save up some money, like from birthdays or mowing lawns or whatever, and get yourself a Paasche H and Donn Yosts's video as soon as you can. It's the simplest, least frustrating path to success with an airbrush. Once things are going well, you can branch out to different paints. I have this brush and it's the best investment I have made. I use it almost exclusively for bodies, and I also use a HF double action for metalizers and small parts. It is much trickier to clean and keep running well than the Paasche. Not impossible, mind you, just a bit more work. -Art

Aww, it's OK with me, just don't tell Roadkill2525. Again, it was a great show and the BBQ was very good also. I definitely hope to make it again next year. I'm on the far left in the BBQ shot with the Sobak doo.

Keep it coming, Chris! Love the attention to detail. -Art

I also want to thank all of the Arizonians for the great hospitality and making my first DSC a memorable one. It was great to put all the faces to the names and see the great builds you guys do. Jonathan, we didn't get to meet personally, but I did enjoy your work at the BBQ! Thanks again, guys... Art

Hey Brad, I don't get into the Drag section too often, so I just came upon this build. Real nice, man! I love the scratch building. Looking forward to seeing this one this weekend! -Art

Looking good, Brother John! Can't wait to see it.

It looks great, Art.

Nicely done!

Ahh, but it's a great kit! I'm really glad they came out with this one. I only wish I had time to build more of them.

Looks good, Art. I like the fact that you're addressing the instrument panel. With the gauges on the panel that came with the kit, you may also notice that the bezels do not line up with the body of the gauges on the back of the panel. -Art

Rom, It's UNDER GLASS! Can you believe it's done? Thanks for sharing your hard work. I know I learned a thing or two. -Art

The Etzel's are great and you did a terrific job on it. -Art

Looks great!

Wow! All I can say!

Nice, Pete. Hopefully you'll bring it to an OC meeting when I'm there. Would love to see what you get for that price from Tamiya. -Art

Bill, I saw this thread when it first started, but haven't been in long enough to catch up with it again. So here I am stumbling across this build in total awe. This is masterful work and very impressive. You've got several of the builders I look up to following as well- a true testament to your work. Looking forward to more! -Art

Looks great, Mark!