mrmike

Thanks Vince, Andre and Ismael! What you see here is a hole cut into the console for an automatic shifter. The kit is set up for a manual shifter and the engine has a automatic transmission attached to it. I cut out a rectangle piece of styrene for the shifter plate. The shifter plate is nearly complete and it just needs to painted, decaled and installed. Here's the completed shifter plate installed in the center console. More to come...

I decided to work on assembling the chassis this afternoon. Fairly easy to put together and some parts didn't need glue. I happen to like the wheels better without the wheel covers, so now I have to find something to use as a wheelcap in the center of the wheel. More to come...

Thank you Vince! I have left this in the paintbooth to really dry good, then I'll start detailing and rebuilding it.

There is something I truly like about this kit. Must be the subject matter as I now want to get other versions of this kit. And, build them with right-hand drive! Plus, I want to get the Range Rover Police car. And, I still can't get over the size of the kit box! It's huge for a curbside! I have built a couple of vans over the years, but I have never been as excited about building one like I am with this kit! This body is nicely molded, but has a couple of small issues with it. There is a small sink hole on the right rear of the body. A couple of small mold lines under the windshield which are now gone. And, three ejector pin marks near the windshield inside the body. Once these are taken care of, I'll wash the body and get it into a coat of primer. More to come...

Thank you guys! This Grand Cherokee practically built itself! I guess not having to paint a body really helps.

Thanks JC and Brian!

Thank you Michelle!

While I had the paintbooth up and running, I painted the Impala with Model Master Flame Red Lacquer. I painted the chassis with Rustoleum Painters Touch Semi-Gloss Black. It's a touch glossy and tacky, so some time in the dehydrator is in order. More to come...

Thanks Tom! I got the Firebird out of the Easy-Off Oven Cleaner the other day and washed it off with Dawn dish detergent and a scrub brush. I set them aside to dry and forgot about them until a short while ago. I grabbed a can of Model Master Classic White Lacquer and sprayed the body and hood. They appear to have turned out very nicely. I always start by painting the bottom of the hood first. When that is dry, I'll flip it over and spray the top. As usual, I forgot to put something in the Oven Cleaner. Something being the front nose and the side mirrors. More to come...

This is my Jeep Grand Cherokee Ltd. The body has been polished and waxed. I made a grille guard to mount the fog lights on and filled the slots in the front bumper for the lights. The interior has been flocked the ceiling was painted with Model Master Acryl Neutral Gray. The tires were lettered by hand.

The Story The Police arrive and swarm Alderman Portis' home. The snub-nose .38 revolver is bagged and tagged for forensic evidence as it may be the weapon used to kill Alderman Camillo. Lt. Det. Troy tries to question Alderman Portis and all she will say is "lawyer". Lt. Troy walks into the living room and notices McNally sitting in an armchair writing notes in his notebook. Adam asks, "What are you doing?" McNally replies, "Just jotting down a few notes for my report. Don't want to leave anything out." Adam replies, "Stop by Headquarters in the morning and we'll go over everything." McNally closes his notebook, gets up from the chair and puts his coat on that was hanging by the front door. He walks outside and sees that it is snowing again, but very lightly. He gets into the Grand Cherokee Ltd. and starts it up and lets the Jeep warm up a bit before leaving for home. A cop comes out to move his cruiser out of the way so McNally can leave and the cop takes the spot that the Jeep was parked in. Tomorrow is another day for the Boston PI. The Build I have finished my Tamiya Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited V8. I would like to thank all those who have taken the time to view and to comment on my WIP.

The Story McNally knocks on the door of Alderman Portis' home and she answers the door and allows the Boston PI in. She offers to take his coat and hang it up, but he tells her he is carrying his gun. "That doesn't bother me, Mr. McNally," and he takes off his coat and she hangs it up next to the door on a coat hook. She offers him a cup of coffee to which her refuses since he has had too much coffee already today. They sit in the kithcen and he asks her about Alderman Camillo and Louie Bailer. She says she doesn't know Louie, but she praises Adlerman Camillo as a great man. He asks her about Louie Bailer and his henchmen and she why she had Camillo killed and she produces a snub-nose .38 from her sweater pocket and demands his gun. He says that the cops know he is at her house and that they have surrounded her home. She says, "You can't fool me like that," as she turns her head towards the window and McNally grabs her wrist and shakes the gun from her hand and cuffs her. He calls the Police and Lt. Det. Adam Troy from his cellphone. The Build The head and taillights have been detailed. The fog lights normally go on the front bumper of the Jeep. I made a set of brackets to mount the lights on the grille guard. The grille guard has been mounted to the front bumper. More to come...

I must be getting lazy in my old age as this is a curbside kit. This is the Italeri Ford Transit Mk2 and the year is unknown so it could be anywhere from 1977-1986. Having watch a TV series on Velocity now Motor Trend called For The Love Of Cars and presented by Philip Glenister and Ant Anstead, I became enamored with the van when Ant restored a Ford Transit Mk1. The Mk2 is a restyling of the Mk1 with no mechanical changes other than a small horsepower boost. I may use this van in the Club Challenge for the Classic Plastic Model Exhibition instead of my '61 Impala SS 409. My paint for this build will be Tamiya TS-10 French Blue and Tamiya TS-26 Pure White. More to come...

The Story McNally drives out to visit Alderman Jamie Portis at her home. Alderman Portis is a strong willed person and McNally suspects her of leading Louie Bailer since he is only good at taking orders from a higher up. She once said that the Construction Bill was a waste of time all the while she was kind of promoting it. It is possible that she gave to order to have Alderman David Camillo killed so that the Construction Bill would die in Committee. It is believed that tearing down a building and building a new one in it's place would cost more money in the long run than rehabbing an old building and that extra money would be going into someone else's pocket. The Build The engine compartment is nearly complete and the interior is done! McNally will return...

The Story Louie Bailer and his remaining henchman Ian, are being questioned in Interrogation and the questioning stops when they both say, "lawyer". McNally takes a copy of The Herald and goes into the Interrogation room where Louie is sitting and sits down at the table, puts his feet up and opens the paper and starts reading. Louie complains that he is in pain from slipping on the ice in his construction yard and McNally ignores him. Louie continues to complain with McMally eventually saying, "Yeah, yeah , yeah." Louie finally says, "You probably think that Alderman Portis is leading me around by the nose, don't you?" McNally finishes reading his article, folds the newspaper and quietly walks out of the Interrogation Room. He tell Lt. Troy that he has to check something out and he leaves BPD Headquarters. The Build Been working on the dash and other smaller parts for the Grand Cherokee Ltd. The woodgrain decals for the dash gave me fits, so I used an orange Sharpie with black stipling to create woodgrain for a smaller space. McNally will return...

The Story Several blocks away from Bailer Construction are several Police cars and a SWAT van waiting. The word is given and they take off down the street at a high rate of speed. They pull into the yard and shooting starts from the office trailer with the SWAT van leading the way since it is armored. After a few minutes, the back door opens and a slender man runs down the steps, almost slipping as he tries to run. He has no traction in the snow with his shiny leather shoes on and he does slip and fall to the snowy ground. Louie Bailer tries to get up and he sees a pair of boots standing in front of him and the boots belong to McNally, Boston PI. McNally cuffs Louie and picks him up off the ground and he keys his two way radio and says, "This is McNally and I have one in custody." A moment later and the shooting stops with two men dead in the trailer and one in custody. McNally leads Louie to the front of the trailer and the Police officers and detectives. He is read his rights, arrested by BPD and place in the back of a patrol car. The Build I painted the inside of the Jeep body and this will require a second coat. I flocked the interior, but I really don't like flocking since the fibers get everywhere I don't want it. My revised spare tire cover with the wheel and tire inserted. McNally will return...

I got this Aston Martin DB 4 in a trade with a fellow Club member today. When I got home from the club meeting, I found this on the kitchen table waiting for me. I've been wanting a British van since I saw a restoration of a Ford Transit Mk. I van on TV's For The Love Of Cars. This is close enough!

Thanks guys! The Story McNally completes the purchase of the '96 Grand Cherokee Ltd. with Casey who happens to be a Boston cop. He promises to get the Jeep out of her driveway by the end of the day. As he stands in line at the MV Registry, he senses someone standing next to him. It's Lt. Det. Adam Troy and he asks about McNally's visit to Louie Bailer. McNally had heard of Louie being vocal against the Construction Bill facing Boston Legislature. Adam tells McNally that SWAT will be hitting Bailer Construction before the day is over. McNally says he wants in on the operation. The SWAT team is armed and ready for the assault on Bailer Construction. Police Detectives have been watching Bailer for sometime and they have evidence that Bailer had a Boston Alderman murdered since that Alderman introduced the Contruction Bill. McNally suspects that there is more to this case and he will continue looking into it further. The Build It may be hard to tell, but I have been painting the flat black trim and I added some chrome around the grille openings. I used a black Sharpie on the glass. McNally will return...

Thanks Ismael! I decided to leave the parts and body swimming in Easy-Off for another day. I'll try to wash the Firebird tomorrow.

The Story After a trip to his Credit Union, McNally gets the remainer of the cash needed to buy the Grand Cherokee. He gets into his Challenger SRT8 and drives over to see Louie Bailer at Bailer Construction Co. Louie works out of an old construction trailer and has his fingers in the many little things that could make him money under the table. The construction yard has an old backhoe, a beat up pickup truck, a dump truck with no cab, and construction supplies in a mess all over the yard. In the trailer, Louie doesn't want to talk to McNally and has Helo, his very large and heavy "aid" throw him out of the trailer. As Helo aproaches McNally, Helo gets kick in the groin and losses his Colt .45 pistol to the Boston PI who removes the magazine and the slide and he throws them on Louie's desk and leaves the trailer. Louie is guilty of something here judging by his actions. The Build The chassis is nearly complete. As a mockup showed me, I didn't like the fact that I could see in the back of the spare tire through the driver's side rear window. I found a spare tire and wheel to fit inside the spare tire cover at streetrod's house yesterday. McNally will return...

Thank you David and Craig!

I was finally able to get some Easy-Off Oven Cleaner since the can I had was still half full, but didn't want to spray anymore. This is a second coat of the Oven Cleaner and then I'll wash it all in a few days. More to come...

I got to thinking about the exhaust tips on this kit. The tips are flat and the 1:1 '70 Charger R/T has angled tips. Even the Revell '68 and '69 Charger kits have angled tips. I removed the tips from the '70 Charger R/T and using a coarse sanding stick, I angled the tips slightly like a 1:1 '70 Charger R/T.

Thank you Steve!

The Story McNally is investigating the murder of Boston City Alderman David Camillo. He was trying to push a bill through the City Legislature requiring all older buildings in Boston to be rehabbed if possible instead of being torn down. The Alderman's death may be connected to the attempt to kill the Boston PI. This bill has many people angry because of the many clauses held within. Not all of the clauses are related to rehabbing old buildings. The Build I attempted to paint the coil springs that are in the kit with one taking flight over the bench and disappearing. This morning, I search and couldn't find the spring and I dove into my tool box of extra screws and bits and pieces and found a similar shaped, but longer spring that I cut up into fours and painted them red to match the sway bars. I found a Parts By Parks wired distributor and drilled a hole into the engine block and mounted the distributor with a bit of CA. Next to drill holes for the plug wires. I've been detail painting the chassis and trying to get the front sway bar located properly. It's a tight fit here. McNally will return...