Jonathan

With the holidays upon us, the car hobby has taken a back seat. I did the trim around the windows this afternoon, and the side trim last night. I now see that I have some touch up work to do. I still need to paint the grill area, door handles, and locks black. I'm still debating on the spoiler - leave it sliver, or paint it black? It has quite the gap around it, so I don't know if painting it black will help hide that gap or not. Here's where we are so far: I very nearly screwed it all up last night. I was getting tired, and tried to do the side trim using a black Sharpie. Big mistake. I was able to polish the bulk of that off before masking and then painting the trim. That area around the gas filler door needs work, but it's coming along.

I don't know how to answer your question, but I hope you make some more progress!

That's some nice work there!

An excellent story and two excellent builds!

Very nice!

That's shaping up nicely!

Wow, Joseph. You keep knocking them out of the park! Beautiful work!

Got a little paint on the body. I used Tamiya TS-17 Gloss Aluminum. Several light coats and a couple of heavier coats yielded this result: To be continued ...

I really love seeing the Cobras that you've built and are working on.

I should say, I'd be open to any suggestions on removing the seats and dash.

Thought I'd have a go at the interior for a bit. The previous owner must've used an entire tube of good ol' Testor's tube cement to fasten the seats and dash to the interior. I put the parts in the freezer, hoping the cold would cause the cement to become more brittle and therefore easier to break apart. Alas, the glue has done what it is designed to do, and fused the parts together rather nicely. I was able to remove the rear seat insert; but the front seats and dash are firmly attached. I was thinking of trying to work a photo-etched saw blade under the seats, or maybe trying string. I'm not sure. I would like to at least remove the seats so that I can more easily fill the backs with sheet plastic, and perhaps create some semblance of a floorboard for future flocking. If I'm successful in separating these parts, my plan is a dark red interior to complement the proposed silver exterior.

Nice work. I love the concept.

Some more primer, followed by some more sanding, and this is where things stand. There was some ghosting form the previous paint job, so I had to deal with that, too. My intention is to paint the car silver once I get to that point.

Yeah, that's a pretty rough kit. It can be built - and nicely. But, you're picked a real doozie to work with there. That said, I really like what you've done and I think it looks great.

I acquired this little gem as a built-up from eBay some years ago and it’s been patiently waiting for some attention. This is the Tamiya 1/24 RX-7 from the early 80’s. I am going to attempt to strip, repair, and repaint this sucker. If all goes well, it will be wearing the Japan-only “rotor” wheels that were a feature of this kit when new. Step one – cleaning, disassembly, and repair of body damage caused by over zealous application of tube glue.

I think it'll be cool.

Would love to see this finished!

Very nice! I do have a question on the plastidip - isn't there a chance that removing it in the future might damage your body work?

Beautiful work!

Wow!

That's a real shame. I hope that is a typo and the kit is available again in the near future.

Mine arrived today. I thought they looked pretty good and I'm looking forward to trying them. That is, to my eye, they look pretty sharp. That said, I've not actually seen them "installed" yet.

That's insane! And...awesome!

I've somehow managed to screw up my reply there. Anyway, Kevin "neatstufff4all" made some and has some others for sale on eBay. They look to be of good quality. Thanks for the suggestions!

Check it out! Ask, and ye shall receive. As suggested by Jeff, I reached out to Kevin "neatstuff4all" on eBay and he worked up a set of decals for the NC State Trooper Mustang SSP. Looks like he has several copies for sale. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Custom-Made-2-Sets-NORTH-CAROLINA-HIGHWAY-PATROL-1-25-scale-police-decals-/332036608536?hash=item4d4eec9218:g:qFwAAOSwA3dYLxvc