MrObsessive

Sigh........the more I see of the test shot, the more I see that needs to be fixed. Thankfully, there's time to get it right------I hope!

One of my favorite racers of the '50's! Almost nothing beats a long nose D-Type in terms of beauty and class! Super excellent job on this one!

Scott, I agree with you to a point...........the comparison that Harry made has some validity. That the rear end is that waaay off to my eyes is bothersome. I had pointed it out before most noticed it, and I didn't mean for it to turn into a big kerfuffle. I had also noticed that the aperture of the rear window wasn't quite up to snuff either, but withheld saying anything. Maybe that's a fault of mine-------my Mom always said that I was "too observant" as a kid, and things like this jump out at me particularly when cars like this were virtually everywhere once upon a time. But! As you said, let's wait and see what the final product is once the kit comes out. And yes, Moebius's models have been top notch as of late, and it's a proven fact that they DO listen.

Thanks for the info Dave. As I've said, I'll have to wait until I have the body in 3D before I can pass any final judgement. Pics are nice as far as it goes, but all is not always as it seems when looking at photos. Also, I'm glad that you'll pass on the info about the belt line kickup. That 1:1 Ventura is a BEAUTIFUL car!

Ya beat me to it John! I was going to comment after my one post about the possibility of the roof being too short, which would throw off the proportions of the tulip panel/trunk area......thus my "misproportioned" statement. Everything else would average out equal. We wouldn't know until we have the model in hand......guess we'll have to wait with bated breath.

I've been really impressed by the way this build is coming along! I remember the 914's in the early '70's when I was in Junior High school, and I've always liked the looks of them. I'd forgotten that Revell made a kit of this car, and I was fortunate that the other day on eBay, I snagged a near pristine kit of one (only the engine blocks were glued) for $50.00. I'd certainly like to build this one sometime---------might open up the doors along with some other changes.

On the subject of the wheels--------perhaps the lugs could be made smaller to suit more even spacing? Looking at the pics it appears that they might be a tad oversized, thus throwing off the spacing of the fins. Just wonderin' out loud here as I do like the execution of them!

I'll take your word for it Dave as you have the body. I truly hope that it is indeed lens distortion and not mis-proportioning on their part. This is another of my favorites of the '60's (not to mention my year ), and I really would like to get all the versions of this one that Moebius will offer.

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/uploads/post-628-0-76364400-1412372699.jpg Hmmm..................I hate to be a killjoy, but that back end IS too long to my sight. More along the lines of a Bonneville than a Ventura. If Moebius is reading this------PLEASE do fix this! 3Q2015 is quite a ways off, and this car is too important to us "lunatic fringers" for this error to go unresolved!

Yup they were! As well as the overall wheelbase. I'm not sure by how much, but visually it is noticeable.

Yeah, still missing the little "kick up", but you're right.............much better than AMT's. If you're really good, you can add that tiny triangle at the base of the C pillars if Moebius doesn't correct it. I'll have to pass final judgment on the overall shape of the body when I have it my hot 'ol hands! From what I can see though......isn't the back end a bit long for a Ventura/Catalina??

Me thinks Bill it may just be the "promo" style. But who knows?? This is all very interesting!

Also, I can't help but wonder what other Johan tools could possibly be leftover from the old X-EL days? Hmmm........'55-'56 Pontiac, '58 Cadillac, perhaps even the '59 Chrysler?? One could only hope!

Very curious about that '59 Dodge body sitting there! That's the only model that has the CORRECT '57-'59 two door hardtop roofline. I have a lone body that I was going to cut up to fix the '58 Plymouth...........but with them being somewhat rare (and pricey), I don't have the heart to do it. There's another curiosity I see.........looks like a '57 T-Bird at the very bottom of the one pic. Diecast or plastic? Anyone know the scale? A full detail kit of the '57 'Bird is VERY much needed! Hooray on the redline tire parts pack!! I hate having to raid kits just for the tires, and they are VERY nice. From what I can see, that '61 Pontiac is looking mighty nice..........really looking forward to that one!

Thanks Mike I found him! He does have some nice wheels.......might get a set from him down the road.

Gerry, I tried to look up this seller on eBay, but they said the seller name was invalid. Is his username in all caps? I tried different variations...........

Bob if you were with the MAMA club back in the mid '90's, you might remember my GTO build from around this time in 1996. I used Norm's engine as it was my first endeavor into building this fantastic engine! As for fitting in the Italeri kit (which I used), it fits like a glove and practically no mods were done to the chassis. Here are a few pics............. I goofed on a couple of the carbs as far as the venturi tubes' depth. Not quite even on all of 'em. Of course if I were building this today, I'd have a different method in getting those symmetrical. BTW, I'm not so sure about Norm ceasing production of these engines. Last year (maybe two years ago), I bought from Norm his 250 GT SWB engine for an Italeri California Spyder kit which is on my someday pile. If he did quit making them, then it's very recently so. Here are a few more pics of the whole car.......... In answer to your question about the wheels, those KA sets are very nice as I have a set for the '57 Testarossa kit. The ones on my build here were actually hand laced units I bought from someone advertising them in the old SAE back in '96. I simply can't remember who it was that did them and if they're still making them nearly 20 years later. I do know that for the set of four, they cost something like $75 plus shipping back then. Yeah, I'd like to build this one again someday.............20 years hindsight shows me what things I'd do differently, and improve on. Hope this helps you out!

Bob, I can't give you an hour figure-----I started the thread on July 4th, so it's been not quite three months. There are periods when I'm able to work on it for several days in a row, and then there are times when I may not look at it for a few days. This will take me at least into late fall, if not early winter before I'm done. That'll depend if there's not a major SNAFU along the way. Looking at the chassis right now, I've run into a bit more detail I'll have to do in the exhaust area------that's making some kind of rubber "donut" mounts for it. Then there's some soldering I'm going to do to make the emergency brake cables as I want them attached to that "horseshoe" that attaches both cables. Other than that, so far so good!

Thanks for the compliments everyone! Yeah Mike, some pics I have show the tube wrapped and some don't. I don't think I want to tempt fate at this point and try to paint it.........it would be my luck that I'd get paint someplace it shouldn't be!

Now here's the tank all cleaned up with those contours redone................... Here's the tank section redid in some sheet plastic and square rod. And now how the tank should look when it's glued back in the chassis after painting. BTW, I've found that cutting the tank away does make for easier painting------it's one of the reasons I did this besides wanting to reshape that particular area of the chassis. OK, the chassis was painted Rustoleum Red Oxide Primer (this was a staple Ford color in the '60's) and the sides and part of the front frame rails were airbrushed gloss black to represent the factory overspray. You can see that I've added a brake and fuel line so far with brackets to hang them on. After the gas tank is painted and glued in, I'll make a simulated rubber hose out of some wire insulation, and run the excess wire inside the tank. Not sure if I'll add the sending unit wires......... In fact, I'll have to do all of this before I can put in the exhaust, and rear suspension. Well, that's it for the time being. I'm going to try (can't promise though) to do another update by next Sunday. I'll be way out of town come the 8th through the 18th next month so there won't be any building till after I get back home, which may not be for a few days after I'm home and settled. Just the same, the next update probably won't be until the near the end of next month. Hopefully by that time the chassis is all done (should be), and then it's on to the interior, then finally body painting after a few tweaks to the front end to accept the PE grille. Thanks for following along!

OK, sorry for the long pauses between updates------as I mentioned, a period of weeks can go by before I can get enough material together to make posting something worth my while. I like to show you folks more than just a couple pics.....at least when it comes to updates. Also, if you see certain pics that aren't showing up, you can blame Fotki for that as it seems as though they've got indigestion again. Finally! The engine's all done! Except for a few details that can wait until I'm about to put the engine in the chassis, for all intents and purposes it's all done! Here are some pics............... The air cleaner I'll use out of kit--------the paper element is some printed paper that I originally had made for a trunk mat for a stillborn '55 Ford Victoria build. I just cut the decal thin enough to wrap around the air cleaner, and used some Elmer's glue to attach. Is every little nook and cranny, angle and such, just like the 1:1? Probably not, but engine bays just simply look better when things are dressed up a bit. Something was still bugging me about the fit of those pillar vents, so I decided to add some .005" plastic shims to the upper part of opening, and tried to tighten things up a scooch. OK, that looks better! I"ll have to account for paint later on, so I don't want these too tight that paint will get scratched/chipped. Alright, I've GOT to do some surgery to the chassis! I didn't like the way the gas tank was molded, so I cut it away and decided to refashion the area that it would sit on. Gas tanks don't necessarily sit on "boxes", so I wanted to get rid of that look. The tank got rather mangled up when it was cut away, so I added some plastic back to it to replace some of the original contours. Stay tuned, there'll be more!

Ya gotta love Deborah Harry in "Rapture"! Rap had been done before this, but she brought it mainstream as this song was EVERYWHERE in the early '80's. If you're in to cult movies, who can forget her in Hairspray and the "exploding wig" scene! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9AHnAsoFAY

The closest you'll get to a really good P1800 is the resin kit that I have from Airtrax. Yeah, we REALLY could use a full detail glue kit of this car--------I once owned a 1:1 '65. Here's a few pics of the resin------some cleanup is needed but the shape of the body is a quite well done representation of the car. More can be seen here........... BTW, that Palmer kit isn't half bad! With some work (maybe more than some would like), it can be made into a decent model.

Yeah Skip, I've heard of those scams too on eBay and it's sad. To me, kits are meant to be built, not just collected and never opened------I don't see the purpose in that. Now of course for those of us that have more kits than we'll ever build..............weeell that's another story! At least the ones I have are NOT sealed and, the full contents can be seen if I ever decide to sell any of 'em.

I've become very wary of sealed kits, ever since I got burned on one years ago-------and this was long before eBay. This was back in the mid '80's and the kit was the "Golden Classics" issue of the '53 Studebaker Starliner. I had ordered it through an ad that was posted in (back then) SAE. The kit arrived at my place, factory sealed and all, but when I opened it------much to my surprise and chagrin, the body was very badly warped! To the point that it was unbuildable. So that was $20 down the drain, and the kit's body ended up being practice for paint. I see stuff that I'd like on eBay right now, but don't want to touch it as the kit's never been opened. No pics on what's inside?.........then probably no sale from me. Just sayin' that if he's reluctant to show anything in the boxes........well as they say "Caveat Emptor"!