Gluebomber

That's a beauty! Doesn't need a thing.

Thanks for the review, Gary. Also thanks for the reference photos of the real car. I've been on the fence about buying this kit, but the car is such a stunner, I may go ahead and add this one to my pile of kits, which already contains a few FPP's. You've mentioned the odd choice of including a complete engine in a kit with a closed hood and the lack of dashboard details. Also, the brushed aluminum pe fret contains windshield and rear window frames when they're already molded in the body. On the other hand, the side window frames use the pe parts in channels in the body. On the plus side, the already nice wire wheels look even better than usual. Also the chrome bumpers and lights are a nice addition and look really nicely done. Thanks again for the info.

Very sharp model and an exceptionally clean build. Great Job!

I like this one a lot. Really nice work! Also, your color choices were perfect!

Really nice work, Nathan. You got a good, "non-sparkly" silver finish that looks very realistic. What paint did you use?

Looks great, Joe. As you said, it's a rough kit and you did a nice job with it. Good Build!

Nice Work, Matt! You really got the most out of that little kit.

Thanks for the kind words, Guys. Jason, when I was opening the hood, the front edge of it scraped off some of the white strip on the nose. I'l try to do some paint and body work over the weekend and if I get it fixed, I'll post a front end pic or two. Thanks for asking.

I've had the Tamiya Honda S800 kit in my stash for years. Although it looked like a good kit, I felt it needed "something" but couldn't figure out what it was. After looking at it for about the tenth time, I decided it would be interesting to envision what Caroll Shelby would have done to it if he saw it in the same way he saw the little British AC that became the Cobra. I started by opening up and flaring the rear wheel wells to accommodate the great resin Minilite wheels and tires from Motobitz that have been calling my name since I got them a couple of years ago. Then I got the 289 engine from the Revell Mustang GT350R and grabbed my grinder to start hogging out room in the engine compartment that was sized for the little Honda 4 cylinder that came in the kit. I scratchbuilt the roll bar and braces, got the seats from the Revell 289 Cobra, and found some seatbelt hardware and extinguisher in my parts box. I sized down some leaf springs and made a much shorter driveshaft. Paint is Automotive Touchup Guardsman Blue and the stripes are Tamiya Spray Pure White. Decals are cobbled from my spares. Side pipes (which may be a little too large) are made from aluminum tubing. The rest of the parts came from the Tamiya kit. The are still some things that need to be fixed before it ever sees a contest table, but I thought I'd post some pics anyway. All comments and constructive criticism are welcome. Thanks for looking!

Thanks again for the kind words. Niko, I don't remember what I paid for my kit but Pinto just sold one on ebay for $139US. He also has a Facebook page and you might be able to get one a little cheaper if you order from him directly. Hope that helps.

Thanks again for the kind comments.

Beautiful work, Anders!

Nice build, Hugh. That's a fussy kit and you did a really nice job on it.

Thanks again for the kind words, Guys.

Patrick, here's a link to the ebay page for this kit: https://www.ebay.com/itm/PORSCHE-550-Spyder-Panamericana-54-Le-Mans-55-or-Targa-Florio-56-FPPM-1-24-kit/123642422076?hash=item1cc9a9a33c:g:JpkAAOSwuGhbqn17:rk:16:pf:0 Pinto also has a Facebook page and you can save a little by ordering from him directly. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the kind words, Guys. JC, I agree we need more PanAm kits. I got some decals from Pattos Place and Scale Designs decals for sports cars that ran in the races but I'd like to see some for the Oldsmobiles, Chevies, and Studebakers that ran.

The annual Carrera Panamericana road race was run from 1950 through 1954. The races covered the length of Mexico, the first one from Juarez on the U.S. border south to El Ocotel on the Guatemalan border, and the other four from Tuxtla Gutierrez, near Guatemala, north to Juarez. The 1950 race was dominated by Detroit iron with Hershel McGriff winning in a 1950 Oldsmobile 88. Later races attracted European sports car teams which had endurance racing experience from running at Targa Florio, Le Mans, and the Mille Miglia. The race was discontinued after 1954 because of the high number of driver and spectator casualties (26 in five years) due to poor driving conditions and lack of safety regulations. This model represents the Porsche 550 Spyder driven by Hans Herrmann in the 1954 PanAm, finishing First in the Small Sports Class and Third Overall. The kit is a recent release from Fernando Pinto Models of Portugal, built mostly box stock. As usual for Pinto's kits, it was relatively basic but not exactly shake-and-bake. A fair amount of time was spent getting the front ride height correct and figuring parts placement due to the sketchy instruction sheet. The finish is MCW Mercedes Silver. In pictures I've seen of this car, the silver appears to have more of a satin finish so I left the paint unpolished. The red rear fender flashes are Tamiya spray Italian Red. Tamiya acrylics and Alclad metallics were also used. The model is far from perfect, but I was glad to add this relatively unusual car to my shelf. All comments and constructive criticism are welcome. Thanks for looking!

If you need replacement decals, Pattos Place has a pretty good sheet for Chaparrals 2A - 2J that have the numbers and roundels: http://members.optusnet.com.au/pattosplace/home.html

Really nice build, Chris.

Beautiful build as usual, Len. Great subject too!

This one jumped off the screen for me. Superb color choice and great job on the build!

Fernando Pinto's models are not shake and bake, but with a little work his kits can produce some really nice models. Here's a link to a posting on his Talbot Lago I built a couple of years ago: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/114198-talbot-lago-1950-le-mans/?tab=comments#comment-1644844 He also does kits of some really interesting subjects. I've got several of his cars from the Carrera Panamericana races of the '50's.

Really nice work. I like the color as well. What paint did you use?

Wow! I like that a lot. Great job, Bruce!

Brian, thanks very much for the offer, but after our conversation I took another look at those lights. After stripping the chrome and painting them aluminum with chrome light faces they didn't look bad at all. They've now been mounted on the car and I feel much better about it! Thanks again for your input and offer to cast me some new ones.