Jim Gibbons

This is simply beautiful, and your work on it, stunning. The detail on the engine insert is amazing! You should have included the fact that this is 1/43 in your description, as it looks like it could be a far larger scale, and will fool a lot of people! Bravo. (Before I put my foot in my mouth, this is 1/43, no? I'm judging on the QTips and tools as a point of reference, and still having a hard time believing this could be 1/43!)

Homerun...love it!

Beautiful!

Sir William Lyons now officially has a Smith tachometer mounted on his headstone! Hard to believe the E Type is officially 50 years old as of this past March. I build mostly stock, but this is a fascinating build, and I'm enjoying the craftsmanship going into it. I will be following this.

Indeed, a red letter day in automotive history. I was sitting on my front porch a few days ago, and a sweet '65 6 cyl. notchback drove by. It was beautiful in black with a red interior, and thin whitewalls. It was so appealing. More years ago than I care to admit to, and artist friend of mine had a similar car. Hers was maroon with a tan interior, 6 cyl., 3 speed stick. We'd go to the beach in it. Life is good when you go to the beach with a pretty girl and a Mustang. I need to build another early Mustang model. All the ones I've built, I've given to friends. I'd like to find an AMT 1/16 kit and replicate either Linda's, or that sweet black one. At least I have a GMP 1/6 dashboard to satisfy my Mustang needs. Somewhere, I still have a couple of the F&F Post cereal cars from when I was a kid. I have to go to storage and dig those out.

Looking forward to seeing this done. I've always been fascinated by these cars. I wish there was a resin kit of the B.A.T.9.

As an avid reader and huge fan of libraries, this is great news! Hmmm...I need to have a discussion with my librarians about their periodical subscriptions!

Well, Skip, you're guilty of making me spend some money. I checked out your Ebay link, and for grins, added my bid. I felt pretty confident the bids would sail past it. Well, they didn't. I got it at $71. Yeah, not exactly cheap, but fairly reasonable, especially in light of one site trying to get $175 for it. I built this kit 30 years ago, after I had built the Convertible Coupe. It's a neat blast from the past. The previous owner had started the engine, but never scraped plating off, so most of the parts popped off. The only parts missing from the kit is the rear separate trunk, which was in the Ebay pic, but I think they forgot to pack it. I don't care, as I have no intention of using it. There were a couple of really nice tweezer sets and a nearly new XActo knife in the box (and a 4th of July sparkler???!!!) so, it more than made up the missing trunk. A brief re-visit of the kit was great; this is indeed, a fine kit. The two bad issues are some incredibly large ejector pin marks on the underside of the body parts, and some very serious sink marks in the front fenders adjacent to the fender mount spare locations. They will be dealt with. I didn't 30 years ago, and likely didn't notice them the way I do now. I won't be working on this kit initially; I'm waiting for the Convertible Coupe version to arrive first. I'm a bit concerned as the coupe has the body molded in red, and I've followed some bleed through threads. If anyone has some prep/primer suggestions, I'd appreciate it. I plan on an automotive paint medium grey metallic for the body. Whatever kit I do indeed start on, I'll post a thread in Big Boys as a journey of building it. While I'm here, and since you folks are classic car fans, I have a question. I was able to get an original Monogram Mercedes Benz 540K model for $9.95 (early box, red colored instructions, etc). Not too shabby. I received this very kit for my tenth birthday, and built it out of the box with little detailing. Sadly, it didn't survive numerous moves, etc., and is lost to everything but memory. I am sorely tempted to build it the same way I did as a kid; I might polish the red plastic, add a little more detail, engine painting, etc. but just do a clean build of it with a minimum of paint. Am I nuts? Heck, I build, not collect. I'm pretty convinced there are enough of the 540Ks out there that I shouldn't feel guilty. Whaddya think?

Looks great; I really like the early Valiants. I remember that the power company, LILCO (Long Island Lighting Company)had basic 4dr sedans as company cars, and if memory serves me, they were that same blue.

Very cool; I hope he does get back into welding some styrene together again! It's never too late. You have to post pictures when he brings the old models back.

Glad you broke this out into a new thread. I like the old school rods (including flames!) that look like finished projects. Yes, I do like some primered and "Ratrod" types, but I'd rather see a nicely painted and finished one. I love looking at early 60's custom car magazines and the trends back then. On stock vehicles, I like to see them as close to factory as possible. I am not a fan of over-restored vintage and special interest cars that have every factory, dealer, and aftermarket accessory plastered on them. When I was a kid, I can't say that I ever saw a car from the '50s with a Continental kit, cruiser skirts, rear fender antennas, ad nauseum, on them. Heck, whitewall tires were the exception rather than the rule. The fanciest car on my block was a '63 Mercury with the Breezeway roof and thin whitewalls. The two other favorites for me was another neighbor's white '60 Ford Country Squire (I loved the fake woodgrain, and it did have whitewalls,) and another neighbor's '57 Ford Fairlane 500 in two tone green (not a whitewall to be seen.) In '66, our next door neighbor got a new Mercury Comet 2dr hardtop; red, black vinyl roof, whitewalls. It was the first vinyl roof I ever saw on our block. It was a really pretty car, and took the fanciest car award away from the person who had the '63 Mercury as he had traded it in for an attractive, yet seemingly mundane '65 Ford Galaxie 4dr hardtop in teal (with whitewalls.) Here's a couple of pictures I had gotten from a site about the town I lived in at the same period of time. Neat stuff.

I agree; I do have to say that the headlight solution is cool, as it allows an "elegant" way of combining parking/turn signals in the headlight bucket. I've seen a number of old rods using commercially available separate lamps that look a bit out of place. Now I'll be a bit controversial; I like "RatRods," I really do. I've seen a number that appeal to me, and I look at models posted from folks like Chuck Most that blow me away. The current trend of it in 1:1 bothers me a bit, though. Someone will spend a lot of time on a decent body design, have all the right mechanicals, yet the project looks unfinished. I guess I'm old school. An appealing paint job, maybe some scallops or pinstriping, etc. would be nice. Heck the way I look at it, if you have the expendable cash to have a toy, why not make it a bit enviable? Yes, paint is expensive, but relative to the total project, not that much. I really don't mean to offend anyone about this; I'm just stating my own opinion. Here's my graphic representation of my opinion. Please don't beat me up on this; I'm just ventilating a bit.

Very nice! I really like "old school" rods and customs. That color is great; I HAVE to use it on something!

That is sweet! Paint, interior, wheels; everything. Fantastic work. I've lusted after these cars after I saw a 1:1 at Lime Rock in silver/red interior when they first came out.

This is an incredible feat in paper! You definitely have to get a photo account, then post some of the building process photos, especially the chassis/engine detail. It's rare to see any brass era car modeled, and this is one of the icons. Brilliant work.

My heart goes out to you; I'm reminded of Pete Seegar's song "Turn! Turn! Turn! (to Everything There Is a Season)", adapted from the Book of Ecclesiastes. If there's to be any comfort and solace for you, it's that she had her life together before her untimely death. There's a lot of nobility and strength of character in that. I feel your pain, as it nearly happened to me; I had open heart surgery for a rare condition, constrictive pericarditis. I was doing very well for a couple of days, then tanked. My lower intestine ruptured, and peritonitis set in. I was not expected to survive after an emergency laparotomy. It likely was caused by an assisting doctor puncturing it during a paracentesis when a needle and drain are inserted to release the fluids I had built up. I now have an ostomy bag as a result. I am a lucky man, indeed; I have been given a second chance in life. I'm saddened your ex didn't have the same chance. Last July, I lost a good friend to a drug overdose. She was bipolar, and struggled with severe depression. She seemed to be doing so much better; marathon talks and pleasant meals together seemed to be doing her a world of good. One night, an acquaintance of hers decided she needed to shoot up some drugs to feel better. She died in her chair with a needle sticking out of her arm. It was a combination of heroin and cocaine, and what was so painful to me was that she wasn't a drug user. I watched the EMT's try to revive her on the kitchen floor, to no avail. That is a sad and stupid way to go. As I'm sure you know, anger is one of the phases of grief; I hope you get over that. I'll be thinking of you, and pray you'll find acceptance soon. You have my heartfelt condolences.

1/18 CMC Mercedes Benz 300SLR, winner of the 1955 Mille Miglia.

Thanks! Again, it's just been my experience. It's definitely not saying I know what I'm doing all the time!

I'm going on my experience; I find that if the blade dulls, it tends to tear the foil rather than cut it cleanly. Yes, in a open area such as a window, and there is little resistance on the blade, it is less of an issue. When I do aircraft and have to have close, clean mating areas from panel to panel, a dull blade will be disasterous. Ask me how I know! I do seem to recall a thread where someone lubricated the knife blade with lamp oil when trimming foil. I have to try that out when I do an aircraft model again.

Good for you! (I mean that in the most positive sense!) I use this method constantly. I buy the cheapest dollar type store foil I can find, but I use a different adhesive. I use Micro Metal Foil Adhesive from Microscale which is a brush on adhesive. It's like a thin latex version of rubber cement. The good thing about it is that you use it after it dries, and when dry, can sit for a long period of time without having to apply more adhesive. Usually, it's applied to the foil, but I've built a number of natural metal finished aircraft this way, and applied it to the plastic. I use rubbing alcohol to clean the brush. You can order this adhesive from squadron.com (enter "foil adhesive" in the search). Bare Metal Foil company also lists an adhesive; I guess they've gotten some complaints on their foil. Here's a WW2 P-38 J Lightning built this way. I do have to add this; you have to use a new or constantly sharpened knife blade. The foil will dull it rapidly.

You are likely right; I'm not an expert on Ferrari engines. I was thinking of the 917 era cars, and thought that the Ferraris had a similar boxer design. That and I was thinking of the 1/16 512BB model I built eons ago. Was that a boxer design or angled? That's what I love about this forum; I never stop learning!

Since I joked about grandma, I had to include this photo of her and my mother, circa 1932. It'll make a nice backdrop for the Packard model. I actually might do a bit more recoloring in Photoshop to improve the original hand tinted print, then size it and cut it out as a foreground "stand-up" accessory for the model.

I have been able to get the '37 Convertible Coupe model at a very reasonable price, far less than Ebay. It was shipped from Canada today. It's an early release, with the body molded in red. I wish it had been a later one molded in tan, but I'm not going to complain. It'll be primed and painted in automotive colors anyway. I'm contemplating the color scheme; I'm leaning towards a metallic grey similar to the following picture: I am considering the interior in a dark red "leather" finish. The roof would be finished in black, with red piping. I don't know if red piping was available from the factory, but it looks good. I've seen Cords that way, and built a model of one that way for my doctor. It adds a little visual interest. Artistic licence, etc. The one thing I would like to do, but have no bloody idea how to do it accurately, is to add red pinstriping to the body and wheels. Red decal sheet will work for the body, but I would also like to stripe the wheels. I have no bloody idea how to do that since the wheels have a conical shape, and decals might not work well. I'm having nightmares from my early drafting days using a ruling pen in a compass with acrylic paint. Any suggestions would be greatly welcomed! Here's a nice one in blue; this shows the pinstriping a bit better. Any comments. suggestions, etc. will be welcomed. When I start this, I will start a post in this Big Boys forum. It's been over 30 years since I last built this kit, but I'm looking forward to re-visiting it. And for fun, a Packard promotional photo (grandma was a hottie, lol!):

Those would actually be considered "boxers" as they're horizontally opposed 12's rather than in a Vee. The VW Phaeton (and also the Bentley/RR) engines are W-12's. Don't know if any of those are modeled, but likely in diecast. It's possible that the Liberty V-12 is available in WW1 aircraft in 1/72 or 1/48 scale from a company like Roden or Eduard. The way I look at it, a 12's a 12, no matter the configuration!

The 1/16 Entex (Bandai) 1937 Packards. Any of the Ferrari 250 GTOs that have engine detail such as the old Aurora/Monogram releases.