Scale-Master

I machined the trunk latch…

Show me one in person and I'll believe it.

I fail to see your logic on this Harry. You are stating something as an absolute fact when it is really just an opinion that has been not been proven to be absolutely true. Basing your perspective on a photo of a beautiful die-cast does not preclude the fact that there are talented and skilled people (many you may not have ever seen their work) that can (and have in my opinion) done better paint jobs on plastic models than die-casts. Unless you are really saying "Not just anyone can get as nice of a finish on plastic as mass-produced die-cast, but there are some who can." That is a whole 'nother statement.

I know I have seen paint jobs on plastic models that are every bit as good as that die-cast, (dare I say possibly better?). In fact an ex-member here has done several that come to mind. Without seeing the Ferrari in person it would not be a fair comparison though. Plus how do we know it isn't Photoshopped?

Front shocks are almost done too. The double nuts with washers were machined as single pieces and are threaded. The lock nuts will have nylock centers.

Thanks Ray! More work done and parts added to the calipers. I machined all the bolts and the bleeder valves and added the lines that connect the pistons. They look similar, but there are fronts / rears and lefts / rights.

Thanks guys. I think it looks darker in the photos that in person. The color on the hood in second to the last photo is more how I see it on my end.

It's a curbside. No engine or bay. The interior was one piece plus a steering wheel. Remember it's only about 4 inches long...

Tom touched on something I was thinking as I read through these lists. How many of these favored kits impress you by just looking at the pieces or at models built by others compared to having actually built them? I can say I see a few listed that look impressive in the box, but don’t build into the wonderful model one might expect from those parts.

The brass frame is painted and it’s time to start building. 21 months to the day I started making parts and it is now going officially into the assembly stage. The pumpkin assembly for the differential went in first; I still need to make the cosmetic fasteners for it. Next the fuel tank went in. I machined the fasteners for it today since it isn’t mounted on brass guides like the diff, the hardware holds it in.

I primed the frame getting it prepped for paint. Two part polyester primer. The stuff sands very nicely.

This is the oil cooler. I made most of the housing when I was building the radiator, but I wasn’t happy with the first core. I used the same material (aluminum) and learned from my first attempt to make a better core. Then I finished the housing. Yes, the core does allow airflow. I still need to make the mounting hardware and fittings.

Thanks guys! It is the long tail version of the F1 GTR, so it does look sleeker and leaner than the more common short tail, like the street version.

I picked up this kit in 97 or 98, Im not sure how rare it is now, but I havent been able to find another one. The decals were the main reason I bought it, I wanted to build the version that the kit built. Sadly the decals were too brittle to be saved by even two coats of clear before application, so I had to make replacements for just about all of them. A few of the smaller sponsor decals were usable. The color called out in the instructions was not the traditional blue, and it was also stated to be metallic so I used Tamiya Deep Metallic Blue. Its 1/43rd scale.

OK, this thing has been sitting for a quite a while due to the paint fighting with itself on the main body. Most of the car is done; I just need to finish the body. A few times I sanded out the wrinkles (on the right rear) and touched up the paint only to have the issue come back a month or so later, so I stopped touching it up but continued to sand out the wrinkles as they appeared every few months. I thought I had won the battle back in April 2012, but sadly the same thing happened a little while after I painted it once again. I continued to sand it as problems manifested, but I noticed it has been pretty stable all year. Its been about 6-8 months since I last sanded the problem area and it looked the same as when I last checked. First I had to blend the white base in, and I found by tinting white primer with yellow and pink I could apply less paint and get an even blendable base. Then I started building up the Fluorescent Red. You can see what I painted yesterday does not match, (it is too pale and lacking vibrancy, and not 100% uniform), but it is all the paint I can apply this round. Today I built up some more TS-36. Still not there, but getting closer It still needs another round of paint, but Ill probably let this dry for a while to make masking easier

Of all the companies I've built box art models for Ertl is the only one that had the builder leave the windows out. Headlights were always used. Knowing what was built and seeing the final retouched box art I can say that other than the windows it was only minor highlights and an occasional reflection that was airbrushed in. It isn't as if they reworked the model to hide major flaws.

The brakes and wheels are gorgeous Bill. Absolute jewelry.

Do you really want to eat the plastic model replica of the burger in the photo? "Food" for photos is a lot more model than food in many cases.

OK, that one would qualify as a disappointment to me, but not for those stated reasons as they were expected. My disappointment in those three kits is the woefully undersized rear wheels and tires. Something I had not noticed prior to opening the kit. Which I went ahead and built to completion. All the other issues can be overcome relatively easily, but not sourcing a new set of rears to match the rest of the car.

There is no "best mold" that is used to produce the best kit for the box art build up. The fact is many times the kit for a first release is built from a test shot or pre-production run. Not better than the kit parts. In some cases extra kits are provided, not for a selection of better parts, but for a back up in case a part is lost or some other issue. It is to save time since often there is a deadline. Some box art is touched up, but that does not mean it affects the way the built up represents the way the kit builds up. The older kits mostly discussed here likely did not have much if any box art touch up done to them. Of course many box art models are built by people who are compensated/commissioned to do so, but then what part of the entire business of models do people not get paid to do a job? Why would it matter whether someone was paid or not to build the box art model? I see a lot of well built models done for the sheer fun of it.

I can understand when the box art shows a photo of the real car, or an artists rendering that creates some excitement for the subject, but when the box art shows a built up kit made from the parts inside the box, even if just on the side panels, why is it such a surprise once the box is opened? I see more than a few comments about how about how some kits are unbuildable or the parts are basically useless. How can that be if there are photos of the actual kit completed well enough to show what it looks like finished provided on the box?

Dont mind at all Terry, thanks. But it was corrected a good 3 & 1/2 years ago as shown in post #23 in this thread. I had some conflicting info when I was building that section early on, but found some photos and painted them.Coincidentally I was just looking at this project last night thinking I should resume it and maybe finish it

I guess I'm not as picky as some, or maybe I just have a good idea of what to expect from any given kit. I have built many of the ones listed in this thread. Some multiple times. And some for the box art photos, (they can be built). I think I have been pleasantly surprised more times than I have been disappointed by kit contents; at least not due to manufacturer or shipping errors and damage, short shots, missing or broken pieces... But only one model was so bad and not what I expected that I started and after significant build time I decided it was best that it be put back in the box and shelved, permanently (so far). It was the Heller 917 in 1/24th scale. I had already built the Ferrari 330 P4 so I thought I knew what to expect. No comparison. After that last car I built, maybe I should take a look and see if I have different feelings about it?

After I test assembled the lap belts by bolting them into the frame and wrapping them over the seats I found they would not lay the way I wanted them to. So I had to mount them to the seats and forgo the lower mounting points. Not a real issue as they were not even visible once the seats were installed. All the stitching and labeling is done on the shoulder harnesses even the ones behind the seat. And here are all the lap belts. I’ll probably add some wear to the assemblies later, but they’re done for now…

It's done now, under glass...