Scale-Master

The wings have the end plates cast onto them and they are pretty thin, all things considered, but optional PE end plates are included in the kit for better detail. I filed off the end plates on these and used the PE items, definitely worth the effort.

SMTS 1/43rd white metal kit. First round of clean-up of the main body parts. It's a pretty clean casting but the nose was a little crusty. The side pods look like they fit well, but will need a fillet where they meet the main body. Back in the day I would have probably soldered the side pods onto the body, but I went with CA this time. First coat of primer shows what needs attention; not as much as I expected but still more to do…

Like most motorcycle models I build, I do the brake rotors early on if not the very first thing. Since these came pre-drilled all I had to do was paint them. But that took a couple days with drying times.

Thanks again everyone for the kind words! I really appreciate it.

Yes, I had to ream the spoke holes, not big deal since I have a nice set of reamers. I think the white version is the best looking of the three. The silver version has no personality compared to the red or white. The instructions on how to assemble the wheels is very detailed and specific even down to the cements to be used. The jig that is provided to lace the wheels works great. They also instruct to use the same jig to install the tires; unfortunately it has three little ribs to center the rim that chipped the paint when I tried to install the front tire. Since the spokes were cemented into the rim I had to repair the paint damage as an assembled unit, so I made cardstock mask and blended the two colors. I did not use the jig for the rear tire or for the front after I repaired the paint damage. The tires fit without too much effort onto the rims. I guess if you don't paint the rims the jig is a good idea for mounting the tires.

Thanks for the heads up Wolf. I have no problem making additional decals and adhering to the out-of-the-box "limitations" I'm staying within. The rims are two pieces affairs and fit very well, but there is still a fine but unwanted seam where the halves meet. The color called out for the rims is Gold Leaf but I thought the anodized gold look in the reference photos looked cooler so I used Titanium Gold under Clear Yellow from the LP colors. The spokes after being painted.

Next up, something simple, well by comparison to the Lola T70… I'm building it straight out of the box, but not following the proper sequence as the instructions show because I wanted to see how the chain builds up. I considered getting the detail-up kit for the chain, but I thought I'd try to stick with the true OOB spirit just in case it looks good enough... The kit provides a nice booklet of photos for reference and the instructions have detailed color call outs. However the two don't match on every item so I'm using both as a guide. The info for the chain falls in between the two.

After 46 full months I think it's done. WIP thread:

It's done:

Final assembly was pretty standard. The rear wing did not need to be cemented in place due to the grooves I scribed into the body for it. WIP Thread:

Thanks Bruce! A coat of clear hides a lot of the decal issues, but not all of them.

Lots of incremental progress spread out over a couple weeks; can't rush at this point. The engine cover is installed, hopefully for the final time and the electrical loom has been run to the rear lights. The latches for the front clip are on as are the mirrors and fuel & coolant filler caps. The windshield has been set in and sealed (only took 15 hours…) and several more detail decals were made and applied. Too bad the weather is so nasty and I can't shoot it outside, or in the sun…

The decals are very thin and surprisingly not too brittle compared to what I was expecting, but several of them did break apart during application and had to be pieced back together. The fit of the hood stripes leaves something to be desired, but I was able to get them to be very close to parallel as they should be. The sides of the rear glass are supposed to be carbon fiber and silver decals were provided that look more like a poor rendition of diamond plate. They do not fit at all and broke into several pieces. Since they should be closer to a black than silver I just painted over them with a couple coats of smoke. I didn't waste the effort to use the "C/F" ones for the wing end plates.

The tint they used is too dark so while I did some detail painting of the interior I don't expect it to be seen when it's finished. I also detail painted the inside of the rear section; it can be seen a little through the window.

The windows fit less than OK, the windshield and side windows are too small and not the same shape as the openings. I left as much extra material on the body when I test fitted them trying to disguise that fact, and making new windows is not something I think is worth the effort for this. Optimally they would be installed after the final clear, but they take clear well, usually… The gaps around them were filled with canopy glue once they were set in place.

I'm not sure I'd call this one pretty, but it is historical and has an interesting and impressive story to go with it. I painted it TS-76 Mica Silver; decanted.

The rear wing is PE so I soldered it together. First the end plates onto the main wing. Then the mounts. They are shown in the instructions to be installed sideways making the wing way too low; I followed photos of the rear car. And last the little wing element fits in place without soldering.

The wheels were much worse than I expected. The fronts had a severe problem with the lug nut holes. The rears were not round or centered. And they had a skew to them too. Rather than waste time trying to fix them I designed a new set in SolidWorks and printed new wheels. Too bad the tires aren't very round… They didn't look that bad before they were on the wheels.

The rear end needs a good amount of clean up too. After several hours of clean-up and rescribing I got most of the lines somewhat trued up. The headlights fit pretty well, but are bit more yellow than the real car. The exhaust pipes didn't clean-up too well so I drilled them out and made new brass ones.

This is a 1/43rd scale resin Starter kit from the mid 90's. I've intended to build it several times, but the body casting had so many issues I repeatedly put it back in the box instead of trying to clean it up. After having good luck with a set of small chisels on another one of these older resin kits I built, I decided to see if I could salvage this one. It's more of a side project to do while another larger project is having moments of dry time where it can't be worked on. The front spoiler was warped and broken but still attached to the body. (It should be flat against the surface it's sitting on.) Being so thin and brittle I made a new one and cemented it to the bottom. The extra thickness is acceptable considering the other shortcomings of the kit I won't fix. The left side door was sunken in and the body trim piece was not only wonky, but partially detached. The right side is not bad in the same area, but it has issues too. I reworked it with sheet styrene to fill the depression and made a new trim piece after removing the partly detached one.

I dirtied up the bottom a little bit more.

Just a repaint with some decals I made. Yes, it's a little Hot Wheels. It's also a test vehicle for larger scale "real" models.

After I lettered the spare I was really wishing these were Avon or Toyo or some other shorter name brand tire… Those outlines make for a tedious time too. I tried the sort of new Tamiya LP-4 Flat White lacquer and found it to be quite workable.

Tow hook; machined aluminum. The lock nut is a separate piece. (Sorry for the poor photos, gotta work on it when I have time…) Anodized red. Installed.

While there is a heavy screen built into the grille opening in the body, I added this fine stone guard screen too. The machined petcock has been installed, and I made a mask and stenciled LOLA onto the screen. A couple more fittings were machined and installed in this area as well.