tmathew1us

Gorgeous! Excellent detail, wonderful photography, all around great! As stated above, some of the photos look so realistic, just as you might see this very typical truck anywhere in North America!

Just as a heads up, sometimes the tires can sag a bit due to the weight of the model they must support. One trick is to pack the tires with cotton to help support and keep their shape over time. Coming along nicely!

Incredible work!! Did you use two kits to get the extra set of wheels?

Thanks for posting. So this looks like basically a rebox of the Trumpeter kit from 2009, but they didn't want to pay royalty fees to Ford. I have read mixed reviews on this kit, but seems like the price came down without the licensing. I think the Trumpeter kit had an MSRP of $259 back then, somewhat cheaper from the hobby houses. I have seen the Magnifier kit listed at ~$125, give or take. I think I will pull the trigger on this kit, before production gets halted again!

I would think airbrushing a model this size would be a very long, tedious process. Arcadian blue is a bit lighter blue than Gulf blue. I had been looking at these Trumpeter kits over the years, and was involved in some ebay bidding wars that I thankfully lost. As most of us probably know, this is a kit of the "official" (if not "real") winner of the 1966 24 hours of Le Mans. I wonder if they rushed a re-release to try to catch on to the excitement of the "Ford vs Ferrari" movie? A little late, but at least the kit is out. Does anyone know when this Magnifier version of the kit came out? Any pictures/unboxing of the kit?

I just found a straight-on photo of the headlights and shrunk it down and printed it. That website has to the definitive 905 1/24 scale database on the internet! Wow! That is a lot of research. I suspect there were cooling issues from the plastic coming out of the molds (something Tamiya never seems to have a problem with). Did you ever complete the kit?

Very cool! I wish Tamiya would have kitted this as well or instead of their Porsche GT 1 (which is a better looking car, but not a Le Mans winner). Great work on a rare model.

I would be pretty stingy with what you trade to him. See my "what's in the box" post to know what you are getting.

Thank you Dann! It is much more sparkly IRL, that paint would have looked better on a lowrider or Italian exotic.

First of all, thanks to everyone for the kind comments! I appreciate it! Heller kits are indeed I did the Bentley Blower kit, but this may have been a re-box of the Airfix? It was a wonderful kit. Thank you!. I have several Le Mans winners in various stages, hope to post more soon. Yes, such an interesting subject that does not get the attention of the other marques! Visiting Le Mans is definitely on my bucket list!

Curbside kit, comes with very nice BBS wheels (which I used on a different project). These wheels from my parts box. Paint came out a little blingy. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

The 1:1 car Developed by Peugeot Talbot Sport and with chassis engineering by Dassault (maker of fighter jets), the Peugeot 905 utilized a V-10 engine and chassis layout similar to F1 cars of the time. The 905B and 905 Evo 2 were very successful race cars, overall winners for the 1992 and 1993 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Model This kit is made by Heller, and also reboxed as an Airfix kit. The contents can be viewed here I tried to depict the 1992 24-Hour winner, which was the 905B pictured below (photo linked from wikipedia). The Heller kit depicts a slightly different version, with a front wing and vents over the front wheel arches. I made some decals depicting the winning driver names and 24 hours of Le Mans logo. I made some slight changes to the model to represent headlights and the blanked-out front vents. Overall this may be the worst kit I have ever put together. The overall fitment is very crude, and the kit is warped in several areas. The model is designed to reveal a very simple engine, but attempting to keep the rear engine cover off causes all kinds of fitment problems, so I glued it shut. The engine does need to be assembled as it is part of the rear suspension as well, similar to a Formula 1 car. The included decals were decent. As a fanatic of Le Mans-winning cars, I slogged through this kit to complete a 24 hour winner. This kit is a loser. I would strongly caution all but the most ambitious builders to avoid this kit. It's a shame, as this model's poor engineering is a disservice to one of the great French racing cars, a two-time winner of the 24 hours of Le Mans.

Looks benign from these pictures, but beware...

great work on a beautiful race car! If you are not aware, the 1:1 was recently discovered and they are trying to crowd fund a restoration. https://www.motortrend.com/news/1998-toms-racing-toyota-supra-barn-find/

Alex, wonderful work, it feels nice to complete a simple curbside slump buster to generate some momentum, doesn't it? I figured you had a pretty large collection from the Italian Horses days, but wow!! One reason I held myself from getting into 1:18 diecast was that I knew this could happen. Its too easy to buy them, whereas collecting models slow you down at least a little bit. At least as long as I keep lying to myself that I am eventually going to build everything in my collection. Thanks for sharing your build, techniques, and your model room - very inspiring!!

Gorgeous, as always. Great work. I would love to see your modeling shelf some time. It must be packed!

Awesome job on a Group B monster!!

I have always had fogging problems with superglue and will no longer use it after too many ruined windshields. 5 minute epoxy seems to work better, and as mentioned, is more forgiving.

Seamless! beautiful job. Was this made using the '66 Chevelle kit? Would love to see work-in-progress pix if you still have them.

Great job so far on what is, IMHO, the most beautiful Japanese car ever made. Can't wait to see how this turns out.

beautiful job! The third pictures looks like an angry insect!

Stunning work, and I totally agree - the weathering is just right. Very realistic, this would look right at home at the Revs Institute.

Thanks for all the comments! Alex, I was inspired to build it from my stash after seeing the blue one you built a while ago.

The BMW Sharknose, a classic from the 1980s. The Tamiya kit goes together easily.