tmathew1us

These cheap acrylic craft paints come in an incredible variety, and usually 69 cents to 1.59. My best success has been with using windshield washer fluid as a thinner, which I keep in a dropper. You can squirt out just a bit and thin it in small batches for brush painting small details. However, these type of paints are very susceptible to forming very particles that can clog an airbrush. Try straining it first with something very fine (pantyhose material works pretty well).

This 1:24 Italeri kit depicts the automobile winner of the 1981 Paris-Dakar Rally. The kit is curbside, and although there is no engine, it has a fair bit of interior detail,including a spare tire case, fuel tank with fuel pumps, and roll bar on the inside that will not really be visible once built. The picture on the front of the box is a slightly retouched photo of the actual kit model. Decals by Cartograf appear to be high quality The body is molded in good quality white plastic, with no swirls or heat marks. Could probably be used without painting, if you wanted to just add decals. The kit includes some mesh to depict the nets on the front windows (although the nets on the real truck were a much more open weave pattern). Only a very basic imprint of the engine on the underside. The interior panels and seats have decent detail.

Making some progress. Decals put down, needs a clearcoat and resume the assembly.assembly.

Working on the day-glo orange nose. Got some decals that represent the 1981 Jules-sponsored Le Mans winner.

I think this was just released last weekend. I am also not a huge fan of Corvettes, but any Le Mans car interests me. I personally think the box art could have been better, but I am really looking forward to this kit. The wheels appear to be correctly sized, bravo Revell!!

If this is the Revell version, then it is a great kit.(The sister Daytona version put out by AMT is much more challenging/inaccurate). For what its worth, the latest reissues of this Superbird kit do not include the circular Roadrunner logos on the giant rear wing, probably from copyright issues from the Roadrunner cartoon. So to get the most accurate decals, try to get hold of an older version of this kit.

This is the Tamiya Porsche 936 kit. The real-life Porsche 936 won Le Mans in 1976, 1977 and 1981. Curiously, Tamiya chose to kit the 1978 Martini livery version, which was not a winner. I am going to use aftermarket decals to depict the 1981 winner. This kit is so old, it still included a motor! Looks fairly simple,there is only rudimentary engine detail, lets see how it goes...

Beautiful job on all the Italians A friendly tip - if you can take the pictures at high noon or so, the pearl paint jobs will really sparkle. Nice work,

Hobby Search is saying November release date. This looks fantastic. Did Revell improve their wheel and tire sizing?? I hope so!!

Can't wait for this as a reasonably priced kit - as mentioned, was only available in 1:24 as the very expensive Profil 24. Looking forward to it!!

Thanks for the nice comments, guys, glad you enjoyed it.

This looks so much better as a coupe. Great job on the livery as well. I think a big wing on the rear would look good for this type of car.

That is excellent site. Its the definitive site for any and all info regarding P#1046, which I consider to be the most significant American racing car in history. That model is in my stash, and someday I will build it. Someday...

The 1:1 subject: Was this the real winner of the 1966 24 hours of Le Mans? If so, then this car, Ford GT40 Mk II Chassis 1015, could make a claim to be the most significant American racing car ever. The infamous story started with the dominance of the Ford GT 40s at the 1966 24 hours of Le Man. After several tries at Le Mans the previous two years, Ford finally appeared to have achieved its goal. Three GT40s remained well in the lead as the clock ticked down on the 1966 race. The controversy started after Ford gave orders for a photo finish of the 1-2-3 placeholders to cross the finish line close together. According to Charlie Agapiou, the chief mechanic for chassis 1015 (the car driven by Ken Miles and Dennis Hulme), the team believed they were a lap ahead, and thus did not need to cross the line first. However, the winning team of Chis Amon/Bruce McLaren has claimed to have been well ahead on the final laps, and that they were told to slow down by Ford executives to achieve a photo of all three cars crossing the line together. Their justification for being declared the winner is that had there been an all-out sprint to the finish, they would have easily won had they not been instructed to slow down. A second theory holds that Ford was most interested in claiming a 1-2-3 finish, and wanted to snuff out a possibility of Ken Miles' personal accomplishment of winning Sebring, Daytona, and Le Mans in the same year overshadowing the success of the GT40s at Le Mans. This achievement had never been accomplished, still hasn't, and likely never will be completed. Ken Miles had the best opportunity. Famously, Le Mans officials declared the black and silver No.2 car of Amon/McLaren the winner, citing the fact that since it had started further back in the field at the very beginning of the race, it had technically covered the most ground in the 24 hours (a matter of just about 60 feet overall). After the race, Miles was headed to winner's podium under the impression he had won. After being told by race officials that they had declared the Amon/McLaren car the winner, he was rightly furious. Ken Miles direct quote after the race:"I think I've been f#$%#$." In perhaps a very very thin silver lining, Miles did not have to deal with the insult and ignominy for long. He tragically died a few months later in a terrible accident while testing a Ford prototype at Riverside, California. Miles was a fantastically successful racer (vastly underrated in my opinion) and greatly contributed to the success of the Ford and Shelby racing teams. Today is the 50th anniversary of Ken Miles' death. The Model: This is a Revell rebox of the ubiquitous Fujimi GT 40. It even includes a photo-etched fret that has "FUJIMI" clearly printed on it. The Revell repop depicts the #2 1966 Sebring car driven by Dan Gurney. I have ended up with three copies of this model, the P1075 Gulf 68-69 winner, the black 1966 winner, and this car. The plastic frets are exactly the same in all three. I had been intimidated by my P1075 kit, as it is one of my very favorite racing cars of all time, and I was reluctant to make a mistake. Rest assured, this is a very simple model, and goes together easily. The color is a custom mix of craft store acrylics, mixed to resemble Ford Arcadian blue. I masked off the front red markings to resemble the markings used to differentiate the cars. Decals were custom made and printed onto white decal paper. I soaked the original wheels in bleach to clean off the chrome, primered them in black, and airbrushed them with Tamiya gold. I used Future for clearcoat, purposely avoiding a super glossy finish. This was not my best result, but overall was a fun car to build in honor of Ken Miles.

Looks very nice, those tall tires make it look presidential. I agree that this looks better in the stock version than the "Uptown" /lowrider version

I have also noticed the OP "problem" - Tamiya paints are designed to dry out fast, and they do ,especially if you leave the cap open and have a fan going, I have gotten in the habit of saving bottle caps from juice, milk containers, sports drinks etc. I use a toothpick to add several drops of paint into the cap, and then thin it with 91% isopropyl alcohol. This method works best when painting very small details, and if you mess up the ratio, you haven't ruined or wasted a whole bottle of paint.

I have had some issue with Future and the time it takes to dry, especially if the part being glued is a little reluctant to stay in place. I have also used Tamiya clear with a toothpick and capillary action - it dries a little faster than Future, and can be thinned or cleaned up with isopropyl alcohol. I feel it bonds quicker than Future.

beautiful!. I've always loved the view from the rear of the 935, as it looks like a street 911 rear end hiding underneath a racing body.

Awesome job. I do love wagons, especially hot-rodded ones.

This is a great Tamiya kit. The kit actually comes with a clear bonnet/hood as well, if you want to display the engine with the hood closed.

Such a cool idea! Looking forward to seeing the next set. I still remember the excitement as a kid of opening a Hot Wheels blister pack, and I still get some of that same excitement as an adult of ripping the cellophane off a plastic model kit.

Great looking car! It looks like the paint has a pearl effect - try taking pictures around noontime or so, when the sun is directly overheard to get the pearl to shimmer.

Fantastic, agree that the after-market wheels look much better. Why doesn't Revell correct this??!!

super cool!! looks great! does the rear hatch open from the model, or did you scratch build that?

I have a version of the kit this kit from AMT that has the pace car decals. As you probably know, the Stealth was pulled as the 1991 pacecar at the last minute, as the UAW did not appreciate a foreign-built car leading the way for the Indy 500. The Dodge Viper was substituted (a better choice IMO), and the Stealth was downgraded to a "festival car" to run errands and drive celebrities around the grounds.