cortinanut

Thanks so much! This isn't 2% of what you accomplished with yours, Peter, but it helps me feel I'm getting back into the modeling groove. These are such appealing cars, and by this point I think every one has become one-of-a-kind.

Wow, that's nice--toughest looking Karmann Ghia ever. Great concept and execution!

Thanks, guys! This is nowhere near the level of so many builds I see on this forum, but it felt good to finish. The Aoshima kit is amazing in terms of fit and molding quality. The ride height struck me as closer to the rubber-bumper generation of MGBs; otherwise the whole kit was one pleasant surprise after another.

My second completed kit after a 10-year hiatus, this is the Aoshima chrome-bumper MGB which came with an American SATCO resin LHD dash. It's box stock but for interior flocking, a license plate decal and a slightly lowered suspension. I wish it were not a curbside, but my skills are frankly not up to building an engine compartment. The paint is Dupli-Color GM 353 Dark Red Metallic and MM High Gloss Clear; the interior is Polly Scale Old Concrete. Although I still need to come up with an appropriate rear view mirror for the driver's door, for now I'm calling it done.

I wound up lowering the suspension as Peter described (thanks for the tips!), and the model is now finished except for an outside rear view mirror. The mirrors that came with the kit are a bullet style and not plated.Virtually all MBG photos I've looked at show a flat-style chrome mirror. I'll come up with one eventually, but for now I'm going to call it finished. Will post more pix in Under Glass--that'll be a first for me!

Some great work on display there--I especially enjoyed the Ferraris, new and old.

Great looking Dart!

Gorgeous model! That engine bay is just phenomenal.

Really enjoying watching your progress! Great subject, and nice to see it getting the factory stock treatment. Those early '70s Olds 88s are the best looking Detroit full-size cars of the era IMHO.

Holy moly what a spectacular build! That's absolutely stunning. I won't be attempting anything on that level, but I may try the same suspension mods you did. Wow.

First attempt at posting photos here--I'm slowly getting back up to speed after being out of the hobby for about 10 years. Here's an Aoshima 1:24 MGB in progress, with the body test fitted to the chassis. The ride height seems too high to me, and I've begun to think the wheels and tires are too big. As the chrome-bumper version of the kit, this should represent an MGB from roughly the late '60s, I think--certainly before the 1:1 car's ride height rose to meet new bumper standards. Just looking for impressions, input or especially experiences from any others who have built this kit. It has beautifully molded chrome wires with Dunlop tires that read 185SR14 on the sidewall. (I have the exact same tires packaged in an American Satco bag and labeled as 185/60R14.) These sizes should be right in the ballpark for an MGB, if scaled accurately. I don't seem to have anything in the parts bin suitable to try--anyone know of any Minilites on the market in an appropriate size? Try to ignore all the Novus #2 I failed to polish out of the headlight area!

The one that startled me in those shots is the box packaged as "USED CAR" in this pic: http://toys-n-cars.com/images/wall8.jpg What is that, a Fairlane? Anyone familiar with the kit?

Glad to hear it's on! I haven't been in years (wasn't building either) but definitely want to go this year.

The LS1 is a fairly common transplant into Miatas, as is the Ford 5.0. Check out the Engine Conversions section in the forum of Miata.net for a wealth of build threads, photos etc.

I'm always happy to see a Miata build, too. Eventually I hope to build models of the three 1:1 Miatas I've owned. That Tamiya kit is quite accurate, as you'd expect, though as I recall it's a curbside. Best of luck on both builds!

Beautiful job! Very clean and well conceived--I never would have guessed how good this modification could look.

Wow, I grew up partly in Raeford! Small world.

Thanks for the suggestions! If letting the air out doesn't work I'll try heating it a bit.

Thought I recognized several of your models, Jeff! We don't have a precise release date on the book, but it'll be soon--it's in printing now, so I'm guessing first week of December. I'm in awe of the work the Guildsmen did--not only scratchbuilding entire models, but DESIGNING them from a clean sheet of paper, figuring out how to construct them, finely detailing them, and applying a show quality finish. At ages from 12 to 20! It's no wonder so many of the contestants went on to become automotive stylists in adulthood.

Probably a dumb question, but here's my dilemma. I hadn't built a model for 10 years until recently. I pulled out a Tamiya Alfa GTA Sprint that I had begun way back when, and soon got back in the groove. Then I found I was missing a tire. After ransacking the parts bin and pulling out several more models to work on (no spray booth yet; wanted to get paint on several bodies to last me through the winter) I found the missing tire. For some idiot reason I had stretched it onto a wire wheel in my Aoshima (?) MGB kit and left it there. So now it's quite stretched out and loose on the Alfa wheel. My question is, Is there an easy way to shrink that tire just a bit? Do I need to freeze it, for example? Maybe it will shrink by itself over time, but I'd love to hear ideas. Thanks!

The Mariner Blue looks great in scale! Thanks for the inspiration--I've just recently gotten back into building and am itching to build up the Aoshima NB kit to match my 1:1.

Saw this thread pop back up and I can't resist mentioning that a new book on the FBCG is about to be published. Some of you may be familiar with John L. Jacobus's history of the Guild, published in 2005. His second book, this time consisting of firsthand essays by contestants, recollecting how they built their models, will be published in early December. (Full disclosure: I work for the publisher of both books, McFarland.) Hoping it's kosher to provide a link--you can see both books at http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/searches/advanced_search2.php?advanced=jacobus&x=0&y=0, or on Amazon. The new book has 215 photos. As a lapsed modeler just getting back into the hobby (six projects going, none finished yet), I found it to be pretty inspirational stuff--guys talking about doing chrome plating at home, borrowing mom's vacuum cleaner motor to spray paint with, experimenting with all sorts of materials and casting methods, and designing some really amazing cars.

I'd dearly love to get hold of such a kit. I do have a '61 Bonneville wagon resin kit (from R&R if I recall correctly) awaiting a build; it shows up often on eBay. But a '64 is what we had in my childhood (a Catalina, actually, but not much difference in wagon form).

Same here!!!

Hope you can solve the warp and cracks. This is a phenomenal model! I'm not usually into custom stuff, but this stands to be a mind-blower.