sports850

I've got them out of the box , they are only the outer halves I'm afraid (this kit gives you one set of tyres and one set of wheel backs with two choices of outer half , I used the standard wheel outer when I built it) , the half is 5mm wide and 18mm diameter . I checked a few other spare tyres and wheel backs I have here and none fit (all either bigger or smaller ) . The wheel halves are still on the sprue and if you want them I'm happy to send them free , just PM me your address .

I have the wheels from the 56 chev that you can have if you want them ?

Very nicely done Jonathan .

I've only just found this thread , absolutely amazing work . If it wasn't for the timber bases I wouldn't know whether they were full sized or models for the most part .

Looks great , but what's the story behind it , are they pulling the engine out to rebuild it for an ongoing resto or are they putting a wild motor in to a shabby body to go have fun ?

Looking good Haubenschild , I've always had a soft spot for the Countach , as a teen it was my ultimate supercar . I haven't built one in scale for more than 20 years though ....

Now that is COOOOOL

Thank's , I've decided today after playing around with it for photo's that I'll extend it out the back as well to make the workshop behind the showroom (like the 1:1 showroom had ) , I was wondering what to do with the goodies in the Fujimi workshop tools set I bought recently , the hoist and everything else will fit in nicely

That looks great Jonathan , nice and shiny (also makes me want to get one of those bonnets for my 1:1 lancer )

Well I got some time (and enthusiassm) late last night after the boys went to bed , they are both keen to help with models , the eldest is obsessed with planes so we do airliners together normally but he loves cars too . The youngest prefers to help me with mini's since he sees so many here Anyway , it's finished for now (the wheels are only sitting on) , couple of shot's in front of the long running dio build that's based on the front of the first place I worked in after leaving school , it was a rural BMC dealership and the front part was the showroom . When finished I intend to have two mini's inside (the Manton mini that's in this photo and the next project which is my sports850) , but anyway , for the moment it's a photo backdrop The FJ fueling up before race day , and on display inside the (incomplete) showroom while a chev fuel's up outside , and my appretices I know there are a lot of flaws in this one but it was a quick fun build

Because it's so rare and odd it turns up in nearly every auto ID style quiz on forums so it's not surprising

Thankyou Paul , will PM you now .

Super clean build , well done . I love the "caution , wife may be waiting outside sign" on the door of the backdrop too

I decided against the extra coat of clear (it's a race car from the time when paint jobs were as fast as the cars .....) so have painted the details and put the bumpers , grille and some left over decals on . Of course I had to do a mock up of it on the chassis (without the interior tub as the body sits too low on the stops and the inner door trims sit 1/4" higher than the door tops ... Had to put Peter Manton's racing mini beside it too (yes , the size comparrison is right , the mini passenger compartment is the same size as the FJ and most bigger cars of the era , it's just the bonnet was way shorter due to the engine being mounted sideways . Still have to cut out and install all the glass and put the interior tub in and set the height .

Paul , They look perfect , what are you looking for in exchange ?

The Evo's looking great by the way Jonathon

Just a quick shot of where the FJ is at , Last coat of clear on tomorrow if the weather behaves itself .,The seats are a bit lighter than I had hoped so they might get another coat yet as well . I need to find some better wheels for it though , these are alright but they have hubcaps cast on them whereas a race car wouldn't be allowed to have them . I'll use them on another project Anyone have any suggestions about what kit would have similar , thin steel wheels and tyres ? These are 27mm high (including the tyre) and 6mm wide , any suggestions please ?

Well mine are the other end of the scale from the above Every day car is a 2007 Mitsubishi Lancer , nice and shiny here as it was being detailed before I picked it up , and how it looked last weekend after having to go bush on forestry roads to bypass where the highway was blocked by an accident (goes great on slippery clay too ...) , Now the toys , 1962 Mini Sports850 , 1968 Mini van , 1981 Mini Moke Californian (1275cc engine , same as a Mini Cooper s but in a lighter body ...) 1971 Nota Fang , Mini based sports car with complete mini front subframe/motor/gearbox unit mounted behind the driver . This can be road registered and is a long term project , just waiting for the property settlement from divorce so I can extend the garage and get back into this one. 1970 Mini K shell , this one left the factory in December 1970 , same month/year I was born so it was going to be my 40th birthday project . Separation/Divorce got in the way so it might be 45th or 50th project at this rate ... Group photo of Sports850 , Fang and Van , I have a Monte Carlo Rally style roof rack (same as in the Tamiya mini rally version) and some old rally tyres to go on it so it will eventually be a ficticous rally support mini .

Great work there Fred , so how did you go in the NNL ?

Thank's for posting that , I've been looking for similar dogs without success . I've even seen the same tube pack of dogs in stores here but thought they were too cheap and nasty to use , will go and get some now .

All fairly straight forward really , only one there that I wasn't aware of so will amend my method of calling things a pain in the etc with random symbols . Thank's Harry .

I was a mod for many years on a car forum and I was there for the coming and going of several new mods , the first rule of mod selection was that anybody who asked to be a mod , didn't get the job . We would just watch other members and see how they behaved , how they interacted and resolved arguments with other forum members and also what sort of opinions they held on things . Modding is a hard job , no matter what you do or say someone will be offended with it for either being too heavy handed or not heavy handed enough (probably over the same event) . The one thing I will point out is that former mods need some form of extra vigilence from current mods as forums often work like school yards and people will hold grudges long after the event and will target ex mods when they no longer have modding abilities to defuse things .

I'd say a charcoalish colour for the wheels (I have the 1:1 standard 2wd version of the Lancer that is that model evo , dark grey metalic paint and I've been looking at charcoal or gunmetals wheels for it) , but otherwise would suggest flat black . The FJ has had a few paint issues with the pinstripes so touching up at present , should have an update soon .

I'm not going to have mine ready I'm affraid , everythings going well except I still can't find a suitable engine to match the original in size and details , trying to scratch build now

I tried that but there we're always dramas getting the zoom right and having to reset it for each page . The regular smart phone version works perfectly for my phone (samsung galaxy) .