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I said "mostly". They're using their resources to make other products these days that sell in higher quantities. They've cut back drastically on car kits, they've practically stopped doing new rally cars, they've quit doing new sports cars or anything new that's curbside, they're focusing mostly on high-end exotics like the Enzo, FXX, SLR, Carrera GT, and cars that race in the Japanese Grand Touring series. Fujimi has taken up a lot of slack w/more Ferraris, both current and vintage, the Cayman S, the new MX5, the new WRX and STI. The way Fujimi kits are getting, many think they've gotten some of Tamiyas kit engineers as the quality is getting better along w/details.

Welly sells a 5 door 1/24 scale new Golf in Europe, but most good Welly models (aka cool late model Euro cars like the Audi A3, Citroen C2, Volvo V30, Alfa Romeo GT) aren't available in the US. From Feebay Germany: http://cgi.ebay.de/Modellauto-Welly-1-24-V...1QQcmdZViewItem

Yes, they do! Here's a Rosso 512 TR I built (same car as the one pictured) in Grigio Alloy, so it would be officially a "repaint" as Grigio Alloy was introduced on the 360 Modena. The color is stunning in person outdoors. I gave this one to a friend when he moved away, I've got a Monogram 512 TR to build and have a set of Rosso wheels/tires for it. I think it will be Ferrari yellow 8)

I'd rather have the 1:1 than a model. A W12 in a GTI! And it looks like the meanest "bunny" in the world Seeing that it's a wild custom, I doubt the kit makers will do it unless a more stock variant gets done first. Forget Tamiya, they're mostly out of the car business, either Fujimi or Revell Germany would be the only candidates that would remotely think about doing one of these.

It's likely a factory color. Testarossas came in a wide variety of colors, Ferrari has always offered many colors though most go w/"resale red", and because of Miami Vice many were white. Black, silver and yellow are also relatively common in the small world of Testarossas.

Resin can be tricky; and so can paint strippers. The wrong combo results in a ruined model. What kind of paint needs to be stripped? How bad is the paint? Unless it's a total disaster, and if it doesn't come off w/Easy Off Heavy Duty if it is a total disaster, I'd fix the problems with careful sanding (and perhaps some work on dressing/scribing the panel lines) and use what's on it now as a primer for a better coat of paint.

I am so glad Ferrari got past the cheese grater phase. I wonder if "Mondial" is Italian for "Limburger"?

Um, it's not the ugliest Ferrari ever, a Mondial, but the most boring Ferrari ever, the 348 :wink: No loss.

Speaking of The Model King, I see that Model Roundup has the MK '71 T Bird in stock 8)

This is one I'm really looking forward to seeing progress; I like the IPMS OOB approach to this kit.

That's pretty cool! I'm gathering parts/motivation to build a replica SP; I have the rear louvers and need to make the front/rear spoilers, side louvers, decals. I'll have to scratchbuild the correct taillights, revise the grille, make the big bumpers, LHD conversion, yada yada. Should be fun; I had several friends in the late 70's and early 80's that drove SP's 8) . I think I'll need to make a base for the model w/ flames coming from the rear tires just like the ads showed

I echo the above comments; I just don't think there's enough of a market anymore for mainstream models of mainstream cars like these in plastic. There is no "wow" factor to move them off the shelves at Wal Mart. They're certainly not as interesting as the new Camaro, Mustang, Corvette, Challenger or anything with a Hemi in it. 10-15 years ago we might have seen plastic kits or plastic promos of 'em, but now I think a model company would be crazy to spend that kind of money on something like this in plastic. There are a lot of cars I'd love to see in plastic for my own reasons, but I know that reality is that I'll never see them. Diecast is much more likely, but even that isn't a guarantee with the increasing cost of zinc.

I can vouch for Dean's; I like building imports/exotics and I found some killer deals on Tamiya, Gunze, Protar, and Heller kits at Dean's back when I visited several years back, also got some similarly good buys at a show in Detroit. People up there thought I was positively nuts for buying those ferrin' models

Duplicolor seems hotter than the Plastikote. I really like the Plastikote as it seems safe on plastics and dries really smooth (though not as smooth as Tamiya). I've found it at Michael's arts/crafts and you can find Plastikote using their website store locator.

I haven't build one w/the stock hood; I used a Dodge Viper hood on my custom 612. But I have seen several examples w/slightly warped hoods. The stock hood in my custom one fit perfectly (w/o hinges) in the hood opening. It's best to fit the hood/hinges and see how underhood things fit before painting; this avoids complications down the road. I used the 612 hinges w/the Viper hood and it fits fine. Revell plastic can take a bit of bending to shape if there's a slight warp. Be careful and you can probably get the warp out. I had quite a bit of chassis warp at the back of the car, took me a lot of fiddling to get it to seat properly where the chassis meets up w/the back bumper. I ended up having to glue some of the upright rear wheel well parts to the seatback/interior sides IIRC to get the chassis bent in the right direction. This problem didn't occur until everything was being glued in place.

Eric's was built using the version (green on the boxcover) that's out now. Mine is the original version, the #98 car that was molded in metallic blue plastic. I guess my kit is nearly 20 years old :shock: Here are a couple more shots; I added SNJ polishing powder to the stripes, and also added dark gray panel line washes.

That Cobra is amazing, even better in person. I got my stripes looking a bit brighter w/the SNJ aluminum polishing powder. Still subtle, but brighter. I'm happy even if they aren't a chrome or highly-polished aluminum appearance.

Dave, that's what I would love for my model to have looked like (I've seen pics of the cars from the mfg). Unfortunately the Krylon paint doesn't polish up anywhere near that shiny so I'm going to stick w/the "ghost stripe" effect which still looks pretty cool. I think the only way to get stripes that bright would be to have the car plated and then mask the stripes and lightly sand the surface and dullcoat. I didn't realize until late in the day that I painted the Cobra 427 on 4/27 8)

Thanks for the replies; this project sort of sneaked up on me. It'll get the kit engine and most OOB details, but I'll definitely add a racing harness and fire extinguisher. I'll probably add plug wires and some assorted hoses for some extra detail. Aside from the time it took (considerable) to get the body smoothed and primed, this paint job was about as easy as they get. Whether sprayed light or heavy it just settles out very smooth. No airbrush needed 8) This is the old metallic blue body from Monogram, issued in the '80's. I assume it's the first issue of the Cobra from them. I got lots of inspiration from Eric Cole's raw metal Cobra, not sure if he posted it here or not.

Got it at Ace Hardware. That seems to be the only place I've been able to find it. Great stuff!

It's best to apply it over the smoothest black ENAMEL paint job possible. It doesn't stick to lacquer (it'll look fabulous but it won't hold up to any handling). Testors or Hubrol black enamel is perfect. You can get reasonable results brushing tiny spots of it. Good luck!

Once this model was in primer I was indecisive about what color to apply to this Cobra. Mach I 2003/Eric and another friend convinced me to paint it similarly to Eric's bare metal 427; but with a twist. They decided for me that I had to finish it with polished stripes :eek: Actually it wasn't difficult at all; I used Krylon dull aluminum which works great and it polishes out a bit by merely buffing it with a soft polishing rag. I masked the stripes off and polished away, and got a nice subtle color change and a bit of a polished appearance. Ultimately I'd like the stripes to be a bit brighter, but that might not happen. They're good now, and the body will get more detail and some meatballs and sponsor decals. Fun project Wheels/tires are from a parts-box Fujimi GT40 Mk II which are infinitely better rolling stock than what Monogram provides.

I wonder if that's the same person I got mine from years ago at the NAMCC convention in Chicago; it's the only place I've ever seen one available for sale. Mine chucks into a drill, w/a separate piece that's screwed into place & holds the outer part of the tire-which isn't always needed if the tire fits snugly to the main part of the tool. It's one of my favorite tools, it makes the tire scuffing/mold line removal simple and painless.

Gregg, it doesn't work here either. There's a rectangular box, a red X at the left and "Model Cars Magazine Forum Forum Index" is inside the box. No logo at all. :?:

This isn't the only forum he was banned from today :roll: