Merkur XR4Ti

Yeah, I thought that car was awesome. Full 70s shlock treatment, it captured the era beautifully.

Just wonderful! Awesome, awesome job. I am amazed.

Hey Curt, can you give a bit more detail on how you painted it? I love the look, looks just like Rosso Corsa. How many coats of Flour. Red did you put on top of the Italian red? I've just painted an old Tamiya Testarossa kit in Italian red, and it doesn't pop like yours. I built this kit and painted it Metallic Grey with a red interior. But I wish I had painted it like yours; it's perfect!

I got my issue yesterday, and LOVED the column in question. Weathering techniques, scratchbuilding, how to add clutter, and masterful craftsmanship....I thought it was just great.

I haven't received my issue yet up here in frosty Maine. When should I make a claim with the publisher?

Absolutely jaw dropping work as usual, Dave. Where can one get the Krylon Suede texture paint you've used? Is that available at Wally World or the like?

Geez, and I thought SPC was an OK site. I go there quite a bit. Looks great!

Bingo. I've built the 599, the 612, and the Superamerica. The Superamerica could definitely stand to be lowered, as when compared to Fujimi's 575M it's much too high. The 612 went together well, but watch for a chassis warp which seems to be a common issue with these kits. The 599 went together well with no problems but could also stand to be lowered a smidge.

Oh, man, that is sweet. Really great to see your take on the kit! That looks freakin' awesome.

From Squardon. And very, very cheap ($6.99).

I have the Modelhaus parts and they are fantastic. You won't be disappointed.

Those worn seats look very nice. You may want to add a huge tear in them along the seam lines to show a large chunk of the upholstery missing; right now they look like they've been slashed, but in a lot of older cars I've seen the upholstery separates at the seam and a large area of the interior of the seat can be seen.

Man, that is very sweet!

I tried that, immediately after the accident. It didn't really work; it took some of the superglue off, but not all, and on the parts it took off the glue it also removed the paint. Sigh. I've already sanded the door down smooth and reshot it with one coat of paint so far. I need to sand again, and shoot another coat of paint again, because right now the door looks like a different color than the rest of the body despite my using the same paint. I'll have to get the clearcoat back on to make a true comparison.

Fantastic work! You can get 3200 grit polishing pads at Micromark.

No problems with them.

I couldn't agree with you more. I had just finished up polishing up a beautiful paint job on my Ferrari 575M, and while attaching the front and rear body lips I managed to get a smear of superglue onto the passenger door. Ruined the paint job completely. I was so discouraged and angry with myself for my clumsiness I very nearly threw the nearly completed model into the trash. I'm going to try to sand out the flaw and repaint and polish the door only, but I'm not expecting good results from the ordeal. It's one of those days where I hate the hobby.

I've also built the Revell Superamerica, although naturally it pales in comparison to Bob's posted here. The ride height is the one thing I had a problem with on my build. I didn't correct it because it was too late by the time I noticed it. Everything else goes together very well and the glass top operates perfectly. I'm building a Fujimi 575 now and it sits a lot lower than Revell's kit. (Oddly enough, I'm making mine the same color as Bob made his; I'm using Testor's Honduras Maroon and Tamiya clear). Just make the correction and you'll be good to go.

If that's dead last for you I'd be blown away by your first place model! That looks just great.

Looking great so far! This is nice inspiration for me to tear into my Revell 1/24 snap kit of the XJS I just picked up.

Ooh, that plate will help me as well since I have a Christine project in my future plans.

I messed up a paint job, so the only thing I got today was aggravated.

I'll get some pics up when I can, but I just had knee surgery on Thursday so I need to wait a few days until the pain meds calm down so I can focus a bit better. I'll describe the kit though: large tan cast resin body with a fair bit of flash, should clean up easy enough. The rollcage is one cast piece of resin; how they managed to cast something this complex in one piece is beyond me; I'm very impressed. The chassis is a thick piece with no underbody details, but items like the cool box, inspection hatch and the footrests are cast into the interior plate. The chassis is a touch warped so I'll have to heat it a smidge and bend it into place. 4 sheets of phtotoetch: 1 is brass colored and has the large diffuser pieces, and the other 3 are silver-nickel and have a host of small detail pieces and grilles. 1 sheet pre-cut windows. 1 sheet vacuuformed clear plastic for the headlight covers. 1 bag of numerous assorted resin pieces, including the wheels, seat, front air dam, etc. 1 bag of numerous machined and other parts, including metal axels, rubber air hoses, tires, wires, gauges, etc. 1 sheet of graphics decals for the 007 and 009 cars, and 1 sheet of carbon fiber decals. Both printed by Cartograph. 1 large paper sheet of color photos of both cars for decal placement purposes. Instructions are about 8 large pieces of paper with diagrams, photos, and instructions in both French and English. I'm impressed at how much you get in one of these kits.

Just got the kit today and I'm more scared than ever. I'll see if I can get some pics of the contents up.

Thanks for the tips; I just checked out the Renaissance home page and he's got a lot of reference pics up there. I've also dug up Jim Drew's Fotki site and he's got nice pics of a buildup he did as well. I'd love to see your builds if you have pics handy. I'm planning on getting Hiroboy's Aston paint for this build; I've read that it's great stuff. Close; the flying Aston was the 009 car, but I'm gonna build the 007 car. How can you build an Aston that's NOT numbered 007? You just can't. You've all been very encouraging; I appreciate it! I'm still pretty intimidated, but it's good to know it can be done.