Ace-Garageguy

One of the most famous of all of them, and the most instantly recognized, is the Gulf-sponsored GT40 MkI that won LeMans in 1968 AND 1969. Fujimi has a fine, fine model of it...in both '68 and '69 markings...as well as others in the GT40 lineup. (Images taken from open internet sources) Model by Zoom Zoom, aka Bob Downie It's a semi-curbside, but full detail upgrades are available.

At the risk of running afoul of the digression police again, I'll mention I once owned an Interceptor with a 440. It was actually a very good car, structurally as solid as a bridge, had massive brakes that worked beautifully, a remarkable suspension tune that let the big heavy car with a live rear axle handle and respond like a car half its weight, a wonderfully English interior with leather and wool and wood, and a seriously bulletproof engine and 727 Torqueflite gearbox. I also owned an Intermeccanica Italia for a short while. Ford smallblock-engined, it was a quite simple car, no unnecessary electrics etc, and though it had had a very hard life when it came to me (at least 1/2 inch of bondo on just about every steel body panel), it was still solid and handled pretty well...though I don't remember the brakes being anything very special. I've had a couple of Bizarrinis go through the shop over the years, and the Chevy engine and gearboxes work as well in them as they do in US domestic cars. Related to Iso though, parts sourcing can be a problem for the European bits. We currently have an Iso Rivolta in the shop, and though the Chevy 327 engine and gearbox are still pretty OK, the car has had a LOT of miles (really unusual for Italian / US hybrids in general) and the brakes and suspension, of off-the-shelf-parts compromise design and WAY too complicated (and maintained / repaired over the years by chimps) are entirely toast. Parts availability is abysmal, and it's looking like I'll have to fabricate everything we cant get, or modify from something else. That said (remember...this car has had a LOT of miles put on it) it's remarkably sound structurally, with only a few rustout patches having been necessary. The chassis design is also remarkably rigid for something built up from sheet steel panels hand-made on brakes, in the days before CAD. The Pantera itself becomes quite a good car if fitted with real brakes, modern tires and a radiator and fans that are up to the task of cooling it on a 100 degree day. Its only other major weak points are poorly designed rear axle bearings...ball bearings when they should have been tapered rollers (and there are kits to remedy that, including one developed by me) and an unfortunately flexible unibody. The body works and twists so much in spirited driving that if you strip and refinish one and take it out for a hard run, all the leaded seams will show hairline cracks by the time you get back. It really shouldn't be hard to build a fantastic Euro / US hybrid, and some came pretty close. As far as hot-rods go, in my opinion, the Jag XJ-6 SIII with a smallblock Chebby makes maybe the best ever big 4-door sedan once you get rid of all the stuff that just doesn't like to keep working. I built a few Stags with Chevy engines over the years too, and that works very well indeed.

To the best of my knowledge, most everything will "stick" to everything else. One rule to live by is that you can usually safely put enamel over lacquer, but not lacquer over enamel. This is not carved in stone and some materials may behave differently from what you expect. Lacquer over enamel will often cause crazing or lifting or wrinkling that looks like you hit it with paint stripper. I know absolutely nothing about any of the "craft" paints or what some guys refer to as "acrylics". THE single most important rule is: TEST FIRST on a scrap body or something else BEFORE you commit to painting a model with any combination of materials not specifically designed and intended to work together.

I deleted the apparently offensive material. Happy now? Feel free to delete it from the quote above as well. This thread wasn't about any particular model being built at the moment, I didn't see any WIP shots, it's not in the WIP section (as far as I can tell), so I guess I didn't understand the etiquette regarding what seemed to me to be a reasonable digression, segueing into references to other "never kitted" vehicles. The thread had already veered away from the Mako snapper to include references to the XP-87 and Mako II before I got here. Digression has always seemed to me to be a part of just about any conversation I've ever participated in, and this conversation seemed to be including some digression. Digression in a thread I've started has never particularly bothered me, and I don't recall ever complaining about it...unless, once, said digression had been to go off on a tangent about some other modeler's work in a thread specifically about my own in-progress model. My sincere and profound apologies for any discomfort or anxiety I may have caused.

Yes, it certainly is. The black and white one is a Weyman body on a longer SJ chassis, and has more 'pontoon' style fenders and a boat tail. I'd like to do one of those as well, but it's a lot more sculpture-intensive. Cutting the phaeton down to the SSJ proportions, filling the spare-tire wells on the fenders and adding the sculpted side slash really ought to be pretty easy.

Well, see...I get to sticking or stopping places on just about everything from time to time, and sometimes it takes months or years of not touching something for my subconscious to figure out how to handle a problem...or on a project like this, once the frame rails are cut down to the right wheelbase, the frame will need to set up and then be reinforced before I can do anything else to it, so I'll work on something else. I don't much care if I ever finish anything, much, because I enjoy the building and problem solving more than seeing a completed model on the shelf. In real life, I HAVE to finish things, and there, being stuck on one project all the way through gets to feel like slavery towards the end (one of the reasons I sub to two different companies now, and have three fairly complex projects running simultaneously). Spend two or three years, day in, day out, on only one car and see if you don't agree. Having multiple model projects going, with no pressure to complete any, is a sort of safety valve for my tiny little brain.

If there's a heaven (and they let me in...doubtful) that's what I hope it looks like.

Insane bastards attacking police for some misplaced and totally illogical grievance. The problem, besides the tragic loss of the lives of decent cops who are there to protect the citizens, is that this will only continue to fuel the idiot rhetoric of the anti-gun mob who don't realize bad guys will be bad guys no matter HOW MANY restrictive laws are passed. That's what makes them bad guys...not their access to weapons...but the fact that laws and other peoples' rights mean NOTHING to them.

I fell in love with Gary Cooper's SSJ many years ago when it went through a local vintage and exotic dealer's showroom that I did occasional work for. Since then, it's been in the back of my mind, and having acquired several built-up Duesenberg models cheap over the years, I decided to see about doing one in scale. Far as I know, only two 1:1s were ever built, and they're on a 125" wheelbase, much shorter than the standard 142.5" and 153.5", and a lot more nimble. It was expensive back then, but nothing like the crazy money it's worth now...and I got to drive it. Not far, but enough. I like the stronger color separation of this one better though, and will probably go that route, with some other not "correct" mods for Coop's car, including disc wheel covers. The starting point is a not-too-bad g-bomb dual-cowl phaeton I picked up at the last local NNL thing for a very few bucks. It's this kit. First order of business was to get the body and fenders off the frame, and separate them with minimal damage. Then, to measure the wheelbase and decide how much to cut out of the chassis and where.

You know Rob, that would be a damm handy tool. I think it's time I made one up.

At the rate I've been building, it shouldn't be more than another 20 years or so. The XP-87 is a lot easier, obviously, than the '57 SS. Lotsa sculpting to do for the SS, and even though it's unmistakably a C1 Corvette, every panel is really entirely different.

If it's really bottom-of-the-barrel spray paint, like this, I've had the oven cleaner wrinkle it just like it had been hit with paint stripper...and all of it come off in essentially a single sheet. On the other hand, I've had what was certain to be 50-year-old Testors brush enamel take multiple soakings in oven cleaner, in a sealed bag, to finally break it down. The bottom coat of blue on one little Fiat Topo was so resilient, I thought the thing had been molded in blue (painted inside too) until it finally gave up and slithered off.

The Pantera had holes punched in structural members of the unibody that would fill up with road dirt, sand and water. There was zero rust-proofing of any kind, not even primer blown into the openings. It didn't take long for them to start sagging if they were driven in wet or winter conditions, and I've done a LOT of heavy structural repairs on them. Somewhere I have a photo of newly constructed bare steel Pantera shells sitting outside at Ghia, not tarped, in the rain.

I recently bought a snapper Mako specifically to do a backdate to the silver XP-87 configuration. I picked up several Accurate Miniatures Grand Sport kits missing the PE and details a ways back, cheap, so I'll probably use that chassis, and I really don't care if it's exactly correct underneath. The real car was built on a '57 SS development mule chassis, but I think the GS guts will make a fine stand-in. The minor scale differences aren't too bothersome, just a little tweaking here and there. There's a '57 SS conversion in the works too. My Challenger I conversion a couple years back was the dry run for these two...lots of experimenting with techniques of scaling from photographs...and I was so pleased with the way that one came out, I figure why not go ahead with the two Corvette prototypes as well.

I'm glad this is coming back, but I'm not understanding the excitement. It's been available pretty much forever in one version or another on Ebay. If it doesn't include ALL of the original AlaKart bits, it's nice, but not spectacularly nice. I have multiples of most of them, from a couple virgin AlaKart double kits to several gluebomb '29s to use as hot-rod fodder. Paid about $75 for one of the AKs, but got one later on for about $25.

That's a very smile-producing model.

Coil-overs look really fine.

Nice clean crisp work. Everything looks great.

Yeah, kinda short on the long-term planning thing.

And entirely different from the more common "in the headlights" expression.

On average, styrene begins to flow or permanently deform at around 212F. It's unlikely it will get over 160 in direct overhead sun, but I'll keep an eye on it anyway.

Probably the single most helpful dimension to have from a real-Henry '30 would be the distance between the sides of the cowl, measured straight across at the junction of the fuel tank. I realize measuring at that point might be a little tricky with the firewall in place, but it shouldn't be too hard.

And I hope the information posted about fixing things isn't taken to be solely about criticizing its shortcomings, but will be seen as an attempt to show how to make a good and much appreciated kit produce an even better model.

Oven cleaner is my go-to first choice. I love watching the paint practically jump off the parts...when it works.