David Thibodeau

Beautiful Job man! I too have this kit and worried about the decals... I still may paint those stripes... daunting, but doable... DaveT

Beautiful Job Raul!!!!! DaveT

Wonderful, clean build!!!! DaveT

Ok.. so it was Sunday morning... I was stumped on what to work on. I wanted to take a break from the Relic F-1 I was working on. I was looking on Motorsport.com and came across Jr's 2008 Nationwide National Guard car. I had forgotten Thad had sent me decals for this one and the red one he ran at Atlanta.. so, While I was watching qualifying I got to work. I took a 2007 kit, hacked off the front end, replaced it with a resin piece from Back creek resins (skips site), redid the spoiler, added the taxi aero package, redid the side skirts for dual signature E exhaust. Then I primed it, dumped it in the dehydrator for an hour, based it in solid white basecoat. Masked it off and then laid down what has to be the most beautiful blue I have ever shot. HOK Kandy Kobalt Basecoat. Then I cleared it and voila!! All in one day I got a killer stocker going. Oh.... the chassis is done too! House of Kolor paint has to be the best stuff out there.... this thing glows.... DaveT

Got lots done today to the powerplant. Lets just say the white metal in this kit leaves little to be desired. It took lots of tweaking and swearing to get it to this stage. But all in all its a fine replica of the legendary Cosworth powerplant. The block was shot with Tamiya Acrylic gunmetal through the airbrush. The valve covers are shot with semi flat Krylon and the ford logos carefully scraped away to reveal the white metal beneath. Ignition wires are kit supplied. Only thing I added was a Trans cooler line using detailmaster #3 hardware and line. The exhaust was painted flat black and dusted with white chalk for that heated look that black coated exhaust gets.... The engine definitely is making this car look cooler!! Thanks for looking

the brabhams is in paint. PPG Basecoat white and Dupont clear....... After a light polish I carefully masked off the bottom and painted it krylon semi flat black. Then I applied the decals which was quite an experience.. they leave alot to be desired... brittle, not really responsive to decal softeners.. but I got them all on. I brushed on some micro gloss to seal them in. Now I can start building it!!

I was told to build it stock, but it looks like a nicely detailed kit. Lots of white metal but it needs to be painted on this one as opposed to the 312! Thanks, DaveT

Ok.... so this is not my specialty.... its a 1973 F1 Brabham's BT-42 that was driven by Carlos Reutimann. This is a multimedia kit with Resin, white metal, PE, like a MFH kit. Ugly car but hopefully I will get into it. Plus the pay is good!! Here we go.... Carlos getting it done in 73' at silverstone...... Here is the raw resin body, scoop and wings that are white metal. Pretty clean casting but very much like a brick! Once the resin was cleaned up I shot it all with plastikote Grey primer. Minor flaws will be repaired, and reprimed before white paint is applied.. thats all for now... and I am going with a dark backround for the most part in my photos now! DaveT

Thank you so much guys.... I thoroughly enjoyed building the kit and love the results... despite the fit issues on the engine cover. But hey that cover wont spend much time on the car... it covers up the wonderful engine this car possesed. DaveT

Dan, On this kit, the decals were made for the car included in the scale motorsports kit. In the Jan issue of model cars there is an article all on Carbon fiber decals I wrote that will answer all your questions you need to know about carbon decals, sizes, application, clear, etc.... watch for it! Thanks again guys... this one will show up as a full build in MC sooner or later as well! DaveT

My first Hiro kit in the books! It was a great change of pace even though white metal cleanup became boring.... The rear clip could have fit better as well for a 300.00 kit... Out of box build with added wiring for the battery, ignition, and a scratch built fire bottle on the pass floor. BMW Hellrot red followed by 2 part dupont clear. Built to replicate a freshly restored example of the #86 car driven by Randy peterson and Tim Schecken . DaveT

As well as you Mike! Its gonna be a blast!! Wow guys Thanks for the replies!!! Izzy..... match it now and do an all carbon Vette!!!! DaveT

Few more pictures..... Thanks for looking... DaveT

Again a detailed build using the new Scale motorsport Super FXX Carbon upgrade kit. Well worth the effort.... I decided to leave the wheels off to display the gorgeous brakes....... Scratchbuilt and added items: Lap counter on dash, Pro tech braided line and fittings, Removed rear window molded in vents and replaced with black mesh.

Sorry Jay.... pays to read a little huh? DaveT

Front glass and detailing was also done at this time. Instead of the kit decal I decided to paint the flat black sunscreen and add SMS PE hold down plates. A few naked shots before doors and front clip are installed... Door Detailing is complete! Doors are now in place along with the front clip. It is at this point that I decided that I am going to make this car a wheels off displayed car. The brake detail is so beautiful and the car will look very cool all opened up with the wheels off. I will fix solid #5 DM line cut to perfect equal length and epoxy them in the positions where the 1:1 car has the jackposts that pop out the bottom when pitting for tires... my first extreme FXX if you will.... Pity I did not open the hood... I already have a red one wheels on that will look great next to this one.... Here are some mock ups..... DaveT

Thanks Matt.. I appreciate your comments very much. To answer your question.... I applied Future to the interior by airbrush and by paintbrush on the dash because I can control where the future goes much better that way... I applied 2 part to the exterior and undercarriage for depth, and durability I would not get with future! I made loads of progress this weekend all documented too! Instead of painting the SMS mesh I blackened it. I always wanted to try the stuff and when I saw it in Atlanta at the Mega Hobbytown I snatched it up. It didnt dissapoint.... neat to watch it change when you dunk it.... I even did the PE radiator plates from the SMS superset with the blacken it ... a shame they will be covered by the air ducts.... Here are the side pods all installed in the engine bay. Pods are installed and all plumbing is complete. I used Pro tech .045 line and fittings along with Detailmaster #4 Hardline to make up the oil cooling system like the 1:1 car has. I even added fuel plumbing by the fuel receptacle similar to the 1:1 car. At this point the engine bay is complete. The strut bracing is a combination of aluminum tubing and PE hardware from the superkit.

Thanks guys...... One really cool part of the SMS kit is the turned aluminum shocks... A big improvement over the kit parts.... Here they are installed....

Thanks guys.... Well I buttoned up the Interior and even installed it today.... I also scratch built out of solid aluminum rod the lap counter on the dash and wired it after painting it clear blue. The front end is all complete as well. Basically from the box cleanly done. It will all be covered anyways..... Here is a few pics of the chassis about 90% done..... more soon........ DaveT

Thanks guys.... in the midst of the 312PB build I did make some progress on the FXX... The engine is in place in the monocoque. The intake is sitting there for a test fit. Still have lots to do to tidy this area up I dropped the interior in place for another test fit..... Front area is complete. I did not go crazy, basically a little CF, Kit instruction painting is all that is needed. The bonnett will not be shown once the car is complete but I still wanted it to be clean. Its coming along!! Stay tuned for more updates..... DaveT

I decided to move forward on the 312..... The chassis is now on rolling stock........ Lots done to get it to the point I could add the tires and wheels...as you can see the Trans and rear suspension are complete. This has to be the coolest kit I have ever worked with. Metal clean up is exasperating at times but worth it..... I added the exhaust after clean up, painted with white primer and weathered with tamiya D exhaust pastel kit. Great shot of the undercarriage and exhaust weathering. I Know most raced PB's had bare metal exhaust but I am going for the restored look of the car and most restored examples are pristine paint and white exhaust. With front bonnet installed. Fit is OK not perfect.... Cooler detail still in the works on both sides of engine...... The rear engine lid fit is gappy, but I imagine will spend most of the time off the car to display the beautiful engine.. a sacrifice I can live with..... Notice the blue on the wing and headrest pod match the decals? I painted the parts with Tamiya brilliant blue followed by HOK kandy kobalt to darken it. The candy allowed me to control the hue of the shade of blue to get it spot on! Its really taking shape!! Nothing like 4 pipes!!!

This looks like the Revell of Germany kit to me which is the Protar old mold.... there is nothing wrong with the kit. It is said that the body tooling came off a 1:1 car that was wrecked in the back end and not properly repaired. It has a "squared off" look to it. Other than that it builds up very nice. DaveT

Decided to get this one finished up after sitting for a few months! Straight forward build with a lowering job. Krylon Short cuts emerald Green. Dupont 2 part clear with Powerslide decals. DaveT

The older sheets are somewhat brittle because he was using Microscale at that time to create the sheets.... The newer sheets he carries are now by cartograph and are awesome...... DaveT

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