Countach LP500s rebuild

[zak78]

Hey Everyone I found this in the "bargain basement" of a hobby shop near Philly, for $3.95, with the lower lights gouged out and the wheels missing. The body was painted in what appeared to be red house paint. I'm slowly reviving it. Let me know what you think so far, and thanks for looking --Nick

Better pics to come. The taillights have been fixed since I took these.

Edit: Something went terribly wrong with my Fotki, I ended up with some Russian girl displayed on the page, instead of my five pics of the car!

Edited March 13, 2012 by zak78

[Junkman]

So far, it is the nicest one I've ever seen.

And something loony is quite appropriate for this car.

[zak78]

So far, it is the nicest one I've ever seen.

And something loony is quite appropriate for this car.

Thank you! I can't wait to get the rest of this thing together. I want some oval-tipped motorcycle mufflers. I'll settle for Supertrapps if I have to.

awesome job Nick! very cool to see it in green and the BBS wheels are also very cool looking and quite fitting as well.

Thanks Dave! The BBS will have aluminum-painted centers so they don't look so...plastic. The front ones were from a set I got from you, and the rear ones are from a Fujimi 345-series model.

[Rdkingjay]

Cool idea with the mufflers. Any "before" shots?

[zak78]

Cool idea with the mufflers. Any "before" shots?

I only have some ugly shots of the interior, before I stripped the enamel. This was meant to be a "quick build," and then it got out of hand (like they always do lol).

I decided to start the exhaust concept with a set of these. I'm not sure if they'll be pointing straight out, or inclined upward. I plan to scavenge the back half of a Fujimi Countach for the lower half of its engine, so I can build an actual exhaust system.

[zak78]

I started with this

Here's the interior so far, minus pedals, door-panel shelf, and window cranks:

Homemade instrument cluster made from styrene, using clear plastic gauges from Model Car Garage. Head unit and steering wheel are Aoshima pieces. Badge is MSM creation. Harnesses are F1 pieces made by Scale Motorsport. Shifter is a straight pin with a craft bead impaled on the top. Signal indicator is another straight pin, stabbed straight into the steering column

Edited March 9, 2012 by zak78

[jaymcminn]

Very nice. The Tamiya kit builds into a really nice model without all the drama of the Fujimi version. The BBS wheels are great, and that white interior is fantastic. Can't wait to see this one done!

[Trans Am Erik]

Great choice to save this one. Ireally like the color and those wheels. Can't wait to see that exhaust.

[zak78]

Thanks for the complimentos

Some dry fit pics, just to give you an idea:

Wheels looked too bright and "plastic," so I toned them down with detail:

Edited March 12, 2012 by zak78

[polandmob]

i have this just cant get into it.looks awesome tho green make it pop

[Dirkpitt289]

That's a sweet looking car, and it looks great in Green

[Rmodeler]

I agree with Dirk. Green is so unexpected, but so appropriate. And the smart white interior plus the BBS's make it the most refreshing take on a Countach that I've seen in a long long time. Nice design sense! You should be proud.

Edited March 12, 2012 by Rmodeler

[zak78]

Thanks guys More to come, as soon as I get a few hours away from my job.

[Zarana-X]

These are simple, but excellent kits. I have two that I built when I was a kid. Tamiya rarely dissapoints. What are you going to do for the missing lights? The kit could be buitl with them up or down.

Here is one of mine as the Decepticon, Breakdown.

[zak78]

These are simple, but excellent kits. I have two that I built when I was a kid. Tamiya rarely dissapoints. What are you going to do for the missing lights? The kit could be buitl with them up or down.

Here is one of mine as the Decepticon, Breakdown.

Now that's interesting! What happened to the front flares?

My plan for the "missing lights" was to install them :b

[Dr. Cranky]

Very sharp and wonderful color. Good job.

[Zarana-X]

For some reason or other, I'd cut out the front flares for larger tires. Whatever I was doing didn't go as planned and I built this instead. I'm currently redoing this model and a handful of others. Since the price of new kits is out of hand, I'm redoing alot of my old builds. Kinda like George Lucas.

[sjordan2]

Beautiful paint and detail, looks just right. The only suggestion I would make is to go back and see if you can clean up the outline of the black paint on the wheel well flares.

[zak78]

For some reason or other, I'd cut out the front flares for larger tires. Whatever I was doing didn't go as planned and I built this instead. I'm currently redoing this model and a handful of others. Since the price of new kits is out of hand, I'm redoing alot of my old builds. Kinda like George Lucas.

I'll give you a kit, if you want one to work from. PM me

Beautiful paint and detail, looks just right. The only suggestion I would make is to go back and see if you can clean up the outline of the black paint on the wheel well flares.

Thanks everyone!

And yes, I have done that.

Edited March 21, 2012 by zak78