The MPC (nee Airfix) Capri build continues at pace. This is a really well engineered kit let down by a poorly maintained mold, and no interior panels. The fan was missing a blade, the left door handle is only 1/2 molded, and the same for the front sway bar. Only the paint will save the wheels, which would be a great example of the Rostyle 4 lug, but they have voids and lumps. Since it is a re-box, I wonder if Airfix was selling their rejects to the colonies? Cool stuff: The washer bottle and brake master cylinder molded in clear, and the engine is super acurate.
vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) said:
ddavidv said:
I used to be involved with a model contest at our local fair every year. I didn't run it, just helped put the display together. The nice old guy who ran it got talked into letting a kid put in a Lego build (this was decades ago before Lego was really a thing).
The following year half the display was Lego.
I stopped participating shortly afterward. I don't hate Legos; I built my fair share when I was a youngster. But they aren't kits. Two very different hobbies IMO.
Well, this isn't really a contest so much as a show with no specific ground rules. "Winners" have been picked by random in the first two rounds. The Lego Porsche is cute. But it's not a scale plastic build in the traditional sense. It would rightly fall into it's own category. It was midnight and I was tired. LOL
I've done both, and yeah, I don't think I belong in with the cool kids this time. I think I invested an hour in the build total. No glue, no paint, only bricks and stickers.
Mike (Forum Supporter) said:
vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) said:
ddavidv said:
I used to be involved with a model contest at our local fair every year. I didn't run it, just helped put the display together. The nice old guy who ran it got talked into letting a kid put in a Lego build (this was decades ago before Lego was really a thing).
The following year half the display was Lego.
I stopped participating shortly afterward. I don't hate Legos; I built my fair share when I was a youngster. But they aren't kits. Two very different hobbies IMO.
Well, this isn't really a contest so much as a show with no specific ground rules. "Winners" have been picked by random in the first two rounds. The Lego Porsche is cute. But it's not a scale plastic build in the traditional sense. It would rightly fall into it's own category. It was midnight and I was tired. LOL
I've done both, and yeah, I don't think I belong in with the cool kids this time. I think I invested an hour in the build total. No glue, no paint, only bricks and stickers.
No glue? Hmm? Snap model...
Here's the bottom end of the engine.
Masked and ready to go to the paint booth.
Cougar interior is coming together. Seats and door cards still need a bit of work, just placed them together here to see the big picture.
I don't think I'm skilled enough to do the entire metal trim ring around the dashboard, but I can do the large rectangular panel, at least.
I had a half-baked idea to scratchbuild the horrible automatic seatbelts, but then I thought it wouldn't be box-stock anymore 
In reply to slowbird :
Just use pieces from the box! I do that all the time just to annoy the "box stock" builders. Make rollbars out of the sprue, stretch the sprue for wiring, cut the actual box into strips for the belts, etc.
In reply to Javelin (Forum Supporter) :
If Smokey Yunick built model cars... That's super clever. I love it.
In reply to Javelin (Forum Supporter) :
omg that's hilarious
Also, the Saleen finally got some paint! This one has to pop, because the mostly-black interior won't stand out on its own. So here we go with Tamiya TS-44 Brilliant Blue, which I picked after painstakingly studying all the shades of blue Tamiya offers. I think this really works well on this car.
In reply to slowbird :
Damn that's close to the shade I am painting the Capri...
In reply to slowbird :
I appreciate the compliment, but it may not be an indicator of greatness
In reply to TurnerX19 :
If it helps, mine looks a fair amount darker without the camera flash.
In other news, here's why test-fitting is sometimes more important than it seems.
What's wrong with this picture?
That's right, step 14 shows the dashboard going in, and step 15 shows the door panels going in. Well that didn't seem right, so I tried it...and naturally, the dashboard sits right on top of the door panels and there's no way you could put it in first. Good thing I tested that. It's funny because the image for step 14 clearly shows the seats and door panels already installed.
I've built this kit before (well, the 1991 version), I wonder if I made the mistake of gluing the dashboard in before the door panels back then. Knowing me, I probably did and then had to yank it out. Experience is just another word for making a lot of mistakes.
Two-fer, Plymouth Cuda and Chevy El Camino. Cheesy 1/32 snap fix kits I bought years ago to turn into slot cars and never did. Not particularly accurate, could be made to look better with some paint and detail but I knew I wouldn't get round to it and threw them together. They'll look better on my shelf than they did in the box...
Okay, I'm going to see if I can at least get this one started over the next week, but my schedule isn't looking good right now. Maybe I can pretend I'm LS swapping it and build it during the next round.
Working on chassis details.
Calling this one done! I think I must have gotten lucky during the first round, or I rushed it with some windy conditions, but I like the dirt finish on the Focus a little more. Either way, pretty happy with the final results, and I really felt like the interior finish stepped up this round (see prior post). I've learned a lot in these two builds, and a lot from everyone else. You guys are doing some amazing work.
Gunchsta said:
Here's my progress from last night, painted, primed and cleared.
Here's the post production/behind the scenes real story. I may have angered the paint gods. Normally my procedure for painting models (rattle can) is prime, let dry for 24 hours, paint, dry for 24 hours, clear, dry for 24 hours.
However, this time I read the instructions on the cans and they make note about re-coating within 30 minutes and completing all painting within an hour OR waiting 7 days to recoat once it's started to cure. So, I went by the book. Primed, waited 30 minutes, painted, waited 10, cleared. In this picture it was freshly cleared and looking splended. However, if you look closer than my photograph allows you can see some imperfections and roughness, especially on the hood. Similar to what Javelin and Claff faced last time with the wrinkling, just not as dramatic. I didn't have the courage to check before I came to work this morning, so we'll see what is awaiting me when I get home.
If it's a little "textured" shall we say I'm probably going to leave it - the flaws I could see last night wouldn't stand out too bad on a shelf.
The suspense!
Found my version done about an eternity ago.
Slight sidetrack from the current challeng, but I just found this site with what looks like really nice decals for lots of vehicles that got neglected by the kit manufacturers. Unfortunately the pandemic seems to have their production shut down for the moment but they're hoping to resume soon. And, they have F-150 Nite decals, which I'm automatically going to have to buy two or three sets of.
https://rayskits.com/decals/
In reply to slowbird :
Oh man I need like a dozen of his decals! My wallet is not going to be happy with me...
In reply to carczar_84 :
Looks great! I love the pair. I almost want to mail you my Delta Integrale model... 
I'm making progress on the GT3. The chassis and suspension is 90% done. I'm doing the interior next and hope to have enough time to finish the body.
I found out or remembered tamiya acrylic on enamel fine, but the other way around bad. That means I need to spray the body and clear it before painting the black trim. This will be hair raising.
In reply to slowbird :
Oh man, there goes another website to add to the dangerous model building rabbit hole!
Interior is finished.
I know, I know, "but Javelin, you said to paint interiors bright!" I did say that. There's a bunch of factors at work here though that make be want to hide it.
First, real AMX's have pretty crappy interiors. They weren't molded in color at the factory, they were painted, often in very different shades. They were also quite plain and low quality.
Second, this isn't even the correct interior. Like every other model maker, Johan updated their mold with the new model year, and this is a 70 interior. When they backdated the mold to make the 69 Super Stock AMX, they left the interior tub a 70. High back buckets and pleated door panels are the tell.
Third, this interior had a roll cage in it at some point and the floor area is all messed up. Add to that the extremely fragile steering wheel has been broken in at least 5 places means that I don't want anyone looking too closely in here...
All that said, I still used platinum grey, a factory color, instead of black.
