Peterpools

Thanks Mark Glad you'll be on the bus for the journey. I'm going to try your polishing technique on the Jag and see how it goes. To be honest, I didn't wet sand any of the paint layers or clear coats at all just used the Gravity polishing system. But have no fears, the Jag will follow your example., Keep 'em comin Peter

Thanks John I know for sure our bus tickets for the journey, has senior discounts! We surely earned them Keep 'em comin Peter

Mark Absolutely ... I drool over your paint skills and finishes. Masterfully done. Keep 'em comin Peter

Hi Rob I do plan on using AM decals from Indycals as with the GT40. I've always been a big Jag fan from the IMSA glory days for me, especially Group 44. I'm willing to bet there will be another Jag soon after this one in the very near future. Takes a bit to find these out of production kits at a reasonable price.

Mark Outstand paint and prep work. being a novice at auto gloss finishes, I've only needed to polish after the primer coat and the color coats seemed to be smooth enough. I think on my next race build, I'm going to follow your lead and polish before and after the color coats. BY the way, I'm planning on starting two new projects: Tamiya 1/32 Spitfire MkXVIe Hasegawa 1/24 Castrol Jaguar XJR9; 24 hours Daytona Winner, 1988. Nowhere in the league of a MFH kit in size and detail but a fun build and a nice addition to the collection. Keep 'em comin Peter

Hi Rob Thank you so much for the very kind words on my GT40 - just a fun build with no real issues. And you are so right, I've enjoyed my last two projects immensely as both were so much about the finish and decals. Right now I've decided to start on two new builds, alternating between the two as I did with the GT40 and the Embraer 190. I have the Tamiya 32nd scale Spitfire already underway and am getting ready to begin a build thread maybe by the weekend. The other project I'm going to be starting shortly is the 1/24 Hasegawa 1/24 Jaguar XJR-9 Castrol, 24 Hours at Daytona Winner, 1988. Keep 'em comin Peter

Gaz, so much appreciated the kind words on the GT40. A fun kit and no struggles. Just nice to sit and build and not have any issues to overcome other then needing a few paint masks, which were a good learning experience. Keep 'em comin Peter

Thanks Mark, so gratefully appreciated, especially coming from a master race car builder. Keep 'em comin Peter

BW Very much appreciated. A fun build and all about the paint and decal work, my favorite part of any build Keep 'em comin Peter

Thanks Martin, so very much appreciated. Pretty happy with the way the GT40 came out and for my first race car, very happy with the overall finish. Keep 'em comin Peter

Thanks John The GT40 was a fun build and all about the finish for me. Planning on adding it to my display case later today. Keep 'em comin Peter

Hi Hubert I ran the photos through photoshop and Lightroom to bring out whatever detail I could on the front tire tread width and honestly, the kits tires seem to match reasonably very well. The three photographs of the car's front tires are deep in shadows but I was able to pull out enough detail to have a better look and the kit's tires do look about right. Not sure why you would want to point out something as the kits tire width when it is such a small part of the build. Peter

John Oh the joy and fun Keep 'em comin Peter

Hubert Thank you for the photos as they do show loads of details that were not in the kit. I'm going to run them through photoshop and see if I can figure out the actual tire width. If the tires are too wide, I would be very interested to know how Meng missed the mark. Peter

John Good to see you're making progress on the Helldiver and I can fully understand your feelings about all the molding errors in the kit. Just takes all the joy out of the equation Keep 'em comin Peter

Thanks Gus, so very much appreciated. All in all, the GT40 was a lot of fun to build and it actually compared quite nicely in painting techniques I used on the Embraer. Keep 'em comin Peter

Hubert Thank you for comments on the build and finish. Your criticism of the front tire tread width might very well be the case. I built the kit straight out of the box except for replacing the decals. For a kit having an MSRP of: $102.00 and their sale price of $81.99 (Sprue Brothers), I would hope Meng did their homework. What I would like to know, is how accurate were the cars used in making the film? I'm sure there is a lot of accurate documentation as to what is correct and not but for me, she looks like a GT40 and I'm happy with that. Keep 'em comin Peter

FORD GT40 MENG 1/24 SCALE DONE AND IN THE BOOKS The Meng 1/24 scale Ford GT40 is done and in the books. The model depicts the second-place finish car driven by Ken Miles and Denny Hulme at Le Mans in 1966. While I was building the model, I had the opportunity to actually watch the movie: Ford vs Ferrari – talk about inspiration. I spent a lot of time finishing the model as I wanted it to replicate the car as best I could. The kit itself had no real issues and was a pleasure to build – my first race car to be honest. I used Indycal Decals and they were fantastic for all the car and tire markings. The teardrops over the headlights were done using the mask set I purchased from IndyCals when I purchased the decals and were the only way I could resolve the fit and color issues. Indycal helped replicate the car markings correctly and fit of the decals were superb. Decals were applied right on top of the gloss paint, as it was super smooth and no need for any clear coats for application. Paints: Primer: MRPLight Gray Lacquer Color Coats: Gravity of Spain Lacquers Clear Gloss Top Coat: Tamiya Clear LP-9 The Tamiya Clear Gloss Lacquer LP-9 was used to seal the decals and I followed my brother and Mark’s advice, let the clear coat set up for a good 72hours and then onto the polishing stages. To add depth to the finish I used the Gravity Polishing System and lastly their synthetic Wax. Keep ‘em comin Peter

Thanks John for the link. The kit looks pretty simply and from what they show, not bad. After what you have been going through, I wouldn't venture into buying one without reading a bunch of completed build reviews and never put any faith in, in box review, as they leave much to be desired. Maybe with the kit being design from the start as an injection molded kit rather then a rework of the HPH resin ki, this might increased the accuracy and address the fit issues. At best, it's a wait and see game now and I'm firmly standing on the wait and see side of the fence. Keep 'em comin Peter

Mark CONGRATUATIONS on 25 years of service - so very well earned🎖️🏅 Keep 'em comin Peter

John & Andy I'm no longer on the fence about the Vampire kit - I've fallen off and resting solidly on the Do Not Buy Side. Keep 'em comin Peter

Thanks Kev, much appreciated Being at Le Mans, no that's the ultimate for sure. Keep 'em comin Peter

Oliver Beautiful work and weathering on the front office. Looking so good. Keep 'em comin Peter

Gaz Sorry to see your soldering results are keeping you awake at night. Sometimes, just taking a good, long break is what is needed. The Hasegawa Stuka seems rather sparse in the cockpit area and the addition of the two man crew will go a long way. You're so right about those heads/faces needing to be replaced. Just glad you're underway and get your modeling mojo back on the positive side. Keep 'em comin Peter

John I was hoping the Infinity Helldiver would have gone together a lot better then it has; the 'everything' about this type of kit just seems to be on the short side of what we expected. I've had my eye on purchasing one of their new Vampire kits and am now I'm very hesitant as they are due out shortly. Keep 'em comin Peter