Ola gang!
"Gentlemen-start your engines" classic race car campaign is due to take-off
in 10 days, so I thought it should have an "official thread". So far we have
24 participants that have signed up for the campaign. I also wanted
to encourage those that haven't signed up yet, and want to "avoid OD burnout",
or just love to build classic race cars, to do so in the campaign page.

In this thread you can post photos of your builds in progress, but since
the campaign starts in a 10 days, I encourage you to post picture of the kit you
will be building, i.e. box art or sprues with a short description and original photo
of the actual car. Also if you wish you can start separate thread about your build,
sharing more detailed progress with the other participants.

Heres what I'll be building for the campaign: Revells kit of the Mercedes
300 SLR as driven by Stirling Moss with the navigator Denis Jenkinson
in the 1955 Mille Miglia with a record time of ten hours, seven minutes and
48 seconds.


And the photo of the actual car:


Happy modeling
Pedro

I'll go in with a '69 Shelby GT-500 built as a dragster . I picked it up last week on a whim . I've done a little bit of engine work and some body paint , so I'll take a point cut for starting early .

Hi Carlton!

Good to hear you're in and building!
Do you have a photo of real drag Shelby?

Altough I don't want tho be too strict on the rules, they are rules
eventually. That said, it can be either a photo of a drag Shelby,
of any model year, or, if you won't find a shelby it can be any
drag Mustang.
Are you going to make it a pro modified racer?

Cheers
Pedro

I've got my choice narrowed down to two different 1/43 scale Heller kits. The first choice is a 1987 Lotus F1 that only has a dozen or so parts, but is from the right time frame. The other is a Peugeot 205 rally car. The instructions state that the car type won 1987 and 1990, but I am not sure the markings are for a pre-1991 car. It is a more complicated kit that I would rather build, but since I am unsure of the markings, I'll go with what I know.

Hey Robin!
I'd say the Peugeot is ok. I dont know if Heller marketed
the 205 in one or more marking options, but if yours look
as the one in the picture below, then its from 1987 Paris-
Dakkar rally, as driven by Ari Vattanen, and therefore eligible
for the campaign.



Pedro

OK, that's the same license plate number. I do notice the kit does not have the Camel name over the windshield like the photo. Must be a PC thing since smoking is frowned upon.

Hi everyone,

I would like to join the campaign with a 1/24 Tamiya Ford Escort Repsol rally car, guess the kit represents the car from 1987 when Carlos Sainz thundered through the rally courses in this car. Being an AFV builder, I might (and possibly will) need some pointers about building and polishing "soft skin targets"

If I can I would like to construct a dio showing the car in full action or pulled to the side of the track due to mechanical breakdown(don't know if Sainz had any problem like that during that season, I'm too young to remember), but I can't seem to find suitable figures. Worse yet, even if I can modify figures, I can't seem to work out how to scratch build those racing helmets...

Hi emroglan!

As far as I know, there were some figures of F1 drivers made
by Tamiya in 1:24, those should have nice helmets that are
similar to the rally helmets, I think.
As to the polishing cars, I'm sure guys here will be ready
to share their techniques. I use 2400 grit followed by some fine
cloth and toothpaste

Pedro

[quote]
Heres what I'll be building for the campaign: Revells kit of the Mercedes
300 SLR as driven by Stirling Moss with the navigator Denis Jenkinson
in the 1955 Mille Miglia with a record time of ten hours, seven minutes and
48 seconds.


Oh my God!!! I'll build the same kit!!! Now this is quite a surprise, and a nice one, too

I hope we will be able to share techniques etc we use ;-)

By the way, I already started building the "skeleton" of the car, and it takes a lot of time, really.

Regards.
Cagin

Hi Grzegorz,

Here is my entry for the campaign. It's the 1972 LeMans winning Matra-Simca MS 670 (#15) driven by Henri Pescarolo and Graham Hill. The model is from Fisher Models, a resin 24th scale curb-side.





My entry will hopefully be built in one day. We have had a tradition of getting together and having a 24 hr build while we watch the 24hr of LeMans, this will be our third year. It's a lot of fun, we usually have 5 to 6 club members participating, and aside from me, most of the members complete the model in the 24hrs.( I hope to break my string of DNF's this year! )

Here are a couple of photos from last years almost completed LeMans 908 Porsche longtail (it's still sitting in the box 90% completed ) Should of been a 26hr of LeMans build!

It's a surprise for me too Cagin
Fortunately, I have seen the future, near future, the summer
hollidays are imminent! In less than a month I will have plenty
of time for some nasty complicated car chassis'/skeletons
assembly :-)

Pedro

Hi Frank!

That looks like a great addition tho the campaign, I don't see
any of those in LHS' in my country . That Porsche looks sweet
too, maybe you'll be able to finish it together with Matra ?
Oh and the 24hr building sessions sound really interesting,
however it's too fast for me, I'm really slow :-)

Cheers
Pedro

Hi everyone,
Here is my entry for this campaign. This is going to be my first car since starting back into modeling last year. It's "Rambunctious", a 1970 Dodge Charger owned by Gene Snow. I picked this kit up at a church yard sale a couple of months ago still in the plastic wrapper and I can't wait to get started on it. The metalflake red paint is going to be alot different from the greens and browns I usually work with. I've already gotten lots of ideas to enhance the engine detail from looking at Joe's (Mother) Mooneyes car.
Seeing all the Porsche and other exotic cars folks are building I had to come up with a good ol' American redneck entry. This car should be in pretty good shape for the campaign since it was only driven for half a year and only on Saturdays and Sundays.......1/4 mile each trip!

Ola VonCuda!
I'm looking forward to see your progress In this bunch of cars
posted here so far your Charger seems to be an exotic :-)

Pedro

Hi all,
I'll be doing Tamiya's Lotus 25. Box is opened, kit looks pretty good. I'll probably only add engine wiring and replace the supplied clear "mesh" intake cover with brass or aluminum screening.

Anyone know a good match, out of the bottle, for British Racing Green?

Dave S.

Dave, I dont know what brand of paints you prefer, but
Humbrol no. 3 - Brunswick Green seems to be quite close
to what I think about how British Racing Green should look
like. That should also equal the Tamiya X5 paint.

HTH
Pedro

There are some great looking race cars posted above, can't wait to get this started!

All righty now...I just dug out the helmit and put in a full tank of gas, so lets get them engines roaring. Here's what I'm bring to the line, Dyno Don's Ford Mustang. The kit is a re-box of the old MPC kit that AMT released this year. I plan on detailing her to the max as well in doing my own paint and decals. See ya's at the finish line.

Hey Joe,
My money's on the guy in the left lane. I can just make out "DODGE" on his quarter panel. :-) :-)
Ya know, there's a reason my callsign has a "CUDA' " in it.
All kidding aside, would it be ok if I PM'd you with a few questions as we go along Joe? This is pretty much going to be my first attempt at a car since I was a kid and after seeing some of yours, I'm ready to learn from a master.

1st question: How the heck do you get the chrome plating off the plastic parts....like valve covers?

"Cuda"

Although I'm not in this camp. (to many on the go allready) I think I can help you.One of the ways to take of chrome is Easyoff.

Jim

P.S.Can you tell by my name who my money is on?

Yeah PM away..I'll help out. As for removing chrome, yes you can use Easyoff. I wouldn't though. I like to use Castrol Super Clean or Simple Green. Both can be found at any Auto Supply Store, around $4-5 bucks a gallon. Not only will it remove chrome, it'll also remove just about all paints no matter how long it's been on. Best part...it's safe and non-toxic. Anything else, just shoot away.

As for the Cuda, well I myself had a 71with a 340. Wrecked dragracing If you want I can show you some pics before and after.

The Rambunctious Dodge Charger, I've built (all four kits) a few years back. Let me know when you plan on starting her, there are a few build tips needed to be known.

Hey guys, I'm glad you started some discussion already.
As far as the "questions to expert" go I would like to ask if
you guys can do it in the threads, instead of using the PM's
so other car beginners could also learn some tips

Cheers
Pedro

Thanks Pedro, one of the LHS has Humbrol paints. I did snag a can of the Tamiya spray bomb dark green (forget the #) last night. I figured I could spray it into a bottle to degas it and then shoot it through the airbrush. I've never tried this so if I can find something "normal" that matches so much the better.

I agree with Mother on using Castrol Super Clean as a paint and chrome stripper. I've been using a 2.5 gallon bucket filled with 2 gallons of the stuff for the past several years. I just throw the parts in, put the lid back on and leave it in overnight. With the depth of that much cleaner and the width of the bucket I can strip anything, tanks, cars, airplanes, and trucks. I've yet to find something that doesn't fit.

Dave S.

Some nice entries allready!

Mmm... I think I make at least 2!!!!
First it's the 1:32 1933 Alpha Romeo from Airfix.
This project I did start on some 1,5 years ago, but the project went into the drawer becasue of ordering missing parts (took about 6 months, but I got them finally!!). Actually not a full entrie, because I allready started with it... But the campaign inspires me to finish it!!!

Also I was able to get my hands on the old 1:32 Matchbox Citroen 11 Legere (cabriolette or coupe option). That's gonna be the full entry.

Paul

Paul, nice chioce, the Citroen is a real Beauty, I'd love to see
that one finished. As for the Alfa Romeo, I think it would be
nice if you'd post progress pictures on that one also

Pedro