New to 1:18 collecting: Need Advice

The best Carrera GT I have seen is the AutoArt, though I believe Kyosho or someone else has a pretty good one. McLarens are tough to find because the models are becoming rarer. BTW, avoid trying to get any Sauber C9 race cars. Bid wars can get pretty high, so unless you really want it, be prepared to dish out some dough.

 

LP640 and Zonda F there is a company planning to build them in very good quality, i think LP640 will be out around christmas and Zonda F early next year.

 

Now that is good news!!!!

 

Cool,but I would rather see a GT-R in 1:18.
I keep hearing rumors about one being made though.
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I have disassembled diecasts and repainted them. It's not easy, I've only tried it on simple models like Buragos UTs and Jouefs. These are basically held together by for phillips head screws. More sophisticated cars from Hot Wheels Elite, Auto Art and Kyosho are bound to be more difficult.

Painting diecast metal is a lot trickier than painting plastic models. Original paint must be completely stripped using any commercial product and the bare metal should be primed and painted using spray paints designed for application on metal, Some have used actual boidy paint intended for full sized autos.

I recommend using an airbrush, it's much easy to get smooth coats that are not too thick than trying to spray out of a can. Two or three thin coats is best, even better if you wet sand between coats. Remember it's easy to over do it, four or five coats might be required for a good finish on a real car but they'd look too thick on a scale car.

A topcoat of gloss clearcoat will give an excellent gloss if applied carefully. When it's all thoroughly dried a good soft car wax will enhance your paint job and protect your finish.

So far I have not been able to duplicate the kind of finish you get from the typical Kyosho diecast but practice makes perfecto.

BTW-don't overlook CMC's 250GT SWB in Rosso Red or Fly Yellow, it's really fantastic.

 

the carrera gt was also done by minichamps, in red & yellow. id get the kyosho ferrari's while you still can.

 

Which manufacturer is rumoured to be making the RGT? That'd be amazing if they did, I'd really like to get my hands on one

I saw a copy of it made on ebay, someone just put it together themselves...it was a stock maisto murcielago, painted black with 2 blobs of plastic as the wings (the one above the car and below the car), the rims were from the maisto Gallardo SL and glued on (so they wouldn't roll)...asking 75 USD!

 

Its not official by any means, but Auto Art.
I hope its true as well.

 

I have a silver McLaren 1/18 by UT that i was planning to put on ebay, if you want it, let me know, ill keep for you. Still in box slightly damage.

 

"inside" rumor is that LP640 Coupe/Roadster & Reventon be out Christmas, R-GT out in Feb (only in carbon).

My Cheque book is ready for all of them

 

I like it in all carbon but might have to get 2.

 

Minichamps makes the other premium Carrera GT.

 

I think this website might help you with some parts, transkits,rims,etc. I've never done business with them before and I think they are located in Europe.

http://www.scuderiamodelli.com/Inglese/index.htm