Finally my display cabinets are done!

Most of the bases have some velvet or other material covering the screws. Once you've located the screws below the velvet with your fingers, you can punch the screwdriver through the velvet and unscrew the model. It will be barely noticeable but for those who want to keep everything as original as possible the only option is to keep the car screwed to the base.

 

I bought this 250 GT PF Coupe by Matrix yesterday. I've seen the Vignale done by Matrix a while ago and was very impressed by the quality. Definitely at least as good as BBR. Fine detail in the interior and the chrome doesn't have a plastic look. Nice wire wheels and decent tires.
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I also bought a figurine by Le Mans Miniatures. I've now got several of them and they are really nice for a fair price. This is supposed to look like Phil Hill. Close ups of figurines are always brutal, rest assured that it looks fine in real life.
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The only gripe I have with the Matrix model is best noticed from the side. The sides of the body between the axles sits too high. It's as if the complete floorpan is missing. The part of the exhaust between the axles should also be more visible and lower. Other than that, the proportions are very well done.It fits right into my theme of street vs competition GTs. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Some time ago I bought the 365 GT4 BB competition by CMF. I really like the model and it wasn't too expensive at around 155 euro. The only thing that bothered me were the oversized wheels. Not very period correct! Luckily I've got a spare set of BBR wheels. They came with the China market only version of the BBR 512 BBLM.

I've used these wheels on my Hot Wheels 512S for a couple of years. But recently I've bought two 512S' by CMR so the Hot Wheels is obsolete. I've transfered the BBR wheels to the CMF 365 and I think it's a major improvement!

I've used an M3 sized threaded rod for the axels and put M3 nuts and a washer behind the wheels to replicate brake disks. I use M3 lock nuts for the center lock nuts. I think they're very appropriate.

Best, Peter
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Hi all,

It's been a while since I've posted in this thread. I had planned to do another model modification but in January I had a small accident and broke my elbow. I'm still recovering but am now able to use my arm well enough to be able to work on models again.

This is yet another limited but effective modification. Some time ago I bought a 275 GTB by CMR. It's the regular street version. Some time later I added a 275 GTB NART spider by BBR and decided to use it's wheels to turn the CMR 275 into a competition version. Later when CMR hcame out with their own competition versions, I still decided to continue my modification project.

I've swapped the wheels from the BBR model. It's easily reversible, should I ever decide to sell the BBR spider. The BBR spider now has BBR wire wheels which can be bought separately.

On the CMR I removed the bumpers and the side trim below the doors. I added a racing stripe and roundels. I also added a fuel filler cap. I thought about adding a hood scoop or vents behind the rear fender wells, but I have little experience with cutting resin models so maybe that's something for the future.

The model doesn't resemble any particular contemporary 275 competition. It's more like something you would see at historic races in Europe today.

It fits nicely in my display cabinet themed "street vs competition".

Best, Peter
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This is the latest addition to my collection, the 512M by...? There's no name on the box or model, only the 'Masterpiece Collection' description. But of course it's made by GMP/ACME.

Overall I'm very happy with the model. Considering the level of detail the quality of fit and finish meets my expectations. A small letdown are the vents on the top of the front fenders. Those are decals, not real openings in the fenders.

There is one glaring issue with this model. The nose points up considerably. It's as if the car is accelerating from a tight corner. It's worse on the right than on the left. That's when I noticed a QC issue with the left front shock. You can see that the silver upper part has slipped out of the orange lower part. I'm not going to return the model, as this issue might be a solution for the wrong stance. If I could lower the front ride height by removing the shock, maybe I could level the car with the ground. I might also try to fix it and leave it as intended, because I will display it with the body parts off. Some more investigation required!

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Thanks Pedro. And thanks for pointing out that your Sunoco version doesn't have the problem with the stance. It led me to look at pictures online of the Sunoco version. The very first sample pictures show a very good stance with the wheels filling up the wheel wells very nicely. Production pictures show some problems with that. The car is level, but the ride height seems off. With the red version it seems that the rear ride height is corrected, leaving the nose pointing up. I'm going to disassemble the front suspension and see if I can correct the ride height. Hopefully it can be solved by tightening the small screws and bending the suspension arms ever so slightly.

I took a few pictures of the GMP and CMR side by side. Overall the shapes and size are very comparable. Most noticeable difference is the greenhouse and windscreen size. The CMR's is too small, the GMP's might be a tad too large. Both are not helped visually by the (lack of) black window frame.

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I forgot to mention another purchase, the 126C2B by GP Replicas. I love these eighties turbo cars! I must resist the temptation to buy the Brabham and Williams of the same era.
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Some of my models have detachable body parts. I've been thinking about the best way to display them. For the larger parts I've chosen these very small wooden easels. They are about 12 cm or just under 5 inches tall. Should I leave them as is, or paint them? I've thought about white to match the cabinets, black or aluminum.
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Hi John,

I've thought about that, but I think a contrast with the body parts is better.

 

Thanks!

 

I've always been tinkering with models, but I'm by no means a real model builder. This project will be my first big one, with some real modifications and repaint. I don't want to mess things up, so it will be a slow process!
It's a Koenig BB by GT Spirit that I will transform into something that mimics the main features of Willy Koenig's own BB (see picture). So there will be a rear wing (borrowed from a cheap Bburago Countach) and headlight pods with transparent covers (I've already cut out most of the resin material).
For the wheels I'll use the ones from my CMF 365 GT/4 BB competizione that are obsolete because the CMF now wears BBR wheels. I found the correct BBS wheel decals on Ebay. Those BBS 'Turbo Wheel' covers are made out of nylon spacers that I found at the hardware store. I needed some tubes to glue onto the back of the covers and luckily I found some wall plugs with the correct diameter.
I'll post some pictures when the wheels are done.
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