Category: Mod

Volkswagen T2b “Martini Transporter” – Update!

Ixo’s “Martini Transporter” is one of those models with a HUGE bang-for-the-buck. For relatively cheap, you get a great model. However, though I really loved it, it had one big issue for me – the huge and skewed antenna on the roof 😣. The real deal had an antenna, though not as big and pointing up, not at an angle. The Kombi looked like an unicorn with that antenna! Fortunately it was something very easy to fix. On the model’s review I already posted how I did it. Check it out for yourself to see if you agree with me that it now looks better.

Model customization at its finest

Frenchman Steph mods and customizes models for a living. I wasn’t aware of his work until I saw him featured at Petrolicious, and it’s nothing short of fantastic. From what I understood he works with all scales, big or small. I’ve been known to mod a model or two, but different than mine, Steph’s model actually looks (VERY!) good 😁.

Transforming something filthy into something nice

Ever been through this? You find a nice model for a good price. A model that you wanted and that’s not exactly common. The price is (very!) good and when you ask the seller, he says that the model is “in perfect conditions” – a true collector’s item. And since the seller has good feedback you hit the BIN button.

Well, that story did not have a happy ending when I got the model 😡. In the end, however, I think I came out on top. How? Read here.

MOD – Porsche 550 RS Spyder #65

Since I just posted a charming 550A, I thought it was a good time to talk about the worse model of my collection.

With a spare model for parts, a sharp knife and some glue, I tried to make my 550 RS #65 a better model. The result? It still stinks 🤮. Oh come on, what did you expect? I was working with a turd. Only magic to fix that.

Still, the stench is not as bad now. Click on the link above to see the how-to and the finished excre… I mean, model.

MOD – 1937 Auto Union Typ C Stromlinienwagen (record car)

Shortly after I published the Typ C Stromlinienwagen (record car) review, I was reading a bit more on Silberpfeile LSR cars. By chance I watched again the footage of Rosemeyer’s 1937 record attempt, and something caught my eye. I missed this when I first wrote the review, but you can clearly see that for the record run his Typ C carried a swastika.

To make it more historically accurate, I had to address that. So, decal time! If you want to see how it looks now, just go to the Stromlinienwagen’s page.

MOD – Porsche 911 R

One of the things that bothered me at least a little about my 911 R was the absent “Porsche stripe”. The stripe was an accessory that you would buy at a Porsche dealer, and then apply to your car. But as it’s common knowledge, a car with go-fast-stripes is always faster. Therefore, my car needed the stripes. To fix that, a few months ago the Earl of Northumberland graciously sent me some spares stripes that I could use.

But to be honest I kind of forgot about them, always waiting for a decal job to show up so I would do everything at once. Well, yesterday the time came, and it was a VERY simple decal job. Decals in place and like magic my 911 R got faster 🙂

Function above form. Always.

The gold paint arrived (Tamiya’s X-12) so I started on the wheel lug nuts and then metallic silver (X-11) for the door handles. From the looks of it the door handles won’t look very good, since they should be chrome. But since there’s no way I can chrome them, flaky silver paint will have to do. From a meter away I think they will convince.

And this is a model car blog, so no comments on the (lack of) latte art. A cappuccino with the perfect proportion of espresso, milk and micro foam. And perfect shot of espresso. Flavor was friggintastic, and that’s what matters – looks be damned.

Boogers!

Do NOT believe anyone saying that this is an easy project… The white around the door handles is tampo-printed, and at least in my car, the paint was pretty thick. So I had a bear of a time to remove it without damaging the red paint around. But even using acetone-free nail polish remover, a bit of the red rubbed off. So I had to make some retouches to the paint in the recessed area around the door handle and of course to the door handles too.

Now I’m waiting to receive a flask of gold paint (for wheel nuts) and I’ll also have to paint the door handles silver. That done, then it’s decal time.

The project advances

But I have to say it was NOT easy to remove all the decals. It took a lot of scratching with fingernails and a plastic knife. The decals were really adhered to the paint, so it was not exactly easy. I can only hope that the decals on my other models from Minichamps are as solid as these.

And now the part that I’m most worried about: to remove that white around the door handles.