1/43 Scale Diecast Custom Builds: Restorations and Repaints

I'm starting to buy up some Bang/Best/Box Gt40's for conversion. These models come apart easily and can easily be detailed. There are lots of decals available for them as well. The first one was a success.

This is the donor car for the next attempt.

These Porsche RS models from Spark are nice in terms of detail, but the graphics are sub-par for models at this price. The Porsche graphics on the drivers side of the Revson car were sloppily applied and the decals are not trimmed cleanly on either car. I plan to use aftermarket decals to repair the Revson car and convert the green car to the one Petty drove.

One of the things I most enjoy is finding rough, discarded, damaged, or otherwise abused models and turning them into something cool. Some don't represent actual 1:1 vehicles. they are more in the line of "that looks viable". Some are conversions of available models or kits.

The Minichamps model of the 1994 Jacques Villeneuve Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year car was released then immediately recalled by the manufacturer. Only a few models made it into the hands of collectors. The model was produced without the Players Ltd. tobacco markings that it carried in the race. Fortunately there are several decal sets available to correct the issue. This conversion was done with a set from IndyCals and a few that I had in my stash.

I used some of the leftover blue striping from the IndyCals set to add color to the drivers suit.

Fairly minimal changes were made to this Detail Cars Group 44 TR6. The original had a red stripe on the nose while the prototype has a green stripe. This was corrected and the inverted "44" was added to the deck lid. The padding on the roll bar was changed to black from red, the headlights were blacked out, and the wheel hubs were painted green. The stance was lowered a bit and the exhaust pipes were removed and relocated to the center. The result is a model that more accurately represents the car Bob Tullius C Production Triumph. Thanks Jerry at Old Irish Racing for providing the decals.

This donor cars for this Eddie Cheever conversion were non-branded Menard's Jaques Lazier promo models. The model was disassembled and the decals were removed by soaking the parts in Simple Green. The rear wing comes from a short oval version of the car and the rest of the parts are from a long oval version. Sharp-eyed viewers will notice that the car is a 2003 model with 2002 graphics, but it shows pretty well. The decals are from IndyCals, except for Eddie's helmet which were hand cut.

I picked this Graphyland Howmet Turbine up for a few bucks at a swap meet. It was in pretty rough shape!

It is a resin kit that was put together with screws so it came apart easily. I removed the paint by soaking the parts in Simple Green at full strength for a week. The body was in need of some repairs, but the chassis and interior were in fair shape.The base coat is Krylon Fusion Gloss White followed by Fusion Aluminum.

The nose is painted with Tamiya Acrylic Blue applied with an airbrush.

The decals are from Le Mans Decals and they are spectacular! They are very thin and pliable and the graphics are razor sharp. Their customer service is second to none (thanks Luis).

My goal was to produce a model that I could display next to my Bizarre version of the #22 car. Mission accomplished.

This is a Corgi Rover 2000TC with Golden Jacks. It was part of a lot that I purchased on eBay and it was in pretty rough shape.

The spare tire mount was removed and the trunk filled. The glass was polished and coated with Future. The bumpers were cleaned up and modified and lights from the parts bin were added. The paint is Krylon. The decals are from my stash.

This Marcos 1800 GT is based on a Corgi #324 that was purchased in order to get the wheels for another "straight" restoration. The only real issue with the model was scratches in the windshield and a small crack in the rear glass. This was taken care of with a lot of sanding and polishing, a few coats of Future, and tinting on the inside of the rear glass. The chassis was modified to accept wider wheels and to lower the stance. The paint is Krylon Fusion with a topcoat of Future. The interior was detailed and new wheels, graphics and mirrors added. Many thanks to my_shop_33 for the great deal on the donor car.

This RepliCarz Lor Schell Special Maserati model was a basket case when I got it. The seat, steering wheel, mirrors, wind screen, and front wheels were broken off, the grill was caved in and the graphics were chipped in several places. It was going to be a parts car, but the Replicarz models are so pretty I just had to take a swipe at restoration. Fortunately, all of the parts were present and I even found some of the chips from the decals stuck to the inside of the case. The front suspension had to be scratch-built and some of the graphic repairs were hand cut. Fortunately the paint was in great shape overall and there was no damage to the resin body. Thanks to Mark at RepliCarz for giving me the chance to rescue this great model.

This Solido Ferrari 312 was given to me as a joke by an associate who knew I collected model cars. When I got it, it looked like it had been in the bottom of a toy box for a decade. To restore it the model was stripped and repainted. The mirror and roll cage were scratch built. It isn't an exact representation of a car from a specific race, but it shows pretty well, and I like that it has a driver.

These Solido BMW 3.0 CSL's were picked up at a flea market. They were stripped and repainted and finished with decals that I had on hand. Again, I like that they had drivers. I've never seen these Solido models anywhere before or since.