News Feed

George Williams
Never seen this before but it looks fabulous.

David Orr
That is very nice. It's good to see an unusual subject like this. I think I had a Matchbox car very similar to that.

Spence Wilson
@George, thanks! Concept car from the late 60s. Always been one of my favorite concepts.

@David, I know Hot Wheels did a version in 1970 and Matchbox did one in 1971. Pretty sure I had the Matchbox version as well at some point.

Alexander Grivonev
You actually managed to order a kit from this website?

Christian W
So cool to see this one build! Great! I love those old prototypes and how they saw the sports car for the future.

Spence Wilson
@Alexander, I have been buying the SMP24 kits for about 4 years now. It was not easy to find or purchase them in the beginning but I have been a pretty consistant purchaser since. I am not sure how many actually get out of Japan or Asia for that matter. Definately not easy or inexspensive to obtain.

@Christian, thanks! I am also a big fan of this era of prototypes, most concepts from the 70s though the 90s I felt really captured what it meant to create really wild and intersting concepts.

Robert Podkoński
Fantastic model of a fantastic car!

Spence Wilson
@Robertt, thanks very much.

Marcel
Great build of a unique car. Love the color.

Mr D
Very nice, great subject too👌
Do you know who the designer was ??

David Orr
@MrD It's got a Bertone logo on the side of the engine cover.

Spence Wilson
@ Marcel, thank you very much!

@Mr. D It was designed by Marcello Gandini while he was with Bertone in 1968.

shadowlight
What can you tell us about the quality of the kit? Sharpness of casting, amount of details, difficulties during building....

Mr D
Thanks Spence😃👍
Thought it had a Gandini look, .. like the stratos ect .
Really nice , ike the window tint.

Spence Wilson
@shadowlight You can watch the full build of the kit on my YouTube channel and see what it consists of. I don't do a lot of resin so I don't have much to compare it to but I find the resin to be a little soft so things like scribing are difficult for me when I am so used to doing it with plastic. The interior is beyond detailed with so many tiny photoetch pieces it is amazing, as it is with many of their kits. The engines in the SMP kits I find are always bitter sweet. They have fantastic detail for the parts that are included but I also feel they are a little simplified and ccould use a few more extra bits to them just to detail them up a little more. All SMP kits come with great photo etch parts and a level of details that is beyond my expectations. Just understand this is a garage kit and more in line with something you may 3d print rather than building a Tamiya or other styrene kit. A lot of the parts can benefit from pins to hold better and you have to decide if you want to go through all that yourself. I love the two SMP kits I have built so far and I have several more of them that I am eager to get into as well. I really enjoy building them.

Mr D
Thanks, will check out the YouTube build, l really like Gandini design's... The Miura is my favourite, but the kits I've seen don't look that great.
Thanks for info..... Appreciate it 😃👍👍

shadowlight
Thanks Spence - will have a look

David Orr
@MrD You wouldn't believe it, but I saw a Lancia Stratos yesterday while driving just outside Pukekohe, New Zealand. I don't know whether it was the real thing or a replica, but it looked fantastic anyway. Not exactly what you expect to see while driving around rural New Zealand.

shadowlight
2 more questions: - which colours did you used? It wasnt mentioned in the video...
- how you have ordered and communicated? Using google translate on their website and using the Mail-form included in their site only japanese letters seemed to be allowed...
An congratulations that you got one of these - there already sold out 😭((

Dominik Weitzer
wow. that looks great!

Mr D
David Orr,
Yes there is a Lancia specialist in NZ, he is one of the world's leading restoration guys and builds Replica ones too with Alfa Buso V6 engine's....so I'm not surprised.
I think the stratos looks like a Miura....shrunk in the wash.... Another Gandini great.
😃👍👍

David Orr
@MrD We have quite a few superb car restorers and replica builders down here. I hadn't heard of the Lancia guy, but there are some who do amazing Jaguar C-Type and D-Type replicas, and even a perfect XJ13. And some awesome Ferrari replicas.

Rui S
Welcome to scalemates🙂

James C
Have decided on my next victim, so pulled this one out of the stash this morning and gave the parts a rinse to clean off the mold release agents etc. Hope to make a start on it in the next day or so once dried. Similar to the Panzer 1A that I built previously, but this one is slightly longer due to having an extra road wheel, as well as a modified rear engine deck and exhaust due to having a different engine. Haven't decided if it will be based in France or Greece yet, but definitely leaning towards the grey and brown camouflage per the box art.

Kesa Tiho
Man good luck, hope it turns out well

James C
Thanks 🙂

Robin (WhiteGlint)
Another 1/16 scale tank 👀
Count me in, James 👍

Sebastian Meyner
Great work so far James 👍 Following 👀

John Hughes
I'd recommend adding the superstructure from front to back as you can have alignment issues. You can get decals for the fire extinguisher, which are not in the kit.

James C
Thanks guys 🙂

Really enjoying the larger 1/16 scale, and finding them much easier on the eyes to assemble.

Thanks John and yeah, that's what I did with the "A" version I built previously.

James C
I got quite a bit more done today with both track runs mounted for a test fit. They worked out quite well in the end, being much better than the plastic links that come in the kit. Far easier to assemble as well as only took a couple of hours versus several days for the stock plastic parts. Adds a nice bit of weight to the model as well. Still need to adjust the tension a little to get them sagging properly but pretty happy with how they turned out. Started to loose the natural lighting so will leave the turret assembly and smaller detail parts for tomorrow.

James C
Finished off the assembly a little while ago. Just needs a little clean-up in a couple places before I tear it apart again to airbrush a coat of black primer on it. I'm hoping it will be a little warmer tomorrow which will help with drying times. Am also considering adding an extra link to both track runs as in hindsight the tracks look a little tight at present with 97 links.

Mr D
Really nice.
. like it 👍👍

James C
Thanks Mr D 🙂

James C
I finished it off late yesterday afternoon, and have just been waiting for some better lighting to take some shots of the completed build.
This one represents a Panzerkampfwagen I, Ausf. B as deployed during the invasion of Poland in September of 1939 in the early stages of the second world war.

Both of these large 1/16 scale Takom kits have been fantastic to build.
Probably the weakest part of the kits are with the tracks, which while nicely molded... the plastic pins are very fragile and snap quite easily.
You only get approx. 12 spares, and I only had 1 spare left when I built the "A" version.
As a replacement set of metal links were roughly the same price as those for a Tiger 2 in 1/35 scale, it was a no brainer to purchase a set for this build of the "B" version. Much more durable, quicker and easier to assemble by far, and also adds a nice bit of extra weight to the completed model.

Being a smaller subject (but still quite large models) these Panzer I kits come in at the lower end of the price range of 1/16 scale kits making them much more affordable. I was fortunate to score this B version at 50% off, so was pretty chuffed about that.

All up, very nice kits and definitely recommended 😉👍

A walkaround both inside and out of the Panzer I

Youtube Video

Youtube Video

Rui S
I'm in 😎

James C
Welcome Rui 🙂

gorby
Niiiice! Not seen one of these built before.

James C
Thanks Gorby 🙂

It's a nice kit and being 1/16 scale is larger than a 1/35 scale King Tiger. Plenty of plastic for your $$$

gorby
I think Britain is too small to build 1/16 kits. 😄
(My budget certainly is). 😄

Kees Borgers
Looking good , i will follow.

James C
Thanks Kees 🙂

Robin (WhiteGlint)
A big small tank! Count me in. 👀
Looking good James. 👍

James C
Thanks mate 🙂

Have since added a little paint chipping (back to the grey base coat), and applied the decals etc which are going to take a few applications of Micro Sol to settle down over the turret details. Will update the album when there is a little more to see.

Gary Curling
Love the tracks

James C
Thanks Gary 🙂

Cooler weather temps have slowed progress this last week but paintwork has been sealed and the decals are done now.
Ready to make a proper start on the weathering and dirtying it up a bit ahead of final assembly.

gorby
Very nice weathering.

Gary Curling
I wish i could push the like button again and again.

James C
Thanks Gorby & Gary 🙂

Am hoping to knock it off in the next day or so.

James C
A "light tank" of the German Afrika Corps WWII. Something that our Kiwi troops (NZ Division) would "butt heads" with frequently during the early years of the war. But, given it's light armour and lack of a main shell firing gun... quickly became obsolete when the Allies (including NZ) pulled their finger out and put bigger and better tanks on the field. I have a ton of respect for these German crewmen.

gorby
Very impressive result.

Neuling
Excellent paintwork and weathering. You´ve done the big scale justice in every way!

Pepe
Nice job!!!

Rui S
I agree with Neuling. Top work 👍

James C
Thanks guys 🙂

Robin (WhiteGlint)
Great work James. A big model of a small tank.

James C
Thanks mate 🙂👍