I may not have any high brow fancy factory transporters but I do have a grass roots one from back in the day.

 

I hate to think back to all of those matchbox cars I had as kid.

 

One of the interesting developments that helped model cars tremendously actually came from the electronics industry.
The introduction of photoresist for circuit cards but used for etching fine details into metal.
On a circuit card we needed to etch things down to a few thousands for high speed signal traces.
In that case the line was copper on fr4 fiberglass but if you etched both sides of a piece of metal you could make very detailed grills for example.
The way it worked was you coated the metal with a layer of photoresist which was sort of like a layer of plastic.
When you exposed it to a bright light you could then develop it like film and then dip it into a dissolving solution.
The parts that weren't exposed would stay and those that were would melt away.
One would then dip the part into an acid bath and the remaining photo resist would protect the metal while the remainder was etched away.
When you trimmed the part you would have something like the back grills on this GT40.

 

They say the difference between men and boys is the size of their toys, but this thread would argue otherwise. Some great models here.

 

hagerty had an article on this dude. https://www.jorgesordelli.com/
models on a whole other level.
"works by commission at 1/5 scale"

I'm guessing I could buy any one of my existing cars for what he'd charge for a model.

 

I need to check out this place sometime www.replicarz.com

 

Good source. I've used before.

 

I got my next project yesterday.

 

my Lego kit showed up.



looks tough

although neither driver looks like Lewis.

 

Pocher Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza 1931

Thanks to an impressive Italian company’s 1:8 scale model kit I have been down a rabbit hole researching it. Pocher released its first 1:8 scale model kit in 1966. What makes their kits so iconic besides the size, kit is 20” long, and cost, kit was $160 when released in 1968; about $2k in today’s money, is the kits were based on original plans from the manufacturer, kit is based on chassis 2211046, and assembly is mostly accomplished with threaded fasteners (screws, nuts and bolts) and very little glue!!

Features include spoked wire wheels assembled spoke by spoke, 240 spokes, an engine with working crankshaft and piston assembly, moveable gear lever and parking brake, and working steering wheel. This level of detail and size got Pocher write ups in major magazines of the day.

The irony is although these kits were very expensive, they did not have great quality control. This kit, as with all Pocher kits, had all the typical Pocher problems and headaches... poorly fitting parts, non-fitting parts, glaring omissions, inaccurate details, vague instructions, etc., etc. Anyone who has ever built, or tried to build, a Pocher kit knows what they are like.

Years ago, college buddy knew I enjoyed building models and bought this unfinished Posher kit at a garage sale. Based on what I have read I suspect there are hundreds in the same condition. Then he gave it to me. I don’t recall if I ever tried working on it. Instead, I gave it to my friend Neil who was sixteen years older. I knew he really appreciated cars of the 30s and 40s. He was a master mechanic, a pilot, and master model builder who loved airplanes more than cars. Some of his works could take years. Neil completed the Alfa project, which required tracing down missing parts from around the USA or building the part from scratch. I know he was proud of the project because it was displayed on a center table in their living area. After his passing in September 2022 his wife said Neil told her to return the finished model to me. The internet is filled with videos and threads by master model builders saying they found the kit a nightmare to assemble. Completed kits sell for $900 to $1,000 today on E-Bay.

This is a 2.5-minute overview video of the kit.
Many books have been written about the actual cars with its straight eight twin cam supercharged engine. It sold new for $9,000. Today the average selling according to Classic.com as of August 2023 in the past five years is $2.1M based on the sale of three cars. The highest most recent sale was $4.5M. Alfa in the early thirties were the kings of Grand Prix racing. They overwhelmed the Bugattis, the Third Reich’s Mercedes-Benz’s and Auto Unions had not yet beaten them. And they lead in sports-car racing. British milords Howe and Birkin won the LeMans race in 1931. Alfas took the first three places in the 1932 Mille Miglia. In 1933 they were 1,2, and 3 at LeMans and won again in 1934.

Jay Leno’s 1932 Alfa 8C Monza Replica.

Since a real one might sell for $7 million or more, this $500k exact replica 2.6L is better suited for the streets. As one poster said, of all of the Leno videos that I've seen, I've never seen Jay as exuberant about driving the subject vehicle as he is in this one.