Resin Lola Gt (Copy Of Monogram)

[grt 11]

Well, I have been working on this few several months now, and finally got around to downloading some photos of the build.

 

I has been after a Monogram Lola GT for years, but could not find one, even a wreck, for a reasonable price. Then through dumb luck found a site that had several old rare unmade kits up for sale, including the 1/32 Monogram Lola GT, at quite a reasonable price. The box was a real mess, but the contents were OK, just needed to polish out a few minor scratches caused by the body being loose in the box.

 

I had wanted to build at least a couple of these, so decided to have a go at making a one part mould and slush casting it, in the wake of many similar efforts by others members here. I am not going to compare myself to the likes of Munter and Phil, as my casts were a little rough around the edges (a little like me I suppose) but I was pretty happy with the end result, although the windscreen has been an issue.

 

So here are some progress pics of the first builds, one of which is tantalisingly close to completion. Apologies for the quality of the photos, a photographer I am not (as anyone who has visited my website would know)

 

Rough as guts, straight out of the mould:

 

The complete kit (tidied up):

 

First test fit (using a PCS32 chassis clone):

 

Working on its brother as well, with Lola inserts (also moulded from the kit):

 

Cleaned up, gaps filled, sanded and undercoated:

 

Top coat - Metallic midnight blue, plus chrome parts:

 

Have since applied most of the decals, and will finish with a clear coat, before painting the bottom strip under the doors silver. Then will come the final assembly of accessories, windows, driver platform, and chassis.

 

Will post more pics as I go, plus will provide more details on the chassis, running gear and wheels etc, in anticipation of the first few questions.

 

I hope to make up a couple more versions for myself, but do have a few kits extra for anyone who might be interested. Just pm me if you want one.

[terry 36]

Nice work Graeme,certainly looks fine from where I'm sitting.

 

Lots of good memories with this car, one of my first slot cars.

[kalbfellp 71]

Graeme was kind enough to trade me, so I can tell you all he has done a great job with this casting.

Especially casting the clear parts.

[munter 155]

Looks very nice, a favourite of mine too.

[Capri-corn7 106]

Wow that looks supurb Graeme... well done

[belles51 7]

Super job amigo

[grt 11]

Finally finished the first of the Lola's over the weekend. Ran out of sunshine to take photos of the finished product, but do have a few more progress shots:

 

After applying decals and clear coat:

 

Clear and chrome parts attached, and door sills painted:

 

Chassis pics:

 

Nearly done, driver platform added and chassis attached:

 

I have just added the door roundels, but was too cloudy for good pics. I also intend to add tailpipes as well on either side of the chassis, as there is just enough room under the natural curve of the rear panel. I must say the end result exceeded my expectation somewhat, as it did not really start looking like the real car until the headlights, tailights and chrome bits were attached. The next version will have narrower tyres and Lola inserts on the wheels, for a more genuine look, but I must admit I like the look of these wheels on the car, makes it look squat and fast. It is quite narrow, and the wider tyres do seem to make the car easier to drive and allow the car to slide more on the corners, the narrower ones tend to dig in a bit if the surface is not perfectly smooth.

 

The only bit I am not real happy about is the tail lights, I had so much trouble trying to paint in the orange and red bits, my hands are just not steady enough. And I'd like them to look more glass like, but not sure how to achieve that. I was thinking of maybe printing some real tailights out on decal paper, and then cutting them to fit, to give a much neater and more lifelike appearance. Has anyone tried that before?

 

Enjoy!

[kalbfellp 71]

I have printed a few sets of taillights, but having an Alps printer I used a chrome base and then orange and red over.

But more often just use thinned paint over Bare Metal foil.

[dangermouse 102]

Looks good Graeme

With the taillights I use toothpicks for really fine bits. You could fix up the little bit of over painted silver with a toothpick.

What about putting some Microscale Micro Kristal Klear over the lights - might make it look more like a glass lens or a drop of clear export resin.

Edited September 25, 2016 by dangermouse

[grt 11]

OK, finally finished the first 2 builds of the resin Lola GT.

 

I have a full set of progress pics of the blue car here: http://home.alphalink.com.au/~gt/Assets/Html/MyCarSBLolaGT_1l.htm

And pics of the finished green car here: http://home.alphalink.com.au/~gt/Assets/Html/MyCarSBLolaGT_2l.htm

 

 

 

I ended up making decals for the rear lights, and have just applied them this morning, and hope to take some pics when/if the sun comes out and the wind stops blowing. They certainly look a lot tidier than my hand painted efforts.

 

Cheers.

[munter 155]

Very nice work, Graeme.

I think the blue one is my pick of the two.

[grt 11]

In order to tidy up the rear lights, decided to make up decals for them. Was incredibly fiddly cutting each of the 3 little sections out of each tailight, and positioning them, but the results are much. much better than I could achieve by hand painting them. I have also added my own exhausts to the cars too, a little exaggerated I know, but I do like the look:

 

 

Also got around to assembling the original Monogram kit, mainly to see how it compared to my copies. Was a little disappointed in the fitting of some parts though, as some did not quite line up, and the rear of the chassis seems to sit too high, but I'd have to grind the mounts down a couple of mm for it to sit level, according to my eye. Not sure whether to pull it apart to fix it or not. The driver figure is a resin copy I made of a scalextric full driver figure. The decals are also my own copies of the monogram supplied ones, as I was worried the originals might be cracked and yellowed a bit by age. Will add a full set of pics to my website shortly:

 

[tonka500 2]

Nice work. Gorgeous looking cars and I reckon your ones look better than the original!