TFchronos Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Before I get to the model itself I would like to tell a little story because this one has special meaning to me. When I was younger between the ages of 11 and 15 I was building models, they were box stock nothing wild or really detailed just whatever was in the box and some cheap paint from Wal mart. It was a fun pass time but I ended up giving up the hobby in 2005, I just moved on to other interests I guess. A year later my dad found and bought this 1:1 1964 Suburban it was flat black with the cheesiest Wal mart .99 cent spray can flames you'd ever seen. For the next year we worked it on when we could and had it looking nice then the economy fell out and we had to stop. Fast forward to January of 2011 I don't know why but on the front page of eBay there was this 64 Chevy Fleetside model on the front page. At that moment an idea popped into my head, what if I took one of these and turned it into a Suburban and gave it to my dad for his birthday? It would be my first build in 6 years and the first one I had ever actually customized and went above box stock. I thought about it a little and decided why not, it would be the last thing on the planet he would ever think to see. I had about six months to work with too. So I bought it and started working on it late every night for the next 6 months I had many problems with it from parts to paint to my own error just about anything that could go wrong with it or to delay it happened. With less than 48 hours left until his birthday not one inch of it was assembled. I got maybe 8 hours of sleep between parts drying, but in the end I got it done around mid day on his birthday. To present his present (funny both word are spelled the same lol) I placed it on the air cleaner of the 1:1 and gave him the box with only a note that said "Find your gift at the heart of the Dragon" Which is what we had be calling it at the time. He knew exactly where to go, lifted the hood and when he saw it he was completely blown away, it was the first time any of us had ever seen him with that face, he is the kind of person who is very hard to surprise or left without words. But he was this time, seeing that made everything worth it. He spent the rest of the day pretty much staring at it. I really enjoyed building it more than I though I would and in the end this was also the model that got me back into the hobby. A few weeks later I found this and the other site which was holding a certain Cannonball run cbp and well, the rest is as they say history. Now for some details of the build, it was based off of a Revell 64 Chevy Fleetside with the back of it being made out of sculpting clay with months of sanding. Now I will admit that using clay was not the best idea but it was what I had laying around at the time I was unaware of styrene at the time. I didn't get many w.i.p pictures of it at the time of making this, I was unaware of these sites and trying to keep this as secret as possible.The colors are Bright Aqua Pearl and the White Lightning. The strips are based off of a Hot Wheels G-machines 71 El' Camino with a few slight changes to accompany the Suburban's body. Each strip was sprayed one at a time basicly it was dumb luck that I got them as straight as I did lol. This was made to be a representation of what the 1:1 was at the time (interior and engine) with the paint job we wanted to give it someday. And without further delay here are some pictures of it. In a nut shell this is the one that got me back into building models, wished I never stopped. Thanks for looking and listening to my story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFchronos Posted August 14, 2013 Author Share Posted August 14, 2013 (edited) Here's some more pics Edited August 14, 2013 by TFchronos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFchronos Posted August 14, 2013 Author Share Posted August 14, 2013 And finally the only w.i.p. pictures took while working on it. Thanks for looking again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDGREEN Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 That's a very nice model and story as well looks great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dominik Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 cool idea - like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris White Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 (edited) Outstanding, this is awesome Edited August 14, 2013 by Chris White Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyjim Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Very nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemodeler Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Nice story and great scratchbuild! If you hadn't said so, I would have sworn that was either a resin kit or styrene conversion. Not sure if you are aware of it but there is a model show coming up next month near you, Foothills Plastic Pros I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TooOld Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Great scratchbuilding and an excellent looking Suburban ! Love the paint and the stripes ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFchronos Posted August 15, 2013 Author Share Posted August 15, 2013 Thanks for the kind words everyone, it means a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skydime Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 Clay? Wow! Seriously? This thing is crazy good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PappyD340 Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 Excellent job Jonathan, I like the color combo, looks really NICE! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cranky Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 Very well painted and built. Congratulations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
o-man Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 Truck looks great, story even better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 Extremly Awsume build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweeper Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 Fantastic job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFchronos Posted August 16, 2013 Author Share Posted August 16, 2013 Thank you for your kind words everyone, they mean a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maindrian Pace Posted August 16, 2013 Share Posted August 16, 2013 OK, I read the story, (great story) the detail around the rear doors and roof corners made it look good enough that I thought you used someone's resin body, then you said that you used modeling clay. Really. Clay. Amazing, nothing looks remotely clay-like. Great build, Pop must have been amazed. -MJS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomsheehy Posted August 16, 2013 Share Posted August 16, 2013 It the end that justifies the means...great job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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