jbwelda Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 some of you may have been following this in the workbench section, just finished it up tonite with epoxing the windshield frame into place. saving the best for last as usual! anyway it sure turned out a lot nicer than i may have even wished for. stuff actually fit together well, or at least could be made to pretty easily despite lack of stable gluing points. i changed up a few things, for one thing got rid of the dragmaster slicks on all four wheels...replaced the front with smaller rolling stock, though kept the wheels. honestly i dont see how you could have used the slicks on the front axle as it is extremely delicate even with the smaller tires you can see it stress whenever you move it. thats why i think i will put it on the kinda cool but not really display stand that came with the kit, to keep from having to move the model itself. anyway i can only imagine what the load would be on the stress points with heavy tires like those slicks. another thing is i got impatient with trying to find a near correct color so i went with an old favorite of mine, model master deep purple pearl or something, followed by a couple coats of clear. everything laid down nice and smooth which was good because i didnt want to deal with trying sand this delicate body after already having ruined one body by breaking off the tip of the rear fender! as it turns out though it would be pretty easily repairable because of the big chrome fender liners form the same tip. another amazing thing i learned for next time (and i have a couple of these kits to build) is you can build the body complete and it will fit, barely, into place over the rear suspension and frame. that means you can seal up all the seams which i (ahem) failed to do because i thought the instrux (!&%#) implied you had to fit the body around the frame which would have been an interesting and velocity inducing experience, im sure. yes well here are some pics and i will post some more on the stand as soon as i can. the left side hood fits a lot better than some of these photos show. i didnt notice it wasnt settled down properly when i took some of the shots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadkill2525 Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Stunning work Bill, can't wait to see at the meeting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodneyBad Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 WOW!! That is One Cool Ride. Looks Fantastic I love it. Great work.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lownslow Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 nice rice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Kron Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 I really enjoyed following along on the workbench segment. Your attention to detail and improvements to the basic kit were all on the mark and the result shows it. It's a beautifully executed build that takes this old kit to another level. Two thumbs up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Colmer Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 That is the first one I've ever seen built. Looks fantastic! You did a great job with it! I also like your info on the building process. Great stuff all together!!!! Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randx0 Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 I think you did a great job on this one!It is nice to see rare kits built,I wish more people would do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Jessee Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Beautiful! One of the best buildups of that kit I have ever seen! Great photos. Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RatRod Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Man, that looks nice Bill!!! I like the look with the smaller front tires. I have the original double kit in the AMT box, and someday will build it. My good friend Chuck Darnell has built both kits, here is the only pic I could find on my computer... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted December 13, 2009 Author Share Posted December 13, 2009 (edited) hey thanks for looking and all your kind comments! one thing i have noticed with every buildup of this i have seen (and i have only seen them on this message board to be honest), is that the interior bucket doesnt really fit the shell too well. it needs to be less deep so the body can sit down over the frame a bit more, and also so that the rear of the seat can fit over the shell a bit better. in attacking those two problems, a hopeful side effect would be to eliminate that small bit of the interior bucket that sits above the body on the sides, esp right next to where the seat starts. for my next one (who knows when...) i think i will do a little more work on making the interior fit better. it would be really nice to see that seat sit down over the rear lip of the body. as i recall from test fitting though, that just isnt going to happen without some modifications to the top of the seat. the other thing about the interior is it screams for some added details. there are no pedals for instance and you can pretty clearly see down there so at least a chrome moon pedal for accelerator would be nice. i might actually add that to this one later because it really screams out at you. i did leave off the grille ornament though because it looks too big to me. i kind of like it though so maybe it will end up on the car eventually. it really was a pretty fun build and i really should use the lessons from this one to build a next one that looks really great. more pics to come in a few minutes... thanks again for the comments, i really appreciate that someone else appreciates this kind of lost kit. Edited December 13, 2009 by jbwelda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted December 13, 2009 Author Share Posted December 13, 2009 ok heres a few last photos, on the display stand, with and without motor exposed. many thanks again! very nice king T by the way, i am hoping to get that done in the next year (im not too fast with this stuff). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eshaver Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 J B , I think your version looks a sight better than the origional ! Ed Shaver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Flowers Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 That looks great on the base. A well done model indeed. I just ran a cross the base to one in My parts boxes the other day. Did not know I had it. I have one with every thing but the main body,taillights and windshield. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RatRod Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 That looks great on the base Bill!!!! Mustang, what base do you have? I need a base for the Tognotti T, it's the only thing missing from my kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted December 13, 2009 Author Share Posted December 13, 2009 i have a few extra bases from this kit, or at least one i think, so if you cant come up with one send me a PM many thanks again for the comments and compliments! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordairgtar Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 I built this when I was a kid and I wish I had another one to try again. That is my favorite rod from those days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Custom Hearse Posted December 16, 2009 Share Posted December 16, 2009 That came out great Bill! Very cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disabled modeler Posted December 16, 2009 Share Posted December 16, 2009 Hi Bill...........very nice! very cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixties Sam Posted December 16, 2009 Share Posted December 16, 2009 That's a model I haven't thought about for ages. I built one back in the day, but it never looked as good as yours, Bill. Nice job! Sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Most Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 It's a ###### shame this kit's tooling was pillaged years ago, and we'll likely never, ever see it reissued. Still, I have to hand it to you for ignoring it's rarity and percieved value andB-U-I-L-D-I-N-G the thing! Beatiful job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted December 18, 2009 Author Share Posted December 18, 2009 yes the rarity and value of the kit is of little concern to me sometimes. i actually got the first kit (not counting when i had it when it was originally issued) because i wanted to build the King T. not that i liked it so much, but because i got to know don tognotti over the years a little bit and he was a guest judge at a contest i entered once, and he awarded me his "pick" trophy, and i wanted something to display with or on it! so i actually got the first kit for about 60$ in very nice shape a few years ago. not a bad price at all. i never did get to building the King T yet, but will attempt that one next. my biggest obstacle to that build right now is not being able to match the paint even close out of a spray can. i will have to beg a friend of mine to mix up some paint and airbrush it for me. but unlike the wild dream, i DO want the King T to be as accurate a representation as possible...and the thing was just restored and it was at a show here a few months ago and i got great detail photos to use as a resource. i always really loved the Wild Dream and once i got the kit i just gravitated to building it first. i once read an article in car and driver i think it was, about how "odd" cars seem to multiply when stored. it mentioned some guy who bought one corvair and before you know it, it had multiplied all over the field it sat in, because the owner kept buying others for parts, or just because it was so darn cheap he couldnt pass it up. so it has been with me and this kit: i have gathered up a few examples over the past couple years. that means to me its not all that rare. they seem to go for about the same as i paid, 50 - 60 for a decent example though with a torn up box or missing a minor part or two, and come up pretty often. so i have to conclude they really arent that rare afterall. in fact, for that price i think they are competitive with modern, imported kits and surprisingly cheap considering it is two complete cars, including display stands and everything! i have 4 boxes in my closet right now and at least one of those boxes has a couple of semi-built examples in them. i have already supplied some King T parts to a friend of mine also building the car but have a lot of misc parts if anyone needs specific ones, PM me and we can work it out. if you are going to build it, i can support that! while i wasnt aware that it (the molds) had been pillaged for other releases, i dont doubt it either. (btw, what other releases are parts of Wild Dream in?) i just thought the kit disappeared into the clouds of obscurity. RIP Don, a permanent solution to a temporary problem. thanks again for looking and commenting on this thread, i am really pleased how well this kit went together and look forward to starting on the King T soon. i really consider it an honor to read the comments from people well known and not so well known but respected just the same! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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