Bernard Kron Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 (edited) Hot Rod Streamliner from Bonneville’s Early YearsMore pictures below. This is the simplest model I’ve ever built. I made it for this year’s NNL West Bonneville Racer theme. It’s based on a Testors Bonnie Buggy 1/32nd scale streamliner car. These little plastic models were originally produced in 1961 by Hawk as rubber-band powered toy cars. They are ultra-simple model car kits with no underpan or internal parts other than four wheels, two axles and a basic streamliner body. Hawk, and later Testors, made four variations, the Bonnie Buggy, the Dyna Moe, the Alky Saltzer and the Turbo Go (seriously…). The only difference between them other than the color they were molded in is the long rectangular plastic strip which runs down the middle of the topside and the related bubble top. These determine whether the car is dual engine, single engine, front engine, rear engine and where the driver is located. I bought mine on eBay for less than the price of a resin body. My original intention was to build a full-detail model with a complete chassis, motor, suspension, drivetrain, etc. But I only got started on in December and quickly realized that, although the 1/32nd scale body can be easily adapted to make a 1/25th scale streamliner of the sort entered by California hot rodders starting in 1950 at Bonneville, there was no way I would get it done in time for the NNL West on January 31st. So I decided to build a curbside version and then continue on with a full detail build after showing it at the NNL. My plan was to do all the bodywork, paint, decals and driver figure for the NNL, leave the various body panels accessible for the full detail version, and assemble the curbside using temporary adhesive. Really this is more of a slammer than a curbside since it consists of the completed bodywork, windscreen, driver figure and tires. It doesn’t have any internal structure or even wheels. The tires are taped to the body sides. Using styrene strip, the body sides were filled and extended slightly to create a properly proportioned 1/25th scale body. A full bellypan was fabricated from styrene sheet and a properly streamlined blunt nose was added to correct the original body which had a sharply tapered nose, similar to the tail, which would have generated huge amount of lift at speed. The tires are the standard AMT blackwalls that we all have by the dozens. The headrest was sculpted from styrene strip and the driver figure is from the recent Monogram Slingster kit. Paint is DupliColor Oxford White over white primer. The decals are homemade. That’s it! After the NNL I’ll build a tubular chassis and a hopped-up Ford Flathead for it. It is actually a pretty complicated build because of all the internal tin work, coolant and fuel tanks, etc. that have to be scratch built for it. But after the show I can take my time with it. Thanks for lookin’,B. All the pieces for the model with exception of the driver’s arms. The blue surfaces are from the original kit, everything else is styrene stock.: And a little Photoshop Phun: Edited July 19, 2017 by Bernard Kron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Great build Bernard ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 excellent and even better when you get to the detail! but it really doesn't need it in a way, its simple but nice jb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danno Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vintagercr Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TooOld Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Coooooooooooool ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Very nice work and great photo's also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DumpyDan Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Cool build, I built one last year but it was a barn find Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afx Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Nice work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtx6970 Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Salt flat cars are not my thing,,but this is just to cool well done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterNNL Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Nice model.I particularly like the photo taken on that hill(?) at the salt flats.Seriously,this is the only time I have ever seen this kit actually built.I remember seeing them for sale when they were new.Thanks for sharing and I look forward to seeing the fully detailed version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisR Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Looks great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Goschke Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Brilliant idea for Hawk's crazy little streamliner! Well done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antikainen Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 (edited) This is nice, like already said, it would be nice as it is now. It really doesn´t need more detailing. Edited January 29, 2015 by Antikainen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Kron Posted February 4, 2015 Author Share Posted February 4, 2015 Thanks so much to all of you for all the very kind comments. I think I'll set this project aside for a bit while I ponder how to make the inner bulkheads and body supports. This will be my first full envelope body where I've had to create the internal structure from scratch. It's a whole different deal than building a chassis for an open-wheeled hot rod! In the meantime, here's proof she actually made it to Santa Clara: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrKerry Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Way KOOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doggie427 Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Very nice Bernard . Looks great on the NNL table! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobbybobby Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Great build and i like the color / grafics combo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Kron Posted July 19, 2017 Author Share Posted July 19, 2017 Broken Photobucket links repaired. For now I'm only updating completed model pics. Updating w.i.p. links is just too huge a task! I'll update them on request... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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