62 replies to this topic

[DustyMojave]

Gotta follow this one.

The 1st race car I ever sat in was the Tom Beatty belly tank, which was a contemporary of this one and set a lot of its own records.
http://www.bellytanks.com/?p=283
Tom was a close pal of my dad's and later my best friend's family were Tom's landlords for decades. I have a video in my head of sitting on small portable bleachers at El Mirage Dry Lake in the summer of 1958 watching my dad and Tom's helper "Fat Eddie" button Tom into the car and push it off with Tom's 40 Ford panel truck. Then watching the dust trail as it ran down the lakebed. I could tell ya LOTS of Tom Beatty stories...

Also a few years ago, my wife's cousin Henry Gonzalez was manufacturing a resin kit of the SoCal car.

Here is a shot of me at El Mirage in the cockpit of the Kelly & Hall Belly Tank in '06.


If you look at the show-hall photo of the SoCal car above, the little "Kong" lettering on the side is for the "Kong Ignition" system famous on racing flatheads. Kong Jackson was a close pal and racing partner with my old close friend (and Tom Beatty's landlord) Ray Basso.

So...Yeah...I gotta lot of interest going for this one.

[ronr]

HERE IS A LINK THAT MAY HELP:
http://www.legendary...ave-the-photos/H

[roadhawg]

Curt, the link that Ron posted shows those numbers much better, so I reworked it a little and this one is much closer. Hope this helps.

[curt raitz]

Curt, the link that Ron posted shows those numbers much better, so I reworked it a little and this one is much closer. Hope this helps.

Tommy
yes, just what the doctor ordered
perfect
thanx
curt

[iBorg]

This is a sweet project. I have most of these parts. I need to get started on mine along with a 100 other projects give or take thirty or so......

MIke

[my name is nobody]

this is a great project.
can hardly wait to see it finished.

I would like to build my own Belly Tanker.
sadly, all I have right now is the 315 gallon drop tank, sitting up in one of my barns.
these things are so light, and easy to carry, I toted mine out into the sunlight to get a couple of pictures.

[DustyMojave]

Cool!!!! A 1:1 scale model kit!!!!

[curt raitz]

Engine/Chassis almost complete...waiting for exhaust headers from R&M Co. to arrive...






Tires/Wheels:


Dash:


Body halves primed and ready for paint:


thanx for lookin'...

[Bernard Kron]

Oh my, my breath... she is taken away!!!

Source and method on the killer louvers???

[Dr. Cranky]

Beautiful. It's almost done. Can't wait.

[ronr]

WOW!!!!!!!!!Soon as I pick my jaw up off the key board and pop my eyes back in I will be able to enjoy the detail that is going into this build. Absolutely Fantastic Curt! There are some headers, I think, in the Revell Caddy Parts pack, that if you add header flanges to would look real close to the real deals. I have used a few of them on some of my Jalopy builds. So glad the EYR parts are working out for you. Hope it will be Ok to display some pics of the finished build on my site. I agree with Bernard, those louvers are Dead on!

Edited by ronr, 08 April 2012 - 01:34 PM.

[curt raitz]

Oh my, my breath... she is taken away!!!

Source and method on the killer louvers???

geez sorry, but I can't help ya with the louvers...dug them out of my parts box
i have no idea where they came from
tried to resin cast them...but not happy with results
thanx

[curt raitz]

WOW!!!!!!!!!Soon as I pick my jaw up off the key board and pop my eyes back in I will be able to enjoy the detail that is going into this build. Absolutely Fantastic Curt! There are some headers, I think, in the Revell Caddy Parts pack, that if you add header flanges to would look real close to the real deals. I have used a few of them on some of my Jalopy builds. So glad the EYR parts are working out for you. Hope it will be Ok to display some pics of the finished build on my site. I agree with Bernard, those louvers are Dead on!

thanx for the compliments
I've got an order comin in from Norm (R&M Co of Maryland) real soon...so no problem waiting
feel free to post pics of the build
Curt

[59 Impala]

Great build so far Curt. Those louvers look like the ones that came in the 32 Fords back in the day or any of the custom parts that used to come in some of the AMT kits. Dan

[James2]

Really is a great looking piece, amazing detail for such a small model.

[moparmagiclives]

That front end is a work of art !!! is that all you? Or is it aftermarket? Great job !!!

[topher5150]

Nice build, I remember when I was a kid I had a model airplane of a P-38 Lightning and saw the pic of that, took the drop tank off and put some match box wheels and axles on it, and painted it red and white.

[curt raitz]

That front end is a work of art !!! is that all you? Or is it aftermarket? Great job !!!

thanx
just a bunch of front suspension pieces collected from the "Parts Box" with a little bit of scratch building...
no aftermarket items

[DustyMojave]

Looking awesome Curt! Nice job on the small details like brake lines and throttle and clutch linkage.

[DustyMojave]

Derr..This has an in and out box. It's not a clutch link, it's a shift link for the in & out. And I meant to say carbs, not throttle. Beautifulk work Curt.