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SteveFL

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About SteveFL

  • Birthday 09/26/1969

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  • Scale I Build
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  • Full Name
    Steve Spence

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  1. Wow. Totally awesome! As a fellow van model builder, I love it. Would love to see pictures of the boat and trailer.
  2. I've been having so much fun building vans, I dusted off my old Monogram Vanpire that I've had in storage. I couldn't resist since I've always thought the Vanpire decals were cool & a bit frightening as a kid. To be sure, I sprayed them with Testors Decal sealer and they settled down like a charm. I had fun with this build. I cut out the moon roof openings and propped up the moon roofs. I also drilled out all the lightening holes in the steering wheel for accuracy. I mounted and painted the CB radio and 8-Track player. I tried to weather the bottom a little to show some wear. I also toned down the bright shiny chrome rims with Tamiya Smoke. Finally, I printed and attached my own Florida license plates. If you have a Monogram Van kit in your stash, I highly recommend you build it. It goes together so well. BTW, the other Monogram '77 Chevy Street van is exactly the same as this one right down to the extra port holes & optional windows. The only difference is the decal sheet. I hope you enjoy looking at the pictures as much as I had building this gem. Many Thanks!
  3. This is another old familiar van kit by AMT that has been collecting dust that I've kept since 1977. After having so much fun building the Disco Van, I felt inspired to try another one. All these van kits have the exact same basic parts and instruction steps; they really only distinguish themselves by the options or add-ons, such as spoiler, scoop, mag design, bumpers, and of course decals. This time I didn't bother detailing the engine as not much can be seen so the hood was glued down. This allowed me to focus on the finish and decals. A couple of light coats of Testors Decal Sealer kept these old decals from cracking and disintegrating. Here again, I had fun building it OOB and simply wanted to replicate the box cover; I'm happy with the results and hope you all enjoy the pics as I did bringing life to this old obscure kit. Steve
  4. Fantastic job, or should I say, Vantastic! I love the violet color scheme. I have this same kit and you've given me some great ideas. Thanks a lot for sharing. I love the groovy van models.
  5. Thanks for all the compliments. I truly had fun with this build. I painted the body with simple Metallic Gold Enamel from Testors rattle can. The texture is partly the paint settling. It's very hard to sand and polish as there are so many scroll & scallop details that I didn't want to eliminate. Those would be near impossible to rescribe. I fabricated the candle headlights by simply snipping a tiny segment of white #16 AWG wire and heating up a small scrap of clear styrene shaping it to a teardrop. After it cooled I then just dabbed tiny about of super glue on the top end of the wire and mounted to clear piece and voila, a decent looking tiny candle. The dashboard is just the decal; I carefully painted the throttle, shifter and seat. I did not add seat belts as actual pictures of the real one did not show them. It probably wouldn't matter in a fiberglass coffin anyhow. Yikes.
  6. I've had this kit in storage since 1976 & I got the urge to give it go when I saw the box calling my name. It was more likely because the Bee Gees were playing on the radio. This is the old AMT kit which includes the standard sprues to build the factory E150. In addition, AMT includes a separate sprue that distinguishes this version with many of the other groovy van kits of the 70's,many of which I have. In the Disco Van kit, the extra sprue contains louvers for the back windows, simulated wooden bumpers, and the big chrome FORD face plate. The decals were surprisingly intact after all these years although I did spray a coat of Testors decal sealer before using them. Only one of the swirling stripe decals split and cracked; but a little surgery and a steady hand fixed that. I wanted to try and detail up the small block Ford Windsor engine and engine bay. Unfortunately, I should have been aware that most of the detail work is hidden due to the natural location of it being inside the cabin. However, I hope you can see some of the detail near the firewall such as the battery, master cylinder, etc. Wanting to backdate it, I custom made my own 1978 Florida license plate from a scaled down picture I found online. I made every effort to finish it just like the box top shows it. I used Testors Diamond Dust right out of the rattle can, then wet sanded it, polished it, and finally a coat of high gloss clear coat. I'm a bit disappointed in the stance as it seems to squat. I can't seem to fix it. Oh well, for my efforts I'm satisfied with the results and for such an old kit I had a good time with it. Hope you all enjoy the pics. Now where is my KC & The Sunshine Band 8-track? Steve
  7. Outstanding Jonathan! I love the direction you went with it to simulate your Dad's car. It's a one of a kind Firebird. I love the details you did to the engine bay. Thanks for sharing.
  8. This is the Revell Smokey and the Bandit edition kit and I just had to give it an earnest effort. I found it to be a decent kit. However, oddly enough it does not include the decals for "Trans Am". I don't get that. The biggest hurdle was to find an aftermarket decal set that included the proper gold markings & text. I also wasn't satisfied with the engine bay so I added a distributor, wires, battery wired, and other hoses. I added seatbelts, flocked the flooring, made my own CB radio, but forgot the antenna. Yikes. I also drilled out the tiny holes in the steering wheel, gold painted the dashboard (chrome didn't look right), added door locks and opened up the door pulls from the door panels. This is not a perfect build, but I'm satisfied with the results from the effort I put into it. BTW, the Stetson on the passenger seat is actually included. I just painted it. Steve
  9. As a child I loved the Munsters TV show and when Grandpa made the Dragula to race against Herman, I was fixated on the design. Only George Barris could make a hot dragster out of a golden coffin ! I built the original AMT release in the mid 70's, when K-Mart was the place to buy model kits. Of course it was a glue bomb, but I loved it. Recently, Round 2 re-released this little gem of a kit and I found one on the shelf at my local Hobby Lobby. As soon as I saw it, I had to get it and build it again for nostalgic reasons. The molds appear to be the same as the old kit. Lots of thick prominent seams all over. I had to dechrome the headlamps to remove the side seams and in my research they are shown to be gold color and not chrome. I also created candles to be inserted as leaving them empty would not look right. The engine got a distributor with wires & plugs to all eight cylinders, but unfortunately, most of this detail is hidden. Finally, I just had to make and add a gas cap since one is not included and the gas tank is right there front and center. Curiously, this kit now includes a motorized surf board and mounting brackets to fit over the Dragula body. I felt this was a bit cooky and I never saw that on the TV show. Grandpa surfing? Come on. Therefore, I left it off. I know it's far from perfect, but I'm satisfied with the results and I hope you all enjoy it as well. Now I just need to find a Munster's Coach kit…. Steve
  10. Hello all, I am excited that I am at a point in my life to return to my favorite hobby--building plastic models. I caught the styrene addiction early on at a tender age of 9y. Growing up in the 70's was the best because there were so many great car models available at affordable prices. I'm looking forward to reliving some of my childhood by building those kits I cherished as a kid and share them all with you. I look forward to participating in this wonderful plastic playground. Thank you so much. Cheers! Steve S.
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