Hi all,
It's been years since I built a model car of any kind, & having recently returned to building I thought it's about time for something new. So here I go, with an AMT Gypsy Wagon show rod. For some reason this kit caught my eye & I grabbed it at a sale price while visiting a friend in Switzerland. Home again in Greece I started looking around online at other builds, & altho I saw many really cool examples nobody had really 'gone to town' on detailing. One remark that stuck in my mind was about the front end, along the lines of "how would the steering work? Answer, it wouldn't". OK, challenge accepted! Another commented on the lack of engine detail, which set me thinking about stealing a Hemi from another kit. Those would be my main focus points, along with lots of other things to follow.
OK, the front end & steering. The kit has a fixed straight axle with the wheels at each end, definitely too basic, so I used a short piece of aluminium tube & made U-shaped supports for stub axles. The stub axles themselves are plastic tube uprights with metal rod spindles, attached with pins cut from pop rivets. The kit wheels are chromed & the spokes are quite thick, so I stole wheels from one of the motorcycles in a Monogram 'Off Road Adventure' kit that I've had for ages. They're basically the same size & the spokes are finer, I just sanded off the knobbly tread. For disc brakes & callipers I used the backs of the wheels from an MPC Shelby Charger, tiny steering arms cut from scrap plastic, & altho I made the steering link I might replace that later.
So here are the axle parts
And assembled (ignore the texture in the primer, it'll be coming off again)
Thinking about a replacement engine, I grabbed this Revell '32 Ford kit because it includes two complete engines, one of which is a hemi. So that's what will end up in my Wagon
Next job is to attach the axle to the forks, so more pics soon.
Thanks for looking!
G