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The revised front bumper/grille, the hood scoop and the taillights all look really good. Ford should have styled it that way!

Nice! The gold engine parts look especially good with that body color.

That looks good -- it's great to see something different yet believable. Instead of the looped radiator hose, you might want to just make block-off plates to cover the "openings."

Gee, I've only got two: 1. Pontiac hot rod -- Club de Mer body narrowed, shortened and simplified (already done) put on a mostly scratchbuilt hod rod chassis with an exposed Pontiac V8 and rear axle. It would be as if it was commissioned by Pontiac in the early '60s as a show car to appeal to the youth market. 2. '66 Riviera radical custom -- Imagine the four fenders cut off, the remaining body narrowed about a foot (already done), then the four fenders "floating" in their original positions. It would be sort of like a car from the '30s but much lower and sleeker.

I never would have thought that those two interior colors would look good together but they do! The way they complement the body color and the very nice assembly and detailing really make it all come together.

Here's another "vote" for the '59 Chevy headlights and tube grille — it really makes it look good as well as different. I think that the seats are the first ones that I've seen that have backs that are shorter than the cushions. Some headrests will help that out. Keep us posted.

Nice save! It's rare, and good, to see a mild custom build of a late '60s car.

Yes, that blue color really works on this car. That, the really clean build and the beautiful wood appearance all come together.

Wow! Having the passenger-only roll bar is the goofy kind of detail that I like. All that masking and multi-color paint looks great. ...and that half-vinyl top on the driver's side is also a fun detail. Keep up the good work.

Nice save! I think that you did just the right amount of improvement to make it look good while still preserving the original.

Thanks, all, for the positive comments and especially to Russell C for the inspiration* and for posting the award pix. Sorry for the late reply but I've just gotten home from GSL (my wife and I visited five national parks and Hoover Dam in the six days after the event in Salt Lake City). The award is from the Metroplex Car Modelers Association in the Dallas, TX area and was presented by member Len Woodruff. I couldn't find the criteria for the award, but it's essentially the club's choice of the GSL entry that was the most "out of this world." Thanks, guys! In searching for the criteria, I came across this advice on how to win at GSL: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/category/shows/ . It's by Jairus Watson from the July 2007 issue of Model Cars Magazine. He suggests "if you are looking for a relatively easy class win, then look to enter in something a little less populated... Other awards generally not concentrated on by other competitors are the Klingon Cruiser Award." Also, "it should be sharp and brightly colored in order to be noticed...", "Build something different and make it unique..." and "One way to get your car noticed is so obvious that many guys forget to do this, and that is to put your car on the edge of the table. YES, really!" By coincidence I did these things but this entry was not a serious attempt at building something that would be a winner in a real GSL class. *Actually, I had built the body in 2011. Later, learning of Russell's entries at GSL events I figured, hey, I already have a three-wheeled Ford so I'll just re-paint it yellow and build a chassis for it.

Here's an AMT 1960 Ford Starliner with a Revell Roth Beatnik Bandit bubble top and interior. To me it's sorta goofy and sorta interesting but I haven't made up my mind about it. It has some significant shortcomings in design and workmanship. Even though it's a "20 footer," we'll see if it attracts any attention at GSL XXVI. Feel free to make comments, positive, negative or otherwise. See the build thread at http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/121481-3-wheeled-ford-for-2017-gsl/ .

What, me worry? There are still a couple of more days... So far, the paint is: white primer — Tamiya Fine, spray can solid yellow base — Testors 1214 Gloss Yellow (with "baking" overnight), spray can pearl — Createx Pearlized, airbrush silver flakes in clear (body sides only) — unknown brands (probably Pegasus flakes and MM Acryl clear gloss), airbrush Paint is not finished yet. See the spoon tests earlier in this thread to see what I was testing. This will probably be my last post in this thread. The completed model should appear with the same subject line in the "Under Glass" forum in a day or two.

Maybe great minds think alike. Here's what my early-version frame looked like. Thanks for the video link. It worked fine.

Nice start. Smooth is good!

Thanks. I have no aspirations for this to be an award contender. Originally it was just a shell with minimal plastic pieces to attach wheels for an informal online photo model contest that didn't show the underside. Since it had three wheels and was a Ford I figured that I could repaint it yellow and put a believable chassis under it as a tribute to Russell C's oft-mentioned winner. Little did I know that the chassis would be such a struggle. To add some visual interest in featureless floor areas I made some 10mm long .040" half-round pieces to simulate pressed-in stiffeners. They're hard to see here but show up in the photo below. To avoid having to smoothly fill the pieced-together wheel houses I spread filler on with my finger. As it set up I played around with it to make a rough finish that simulates a sprayed-on sound deadener. Time is getting short. I'm finished with fitting, filling, sanding and primering the floor pans despite their shortcomings.

The fadeaway fenders and different grille really make this look better than stock. Keep up the good work.

That weathering looks fantastic. It reminds me of an old joke: "Yeah, I have a two-tone car. ...it's green and rust."

Here's the latest. I let myself get distracted by a "quick" Corvair build for the Group 17 class that took a week and a day. Once the floorboards are in place and the body is on, the chassis will only be visible from below. Yes, I know the exhaust manifolds are on the wrong heads and upside down — they will feed into the side exhausts. The model will not have an opening hood. There's only a week left. My wife came down with the flu tonight — hope I don't get it!

Thanks all. Bingo. Although I'm no expert, I remember hanging around a Scheib shop a couple of times as a teen in the early '70s. They used some tire masks. As I recall they were something like a rough canvas with fiberboard sewn in to make a flat-bottomed half-circle that covered the tread and outer surface. When I painted this model I masked off the tread and outsides but made sure that the inners were still exposed to overspray. There is a little bit of red on the inner side of the right front tire but I was hoping for more. I should have given a little extra spray there. I may go back and add some.

The GSL-XXVI convention/contest has a group category for 1969 Corvair models*. Here's what I'm planning to bring. It is, I hope, an novel idea and it didn't require any detailing of the interior, engine compartment, lights, etc. The model depicts a slightly hopped-up nine-year-old car right out of the spray booth. The guy with the gasoline-soaked rag to wipe the fresh paint off the top surface of the emblems should be here any minute. Yes sir, he'll be here any minute. Any minute, now. Riiiiiiight. The right front tire is a little low. The squatted-down rear has some IRS camber. The "re-sale red" paint is Model Master Ford Engine Red over white Tamiya Fine Surface Primer. Although not too obvious in these photos, there is some gunk in the paint and several sanding scratches. On the front near the left headlight and emblem there is what looks like body filler that was applied but didn't get sanded smooth. See the build thread at http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/122377-69-corvair-gsl-earl-scheib-special/ . *The Group model for 2017 is as follows (copied from the GSL downloads): "For GSL-XXVI, the “Group” kit is the 1969 Chevy Corvair. Entries may be built from any original or reissue release of the Round 2/AMT kit, in any style, with the skills and craftsmanship you have today, but using only parts, materials and supplies (except current putties, adhesives and paints) available 35 years ago (1982 or earlier). Entrants may use the newly re-issued Round 2 Corvair engine kit (AMTPP010) if desired. There are just three additional limitations: no one-off machined or photo-etched parts not fabricated entirely by the entrant; no aftermarket products not available in 1982 or earlier; and no resin bodies or resin body parts (regardless of who made these resin parts). Bare Metal Foil may be used."

Good luck on yours -- could you post some pix? See you at GSL. Thanks. I was thinking about making the sidewall bulge, too, but didn't. Thanks! Hmmm... Maybe I should hide a sponge wetted with fish oil inside the model. Doh! That's a good idea. Pegasus Hobbies is only about a mile away from me, too. Oh well, it's done now. Except for the kit itself, I've managed to not spend any additional dollars on this. Here's the first of the airbrushing. Since shooting this photo it's all painted now. Instead of Scheib's infra-red treatment the model is drying with a re-purposed computer fan blowing air at about 90 degrees F through my modified dehydrator. This is my last in-progress post. I expect to post photos of the finished model in an "Under Glass" thread in a few days.

The interior colors, exterior colors, flames and just the overall look are perfect!

I agree. That really looks good. It's great to see such fine work.

The chassis is weathered. There's not much point to doing much when you're keeping things like the kit's inner wheels and molded-in front suspension. Masking is progressing. The brown paper is from a shopping bag (shown in the first post above). Double-coated tape is adhered to the window area, the brown paper is cut to size and stuck down. Finally, Approx. 2-scale-inch wide actual masking tape is applied.