W-409 Posted December 31, 2019 Share Posted December 31, 2019 I have wanted to build one of these Long John Dragster kits for a long time. Finally, when visiting in SoCal in October, I found one of these at Pegasus Hobbies and had to have it. The plan was to preserve the original look and feel of this quite simple kit, but build it with some minor improvements here and there. The Dragster body consists of two pieces, but I decided to glue them together before painting. This way I was able to get rid of the ugly seam between the body panels, but I had to glue the front axle and driver's seat on place before painting anything. The seam between the body panels was sanded smooth and finished with as little amount of putty as possible. The body was painted with Tamiya TS-95 Pure Metallic Red and clear coated with Tamiya clear after applying the decals. Then the body was polished. Otherwise this was a pretty simple project really. Mostly everything was just detailed by paint. Only modifications are opening up the header collectors, adding spark plug wires and front suspension parts like hairpins, tie rod and steering shaft were all modified a little as they were round only from outside. So they were sanded round to make them look more realistic. Overall the kit went together really nicely and it was a lot of fun to build. Despite being so simple kit with a low parts count, it builds up pretty nice. My version is not perfect, but I'm really happy to finally have this legendary kit on my Shelf! And it's also my first (and only) completion for 2019 so it feels good to finish something too... Here is a link to the project thread on the excellent TRaK forum. I think it should be visible even to the non-TRaK members. http://trakinscale.proboards.com/thread/19042/monogram-long-john-dragster-finished Thanks for looking! All kinds of comments are always welcome as I want to make the next one better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisR Posted December 31, 2019 Share Posted December 31, 2019 Awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misha Posted December 31, 2019 Share Posted December 31, 2019 Great job Niko of a classic kit. Your enhancement of the basic parts and paint makes this a winner. Thanks for sharing with your great photos, cheers Misha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted December 31, 2019 Share Posted December 31, 2019 Very nice ! Never saw a better one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hmann68 Posted January 1, 2020 Share Posted January 1, 2020 Clean and sharp! Beautiful paint! Nice work ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitrobarry Posted January 1, 2020 Share Posted January 1, 2020 Love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High octane Posted January 1, 2020 Share Posted January 1, 2020 Very nice build on that early dragster. I recently finished the Monogram Slingshot Dragster as the Cook & Bedwell Dragster which it really is, however Monogram didn't want to pay royalties. They did the same with the Green Hornet kit which is really the Grasshopper car that was on the cover of Hot Rod Magazine in the late 50's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peekay Posted January 1, 2020 Share Posted January 1, 2020 That takes me back! Very nicely built. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sflam123 Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 Beautiful!! Well done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TooOld Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 I've got one that I've wanted to build for a long time too , I only hope it turns out as fine as yours . Excellent job Niko ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W-409 Posted January 8, 2020 Author Share Posted January 8, 2020 Thanks for the kind comments everyone, they are highly appreciated! This was a very fun project, I can recommend this kit for anyone who likes Vintage Dragsters. Even though the kit is pretty simple, it builds up very nice and has much more potential in it if one wants to do more modifications than I did. Nick, now that I have the Long John Dragster on my shelf, I'd really like to build the Slingshot Dragster as well. I'll need to see if I can find one of those somewhere around here... Bob, when you get started with your version, I definitely want to see how it builds up. I'm sure you'll have no problem making it as good or better as my version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 Beautiful model, never saw one before !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sflam123 Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 W-409, great job with that Long John!! The one I have I built when I was 8 years old, in 1963. Yes, I still have it!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Coyote Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 Great build sir, most impressive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larman Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 Wow! This is probably the best build I have seen of this kit! nice paint, love the color! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Laski Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 Nice job, Niko! I built one years ago and had a lot of fun with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W-409 Posted January 30, 2020 Author Share Posted January 30, 2020 Thanks for the kind comments guys! This was a lot of fun to build for sure. I highly recommend this kit for anyone who is interested in old Dragsters. Despite the low parts count, it's a great fun to build and it turns out pretty nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 Nice! I really go for this old school stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W-409 Posted February 11, 2020 Author Share Posted February 11, 2020 Thanks Kevin! Old School stuff is definitely the best ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoatGuy Posted February 16, 2020 Share Posted February 16, 2020 Great job Niko Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W-409 Posted February 27, 2020 Author Share Posted February 27, 2020 Thanks! I appreciate the kind words. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 Not really my thing, but it does look excellent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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