ybsluos Posted November 29, 2022 Share Posted November 29, 2022 Hi friends, this is a dodge D50 pick up truck that a friend of mine years ago decided to try his hand at customizing. It was one of his first attempts and by his own admission he went a little crazy with the top chop using the roof off of the 53 Studebaker AMT kit. He smooth everything on the body. He had flares and runningboards which it really didn’t need by his own admission. He was proud of what he did though and he wanted to try his hand at casting so he pulled a mold off of the body and this is a resin copy he gave me. Being a drummer one of my biggest drummer influences is the late great Neil Peart from the rock ‘n’ roll band Rush. For some reason I have often associated red with Rush because many of their song titles had the word red and it was the color of their logo on their album 2112. Plus my favorite drum sets that Neil ever had were always his red ones. I had cut his picture off of the inside of one of their album sleeves clear back in the mid 80s. Somehow I managed to keep it all these years and I decided to try my hand at spraying transparent Kandy over a picture as I have seen many modelers do. The results I got were rather atrocious! I used spray adhesive and tried to burnish the picture down flat but I still got a huge bubble or two! Oh well. I painted it with a craft store red before I applied the picture. I then tried to tint some Future wax with transparent red and hand brushed it over the photo with horrific results! Neil came out looking like a vampire that had pools of blood around his mouth etc. So I cleaned it off with Windex and then just shot Testors transparent candy red over the whole. One of Neil‘s nicknames was Professor. This I painted in gold across where the tailgate would be had it not been smoothed over. The transparent candy red was pretty thick after a few coats and pretty well buried the word but when you shine an LED flashlight on it you can see it. Anyhow the wheels or parts box items that I brush painted gold. Windows are transparent red acetate. It is basically a slammer with no engine or chassis detail. I just hope Neil himself would approve of it. Did any of you guys know that he used to build model cars when he first joined the band back in the 70s. He would take a project on the road with him and work on it in his hotel room after shows. He said his favorite kits were the AMT 3 in 1 that his father got him. Later in life he began to amass a huge 1/43 diecast collection. If you feel like googling Neil Peart model cars you should be able to come across a picture of him with that collection. I know it’s goofy but I hope at least one of you get a kick out of it. – Mark 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Street Rod Posted November 29, 2022 Share Posted November 29, 2022 Unusual but super cool! Two thumbs up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoke Wagon Posted November 29, 2022 Share Posted November 29, 2022 “Outward visibility? Where we’re going, we don’t need outward visibility!” Joke aside that’s one crazy cool little truck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ybsluos Posted November 30, 2022 Author Share Posted November 30, 2022 Doyle and Riley, thank you for the nice responses. Yeah it’s definitely a goofy a little critter but it was a fun simple build. I’ll pass on your compliments to my friend James who mastered the body so many years ago.- Mark 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zippi Posted November 30, 2022 Share Posted November 30, 2022 Boy, that is something you just don't see every day. Very kewl looking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nyguy Posted November 30, 2022 Share Posted November 30, 2022 Great tribute to Neil. " Rise To Your Knees" . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyK Posted November 30, 2022 Share Posted November 30, 2022 Yes, crazy but cool looking. Looks like a good Hot Wheels car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happy grumpy Posted November 30, 2022 Share Posted November 30, 2022 Interesting and defenitly original. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragline Posted November 30, 2022 Share Posted November 30, 2022 As a guitarist and frustrated drummer Peart is my all time drum hero as well. I had the pleasure of seeing them starting in their earliest years and followed them to the tragic end. Your tribute is touching. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Straightliner59 Posted December 1, 2022 Share Posted December 1, 2022 Rush is my all-time favorite band. My two most recent completions have tributes to Neil, as well. My Supermodified has "Pratt's Olde English Inn", and my Vega Super Gas racer, "Bubba's Bar And Grille." Saw them first in May, 1978, and finally, in May 2015, with 11 other times, between. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ybsluos Posted December 4, 2022 Author Share Posted December 4, 2022 Thanks for the comments guys. They mean a lot coming from you fantastic builders! -Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ybsluos Posted December 4, 2022 Author Share Posted December 4, 2022 (edited) On 12/1/2022 at 5:34 AM, Straightliner59 said: Rush is my all-time favorite band. My two most recent completions have tributes to Neil, as well. My Supermodified has "Pratt's Olde English Inn", and my Vega Super Gas racer, "Bubba's Bar And Grille." Saw them first in May, 1978, and finally, in May 2015, with 11 other times, between. Dan that is a lot of shows! I saw them 7 times. I love the references that you put on your model cars. I would very much like to see that Vega and pretend chipper being that I am a drag racing fan. Are these yours by chance? Edited December 4, 2022 by ybsluos Forgot to add files Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IHSS Posted December 5, 2022 Share Posted December 5, 2022 That’s a great build of a very cool custom. And a fantastic tribute to Neil as well. When I first read the title I thought it was going to be one of Neil’s old builds. I read an article years ago that he was a huge car nut and avid model builder. IIRC he spent a lot of his touring down time building kits on the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Straightliner59 Posted December 5, 2022 Share Posted December 5, 2022 12 hours ago, ybsluos said: Dan that is a lot of shows! I saw them 7 times. I love the references that you put on your model cars. I would very much like to see that Vega and pretend chipper being that I am a drag racing fan. Are these yours by chance? They're not. But, those are awesome! I wanted to do the actual graphics that Neil used for it. but I couldn't get them resized to fit, properly, so I ended up just winging something! Here's the art I did for the Supermod, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Straightliner59 Posted December 5, 2022 Share Posted December 5, 2022 9 hours ago, IHSS said: That’s a great build of a very cool custom. And a fantastic tribute to Neil as well. When I first read the title I thought it was going to be one of Neil’s old builds. I read an article years ago that he was a huge car nut and avid model builder. IIRC he spent a lot of his touring down time building kits on the road. Indeed, he did! I've seen it mentioned, several times. There's an article, somewhere, in which he talks about it. Model cars, I believe, would have been an ideal way to meet him. Of course, you'd still have to avoid acting like a doddering fanboy! A few months before he died, I had bought an old Ideal kit of a BMW racing bike, because I enjoy building old, oddball stuff. I intended to build it, and ship it to their management's offices, in hopes that they would get it to him. Alas, he was gone, before I even started on it. The day we learned that was a real punch in the gut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ybsluos Posted December 6, 2022 Author Share Posted December 6, 2022 Jeff I’m glad you like it brother. And Dan thank you so much for posting pictures of you work. That Vega is a beast! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ybsluos Posted December 6, 2022 Author Share Posted December 6, 2022 Just a note to the moderator (s). I’m sorry for posting this in the Model Cars section. Thank you for moving it. -Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Straightliner59 Posted December 6, 2022 Share Posted December 6, 2022 3 hours ago, ybsluos said: Jeff I’m glad you like it brother. And Dan thank you so much for posting pictures of you work. That Vega is a beast! Thank you, kindly, Mark. The Vega's my most recent completion. Glad to share! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutzie Posted December 11, 2022 Share Posted December 11, 2022 Different but cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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