Frankenstein's Ghost, perhaps?

[MitchP]

Hey gang:

I decided to sneak this build in while I build up courage to do more paint jobs on finished builds and because I wanted so badly to see if I was over my head attacking this skill level or if I should back off. I could have put the primed body on the finished chassis/engine, but that would spoil the surprise. Some of you may recognize the kit from familiar things and I'd ask that you not let on so I can do some much needed tinwork before painting and revealing the finished project.

Here are the first few pics of the stages putting the engine together. The twin mag is courtesy of M.A.D. and the cogs//belt are Pro Tech. The blower/hat are from Teds and are resin.

Here the frame, minor details like fire system, dry sump and MSD come together.

Now it's starting to look like something!

And now, here is is. I'm sorry I couldn't get a better pic of the fuel dist. block on the rear of the 'charger or the tiny Pro Tech nuts used for the .025 black injector wire. Perhaps it's for the best! Once the body is done, I'll add the barrel valve linkage and some throttle linkage on the other side as well.

These last pics are all relative within a 4-5 day time frame, but except for the fuel system, they weren't back breaking. CA and accelerator can be dangerous partners at times. I've found that using the accelerator as a spray pump causes the surrounding paint to dissolve, so I use the little .049 cent plastic bulb syringes to apply it in drops (another amatuer breakthrough!) I hope you enjoy. Please point out mistakes or improvements I can use in the future. I plan to implant a Ross Gibson/Sonny'sSuper Max into a 1/25 well known pro mod model later this year as a 3-6 month project!


Thanks!

[BKcustoms]

Very nice work! I can't wait to see the body!

[OldTimer50707]

Very nicely done. I'm in agreement with Billy, can't wait to see the body.

[Speedfreak]

Hey Mitch, I don't think that engine's gonna get enough air! Nice work!

[MitchP]

Thanks for the feedback folks! Yeah Gene, think I may have overdone it with the Ed Roth blower. Remember those "Rat Fink" t-shirts of the

'70 Chevelles, early Mustangs, GTOs and Hemi 'Cuda's pulling enormous wheelstands with huge smoking burnouts and the headers hanging out from underneath? I used to draw those for kids in H.S. at .50 cents a shot. It was my lunch money back in the '70s!

Before she got married and switched to T/F, Leah Pruett ran an early silver 'Vette pro mod turbo setup. That would be a fun build too, but waaay over my head!

[am73grand]

This looks really good so far. I really like the red butterflies on the injector hat!

[Danno]

Good start!

[Dragracer]

Chassis/engine is looking good Mitchell, as everyone else can't wait to see the body. And when Leah was running that 'Vette (she was also the driver for the turbo Mustang) she was driving for R2B2 Racing, along with Melonie Troxel (who was driving the 'Vette before Leah got into it). Great build, also can't wait to see your upcoming P/M build.

[futurattraction]

Great looking job, Mitch! I'm looking forward to seeing more progress pics...

[MitchP]

Again, sorry to make everyone wait to see the body, but there will be a special surprise there too. I just decided on a new direction sitting here chatting and I think it will be crazy!

Rich: I love seeing Melanie in that In-And-Out burger car and wish she'd had a lot more success with it. Only so many cubic dollars to go around and a lot of good, experienced drivers (T.J. for instance) just practicing the light and waiting for an opening.

Scott: Someday, I look forward to the opportunity to actually build a promod frame like Tyrone, Scott or Brett and use some of your fine products on it! The entire front end of this kit (rear too) could have been prolly been replaced with your components!

[geetee66]

Hey Mitch, that's lookin good!

Seems to me like you shouldn't worry about attempting a higher skill level. This is working out well!

[Speedfreak]

Mitch, I have, and , wear several of Ed Roth's works, love 'em. Your build looks great, I'm in the dark though about the topic your building. And I remember when a decent school lunch could be had for .50 cents, " give me a couple of those deep fried beef and bean burrito's and some ketchup! Ya!

[mnwildpunk]

Your killing me ya I want to know what the body is

[MitchP]

Alright - I can't wait to get some feedback. The body has to slide on and off from the front because I haven't modified the tinwork on the inside to accommodate the blower & hat, as well as the fuel distribution block & fuel lines

And a couple of shots looking down the throat of the beast:

I hope this helps with the curiosity. I was tinkering with the possibility of cutting off the front clip so the engine would be more easily visible without removing the entire body. Other than the usual small cluster of guages and the cockpit with a few controls and the SLIXX harness decals, there's not much to stand out like there is on pro stocks, pro mods or NOS cars. If I did this, I could try using some embedded tiny magnets like Clay did on Blackbeard's Revenge to secure it. I'm not ready for the opening/closing doors yet though!

I have seen where a little more research would have helped here, but it will in the future. Clay's blower had a nice safety blanket attached which would help with 1:1 as well as blower straps and a better understanding of how P/E blower linkage should look for both the barrel valve and throttle control sides.

I know it's just primered, but any feedback is welcome! It won't be painted red like the original kit; I'm thinking either a bright Corvette yellow or perhaps something as extreme as Testors "One Coat" metallic lime. I've promised myself after just getting done shooting a Budweiser T-bird prostock and a Kalitta Mustang with Testors products I'd never do it again, but some of the Model Masters paint isn't so metallic looking.

I only use shaker cans and I use both primer/sander and primer/sealer before basecoats. If anyone knows a better paint that comes in shaker cans (Tamiya?), goes on smooth, safe and has little risk of running when sprayed, please let me know!

Thanks all!

p.s. I'll update my Mustang and Iaconia prostock build threads with some pics I took last night of the finished paint jobs.

[am73grand]

Even in primer that thing looks wicked!!! Keep it going!

[TFchronos]

Very nice work on that monster engine.

[brett]

nice job buddy, funnily enough............

[Dragfreak]

It looks good

[MitchP]

Alriight, here are the initial pics of the paint job for the '57 ex-McEwen as I've pictured it. Sadly, this is one of the original series and somewhere during shipping or the build, the windshield cracked cleanly in half. I tried to carefully CA glue it, but nothing would work. I was hoping SLIXX window supports would hide the glue attempt, but it didn't matter. Anyway, that's another fish to fry.

Hope you like the paint and concept for an amateur. I'm gonna use the same decal company to create something for this car; maybe Godzilla, King of the Lizards of Terror of Tokyo with a cartooned Godzilla spitting flames. Please send me some ideas! I'll be using as many sponsor decals as I can considering it's the original kit and not the new one. I'd hate to buy an entirely new kit from Revell just to obtain that winshield!

[cartpix]

How about Prestone, as a sponsor, because that is antifreeze green. All kidding aside, nice job on the paint. It's got a great shine, to it. The rest of it, looks very nice, too.

Edited May 27, 2014 by cartpix

[MitchP]

Thanks all. I'm glad Revell has re-issued this kit; however, I'd hate to spend $25 just to lift the windshield to fix this build and then have a new McEwen kit 99.9% complete except for a missing windshield. I can always use the spare parts, but finding a replacement body of some kind with the same wheelbase might be hard.

I'll ask around for anyone interested in a nearly full kit a reasonable price.

[shift13]

Dont bother brother pm your address ive got your glass. I bought the kit when it came with the pin but was missing the bumper so it ended up being a parts car

[brett]

looks good maybe a incredible hulk theme ?? Havent got a screen I'm afraid but with the reissue out soon there maybe people that only want it for the chassis/ engine so maybe a post in the wanted section??

[MitchP]

Good point Brett! Good price on those new re-releases too. I'll post below. BTW, Shift13 and I have been discussing his incredible ability to pick-up the Revell pro sportsman clone kits ('55 Street Burner, '57 Soff Seal, '55 Shoebox Ford), use the running chassis to build big pro mod motored monsters with a lot of homemade customization and then selling the leftover body, wing, etc for use by junkyarders and slot car builders.

BTW, how how ya been?

[MitchP]

Well, the green paint and the "Hulk" theme are gone. Since I already posted detailed interior pics, I'll just put a couple of the car's latest incarnation (no pun). I followed Brett's post and went back to the 1:1 theme, stripping off the green and applying Model Master's Ferrari Red. Due to can painting and my first try at something other than metallic (hides a LOT of mistakes), there are a few places hardly noticeable around the wheelwells. It won't be in a competition just my own collection so I'm o.k. with that.

The funny look on the front bumpers is where I taped them and the rear before shooting so I could apply alum on the finished primer. One thing though: when I carefully peeled away the Tamiya paint tape, little flecks of some base coat chipped off. Not a project killer, but should I have cleared it first? Normally, due to the metallics I've shot on my first three models, I either haven't cleared at all or used the floor cleaning/coating solution. I had a perfectly good can of clear sputter and ruin a paint job which had to be ponded. The red paint sat for 2 or more weeks before I pulled the tape. Should I paint the bumpers and try a matching clear solution again? Thanks!

http://public.fotki.com/Mitchp/chevy-drag-racing/tom-mcewen-57-promo.html