customline

Anybody that has an LED "halo" magnifier light raise your hand! (I love mine ?) they seem to be ubiquitous. Looks awesome, JR. , it's Boss! ? Question to all: do you pin your spoilers on cars like this for a strong attachment and to avoid a glue mishap? I'm just curious ?.

Couldn't help mocking-up with face-lifted rims. Not a productive day. ?

Thanks, David, I'm old school about mags. I don't like a lot of the current crop of custom wheels out there today. I like the '60s/'70s look; Americans, especially. Then Cragar SS and Keystones. These Keystones pictured are not the best I've seen but still recognizable as such. They're not as crisp as some Revell examples. Notice the block style K in the center cap. ? ...they tried. I can live with it.

Midnight update: Keystone are finished. Good night ?

Yup, saw a Charger the other day in that gray...looked like an unmarked Rhode Island State Police cruiser ☺️. I like your color choice. I used a similar color on a '40 coupe. It's called Ice Blue Pearl by Boyd's. It's sorta greenish, very subtle, subdued. The sparkle is very fine, not like a metallic. Testor' made some really good paint back when. Don't know I can say that about now. ?

"Dreadful Drab Colors"....I dunno man, I kinda like 'em ?. It's a trend, for sure. The small SUVs look good that way but I wouldn't want a new 'Vette in pea soup green. ? 'Stang's looking hot. Let's get a battery in 'er. I wanna hear that thing rumble!

A little paint will go a long way, Steve. I have kit shocks in the junk box that don't look this good. The tank on the left is the AMT and it is actually more accurate than the Revell on the right. I drilled a hole in the approximate location to add a plug. I engineered a plug ? from styrene and inserted. I feel much better now. Ive gotta wonder how you miss a drain plug on an otherwise totally featureless gas tank when trying to create a mold for one. The old woman left and I detail painted the Keystones. I still need to do the cleanup on them. That's when the profanity happens . More on that later.

Cobbled up a pair of shocks for the front today, the upper mounts "welded" to the frame. I know, bolt-on f-100 mounts would be a proper thing but not at this scale.....I welded on my home-mades. The hardest thing to do is drilling out the eyes for the shock ends. I keep breaking things and dropping stuff. It's a nightmare. The chassis still needs some cleaning up but is almost ready for paint now but I had to check on what a 1:1 fuel tank looks like. Is it really just flat? Didn't seem right to me. I needed to know if it should have beading or whatever. Dennis Carpenter has a factory spec tank that is plain flat on the bottom. Okay! Shocks will get dark red or yellow paint and Molotow via brush. I'm using the Keystone rims provided by the kit and I will be detailing them after my wife leaves the house tonight. She doesn't like to hear my frustrations being voiced at high volume.

Your deuce coupe looks fantastic, Greg. I'm not a big fan of the pro-street style (a personal quirk) but I loudly praise your ability to create it. Your techniques should be studied and emulated by those of us seeking new ways to improve our own. Looks like you are having a heck of a lot of fun with this one, Greg!

Those wheels look good too, but I'm a fool for Keystones. I have a set on the bench that need detailing. I like to use plain ol' Testor's Flat Black enamel, thinned slightly and wait till it's dry. Then I use their enamel reducer (airbrush thinner) on a pointed craft swab, dabbed to just damp, to clean up the over-slop. (Of course,..... I need magnification to do this ?.) I totally love that body style; best looking Mustang ever! ?

Building the way I do, it is necessary to keep looking stuff up on the internet for reference. A quick scan of Bing images usually gives me what I need. I need to look deeper on this one (I have no first hand experience with a '40 Ford.) The Revell kit, which is sitting next to this one, has the wishbone in better detail and the rear anchor points of it (it is split) are located close to the center. My understanding is that the wishbone has a single anchor point on the centerline. But, again, I dunno...gotta research, but it looks like a modification. I'm running block huggers that would maybe interfere with a wishbone so, theoretically, I tossed it and built hairpin-ish radius rods, to get around things. Not too sure if it's a legitimate set-up but I believe it could work in the real world although they would not be as simple as I have depicted them. Am I over-thinking this? ?. My version is a homemade looking thing you might see on the front end of an early altered or rail back in the late fifties. It's a hot rod built at home; that's the narrative. I'm currently scratching out tube shocks for the front (not much fun) and I feel like I should be working on the other one. I'm kinda bound up at the bench. Sometimes I just don't know what to do. ? Below is the well detailed Revell

Sum and total for today. Radius rods. (Narrative: They are home-made, welded together with an old Craftsman buzz box and some 1/8" 7018, slightly damp, off a job the week before.?. Ain't purty but they'll do.) The beam axle from this, and pretty much all AMT old kits, are way out of scale, my eyes tell me. Oh well ?. The brass wire you see protruding out front will be my lower shock mounts. There had been a steering link but I broke it. Gotta fix that and find a suitable steering box (or make one). Well, I gotta go let the Cheshire cat out.

That engine is awesome, Accell wires a good choice ?

WILD, CRAZY, COOL! That big 409 looks great! nice detailing, scratch work and chop! I don't think it's street legal, though ☺️. Cool build, Andy! Testor's Arctic Blue would work nice on this one.

Yup. I believe that's what's happening here, David. Here's a theory: [we model crafters will always find need for improvements regardless of how accurate or well tooled the kit may be.] In the case of this kit, it was just a box full of raw material. I have a drawer full of Evergreen that is no different than a lot of low grade kits - just raw material. There are some kits that need very little detailing to satisfy most builders. My 300 B project is a great kit straight out of the box. I couldn't leave it be, though. I cut the trunk and the driver's door. Had to do it. To quote that Manfred Mann lyric - ? "....that's where the fun is" ?

Clearance for the Vertex Mag....simple fix. Thanks for looking ?

Today's progress involved filling the hinge holes in the firewall with Evergreen and CA and repair of body damage that was apparently inflicted by not using a sprue cutter when removing the body tree. I just glued on backing inside and filled with thick CA and kicker, then sanded back flush. Zipped off the backing with Dremel drum. Then wet sanded the rest. I noticed, while checking the radiator to engine fan clearance, that the bottom tank was missing...hmmmm....that's OK because there's no bottom hose either (or a top hose either, nor anything to locate the hoses to on the engine ?. Great, because I hate hooking up bottom hoses anyway!) But I faked a bottom tank in case I get in one of my fussy moods. Also, I added some "sheet metal" to the nose above the grille to clean up the no-hood look. I may cover it with aluminum BMF (narrative considered - unnecessary weight removed from car including hood latch hardware, covered unsightlyness with lightweight aluminum) Thanks for looking, More later...?

I like a clean, business-like black vinyl interior, especially when there's a Hurst shifter with that finger-groove t-handle that says "HURST" cast into it in deep relief. ?. The foiling looks great. You move fast, huh? Lovin' it!

Off to a flying start, John, love the color choice. I've got the Revell '69 Boss 302 in rotation currently but I like the styling of the '70 nose way more. I'm following?

Thank you, David. I was letting the kit's numerous and varied shortcomings get to me but it is what it is. I think I may need to re-shape the wheel openings slightly. The severe lowering in front is having an impact in that area and it just needs tweaking. I'm planning to add a 3 point roll bar, fire extinguisher, and a shoulder harness. I'll be addressing the interior soon. The firewall needs some work for a little clearance for the magneto and to plug the hinge holes. The radiator has been modified slightly to move it forward a few mms. I could delete the fan, I suppose, but I need it for a street driven car. I want street/strip to be evident. I need to research when those wheels entered the market because they really put a date on the car. Open drive conversions also. Nailheads go back to the early fifties so all these elements come into play. I'm becoming authenticity conscious in my old age ?. I think a license plate with a late sixties date from your neck of the woods would be appropriate and easily done. Maybe a dragstrip decal on the quarter glass from that era and region. I could use some help on that. But I ramble in my early morning half asleep state. I really appreciate your interest, David, and everyone else watching my builds. It keeps me going.

☺️I am forging ahead with the Olds nailhead. The flavor of this '40 is leaning heavily toward street/strip as the torque tube has been supplanted by an open drives haft. The wishbone was scrapped and traction bars were fabricated, with a very familiar part adapted to the frame to catch the forward anchors. I need to add shocks somewhere all around, a task I dislike for some reason not fully understood. ?. I will get to it. I'm tempted to assemble the chassis, front axle, rear axle, steering, etc. And spray as a unit but this is not that kind of build. All the fab work needs to be featured by color differences. Otherwise, why all the fuss? Anyway, this is what I did today. Thanks for your approval in advance ?.

Thanks, David, I'm sure I'm not the first to find these things with the "Oldsmobile engine". What I find mystifying is that it was allowed to go without correction by the Aluminum Model Toys so-called designers. This kit was first produced many decades ago. It's not like nobody knew. They kept up this nonsense for generations. Because the '40 is such a popular subject, it baffles me that they never re-tooled .... or did they? ?. I don't know ?. The current Revell kit is far superior to this in every way and I will try to avoid these old kits. There's just too much I feel compelled to try to correct and waste time I could spend otherwise. No more glue-bombs for me, thank you very much. ?

I've been trying to use the nailhead supplied in the kit but it's a horrible example of that engine and needed some "improvement ". The heads would not fit properly with the locating pins AMT provided so the pins were eliminated. The heads were far from accurate and I had to add material on the top of them to raise the intake manifold and rocker covers. The spark plugs, which protruded unrealistically were removed and the heads were drilled for wires. The "custom" exhaust headers were replaced with ones that, I believe, came from the Monogram '39 chevy coupe (OK, the ports don't line up accurately but they are block huggers and they, at least, look like real headers.) I was able to tweak the frame and headers to get a nice inside-the-frame fit. I also replaced the molded-in magneto with one I scratched. AMT didn't think the custom Oldsmobile nailhead needed coolant circulating through the block so they didn't provide a means to connect the radiator to the heads....so I scratched that too. I am not sure if this engine is the one I want in this hood-delete car. I want it hood-less as a style element, I like the look but, unfortunately, I don't think I can make this engine look good enough. I do have the flathead ready to go and I'm considering it. Ill just need to fab an exhaust for it. The "Olds" nailhead can go in a barn find rusted-out something-or-other. Sometimes it seems like I'm just chasing my tail. ? Thanks for looking (and waiting ?)

Agreed. I've always liked the '40's style, it's iconic. It is a versatile platform for the full spectrum of customization.

Yeah, David, that one is about subtlety. The conservative roof reduction goes well, I think, with the Ice Blue Pearl. Subtle. A crate 350 would make more sense than my FE out of a wreck. I may reconsider that. ?