Modellpularn

Now that's cool! I work part time now and then as a bus driver, and our company has some of these buses. I worked tonight, and drove a bunch of NHL hockey players; Ottawa Senators. Apparently the NHL has decided to have a few games over here. But tonight I drove a mini-bus, 16 people max. "Our" guys won 3-1 over the "Penguins" I'll have to look into it, and tell the guys at the bus company.....

Oh no, this is sad news indeed! I always liked him and Steve McQueen, I think they had the same kind of personality; cool and calm, and liked racing. Mr Newman starred in a movie from the 60's that was about the Nobel prize I think, and they were in Stockholm. It was cool to see the (for me) familiar places around the city. In one sequence, Mr Newman's character is supposed to meet some shady person in a house, and naturally there's a fight, and they end up on the roof. Mr Newman gets a punch, and falls off the building..... I'm thinking, since I know where they are: "Oh no, he's going to fall onto the railroad tracks just below the building!" But instead he falls into the water, about 100 feet away!! Who would know.....? Only "Mr Hawkeye" from Stockholm.... A bit of movie trivia for you!

Ok, here are some old pics of the car and some others. Scroll all the way down to the magazine cover; Start & Speed, it was the first "hot rod" type magazine in Sweden. That's how it looked in the beginning..... http://volvopvlv.egetforum.se/forum/viewtopic.php?t=33

Another one, a superfast Funny Car, best run so far: 0.42 seconds and 90 mph!! Think the body is an Olds, and I used the decals from the Monogram Budweiser King Tempo kit. Copied the paint scheme from the kit, maybe I should have come up with a custom design.....? Ah well, there's new bodies avaliable.... The next one will be a custom job.

Thanks guys, I have some more.....

Hey, that's cool!!

This is something a friend came up with, the chassis anyway. He made the chassis from aluminum U-channel, and added the swingarm, motor mounts, etc. I had this resin '64 Chevy Biscayne that I fitted to the chassis. So after a little work, this is how it looks...... Unfortunately, our dragstrip is not active right now, it sits in pieces in some garage.....

This is a resin body made by a fellow Swedish modeler, maybe 15 years ago. But I modified it into this drag version. The front has been shaved and extended downward, and also angled. The rear fenders were cut from the body, and extended at the bottom. Then reglued to the body in a higher position, so the car would sit much lower. The taillights were repositioned also.... The name Son of Hot Tomato comes from an old 1:1 drag car based on a Volvo PV 544, that was called "Hot Tomato" It had a fuel injected 427 Chevy for power, eventually. It was later rebuilt, but looked basically the same. I thought it was such a cool car, so I decided to build this "what if" slot drag car. I have chrome lettering "Son of Hot Tomato" in the same style font as the real car. But I think it needs a repaint before I apply the lettering.

Here's another view, the wing is scratchbuilt, and wasn't too hard to do, once I got "in the mood" I'm thinking of maybe making it two-tone, with purple pearl on top. So what do you think? The paint is VHT Chevy Engine Orange.

Bill, you don't need to practice your Finnish..... it's a language beyond understanding, and it sounds like they are mad at each other most of the time...... "satana, perkele, vitto" Those were some bad words.... Everyone over here speaks English, and Juha as well. Yeah, hop a plane and come over why don't 'cha! We'd be happy to have you! And bring some of your outstanding models! Like I said before, plan for a summer vacation, Sweden is so much nicer in the summer, and with all that's going on, you won't believe it...!!!

That's a very nice resto job you have done! I'm a COX fan myself, I have a 2D that needs some work, and parts also if I remember correctly..... and a Cheetah with a nos body, parts chassis. It will be done someday...... Sure, I'd like to see more of your stuff! Keep 'em coming!

George and anyone interested, why don't you talk some buddies into coming over, have a raffle to raise money, or whatever. But even if it might be cool to meet Juha in person, it's bit "coold" in February. Might be better to plan for late July - early August, since there's a model car show in late July, which is very popular, called "The Count's Glue Galore" hosted by Claes Beck-Friis. And then you have the Wheels Nats in early August, held at an old military airfield. Lots of cool American cars and bikes! Then at night there's the Stockholm Cruising, a big thing down one of the main streets. You would have a blast! In the meantime between model shows, how about a trip to my summer house in the countryside? Where you will meet more car crazy guys, and some modelers as well. Something called Classic Car Week is also taking place around that time, Hot Rod Reunion, etc.....Lots of cool stuff is happening! Let's just hope for better weather next summer.....

Yes, Juha's models are amazing. He told me he entered his first model contest maybe in the mid 80's. I guess he's more than made up for the late start.... The first time he came to a model car show here in Stockholm, in '89, he actually came to see me first, and showed his stuff! One of the models was the orange Dart Swinger, and I could tell right away; this guy is something special. His models were on a much higher level than the others! Juha is a very quiet, modest person, like my friend calls him: "The modest master" That was the time he converted an old '66 Impala convertible junker, found in a childrens playground, into a Biscayne fourdoor sedan with a six...... Here's a pic of the master: That Opel..... I'm not sure, but it might have been some resin kit. On the other hand, it could have started as a Hornet..... Bill, very nice to hear from you! I will tell Juha, but I think you might have to remind me, sometime in early February, just before the CCM Open!! I'm kind of absentminded, think I've always been, but it's worse now. The glue you know...... So, if anyone happens to plan a trip to Stockholm Sweden in early February, let me know, 'cus you'll get to meet Juha and see some spectacular models!

Now this is old news I guess, but maybe a bit interesting anyway. August 9th was the day the Wheels Nats car show was held. And with it there's always the "Plastic Whackin'" model car show. Juha Airio always shows up at this show, and the one in early February - CCM Open. This time he brought a 1972 Opel Rekord coupe, a '70 Eldorado, a tuner, and something else, which I might have missed. Here's the Opel: And here's the Caddy: For some reason, the number of models entered in the show this year was very low. Usually it's a very popular model contest. There's another model contest coming up this Saturday. I hope more guys are coming to this one...

Hi Greg, your Nova is coming along fine! You didn't go for subtle with that yellow color.... "A screaming yellow honker" Keep up the good work, mate! Cheers, someday I have to make the trip to Aussie land..... in that case, I'll let you know.

That's a different twist on the Deora! And in case you didn't already notice, that engine looks very much like a big block Chevy..... Seven bolts on the valve covers is the telltale sign! How about some other wheels, wide slot mags would be very 70's, like Ansen five slot mags. I think the Deora kit has some slot mags, but they are four slot..... hmmm..., not correct, and something I've never seen on a real car. So look into your parts boxes for some cool wheels!

Looks cool! But maybe you should have kept the trunk section from the Riv' as well, might be tricky to get some smooth flowing lines otherwise....... If you still have the parts, give it a try!

That wheel is really nice! If that's what you're after, go for it. Good Luck with the '32.......

Looks cool! I like the color, what did you use? Candy red over the metallic gray?

The truck was supposed to be ready for a model contest held today at the Wheels Nat's car show. We made it, at the last minute..... Some late add ons were the hood stripes, and tailgate stripe. My son was inspired by the stripes on my El Camino..... I had some Chevelle hood and trunk lid decals. Here's how it turned out, after I applied the hood stripes: I wasn't sure if I could make the tailgate stripe, but I had the trunk lid stripes, and cut them up. By luck, the angles fit perfectly, and I was able to splice them together to make one black panel. Ok, so I helped him some, but he did most of the basic work. I added some tricks so the big Pegasus wheels could be mounted, and... a tweak here and there... Bottom line is this; he won First Place in the Junior class, his first model contest ever!! Here's all the stuff he won!:

The roofspoiler is included in all of those Chevy truck kits; Silverado, shortbed, SS 454.

The paint on my truck doesn't feel completely dry, so I'll just let it sit. We'll concentrate on my son's truck, and he's painted it now. His first spray can job, and it turned out very well. I had to make some "minor adjustments" (to the suspension to make room for the big wheels) as Juha Airio says, we'll meet him tomorrow, I think. He usually visits Stockholm for this Wheels Nats show, bringing some cool models. Anyway, here's Sebastian's truck:

My son is here visiting me for two weeks. He's almost thirteen. He's been smitten somewhat by my model building. But he's only built two models so far. This time he was looking through my shelves, and found AMT's 454 SS truck to his liking. Since I had three, he could use one. It was good, because it got me going with a project I had started a few years ago..... Here's how his truck is planned to look: And here's my old project; a seamless bodystyle truck, with some lowered suspension tricks. Yes, I will swap the wheels for something cooler..... His interior is going to be two-tone gray, here's the first coat: While he was busy painting, I got this idea to make a rear roll pan. I found this thing in a bag of "junk" custom stuff.... looks like it could come from a sixties Buick or Pontiac. Let's try it on for size: To make a long story short, I could have swiped the roll pan from the snap dually truck, but why go the easy route? Well, here it is in primer, finally..... The interior in my son's truck is now finished. He's very proud of it! And I managed to get the first coat of paint on my truck! VHT Chevy Engine Orange, it's my favorite shade..... Oh yeah, it will be two-tone. The plan is to paint the top part metallic red.

Wow!! Awesome work, man! And in such a short time as well..... My hat's off to you!

Joe, from what I've heard, it's registered as a 1964 Buick!! That's where the frame came from.... But it has an early 50's Cadillac body, with early Volvo Amazon(122) grilles, '39 Ford headlights, or maybe Lincoln..... The builder Lars-Erik Ljung likes to go his own way..... He's built a radical '59 Ford convertible in the past.