Peter Lombardo

Very, very well done, I could picture a 1:1 of this on the cover of Hot Rod Deluxe with a throw-back dark hair model with tats standing next to it.

realy very nice build.....I did that car also and did not add anywhere near as much detail as you did......very well done.

Ok, this is not the type of question you would see here, but I need some input from you guys. If you work in a car dealership or a related field you may have a different view on this. My question(s), and I really want an honest answer to it, is......Buying a new car.....I am sure most, if not all of you (slightly older guys), have purchased, leased or financed a new vehicle.......so, what is the best and the worst aspect of the process? Do you injoy it? Hate it? Have you searched on line for it? Do find the information that you need? What would you like to see changed, if anything? and would you, if you could, buy a car "on-line".....I mean by that have all the information you need to purchase a new vehicle without stepping foot in a dealership. Give this a little thought and let me know, if I am not asking too much from you......I would really love to hear from a cross-section of the country... Thanks in advance, I appreciate your thoughts, and I will explain all of this once we see the result....assuming I get some results........thanks.

Great job so far.......nothing, in drag racing, beats a front engined rail dragster, in my opinion. I love what you are doing to the chassis.

Guys, thanks for the kind words, I really appreciate it........I am happy to see that you guys understood the intent of this build....I was looking to capture the look and feel of the late 50's...early 60's factory concepts with their jet fighter themed look and feel...thanks again.

That build has really held up well......it looks even more convincing with the slight "patina" of the wax residue around the edges. The chrome has the look of very well cared for, but has seen its share of road time. All and all, the stock look works better than a custom would because of this.......very well done.

Nice old school custom look to it.....I really like the tube grille treatment.......pretty cool.

1962 Custom Ford Thunderbird Coupe here is the link to the previous "on the workbench" post on this build...http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=82280&hl= Normally, I would be out on the road selling my new web site to car dealers (more on this at a later date) but with this ridiculous snow storm ( I hate snow with every fiber of my being ) I am forced to work from home today….and with the residual issues this storm is bringing the car dealers in the Northern New Jersey, I don’t know how long before I can get a dealer to sit down and watch my demo with a clear head. P.S. there is a ton of snow to shovel later…….did I mention that I hate snow???? Anyway, I took the free time this morning to finish up a few details on my rather ambitious build of the Thunderbird I started back in December 2013. I am not wasting a lot of time setting up the photography ( not that I ever really do ) so the pictures are not “glamour” shots by any stretch but you will get the idea. I am very pleased with the final product here….it followed my early design sketches very closely with the obvious exception of the wheel and tire choice. The design originally called for wide white walls with a Cadillac Sombrero wheel cover, both coming from the most recently released version of the AMT Thunderbird, but the other night while looking for something else in one of my parts draws I stumbled upon these forgotten wheels and tires I had from a garage sale Tamiya Mercedes and it just hit me that they would work on the Thunderbird exactly as they were….not even painted….the rears were wider and bigger than the fronts and I think the “turbo spoke” look worked better on this build as it is not really a 1960’s style custom in the real sense. I think it has more of a factory performance concept look to it so these wheels work better for my eye. This build presented a whole host of engineering challenges that I had to over-come, and quite frankly, that is why I wanted to do it….I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it and have the result be “acceptable”…….could the execution of the door opening system be better?….sure…..but considering this was my first attempt, I am reasonably happy with it. Because I incorporated a unique door opening system in this car, final assemble was more like building a “ship in a bottle” then building a traditional model car kit. One of the major points that literally saved my bacon on this build was the choice of the roof and therefore the windows. In most vehicles the windows must be installed from the inside before the chassis and interior are in place. But the choice of the Firebird roof meant that I could install the front and rear windshields from the outside after the interior was in place. The chassis has the door opening “slides” built into them so I was forced to attached the completed and painted doors to the chassis and then install the chassis with the engine in place into the body. Once the chassis and body were mated, I could then fabricate the rear package shelf behind the rear seat to “fit” the space….then the dashboard and console followed by the front seats were installed all through the rather large window openings. Once all of the interior components were in place the windows were installed and glued into place….it was very different and I admit a little “scary” to do all of this in a strange almost backwards order. Anyway, here is the completed Thunderbird. The car was painted with a base coat of refrigerator white, which is how almost all of my paint jobs start. This was lightly sanded smooth and then the top center and the sides were airbrushed with clear lacquer mixed with pearl white pigment powder to get a pearl white effect. Next I mixed a custom blend of clear lacquer with yellow, green, blue and turquoise pigment powders to make a greenish turquoise color similar to the color of my original sketch from a few months ago. I airbrushed the turquoise mixture onto the body leaving the center of the top and the sides free of this color to allow the pearl white to show through. Once this was dry, I hit the white area with a little bit more pearl white to help even out the balance of the blended areas. Once I was happy with that I added a thin highlight of Tamiya white down the center of the top and sides with the number one needle in my airbrush closed down to the thinnest spray possible. Once dry, this was clear coated with 4 coats of clear lacquer, once that was dry, it was sanded a few times with the polishing sandpapers, compounded and waxed to a nice shine. Obviously, I am pretty happy with the result. I have one more custom in the works that will have a nice little “color” twist to it and a few race cars….I just started a Studio 27 multimedia 1/20 scale kit of the Brabham BT-44B which I built as a 1/12 Tamiya back in the mid 1970’s….this is a car I have always loved the look of and finally “bit the bullet” and paid the rather high price for the Multimedia version of it but I wanted a 1/20 scale version…… more on that later too.

Really nice build....I have that kit, along with the resin engine from Historic Racing Miniatures, and plan on building it one of these days....if my paint and decals look as nice as yours I will be very happy....yours looks just beautiful......I was always a fan of the Gulf sponsored cars and this is a great example of maybe the most famous one of them.

Very nice looking build... I love the bright yellow on it with the black stripes.....but I have always been a fan of Raised White Letter tires (I loved the look of the late 60's and early 70's road pounders) Oh, well. I had them on my Camaro and Mustang,

Really nice, the color combination works perfectly.....very clean paint separations.....Masterful Work.

very stunning color on that truck.....smooth and bright. Looks really sharp with it's backend up high.....great stance.

very nice....back in the day, my friend had one of those( metallic blue, his 66 was yellow) and we had a great time street racing anyone who we could bait into running with us...brings back memories for sure.....again, nice job, very authentic looking.

1955 Chrysler 300 Here is my completed 1955 Chrysler 300 mild custom coupe. All of the chrome trim and lettering has been removed except for the chrome body side spear molding which was let on to promote a longer lower look to the car. The top was chopped somewhere around 3 to 4 scale inches and the A pillars were “laid-back” to give the car a more modern look to it. Rear fender skirts were added, again to promote a lower look to the car. The stance was lowered about as low as possible since the chassis hangs down lower than the body sides. The doors were opened and hinged and the hood was hinged forward. The engine intake was modernized with a newer Hemi dual carburetor chrome air cleaner. The large “box” square opening grille was replaced with much more delicate lateral bars of photo-etch stainless steel . The taillight chrome moldings were glued on, puttied and smoothed out. The taillight areas were then opened up and filled with a mix of 5 minute epoxy mixed with Tamiya clear red allowed to harden in place. On both the front and rear bumpers, the over-riders and license plate indentions were removed and filled to add a sleekness and simpler look so that the bumpers were less chunky and because the faux spare tire hump on the trunk contains the cut-out for the license plate, the bumper mounted plate recess was unnecessary. The bumpers were sanded smooth, primed, painted black and then covered with Alclad II chrome paint and round tailpipe extensions were added in place of the flat three opening stock units . The headlights are Frenched and hooded and the chrome trim removed. The car was primered then sanded smooth, than covered with refrigerator white which was also lightly sanded smooth. This was covered with a custom mix of Tamiya white(X-2) and sky blue (X-14) of a rather light, light blue. Once this coat was dry, high points, the outer edge of the roof and design features were taped off with thin strips of sign vinyl to create contrast and then over this I airbrushed on a slightly darker mix of the same two colors but this time I added a few scoops of white pearl pigment powder to give the top coat a mild pearl look to it.. The tape was removed and once dry the paint it was covered with 4 top coats of clear lacquer which was sanded smooth once dry, compounded and then waxed and buffed to a high shine . Then the molding was covered with bare-metal foil to finish off the body. The interior received very little change from a stock unit covered with white, light blue and a bit of lighter blue. I like it….it is simple with a rather mild chop, lower stance and a 1950’s powder blue paint job. In my mind, this would make a perfect Sunday afternoon boulevard cruiser.

This looks very nice, just one small point for your future models, when you have fairly large decals to set over complex curves have decal softening solution and a small hair dryer handy......soften the decals with the solution, heat them with the hair dryer and carefull work them down with a damp q-tip cotten swab.......take your time and you will be rewarded with smooth decals. over-all, nice job on a vintage kit.

Ok, I agree, it is beautiful...(Great paint, but you knew that)......too bad about the check not showing up.........there clearly is a lesson to be learned here, boys and girls.

I think it is time to realize that "nothing is made in the USA" any more except for Hamburgers and Credit Cards.....oh, and of course, what we make in our backyard garages. The American industrial complex has priced itself out of everything except for the odd government contract, and most of those go to international companies. Sad but true, we have become a country of consumers, not producers. Recently I bought a new golf club from a club manufacturer headquartered in California from an on-line retailer in Texas......head forged in China, shaft made in Japan and assembled in Mexico.....I am not optimistic for my Grandchildren unless they get into Law, Banking or International Law and Banking.

The paint and surface detailing is perfect...... so I am reluctant to mention this because the build is just so beautiful, but with spark plug wires and a few more hoses under the hood, this would be difficult to distinguish from the real thing........but surely, you know how to paint and assemble a model car kit.....beautiful job.

Nice work! Have you stopped squinting yet? My friend owns a 150, which I must say is just stunning in person......I have this kit, one of these days I will get around to it......I need to check and see if mine has wipers. Welcome to "small ball".

Nice Bill, as usual, a very convincing replica....the underhood shot looks great.....I wouldn't do a red one myself, as that is all I ever see at Dodge dealers, but the application of the paint is first rate, also as usual. Happy New Year Bill, hope all goes well for you.....personally, I am expecting big things for 2014.

so sweet and clean.

First, thanks guys, I appreciate the nice words, as for the Jacquard pigments.....they make a number of types.....some are meant to be used as a top coat over white or silver so that their color "stands" alone those are "Pearl Ex" colors...you can mix them into clear or with other paint colors to change the appearance and give a deep pearl look to the color. or you can use the "Interferance or Duo-Colors" pigments mixed with clear as a top coat over a light colored base to get a two-tone look.. The Duo-color pigments can change their color depending upon the angle you view them at. These pigments are very unique and can give a variety of looks and effects. I have 14 different pigments that I use alone or in combination as they are easy to mix into clear paint...also a nice feature is they work with Tamiya or automotive lacquer or even enamal paint so they can work for any medium you are using....I get mine at an art supply store.....if they don't have it, I am sure you can have them order it for you or find an on-line art supply house, I am sure they have it available....and shipping will not be an issue as it is just raw pigment, no dangerous chemicals here to upset the post-man. Guys, you really need to get a few jars of this stuff and experiment with it....it is unique.

Really, really, well done....the cars and the settings show them off very well.....I would take any one of those...but the creamy yellow 430 is my favorite of the bunch...beautiful stable.

1985 Porsche and 1962 Corvette The 1985 Porsche 911 Turbo is built from a Fujimi Enthusiast kit. (In fact this is Enthusiast kit No. 1), If you have ever built one of these you know they are both immensely frustrating and extremely rewarding at the same time. These kits have tremendous detail and many, many parts that are very finicky….especially the Turbo engine piping and fittings. On this car I decided to make matters worse by opening both the front hood (trunk) and doors. With all of the detail items provided for the under-hood area, it would be sinful not to open it up. And as for the doors, the upper window frames were extremely difficult to open without destroying the framework…..they are so extremely delicate that I had to handle the doors with the utmost care during the building of the car. Actually, I started this kit about 8 years ago….I cut out the front hood and doors, hinged the doors and then lost interest in the kit as I was not mentally ready to tackle the engine and I had no idea of what color to paint the car . The painting of the car (box-art) on the box showed the car in beautiful black with a contrasting gold hue highlight to it, like it was illuminated by a California sunset. After thinking it over I decided to replicate that look. So the car got a base coat of black lacquer over sanded primer. The black was wet sanded to smooth it out and then it got a top coat of clear lacquer mixed with Jacquard micro Gold Interference pigment powder….I have used this pigment over white and silver before to get some interesting results….it gives a different look depending on the viewing angle. In this case, I applied the top coat a little bit heavier to give it a more black-gold look and a bright intense gold glow in the light. Once this coat was dry, the car was top coated with clear which was rubbed out with wax. 1962 Chevrolet Corvette This is the Revell kit with a few modifications. Obviously, I opened the doors and hinged them, then I replaced the stock engine (technically, the block is the 1962 kit engine) but the heads and induction system have been updated to appear as a late model Corvette LS1 powerplant. I cleaned a few pieces of trim on the body and went with a gold colored fender cove even though the 1962 Vette did not offer that option, if I am not mistaken, and used a thin tan vinyl stripe to break the color line, as for the color, this is basically the same paint job as the Porsche except the Gold Interference layer was applied with less intensity. The gold highlight is much more subtle on this car. The wheels and tires were lifted from a Dodge Copperhead Promo model…..I have always thought these were great looking wheels and tires and wish AMT would offer them as a parts-pac set. That’s it, two friendly rivals that were great status Boulevard cruisers in their day…..and I guess even today…..come to think of it, I wouldn’t mind driving down 5th Avenue in Naples, Florida in either one of these on a Saturday night.

Moebius 1955 Chrysler 300 custom coupe A few weeks ago, the mail man dropped off my 1970 ‘Cuda and 1956 Chrysler 300B kits, so because of that, I figured it was time to pull out the 1955 Chrysler 300 kit that has been collecting dust for the last 2 years or so. One look at that car and I knew the roof needed to be chopped; headlights Frenched and the rear taillight fixture needed revamping. The first thing I did was cut the roof down…as the picture shows I cut “pie” shaped wedges out of the opposite sides of the A pillars and then cut out 5 mm latterly out of the C pillar. Using small pliers and my small hair dryer to warm and soften the roof plastic at the C pillar, I carefully spread the pillars outward to help them sit on the fender (they were a little narrower now because I shortened pillar). I pulled the roof down and rearward to the new lower position. Once in place, all the joints were glued and later a little putty was used to smooth out the unions. (Note, all of the joints still need a little attention to fix a few pin holes and rough spots still). I glued on the headlight surrounds and added putty, next I sanded off the grille opening surrounds and glued in some thin styrene all around to add depth and smoothness to the opening. Later I will add some photo-etched horizontal thin bar grille bars. The hood was hinged to open forward. I opened the doors and made hinges. Using a Dremel sanding drum I thinned down the thickness of the rear edge of the door so that it has a more realistic appearance. I used thin styrene to form the inside edge of the lip stop for the door to sit against when closed. I attached the inner door panel to the door skin once the hinges were glued in and dry. I used plastic blocks to get the right height (depth) for the inner door panel. Once set, I used Bondo to fill the bottom and rear gap between the door and door inner panel. Once the Bondo is set up but still soft, I used a sharp knife to cut the excess Bondo away and make smooth edges on the two sides. Any air bubbles were later filled with Tamiya putty and sanded smooth. I used to make plastic strips to fill these gaps but found it too tedious and time consuming. The Bondo is much quicker and easy to work with as any excess literally peels off before it sets up . Next I added a thin piece of styrene to the leading edge of the door to fill a slightly larger gap then I was comfortable with. Once dry it was sanded smooth and a little putty (very little) was applied and later sanded smooth. Moving to the rear, I made fender skirt inserts for the rear wheel openings. I curved the styrene a little to follow the side fender contour. I glued on the rear taillight fixtures and sanded them smooth to the fender shape. I used some putty to fill in the small gaps and then drilled out the rear area where the taillight will go. I removed the lettering and excess chrome frills at the rear of the chrome side spears and filled the gas filler area. Lastly, I formed a faux-continental kit section for the rear trunk area. This is “ala-Imperial” looking from a few years later than 1955 and I thought it would look good on the car. I plan on imbedding a license plate recess area in the center of it. I just haven’t decided whether it is too tall or not yet. Sometime when I look at it, it looks fine and other times it looks too high off the rear deck. It is the correct height if it were actually hiding spare tire, but it is strictly for styling purposes, not functionality so the height would not be a concern for anything other than esthetics. I like the kits wide white wall tires and wire wheels so they will be used. Of course the car will be as low as possible and the color scheme will be designed around baby blue. Richard Zocchi did a great looking chopped 1956 Chrysler Windsor in baby blue with white and very light blue trim and it is stunning, so I may steal the color scheme he did and rework it a bit for this car……I don’t think he will mind if I do.