Peter Lombardo

Great looking work on this one. I really love the look of those classic "diggers". The front engined rail dragsters from the mid 60's look great. Those were the days.....I remember when crossing the 200mph barrier was a big deal. I am looking forward to seeing this one done.

I began putting the doors together and I thought I would post a little ‘how to†on how I now do this. Whether it is a kit or this home made car the process is basically the same. Once the door is cut out and the hinge is fabricated and installed I usually cut out the interior panel. When that is cut out and lined up on the outer skin, I gauge, usually by eye, the distance the interior door panel needs to be away from the outer door skin….you know the thickness of the door. Once I eyeball that, I cut a short piece of square plastic stock or several pieces of plastic stock layered on to of each other to approximate the necessary distance for the door thickness. On this door, you can see the dark plastic stock glued in between the inner and outer door. Once set, I run a brush loaded with TEN-X glue along the top joint between the window opening area and the top of the interior panel…this is set aside to dry. Once dry and secure (check to be sure the joint is tight) it is time to fabricate the interior door jams. This is where my process has evolved from the way I used to do it. Back in my “dark ages†I would struggle with a thin strip of styrene that I cut to fit the space between the inner and outer door skins. This was very time consuming and tedious at best. I would try and use one piece of plastic to make the joint as strong as possible. I used to use the TEN-X glue to help soften the plastic strip so I could bend it around the corners. I really hated this but I thought this is how I had to do it. Some times I would use multiple pieces cut and glued together to get the right fit. Then one day it hit me, why not use Bondo to fill the joint? One of the great things about Bondo is that it sets up quickly and has about a 5 or 7 minute window right after the putty sets up where it is firm and in place but just soft enough that you can run a knife blade along the edge and cut a nice smooth sharp cut to form the outer surface of the door jam. You can see that it cuts nice and easy. Sometimes you will uncover a small air hole, but that is easy to fill later. Just keep working the skin until the proper edge is achieved. You may need to secure the joint where the putty meets the door, but that is easy to fill in with super glue. Once it is dry you can sand the surface smooth and if necessary, add some additional putty to fill in small areas that you may have missed. This method is so much easier than the cut and glue plastic filler method. When this is done, hardened, sanded and painted, no one will know it was putty. You can even glue on the door catch unit to the back of the door and it will look complete.

Welcome back Don....you will find it's just like riding a bicycle....you never really forget how....enjoy yourself....it's all about the relaxation and sharing with like minded guys. Besides, even though it is not exactly cheap anymore...it is cheaper than a therapist.

Like I said before, this is looking GREAT....We all sound like broken records. I am running out of superlatives to describe it....it is just that impressive. It will be a killer when it is completed. Just flat out impressive. :D

Harry, you just made my millennium...thanks, I really appreciate it, especially coming from another accomplished artist.

Next I designed the interior door panels on a piece of the foam material. I did not go crazy here. I did not want to over-complicate the interior door panels. I went with a gentle twin arch on the passenger side and a single arch on the driver side. I used an ex-acto knife and a small Dremel bit to cut and grind the design into the foam. Once done, it was sanded smooth and a vacuum form replica was made. I cut them apart and trimmed them up to fit on the inside of the door. This is the driver door with the panel placed on the inside…pretty good fit considering I just “winged†the measurements. And here is the passenger side. Once in place I will putty in the edges and fill any gaps for a smooth clean look. I plan vacuum forming the dash, console, rear package tray and even the seats…especially the rear “L†shaped Opera couch. I plan on doing the two front seats too. They will be highly contoured and the passenger seat will swivel so that they can converse with the rear passengers….not your fathers Chrysler, but more like your Grandfathers Buick. I am kicking around the idea of making the nose tilt up to have access to the engine. There is just not a lot of the engine showing under the hood. Because this is a true “cab-forward†design…leading edge of the windshield is over the centerline of the front wheels, the back half of the engine cover is under the dashboard area. This has been done in the real world before, I just would not want to be the technician at the dealership that has to change the plugs on one of these babies! My son like the idea of the nose tilting up….actually, it might look pretty cool…besides the hood is really small, so it may look a whole lot better tilting….I’m leaning toward tilting (that doesn’t sound right)…anyway…we’ll see. I did not photograph the engine block but is done. I took a little designers license and took a discreet 3mm slice out of the center of it to lower it a little better fit under the hood…..if I didn’t tell you, you would never have known…it’s subtle but effective. As of today, I am planning a two tone paint scheme for this car…the bottom, just below the bottom of the windows and down under the nose will be light metallic blue with the top section and around the nose grill a dark Patriot blue metallic and a very thin…ever so thin….gold vinyl pinstripe separating the two colors. I am also thinking a medium dark blue interior with the seats flocked in blue to have that crushed velour look rather than leather. I think velour will look richer on the “Opera Sedanâ€â€¦.you know, Opera Houses have cushy velour seating, not cold hard impersonal leather.

In between finishing up the dual cowl roadster molding and shipping, I got some more done on the Chrysler 300EX Opera Sedan. Previously I had cut open the doors and now I started working on cutting out the windows, making the inside window trim to hold the acetate windows in place. I have cut out the front windshield from acetate. I have the passenger side window cut away, but not yet the driver side. I have designed this car to have no outside visible “A†pillars. They will be under the windshield barely visible when the winds have the gloss black trim around the edges. Remember, the passenger side door is a double door width door hinged to the roof in a gullwing fashion…ala the Subaru Concept wagon from a few years ago. The Driver door will have a modified Lambo style opening cantered to the outside. Here is the hinge set up from the inside. here it is closed. Here is the recessed license plate holder in the truck panel…I like how it looks. I have not opened the driver window yet as there is a technical issue I must settle first. Because I do not want the “B†to show on the driver side (there is none on the passenger side) I need to have the window attach to the door and then to the top of the window. Anyway, I have the sequence of the passenger side door trim being constructed. One of the really nice parts of making your own bodies is you can make excess bodies to cut up for donor parts without any fear. Here is the donor car cut up. I cut apart the section of the passenger door window in order to make the inside window trim (the area the window is glued to and rests on). Once it was in place it was grinded smooth and just inside of the outer windows.

OK, to everyone that ordered a Dual Cowl Roadster, they have all been sent out. I think the first of them started arriving today. Again, I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but when you get it you will understand that it requires some work on your part. If you have a Dremel tool, the final trimming of the parts from the styrene sheet will that much easier. I cut mine out with a scissor up to about a1/8 of an inch from the part and use the sanding drum on the Dremel to get it up to the point where I finish it with sandpaper or a sanding stick. I do not want to tell you how you should do this or even influence anyone in the building of this car. Please complete this vehicle in the style and manor you want…that is the point of this. But I feel that I need to post a few pictures to help insure that certain things are done in the most correct and proper way. A good example of that are the roofs. Here are the roofs cut out (primer ones) next to the way they look on the styrene sheet. You must carefully cut the two roofs out so that they will fit properly on the body. Here is the hard top cut out and painted. Notice the shape of the back of the roof. I am enclosing a few pictures here of the roofs cut out into the proper shape to sit snugly on the rear trunk area. 1st, notice that there is a subtle ridge that runs down the center of the rear deck… ..the tops must be cut so that this ridge is allowed for in the top. Also, the roof must be allowed to run down the side from that ridge to the bottom where the rear door rear edge is. Take special care with these cuts….they will make a huge difference in the fit of the roof. As I stated in a previous post, once I cut out the convertible top and sanded all the edges smooth, I sprayed on a coat of primer. Once dry, I sprayed on a coat of 3M spray glue and let that set up and dry for about 4 days. When it was reasonably dry, it got another coat of primer. Next it will get the top coat to match the interior color. The hard top was cut our, sanded smooth and primered. Once dry it got a light sanding and a coat of appliance white. Later it will be painted the same color as the body. I am planning a single color on this car since the last two I did of this style art deco car both had two tone schemes. I look forward to seeing and hearing how you guys are making out and remember let me know if you have problems with any part of this. We’re in this together. Also, if a part gets damaged beyond repair I will be happy to replace it for just the cost of postage. Have fun with it. And remember, if anyone else wants in on this just send me an e mail with your address and I will get it out to you.....it may take a week or two, but I will get it out.

Sure Jim, that was supposed to be molded in clear but I could not get the clear material in the proper thickness. It is the frame for the second windshield....the windshield for the "back seat" if you will. It is optional as you may have a better option in your parts box. I plan on using that piece and will post the pictures on how it works and looks in a few days. Other than that, I hope everything else was satisfactory.

Thanks for taking the time to post these pictures.....looks like it was a great show.....it also looks like the weather was a bit "ify". I saw so many great looking customs and rods, but the numbers 70 and 71 Vette was amazing. Numbers 88, 113, 172 to 175, 241 and 367 were just beatiful. Thanks again.

If you are interested, here is the link to the Ford Forty Nine pictures....coupe and convertible. I know, this is one retro car I would have bought. http://www.seriouswheels.com/cars/top-Ford-Forty-Nine-Concept-Coupe-Convertible.htm

The PT Cruiser came out during the days that I was running a Chrysler Dodge Jeep store. I remember the lead-up to the release of the car. Most of the sales guys were pretty excited about the car. We had a lot, and I mean a lot of customer buzz and inquires about the car. There were many “older customers†who wanted the car because it reminded them of the ’40 Ford sedan that they remembered from their youth. Chrysler was doing pretty well back then and after the success of the Viper (throwback Cobra) and the Prowler (throw back /modern Hot Rod) was hot to continue to cash in on the “Retro†craze vehicle market. Remember, Chevy did the SSR which was a throw back of sorts to the 1950 pick ups that they were very successful with. They followed up with the HHR, Heritage High Roof (HHR) which was designed by the same guy that did the PT Cruiser. Ford did the “New†Thunderbird in the image of the ’55-57 two seater but also found limited success mainly do to the cars short comings. Ford also did the “Forty Niner†as a concept car that did not get built, but was a beautiful recreation of the 1949/1950 Shoebox. Out of all of the retro cars, I thought the Ford ‘49’er was the best, but Ford did not have the chestnuts to pull the trigger on it…..too bad. Back to the PT. When that car came out I said one thing about it….and it is true to this very day…â€You will never see one in my drivewayâ€. I for one was not very impressed by the car. The original Chrysler design concept car was a two door model. It was a little “shaper†and â€hipper†than the four door, but still not my cup of tea. I can honestly tell you though, in the early days of the PT Cruiser, the customers loved them. Many accessorized the car and had a lot of fun with them. Sure, they were and still are woefully underpowered and they handle like a high center of gravity softly sprung sedan….but that is because that is what they are. They were not designed to be sports cars or boulevard cruisers, they were not meant to be “chick magnetsâ€â€¦.they were meant to be what they are. Chrysler hit the nail square on the head. They did not intend this ca to be for everyone. The few people I know who have them, still enjoy the car, get great gas mileage and find the practicality of the vehicle a wonderful virtue. It is a great car for a retired guy living in Florida on a semi-fixed income. He can make runs to the Home Depot and to the Club House and even make it to the “Earlybird†diner on time. The time and market for the PT Cruiser has come and gone. A convertible and a turbo helped sagging sales a bit, but in the end, the reason for the PT’s success, was also the reason for it’s cancellation. It fit a small niche market and when that itch was scratched, it was no longer needed. “Rest in Peace†little guy.

Guys, there is no deadline on this. Just send me an e mail to aegisgolf@optonline.net with your address and I will be very happy to send it out. I sent the first 18 boxes out today. I goofed on a few. The guys in Canada have an additional $6.00 postage cost and to Europe there is an $8.00 over ride on the postage, but other than that its pretty simple. I will make more bodies and roofs this weekend. To anyone who requested multiple bodies that is not a problem but the postage will be greater because I must send them out in a bigger Post Office box....the material cost is small for additional bodies...its the postage that adds up. The first batch should be arriving early next week....if it arrives and you have an issue, please send me an email so we can correct any problems. Thanks again for the interest in this...I really appreciate it. I can't wait to see what you guys do with this body.

This is looking great....very clean and tight. I visited the post Office today and the first 18 boxes were shipped out...one is headed your way. Have fun.

Just got back from the fireworks in Parsippany, NJ. I took a few shots (659 to be exact) of the activities, thought you guys might enjoy a few of them. After the fireworks were completed, this is a shot back into the spotlights with the crowd and the smoke…kind wild looking….note the fireman helmet in the center.

You are absolutely right, for a first build that is "excellent"....welcome, you will enjoy it here and your builds will fit right in.

This may come across as ridicules, but I have one hard and fast rule about modeling, and that is that I have no hard and fast rules about modeling. One time I may paint a part on the sprue and the next time I may not. It depends on my mood and if I am feeling lazy. Maybe that is why my builds lack the extreme detail and cleanliness that some of you guys obtain. I don't know.....I guess I should be more careful and remove the parts....oh, on second thought....

Just what we need, another old guy. Us old guys remember the glory days of the early 1960's when model car building was the "thing" to do before computers, video games, cell phones and DVD's. Welcome...you will do just fine here. As for what you need, just go to the local hobby shop and get one of everything...I am sure he needs the business.

Hey Art, one thing is very certain to me....The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Well, low riders are not my "cup 'o tea", but I still appreciate the workmanship and the intricate paint work. Nice job....Very nice. It is clear that you have but a lot of work into this build and it shows very well.

You were right, this is right up your alley. Great job on the Ferrari. Be careful, you finish this one too fast and everyone that has you build for them will expect that kind of speed. Anyway, very impressive. As I recall from last years number of completions, you complete a build every eleven days, so you are right on track with this one.

In between molding the tops for the Dual Cowl Art Deco Roadster, I have been doing some work on the Chrysler Opera Sedan Concept. You can see the large double right side door has been cut out. I cut it as one piece, but later it will get the window area cut out of it and the “glass” section infused into the side. Here is the left side with just the driver door cut out and that is the only opening on that side since the seat wraps around to where the rear door would be. Here you can see the passenger side door as it will look in the open position. Here is the bottom of the chassis with the additions to the sides and the wheel wells so that the current 300 chassis can fit under the wider Concept car. Here the grill, headlights and the lower fog light / brake duct inlet are opened up This is the rear view with the taillight openings set and the passenger door opening… This is a view looking straight down so you can see how the doors and wheel wells set up on the car. The car takes on a “fishy” kinda look when starring right up its nose. Of course the grill will be filled with an egg crate grill so it should look so vicious. The headlights and brake vents are modern looking and, I think, follow the body contour lines well. And from the rear, there is a similar look to the taillights that the headlights display. In the center there will be a recessed license plate holder and surround. One of my main goals on this design was to have a homogeneous look to the car. I wanted the front, sides and rear to look like they belong to the same car. I get crazy when I see a car that looks like 15 people each designed a part of the car without conferring with the other 14 designers.

I had some time this afternoon and got some of the tops and windshield frames formed. The “convertible†style top master received some minor damage while using it to form tops so I had to shut down the molding and repair the top. I should be able to resume and complete the tops tomorrow, Monday the latest. You can see how the four parts are all on the same sheet. I will cut them up so they will fit into the shipping box. In the one shot, you can see the two tops that I have cut out and primed. That is how they should look once they are trimmed up and the windows are opened up. You can open any size or shape window you like. You don’t have to use the tops or these windshield frames if you would rather do something else. If you ordered one of these, I want you do build it as you want, not how I have mine started. The whole point of this is to use your imagination build something the way you want. Yesterday I did some shopping around for the best way to ship the bodies. I looks like the U.S. Post Office has the best deal, the “Small Flat Rate Box†ships for just under $5.00. These boxes are nice and sturdy so they should be fine. The only issue is that the box is, and I mean IS, the exact length of the body. I did not want to trim the bodies very close as I wanted to leave that up to the builder to trim it to his liking, but I have no choice here. The next larger box is a Fed Ex shipping container and that would be $10.00, so I think this is the right choice. The tops and acetate for the windshields will fit in the snug box so it should be fine. As soon as I get this all together, I will send them out. I am enclosing a few shots of the body that I have been playing with. You can see how the two removable tops look on the car…I think pretty well. I cut out the interior openings and the doors so you can see how that will look on this body….again, you can do whatever you want on yours. .

It looks great....paint and decals look first rate. Some of those old Tamiya kits were rather "basic" but they still build up nice if you put a little effort into them, which obviously you did. Very nice.

Looking at your Avanti build and thinking about the car, reminded me that I did one too, only I converted it to a convertible because, as I mentioned before, I was not crazy about the scale and tooling of the kit. I later years the company that bought the rights to the Avanti design produced it as a coupe, sedan and convertible. I took the Avanti body, widened it and added the chassis, engine and interior of a Camaro to but a little twist on the Avanti Coupe kit. Anyway, I didn’t mean to jump on your post, I just got to thinking about the Avanti and thought I would throw up a shot of my.