Peter Lombardo

Great first build, but you must be very careful now.....Just like cigarettes, there should be a Surgeons General warning on each kit box….â€warning model building has been shown to be addictive, habit forming and dangerous to your weekly disposable incomeâ€â€¦Oh what the Hey, keep it up anyway. Great first effort.

Just perfect.....stance, wheels and color ( I like that it is not turquoise ). The occupants are also a nice "period" touch....very well done mild custom.

Nice catch Dave, I built that car about 12 years ago, as I recall, it went together pretty well. I did mine in yellow, which I think is a great color on a 1960's Ferrari....I mean, Italian Red is so over done. Enjoy the kit, it is a beautiful, perfectly balanced design.

I take pride in the fact that I like to build projects that are out of the ordinary without being too far out in space. I think the Dodge Charger Concept project car that I have underway now is a good example of a build that is anything but box stock. My entire collection of model cars and trucks, not counting race car replica’s, contains maybe five builds that have not been heavily modified or changed into a unique model. I really like have builds that are not common. Now I have two very ambitious projects that I have been planning for some time now that I want to build. I have just begun one of these projects and I thought I would challenge myself to complete it by posting the concept and beginning stages here. This will help keep me focused because I will not start a project on this forum and not finish it, one way or another. I will keep the second ambitious build, which goes in a completely different direction, under wraps for a while longer because I don’t want to tip my hand just yet. Last year I took the Auburn Speedster model by Lindberg and modified it into a roadster of my own design. I really enjoyed the process of designing and building a car. That car used an existing kit as its basis, which is fine, but now I want to build a second car, a mate of sorts to go with the Cybele Special, but not from a kit. I want to create this cars body completely from scratch. I plan on building most of the interior and chassis from scratch also. I plan on sourcing the suspension and engine components from kits, but the bulk of this project will be unique. And if that is not a big enough challenge, I am planning to carve the body from wood and than vacuum-form the body panels from the mold. This car will be a hardtop, well actually a fastback design, very similar to the Cybele except I am planning a more art deco body with curvy flowing lines accented with large wet looking chrome molding and full fender skirts both front and rear. This car is influenced by the amazingly beautiful flowing art deco cars of Emile Delahaye who built some of the most beautiful cars of the 1930’s. So the first thing I did was work out the basic lines of the body on paper. I did a few preliminary designs but settled on the one that followed the Cybele kind of closely. Than I went down the hobby shop and picked up 4, 2 foot by 3 inch planks of bass wood, which I cut in half. <img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3491/3927891014_dcf063d345_b.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /> Next I glued the 8 planks together with wood glue and than clamped the block down for a few days to dry. Once dry, I drew the basic outline of the car on the block’s top and one side. <img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3478/3927109119_6cee24842c_b.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /> Once that was done, I traced out the design on another piece of paper to be used as a guide once I begin grinding down the wood. <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2445/3927891290_25d64e409c_b.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /> <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2451/3927109403_5eec853002_b.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /> <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2428/3927891560_d6d950a342_b.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /> <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2431/3927891734_42514859d9_b.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /> <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2645/3927109837_4d5175fd87_b.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /> My plan here is to get the outside of the body carved in wood and than, using the Vacuum Forming system that my son purchased a few months ago to create the body. This unit is pretty cool. It handles molds that are up to 12 inches and has a connection for the vacuum cleaner hose. The styrene sheets get heated in the oven until they are “wavy†and than dropped over the mold and the “sucking†begins As of right now, I am not sure if the body will come in one piece or if I will be forced to mold it in sections, like left fender, right fender, center body. I am learning as I go, but one way or another, I will get the body finished. I am looking forward to this project because it is something completely new for me. As I have said before, I try and push myself with each build, to break new personal ground. With this, I am not just breaking ground, I am excavating a foundation for a high rise. This car is going to be a royal dark blue with cream trim. The paint break lines will be different from the Cybele Roadster, but the lineage and origin will be clear. Ok, this weekend the sawing, grinding and sanding will begin….this will be interesting.

Lyle, as usual, this is just "period perfect" I love the blue dot tail lights....nice little touch. The wheels, as with all of your 30's Fords are also perfect. The Hemi with Carb's is also unexpected for this kind of build, but also looks great....beefy but not over done. Nice job.

I have made some more headway on my 2010 Dodge Charge Concept, which was designed by Michael Leonhard. (he gets full credit for the design) The door and hood have been hinged ( and the doors open with the leading edge turning into the car, as the real car would have) and are working fine even though you can’t tell from these pictures as they are all taped shut. I still need to do quite a bit of sanding on the body as there are still some rough areas, but each time I go through each area the lines and edges get more and more tight, so it is coming along nicely. Even in gray primer, the design is light years ahead of the current Charger that Dodge has produced, and I have to tell you these pictures look like junk compared to the actual model. I can’t wait to see it with its purple paint. After I apply the Squadron white putty (since I ran out of Tamiya putty and it is discontinued ) I have to apply a coat of super glue, the very thin penetrating type to help strengthen the putty. In my opinion the Squadron putty dries too soft for my liking so I like to apply a coat of thin super glue and sand that smooth. I find that the glue sinks into the rather porous putty and firms it up and helps combat any future shrinkage (remember George Costanza’s problem with the dreaded shrinkage?) Anyway, I have some glue on under the primer and it needs to be sanded. I have installed rear view mirrors from a C5 Corvette. A few years ago I asked Norm from Replica’s and Miniatures of Maryland to cast me some resin re-pops of the Prowler and C5 Corvette mirrors, as with all the castings from Norm, they were perfect and exactly why I asked him to make me some sets…they come in very handy for these kinds of builds. Next I built the front grill assembly. I cut out a piece of styrene the size of the opening and than using a few strips of Evergreen Scale Model styrene strips, ( .020 X .060†stock) I glued them down on their edge with Tenax 7R glue which will semi-melt the plastic if it is applied carefully and let you bend the strip into the shape you need. I shaped the grill surround and than cut out an Aluminum mesh grill and after I sprayed the grill backing and surround black, I super glued the grill mesh in place. Later the surround will be “bare metal†covered with brushed Aluminum bare metal material and during final assembly will be installed with a slight bow effect with the ends set deeper than the center. I have completed the taillight backing and the surrounds. They will also get the bare metal treatment but the taillights will be made from 5 minute epoxy mixed with Tamiya clear red and than set into the taillight areas. They will be rather dark as the Concept has “blacked out†taillights very similar to the taillights on the Firebird Trans Am’s from the late 80’s ( I think it was the late 80’s) anyway, they will be dark. I think Michael made a little mistake on the drawings of the rear of the car. The two small lights on either side of the license plate area in his rendering are colored red. I believe they would be the back up lights and therefore colored silver (clear). I could be wrong here but I do not see taillights anywhere else and having those as reflectors makes light sense to me too, bottom-line, on my build those lights are considered back up lights and will be treated as such. I also opened up the side marker light openings both front and rear which will later get the same epoxy and clear red or orange paint as the taillights get. I also completed the exhaust tip openings in the rear and they are ready to accept the tips. After that I will drill out and set the gas filler up on the left rear quarter panel like the Concept, and the 68 / 69 Charger had. Once the body is sanded smooth and the purple top coat is on the top will get the full black vinyl roof treatment. There is a black strip going over the rear deck and the hood gets a black out treatment although the drawings do not show this very well, so I will just do it the way I think it should look. I have a shot here with the wheels and tires I am planning to use. I really like the big chrome mags on this; I just don’t think I will be able to get the red line stripe on the tire as the side wall on these tires is way too thin. I will try, but I can’t promise I can get it. Next up, I am rebuilding the inter door skins to work with a 2 door design rather than a 4 door, as the kit supplies. The engine is being build stock and the seats will be two toned with black and purple to match the exterior color scheme. So far, I am very pleased with the progress on this car…I enjoy building it as it is a complete transformation of the stock Charger. I fact I have enjoyed it so much that I stopped working on the model of the MGB I am building to replicate my real MGB that I just completed a 4 year restoration on. Every modification I am making could easily be done to the real car. No additional car panels were mated to the stock body….just sheet styrene and putty.

Very nice looking build there. I have had that kit from the day it was released and it is sitting in a long line of 1/20 F1 kits that I want to build. You did a great job on the decals and paint on a car that has a difficult paint scheme. I really loved the Canon / Labatt’s colors from that era of Williams cars. I really like the subtle weathering on the car, very nice touch. I have all of the Tamiya 1/20 F1 kits, the 2 Modelers cars (Footwork and Ferrari) and now the Fujimi and Hasagaua kits…..one of these days I want to finish them all….but, you did a great on yours.

I looked at HLJ.com myself after I posted to Bill’s post where he was using the “Best putty in the World†Tamiya. And yes, I did find it listed there, so I will have to order some very soon…thanks for the heads up though….for small stuff, there just isn’t anything better.

Bill, I see you "called out" the Tamiya putty around the trunk area....when was the last time you purchased that stuff? I always liked the Tamiya putty but have not been able to purchase it for the past 6 or so months....the store owner tells me that it has been discontinued. If that is true it is a real shame because like you, I found the putty to be superior for the "small" stuff. I like to use bondo for the "big" stuff. Anyway, let me know if you are able to find the putty in stores cause I would love to get some more of it....P.S. nice idea to do a "how to" story....lots of good tips, even for the experienced modeler, from time to time it is good to re-visit the basic's. Good choice of kits as it is very old, but still a very serviceable mold, that does need a fair amount of clean up.

Not my favorite of the 1960's Impala's but this is a very impressive build here....Great looking car....very realistic...and as good as the body is, I think the chassis is the best part...maybe you should display this on up side down, the detail on the chassis is just that good. Very nice.

Erik, that looks great!!!! What happened? This posting is from 2007, have you completed this build? If so, let’s see it…… if not, why not! I would love to see it completed. As for the concept that you based it on, that car is great looking. I have not seen it before, but it is clear that the designer of that car “Gets itâ€. My argument with the U.S. manufacturers has always been, with very few exceptions, that they always play it “too safeâ€â€¦.rather than take a chance with a cutting edge design (the new Camaro is one of the exceptions), they play it safe and go with the same old boring “Bricksâ€. While Mercedes, Porsche, Audi and BMW are giving us great big three scoop sundaes with whipped cream and toppings, Chrysler, Ford and most of GM are handing out plain old bowls of Vanilla Ice Cream….and they don’t even give us sprinkles with it. Don’t get me completely wrong here, the new Shelby GT 500 looks great with all of the bells and whistles and the new Taurus, especially the SHO, look pretty cool…Ford is finally beginning to see the light…but as of right now, I see nothing from Chrysler that I would even consider interesting, let alone worthy of my hard earned cash. GM, under Bob Lutz’s direction has done some great looking vehicles, the Camaro, Pontiac G8, Solstice coupe (pretty neat) and even the new Buick Lacrosse looks beautiful, from the pictures I saw….so there is some light in the tunnel, but for the most part, we have to look to Europe for the great looking designs…I mean, have you seen the VW CC up close? It is just about the most perfectly styled midsized car ever!!! Drop dead gorgeous….why do the Germans get design and the American’s bland design? Anyway, Erik, show me that car finished!

Well Bill, you can clearly see that you had your hands full with this one, as that is a very old and poorly fitting kit. You certainly did a great job with it. I can still remember when that kit first came out…I mean, I was still a teenager and now I am a certified “Old Fartâ€, so it is a real geriatric. Under the hood, I think, the kits’ real short comings are evident, as the fender walls and “Cobra†looking suspension just don’t have that crisp detailed look to them. The time and effort that you put into it were certainly worth it though. I remember the concerns you had early on with the proper color of the car and you sure made the proper decision as the metallic red looks stunning. Overall, it is another beautiful build that everyone would expect from you…stunning, yeah, that sums it up in one word.

I am glad to see that Harry dragged up the Charger Concept car from around 2000. I also thought that was a great looking car, but knowing the way the manufacturers worked back than, I knew it would only be a “teaseâ€, because they didn’t have the stomach to produce a vehicle that was that “cutting edge†back than, and now they don’t have the checkbook to do something like that. I fear that from here on in, at least for GM and Chrysler, it will be just boring fuel efficient vehicles for the masses. We’ll see, maybe GM has a few more Camaro’s and Pontiac G8’s in them and perhaps Chrysler, with Fiat’s guidance can give us some sporty European style sports sedans….maybe, maybe not…but anyway, the reason for this post is that I also loved the slippery and sleek updated version of the 1968-69 Charger. I built my own version of the car back than. As you can see, there is a little dust on the car that I did not get off for the pictures and I took them rather hastily a few minutes ago for this post. Look, I like the effort I gave the car, but it is not up to my standards of today….but it is what it is, and it was where I was at about 10 years ago. The hood has warped a little, but that was because, the Tamiya Z hood was molded in clear and I had to build the scallop in the center. The clear plastic is so brittle that it broke in a few places and because this plastic has a “Memoryâ€, it wants to revert back to it’s old shape. I started with the Revell 1/25th scale1969 Charger and the Tamiya 1/24th scale Nissan 300ZX Coupe. The two slightly different scales actual worked to my favor since the 300 ZX was a smaller car in real life. I scratch built the roof lines and added a hybrid front end made from a Viper grill and headlights from a 1980’s Camaro. The rear end is a shortened and heavily modified Charger unit. I built this back when I was just getting back into custom cars after 10 years of HO trains followed by 5 years of only race car modeling, so my skill level was not where it is today. Also, I was not using Bondo putty yet, so some of the putty I used has shrunk in a few spots in the front….live and learn. I dropped the 440 block in it and added a supercharger like the rear Concept, but as you can see, I was not trying to make an exact copy of the car, I was taking a little artist license with the design and just trying to capture the feel and the flavor of the actual car. It just occurred to me that the current Charger build I am working on now is the 3rd Charger Concept car I’ve done…..Maybe there is something going on in my head that I need to pay attention to. P.S. I have made some more headway on the new Concept Charger….getting close to getting her primed, cleaned up and ready for paint…..and more pictures.

Work has been progressing rather slowly on the 2010 Dodge Charger Concept. I am not surprised that it is taking a long time as the modifications are pretty extensive. The more I sand and re-putty areas to get them to my liking, the more the proportions of the car just don’t seem right. Upon first blush, I figured that the drawing was quite a bit out of whack, but it was bothering me. I was happy with the overhang in the front and rear, but the middle of the car seemed wrong. Well, I had to get to the bottom of the issue, so I had to measure the drawing and the model and see what was wrong. The model is 1/24th scale and the drawing picture is somewhere around 1/58th scale. To solve the problem I had to measure the drawing from the tip of the front to the very back…that set the overall length. Next I measured all of the points I wanted to verify like wheel base, roof length, front and rear overhangs, etc…. next I worked out the percentage that each measurement was to my control number which was the overall length of the car. Next I measured the same areas on the model and worked out the percentage of each measurement. Next, I converted the percentage of the measurement back into an actual measurement so I could compare the area. In doing a quick comparison I discovered that the wheelbase and overhangs were very close, so close that they were not an issue, but the roof turned out to be way out of whack. The roof on my car was too long and the rear sail panels were too far back. The fix was easy to see. I cut the roof in the center, carefully cut around the roof, re-set the roof a scale 6 inches forward and glued spacers into the cuts to tighten everything up. Once the glue was set up, I added some putty and when that dries I can start sanding again. I made quite a bit of progress to the front of the car which received the grill opening on the bottom and the road lights on the sides, next I began tightening up the contours and the lower valance lip. I began the hood cut outs and have tightened up the door scallops. Once I am happy with the contours I will build the front grill and the rear taillight unit. I plan a black vinyl roof and a purple pearl body color with black trim and stripes.

Ok, maybe I am a simpleton, but why not mix up your own batch…..a little metallic blue mixed into a silver and “Bamâ€!!!, to quote a “has-been†chef, you have the color, or at the very worst, a very close match. I like to do things myself rather than look to someone else.

Very nice work....I love the color and the wheel opening treatment...very cool...I just wonder how the Chezoom roof would look on that car? Regardless, you did a very nice job customizing an icon with a suttle yet effective set of modifications. It beats the Batmobile by a mile...in my opinion.

Wow, that thing sure brings back memories. I reminds me of Junior High when we would all try and out do each other by gluing as much "custom" things and stuff to out annual AMT, or Johan kits. If I only could but my hands on all of the kits I had from back in the day....oh well, they are buried deep in a Pennsylvania land fill now. Great find and nice work so far. That design is from the days when car companies, I think, really enjoyed making unique automobiles....maybe it was because they changed the design every year or so, they just didn't have the time to second guess their work so much...tight deadlines so they would just let her fly! Have fun with that one.

Ok, I finally got a chance to take a few pictures of my 2010 Dodge Charger Concept while under construction. This is another build that is using copious amounts of Bondo auto body filler. As I stated before, I had cut open the two doors about a year ago but the car sat idle because I did not care for the look of it. I saw this rendering and found a look that I could get behind. First thing I did was I cut about a scale three to four inches out of the roof height. In order to maintain the proper flow, I added about 8 or 9 scale inches to the center of the roof. I spliced in a section from an AMT 300C roof that I had liberated from a 300C that I turned into a 2 door “Woody†convertible a few years ago. Then with some putty and my Dremel sanding drum, I re-contoured the the C pillar shape to mimic the rendering. Next, I glued two pieces of plastic to the inside of the door panels and using a Dremel grinding bit I dug out the side door contours which will form the very recognizable concave scallops from the 1969 design, except this time they are on steroids. On the rear end, I added some plastic strips to the trunk lid and the upper rear quarter panels. Next I loaded up the inside of the rear end of the car with more Bondo…when set I used my trusty Dremel tool grinding drum to re-contour the tail end of the car. Using putty, I built up the rear wheel wells and began to contour them. I reshaped the lower fascia, added the narrow opening and re-contoured the license plate area. I have to rework the exhaust openings yet, but I will get to that later. Next I began work on the front, which I thought would be more difficult than the rear…it was….First, I cut off the leading edge of the nose than super glued plastic strips on the sides and across the front top, and around the bottom of the new grill opening. Next I fabricated the new front bumper and air dam. I have drawn on the area where the grill opening and road lights will go later. I filled in the area in front and behind the nose with more Bondo and when that set up, I again attacked with my Dremel grinder roughing in the major contours. I have done a little hand sanding, mostly to the back end, but I still have major sanding, re-puttying and more sanding to go before I am close to happy with the body modifications. A couple of points, first I will rework the hood and put in the two hood scallops, set the grill and road lights tighten up the grill and tail light openings and than scratch build the grill (top one) and tail light fixtures. My biggest note though is that the rendering appears to be too short…..too stubby. The rendering appears to me to be very close to the Challenger wheelbase which was not what I was going for. I wanted the same wheelbase as I believe that is what Chrysler (Dodge) would do. I have kept the wheel base the same as the original Charger, as I think any derivative of that design should do….I mean, Chrysler would not alter the wheelbase from that of the 300 as that would cost far more in development money and there is no reason to do that. I think Michael’s design is great, but I also think he took some “artistic license†in that he designed a car that is shorter. I could have easily taken a chunk out of the center if the car, but I don’t want to do that. I kept the front and rear overhang as close to the rendering as possible, but my model is longer than the drawing…oh well, that is just the way it will be. Michael did renderings in Orange with Black, like these drawings, Red with Black, Yellow with Black and Purple with White. I did a 300C as a two door a few years ago (Ferrari 612 roof on it) in Orange and Black, and I did a Super Bee Concept in Yellow and Black, so I think it is time to do a Purple one, but I think this will be with a Black roof and Interior and paint trim, rather than White trim. OK, that’s it….hope you followed along to the end. I will add to this when I have made some more progress.

OK, this might be old news and than again it may not be. I think most all of us have expressed our dislike of how Chrysler (the old Chrysler, well ,maybe not the old Chrysler, but I think it was the version of Chrysler Corp that was know as DaimlerChrysler, which came after the “new†Chrysler but before the Cerabus Chrysler which is now the “ObamaChrysler†or maybe it’s the Chrysler Corp that we own, so it would be the “Very New Taxpayer / AutoWorkers Union, once bankrupt, but now bailed out FiatChrysler Corpâ€)….I don’t know, it all gets so confusing anymore…..anyway, back to the main topic…..we, if I remember correctly, for the most part, did not care much for the styling of the Dodge Charger….not the Challenger, which most of you guys like, but I find extremely boring when compared to the Mustang, both 2009 and 2010, and the very stylish and well thought-out Camaro , but again, I digress, I am talking about the old news Dodge Charger here. I seem to recall that there were a few models started, and even Harry did a rendering of a 2 door model of the Charger, but I have no recollection of a finished charger concept model be shown here. Did I miss something? I ran a search for Charger Concepts shown on this forum, and the only thing I found was my model of the 1964 Charger Concept, and that is really old news. Well, about a year and a half ago, I picked up a Testers model of the Charger. I looked at the kit many times, and even though it is a well designed kit, I just could not bring myself to build, what I think is such an ugly car (I apologize to any one that owns one here), but please, considering that the 300 looks pretty cool, it’s brother the Charger did not benefit from the same gene pool. I guess not all twins are identical….come to think of it, Robin Gibb, sure got the short end of the “gene†stick when compared to Maurice and Barry Gibb (any buddy remember the BeeGee’s?) Again, sorry, I got off course…..so, the first thing I did was convert it into a two door and then opened the doors, but the project stalled right there because the car was still not “working†for me. You know, those great Dodge Chargers from the late 60’s were just so perfect looking. They were strong, masculine and edgy without overdoing anything. The wide nose front end was perfect on the car. The relatively flat top surfaces were smooth and purposeful. The roof line was exactly right and it was one of a few muscle cars, in my mind, that could carry off the vinyl roof treatment and not look like a “ladies†car in doing it. The big wide rear end matched the front perfectly and the blacked out grill and tail treatments were also perfect….gee. I am using the word perfect an awful lot here. And lastly, the well placed fuel filler on the left rear hip was a great little touch…my good friend back in the day had a 1969 Charger in light metallic blue with a black vinyl roof and a black vinyl interior. A high output 383 with an automatic trans, redline tires and rally wheels and man she was one beautiful car….we used to give Goat’s, 396 Chevelle’s and all the other muscule cars, short of a Hemi or 427 Chevy’s or Ford’s, a real run for their money back then…..but again, I got sidetracked, the reason I began this post was to see what you guys think of this Charger Concept rendering I ran a crossed. Maybe this is old news, and if so, I am sorry, some times I can be very much behind the curve, but I am interested in what you guys think of this design. This was designed by Michael Leonhard, who I think did a great job of capturing the look and feel of the 1969 car. This is such a great looking retro, in my opinion that I have to build it. I don’t want the Dodge designed car on my display shelf…but this could be there any day. I have begun the building of this design and will post some under construction photos later…but right now I have to take my sons dog to the vet’s to have his nails clipped….don’t ask, I have no say in this, it is my wife’s doing and I must humbly obey or pay dearly.

Wow, that is a great job! You got the look just right, there a so few minor differences that they aren't worth noting. Very nice pair of cars. One of these days I just may need to get an older vette....all it takes is avalible cash.

Hey Dave, great to hear from you…even though I did not have a lot of time, or energy, to comment, I still followed your 55 Chevy build and the have kept up on the “Boat Tail†too…both are really beautiful…great job….but you knew that! I have to confess, during the past few months I spent most of my “internet time†on the MG forum where I was frantically posting questions looking for help on many aspects of the rebuild. On the model car forum, I consider myself as knowledgeable and accomplished, but on the “mg experience†forum, I am a true “green pea†looking for all the help I can get. It is interesting to me how your perspective can change on simple matters. I would occasionally look at some of the posts on this forum by “new guys†and think to myself, “Gee, come on, that is so basic, why don’t you know that!†And now on the MG forum, I know there were plenty guys thinking the same way about some of my stupid dumb a$$ questions. It sure makes you stop and think….not everyone has your experience or experiences…and this is how you learn. I learned a lot about the ins and outs of the MGB, MGA and myself. Bill, you are right, the internet and “you tube†have really helped so many hobby industries. John Twist is the master of all things MG. He knows the cars as well as the guys that designed them…his knowledge and his desire to share it, have helped me on a number of occasions. I know what you mean about the unreliable nature of MG’s as a daily driver. Back in 1975 when my wife and I married, she had an 1973 MGB GT. It was a beautiful little car and a blast to drive…..the problem was that it would not start on cold or rainy mornings….now to be honest, some wet days it would start, but on the day that you needed to get somewhere on time, it just refused to wake up. My wife is a nurse who back then would generally leave the apartment about one hour before me. When I came out and my car was gone, I knew that she could not get the MGB started and she took my car. I always found a way to get it going, but during a very cold spell in February 1976, it got to be too much and the MGB was traded in on a VW Rabbit. Not nearly as much fun or as attractive, it was reliable to a fault…it always started. As for the kit, it is a curbside kit. It has great under chassis detail and a very nice overall proportion. It has some of the best one piece molded wire wheels I have ever seen….it is a shame to remove the chrome, but the real car does not have chrome wires….so they must be changed. I opened the doors and trunk and the hood. I will add as much detail as I can muster since I have the actual car to look at. I don’t really know where the engine block came from. I picked it up at one of those model car “swap meets†from one of those guys who has hundreds of boxes and bags of parts all separated by type…you know, engines, hoods, tires….you get it. I have had this kit for years with the plan to build it like the finished MGB project…so when I saw the box of engines, I started to root around until I found a small 4 banger that looked close to the MGB lump. Since the oil pan was molded into the chassis, and it looks really good, rather than reinvent the wheel, I cut the engine block just above the oil pan and will mount the top onto the molded in pan…..if I didn’t mention this, you would never know. The oil filter was moved from the other side of the block and I made the mounting frame for it. The front oil cooler hose connects to the oil filter bracket too. Since I now know exactly how the actual car will look, it is time to build the model. I am really enjoying this as I want to replicate the “big†scale model we just finished. I have to say, it cost a ton more than I originally budgeted, it looks better than I expected and I had a great time, along with my son, doing it. I have always been “mechanical†but I never had any technical knowledge. I could always “wing itâ€â€¦but putting this car together is a whole other thing. You actually begin to feel like you can do this…it is not as hard as I once thought. We enjoyed it so much that we have begun work on my sons 1946 CJ2A which qualifies as a true rust bucket. As I am writing this, he is out in the garage tearing into this thing. This will be interesting.

Hey Bill, thanks for the heads on the left hand drive dashboard. I believe it is just a left hand version of the dash from the kit which is a 1967 model year car. The dash is completely different on a 67 versus a 77 car. My plan is to replicate the 77 dash as that is what is in the 1/1 car. Thanks for the kind words on the 1/1 MGB. It has been a real labor of love and frustration. If you ever think your life is getting too easy, just try and figure out British Sports Car Logic. It will have you talking to yourself in no time. The Brits just love that “Stiff upper lip†thing. I love the cars but…. Mike, thanks for the kind words too, as for the carbs, I really can’t say that I have experienced much difficulty in synchronizing the carbs. I had a nasty old pair on the car from 1991 until 2005 and they worked ok. The biggest problem that we have experienced was with these newly rebuilt carbs. I sent out the old pair and the builder send back a different pair that look like new (same model carbs) ready to go. We bolted them on and she ran great for 30 minutes. After that, we had gasoline over running into the vapor recovery system and spilling out in the engine compartment. It turned out that the two floats in the newly rebuilt carbs were both cracked so they were filled with gasoline and obviously would not “float†any more. Once we installed new floats, that problem was corrected. There is a series of great “You Tube†videos by John Twist who used to own University Motors (he recently closed down due to lack of business….we MG heads are a dwindling group), he explains just about everything on MG’s so you just type in a search question and there is most likely a video on how to fix it, or how it works, or why they built that the way they did. I watched his video on how to tune the SU HIF’s and that was it, they were never a problem from then on….they really are quite easy once you understand how they work.

And here is the kit just beginning the construction phase....

It has been a very long time since I last posted anything on this forum. I have been very busy trying to hold my business together in this very difficult business climate and I have been working on a very big model car kit. I thought the Tamiya 1/12 scale kits or the Poscher 1/8 scale kits were big but this one beats them all. Four years ago I tore my 1977 MGB apart to begin a restoration and upgrade. For any not familiar with a “77 B, it is one of the ugly (my words) rubber bumper MGB’s. I could write a book about the car, the history, and the effect of US Government regulations on the MGB, but for our forum I will limit the verbiage to the minimum. This MGB was always a solid car, but it was not very pretty….well, I wanted a solid great running car that was also very pretty. I purchased it in July 1991 with the intention of an upgrade which I finally got around to in the fall of 2005. So, I removed the interior and with a little help, pulled the engine and transmission out. The car body was taken to the body shop of Ayers Chevrolet in Dover NJ who is a client of mine and the engine went to a great engine builder and good friend Bob of B & B Auto in Randolph, NJ. Ayers Body Shop technician Jim, who is a crusty old veteran of many classic car restorations did a great job on the minor body work needed to bring the car up to my spec’s. The rubber bumpers were removed and the body panels adjusted for the chrome bumper installation. The rust in the four quarter panels and under door sills was all removed and new metal panels (patch) were welded on. All panels were straightened and primed and then a beautiful layer of Merlot Pearl was sprayed on. Then it was clear coated and wet sanded out. Jim did such a great job on this body and paint. In the sun it is on fire with a deep metallic and pearl glow that actually hurts your eyes. The body, sans drive line was delivered to my garage and a few days later the engine arrived completely rebuilt with a hot street cam, new lifters and H/D springs. The crank was balanced and the cylinders were over bored with new pistons added. New oil and water pumps and an electronic ignition system was bolted on. I added two newly rebuilt SU HIF carbs and a new exhaust header heat coated with silver ceramic paint. I attached a newly rebuilt transmission, rebuilt overdrive and new clutch to the engine block and we dropped this whole sub assembly along with all new engine and trans. mounts into the body. Once in, the plumbing was done and the oil radiator was hooked up under the front valance. My son and I installed a brand new Leather interior and all new carpeting with a new layer of heat and sound deadening material under everything. A new leather steering wheel and new top to the dash and a new mps/cd/fm sound system with four speakers was added to round out the interior. We cut down the gear shift knob by 2 ¼ inches to make the shifting a little shorter. All of the suspension has had new bushings installed and the rear shocks have been converted to tube shocks while the entire car was lowered about an inch and a half back to the ride height of a pre rubber bumper car. All of the lights and body trim were added along with a set of driving lights and she was looking pretty good. I installed a new tan vinyl top and things were just about done. The only thing left to do is have the wire wheels media blasted and the wheels will be powder coated in a very shiny silver color which will resemble brushed aluminum when done. Now the reason I went through all of this for you is because I began building a model of this car and I thought I’d better give you the background so you will understand the build better. One of the interesting facts is that I have gone to substantial lengths to make this 1977 MGB look like a circa 1969 to1973 model year car and the Aoshima kit I am building is 1967 right hand drive car so I am updating it to resemble the actual car. The actual car is made to look older and the kit will be made to look newer. This kit appears to have a very accurate body casting and I know I have seen a number of build ups of various versions of this kit on the forum. My build up will be a little different in that I am looking to replicate an actual specific car and I will be adding, left hand drive, complete engine and under hood detail along with opening doors and trunk. The fire wall is all scratch built as is most of the engine block so far. I just completed carpeting the actual cars trunk so the build up will reflect that. I made sure that I saved enough of the actual paint from the real car so I can airbrush the build up with the same paint. I am reworking the wheel arch openings so that the wire wheels will be at the same height as the real car which as I said before, sits down lower than most. I will keep you up dated as I get deeper into the build. I have also begun making some headway on the Dodge Charger Testers kit that I am rebuilding into a great looking version of a design I saw on the internet. Lower top and front and rear treatments that resemble the 1968 Charger…..this is very cool. I also completed, somehow finding the time, a few months ago a Porsche Slant nose and a neat street custom 1969 Plymouth GTX two tone with a very cool custom hood scoop. I will post a few shoots when I get a chance. I have to tell you, rebuilding the MGB was great fun and it was wonderful working with my son on it too. Next up, my son has a rust bucket 1946 Jeep CJ which we will be rebuilding and than after that my 1960 MGA (very nice running car right now) gets the full street race look and rebuild. That will be a very cool looking car when we get to it……wider wheels, beefed up engine, trans and suspension and cut down race windshield…..this will be different and great looking.

This is very interesting…..Curt did a great job building the Boyd Smoothster, and the thread got hijacked into a bash Foose rant. Foose is a contemporary customizer. He has a great talent for taking existing vehicles and “Fooseizing†them using his tried and true methods. Sure, he copies many of his own ideas into future designs, and who doesn’t repeat successful ideas? I think of Foose, Barris, Roth, Cushenberry (spelling) Starbird to name a few in the same way, all leaders and all very talented. Charles Banks was a great golf course designer from the early 20’s, and he copied great holes from England and Scotland and repeated them over and over in each course he did here in the U.S., but that does not mean that his designs are not great and stand the test of time. A great design is a great design…period! The same is true with Foose, his designs and prolific building will be remembered and celebrated for a few centuries to come, provided the planet is still here by then….but Curt, great job, and that is a clever trick to make two hoods, but really working struts are not that difficult to fabricate.