Peter Lombardo

I have completed the interior to about 95% on the Eleanor. Just a few little details to add. In case you are wondering, the seat belts are a set of photo etched belts by Eduard sitting on a set of resin cast racing seats. The belt and the hardware are all photo etched. Two other additional points since the last posting. I opened up two air vents on top of the hood which will have black grating, ala new Shelby GT500 and I added the bolt detail to the spoiler at the rear of the car. At first I was going to paint the bolts blue and white to match the body, but I liked how they looked in silver, so I left them that way. So far, I am very happy with the look of the car. I am making a basic “Eleanorâ€, but I added a few updated details, like the hood vents, the adjustable rear spoiler, the wider stripes and I moved the turn signal lights (styled like the current GT 500 turn signals, not complete yet) to under the headlights but over the fog lights in the chin spoiler. The body is fresh out of the paint booth (my basement, as I really don’t use a paint booth). After primer, I painted the car white as a base. Then the center was painted pearl white, once dry it was clear coated. The stripes were masked off with vinyl that was cut on the computer…these were leftover stripes from the Shelby GT500 conversion I did a year ago. I then airbrushed on a few coats of Tamiya Metallic Blue, which is number X-13 and then removed the masking. I think it looks a lot like the Ford Guardsman Blue. When dry, it all got two fairly heavy coats of Tamiya clear shot through my airbrush at a lower pressure so I could get them thick and heavy but not thick enough to run. I will now let her sleep for the next two weeks or so before I apply bare metal foil and begin final assembly. I am happy with it so far, what do you guys think?

Sorry, but I do not see this ever seeing the light of day. F1 has not had any real support in the US. This is a kin to soccer. Everyone here has their kids play it but that is where it stops. Americans, like football, our style football because it is brutal, not civilized like soccer. We like NASCAR cause the fans are mainly interested in “tradin’ paint†and pushing the guy in front of you out of the way. F1 is so tightly controlled and besides it is all about the money for Bernie and Max. F1 has its birth rights in the European market, and has now found favor in Asia, mainly because for the last few years’ Asian countries could show Bernie “the moneyâ€, that is not the case in the US now. Look, there are no American drivers to bring out the fans here in America. That was the downfall of CART. American’s did not enjoy watching South American drivers racing American cars on American streets. That problem is now plaguing the LPGA tour. Most fans complaint that most players are Asian. Many Americans lose interest way too fast if it is not a North American controlled deal. And even it there were a few Americans looking to lose their investment money on an F1 team deal, long term investment today in sports is still a risky business. Look at Citibank. They are catching huge flack over the naming rights deal with the New York Mets…$400,000,000.00 over twenty years. Just watch, golf sponsorship is way down, and all sports are feeling the pinch at the gate…will fans pay the outrageous ticket prices just to watch a “back marker†F1 team with no chance of winning in the next 10 years? Will the Europeans support an American team? I doubt it. F1 is set up to showcase a few teams, and the rest of the field is there to provide color and the illusion of a competitive field.

Looks pretty nice. I have this kit, but I can't make up my mind on it...I want to like this car, but it has some strange design details...I mean, what is that Carbon Fiber panel behind the door doing there? And all of those black vent vanes on the front and back...they remind me of an Army tank or some other military vehicle....then there is that big license plate stuck in the middle of that huge blowfish mouth grill opening. I don't know. Maybe the Audi designers have been on vacation with the Pontiac designers at a retreat hosted by a group of retired Japanese designers from the 60's. Anyway, you did a nice job on the car, I do like the maroon color on it, especially with the tan seats.

That's a pretty neat conversion. The driver and "dog" work very nicely in the car. A few closer up shots of the interior and the front would be nice, but overall it is a good looking car. The stripe is different...a little stubby, but not unpleasent. Did you use "led's" for the headlights, or MU lenses, I can't tell from the pictures? I like this very much as the color combo is not seen very often.

Harry, I would have to agree with you right down the line except for one point. On Lacquer’s you mention that there are no con’s, but there really is one. We, more experienced modelers realize that there must be a strong primer under it as it is “hot†and will eat into the plastic. Care needs to be taken that there is a significant barrier to protect the plastic. Newer, less experienced guys may need to be reminded of this fact.

Very nice, very clean. Great job on the black paint. we all know how difficult a shiny black paint job can be to complete, so good job. I like your choice of wheels. I have used the same ones on a GT500 so I think they work well on the Mustang too. Send some more pictures of your other completed models. also, welcome....the more the merrier!

This sure is different! Very clever use of the Alfa body. I love the ingenuity and workmanship.

Are you considering therapy? Just kidding, it looks like you had a great time with this car. Looks like something out of a Quentin Tarantino movie. Just another example of what makes this hobby so much fun…no limits and no right or wrong. It is a great way to express yourself. Nice job. The paint job is crazy insane.

The basic difference is : Single action brush has just that a single push down on the trigger gives you a preset mix of paint and air. A Double action allows you to operate the air and paint quantities independently of each other. Press down and you should control the air, move the trigger forward and you increase the paint quantities. If you are just painting car bodies, a single action will work just fine. If you want to move on to flames and small detail painting, then a double action is the way to go. A graphic artist who paints with an airbrush for a living would use a double action. I have two double action brushes and hardly ever use the double action control to it’s true effectiveness.

Sorry, I ran a little long here….but this is something that needs to be explained…two lines just will not cover the subject for me. Well Dave, I have to give you a lot of credit….looks like you have been through a difficult life but seem to have survived it all pretty well. A dysfunctional childhood usually leads to a dysfunctional adulthood ( like they say, the children of alcoholics grow up to become alcoholics, same with physical abuse and mental abuse ) but it looks like you found your way, and I certainly understand your need for some spiritual guidance. I have a childhood friend, my oldest friend in the world, who had a tough childhood, had a breakdown in his late twenties but is now a happy Assistant Pastor in a large congregation in the Philly area…he’s married and has two beautiful daughters and one adorable grand daughter. God gave him his direction and I guess he has given you the inner peace you were seeking. As for me, my life was a whole lot more boring…not much drama to it. My mother was a very talented semi-professional artist….I grew up in a house that always smelled of linseed oil (oil used as a base in oil paints). I spent much of my childhood drawing and painting until I discovered model car kits when I was about 10 years old. I had built a few military models prior to that, but when I found model cars I was hooked. Growing up, we had Lionel trains and a basement layout of HO trains, but I always gravitated back to model cars. Model cars were my “Happy Placeâ€â€¦that place I could go and just relax. I would sit at my work table in the basement, turn on my transistor radio and listen to WABC AM radio. They would play the Beach Boys, 4 Seasons and this brand new music from England…the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Kicks. That British Invasion music is linked in my mind to the model cars I was building back then. I would build a Hot Rod Coupe or a Corvette and at the beach in Southern California just like in the music of the Beach Boys. I was able to express my creativity in a way that nothing else gave me. I enjoyed drawing but model cars were so much more to me. I remember as a kid, opening the box and seeing all of the parts. The body all white and smooth. The promise of another beautiful representation of the real car that I wanted but as a young teenager, could only dream about. My friends and I built models until we were old enough to discover real cars, girls and our beloved beer. We had some great parties back in the day. We lived in NJ where the legal drinking age was 21, but just a 30 minute drive to New York City where the legal age was 18 and would fill the trunk and head back to NJ. After High School, I was off for four years in the Navy. I think it was a great experience. I was a Quartermaster (Navigator) on a couple of Tin Cans (destroyers). I made two tours of duty in Vietnam where we on Plane Guard duty tailing aircraft carriers in the Tonkin Gulf, shore bombardment duty, coastal patrol in support of ground troops and a few trips “up river†where things got pretty rough a few times. I grew up in the Navy…I matured. My whole life changed. I began to take things seriously. I saw much of the world, experienced just about all anyone could under those circumstances and do not regret a minute of it….well there was that one time in Hong Kong…and those two times in the Philippines…but…..that’s not important now. After the Navy it was Night College just about every night and fulltime work as an accountant in a small accounting firm. How odd was that…I was an artist who was creative and free flowing stuck in the exact world of accounting. I really am a Gemini. I am twins. I had the dual left and right sides of my brain working me over. Anyway, in my spare time (not too much of it) I was building a huge model of “Old Ironsidesâ€, the Constitution…trust me, you have to be a masochistic crazy person to attempt all of that rigging….the block and tackle with all of the lines is insane. Soon there after I met the perfect woman, I mean she was absolutely perfect. One date and I knew she was going to be the mother of my children. One year later and we were married. 34 years and it still is as fresh and exciting as it was back then. Then I found the Tamiya 1/12 scale F1 cars and built 6 of them which I wish I still had. Like a fool, I gave them away when we moved to our second house because I had just rediscovered HO trains. With the trains I was really into weathering the rolling stock. I painted and decaled everything. I built all of the structures from the great selection of craftsman kits, most out of wood. Built about half of a layout in the basement and just like that, I got tired of the trains and started back looking at the model cars. I would go into the hobby shop and look at the Tamiya 1/20 scale F1 cars, remember the 1/12 cars I built and I had to start up with the model cars again. I sold my entire collection of custom painted HO trains and buildings and got back to my real love, model cars. I started back building the F1 cars and race cars but soon found myself back wanting to build customs and street rods. At first I was a Tamiya snob. AMT and Revell just weren’t up to the Tamiya or Fujimi quality, well at least I thought so. But after awhile, I was getting board building race cars that had to be a certain color, and a certain seat and the exact right seatbelt. I did not enjoy the lack of creativity that presented me. Yeah, every now and then they are fun, but I really enjoy building cars that are painted the color I want. Or the interior is the way I think it should be. I like being the boss of my builds. Building what I want. Now I have a small advertising agency and I get to express my creative side more in a work enviornment. That is fun and exciting...I just wish the economy was better...the business, or I should say, lack of business now is putting a real strain on the business. I still paint with oils and I have a collection of pen and ink drawings I have done but I just love building model cars. Yeah, sometimes I feel juvenile doing that, but that’s ok. I think my oil painting, even though I do that for my own pleasure too, is more important. You know, more adult, more sophisticated. I mean, my kids will not fight over my model cars when I die, but they are already telling me which paintings they want when they come down off my walls. It may sound crazy, but I think of them as something lasting. Something that will stand up for generations. When I am long gone from this earth, I like to think that a little piece of me will linger on through my artwork. I have a few of my mothers paintings hanging on the walls near some of mine and it is nice to know that I have that little bit of her right there. I have something that no other person on this earth has. Yeah, I enjoy the beautiful sunrise painting I did that is in my dining room but I sure enjoy my 1936 Cybele Special too. Art is art!!! Painting or three dimensional custom cars….it is all art to me.

Don't you ever screw up??? Everything you post is absolutely perfect...perfect paint over perfect decals over perfect details...in a perfect photograph. Your work only stands to point out how woefully inadequate most of my stuff is. Great job as usual. I think I will stop commenting on your posts going forward as I can only say "Wow that is beautiful and perfect" so many times. I feel like a broken record.

Guys, what is the problem? Look, there is an old saying, “one mans ceiling is another mans floorâ€. Just because you don’t care for something that does not mean that the rest of us must shun it to. This is a big world and there are many tastes and attitudes. That is why they make convertibles, hardtops, trucks, mini vans…..etc…..all because there is a market for just about anything. Have you looked at the other magazine lately? I had a subscription to it for almost twenty years and 3 months ago I let it die. It was way too boring with the same, “chop it fast†or “Hot Rod Engine Maniaâ€. Always the same old stuff. The same kind of pictures of the same kind of cars at the same shows…I gave up on it. MCM is at least fearless, if nothing else, they like to break some new ground and I applauded them for that…they are always, from what I can see, looking to bring something new with each issue and if there is a story that I am not interested in I retain the right of Veto…..I just turn the page and read something else that I am interested in. I will admit that I get more interesting and innovative information from this forum then anywhere else. I think the subjects and information shared on this forum are the best in the world. I am not just saying that…I have learned far more here then from any publication. The workmanship displayed here has done more to challenge me to raise the bar on my own skills then anything else. I always thought I was pretty good at this “modeling†stuff, but the work presented here always pushes me to find some other angle, to find a way to move past the simple build and attempt something new. Running an ad agency with a “sister†company that publishes a magazine, I have a pretty good idea of what Gregg and Harry are up against…if anyone here thinks magazine publication is easy and lucrative, well step right up and publish your own. I for one am very happy looking at someone else’s “labor of loveâ€, read through the odd article that I have little interest in and look for stimulation and enjoy the hard work of my fellow modelers. It’s like they say, “walk a mile in my shoesâ€, well Gregg’s shoes before complaining.

Dave, I am wondering, you mentioned the PGA tour and Tiger....are you a golfer or a watcher? You are right about Tiger. I have followed professional golf since the early 1960's. I was (am) a real fan of Jack Nicklaus during his dominant years. He had some amazing duals with Tom Watson. But Tiger, if he remains healthy, should blow Jacks records away. If you play golf to any higher level (more then a duffer) you can really appreciate what Tiger can do with a golf ball. He can just "will" the shot or the putt to do what he needs it to do. When the match is on the line, you can not bet against him. I basically am not interested in golf on TV unless he is in the hunt.

Looking real good Dave. I really like making operational features on my cars and I really like that you are adding the opening doors and hatch on this, it will add some life to this, not that it needs it, but I really like where this has been and is going to. This is sure a "one of a kind" 'Vette. On another note, you said the other day you are looking to design and build a car completely from scratch...I think that is a great idea and I obviously am looking forward to seeing it all the way from design to completion as I am sure you will document the entire process. Believe it or not, last month I began working on a completely orginial design and scratch build (using a kit chassis and engine, but all else is scratch) myself. We seem to be thinking along the same lines. My build, if it goes to plan, will have a couple of very unique features that I am not at liberty to mention yet. This will be pretty cool, two completely unique cars. One East Coast and one West Coast. Ok, enough talk, back to work. Keep it going!

Just beautiful.....perfection in scale. A gentleman in the town where my business is has an Enzo (just a boring regular red one, yeah right, boring!). The sound that it makes as it goes by is almost as impressive as the sight ( I see it maybe 3 times in the spring and summer as he does not drive it very much ). These vehicles are truly stunning and your build does the car justice. The carbon fiber decal installation is "spot on"....It is your usual "surgically perfect" build.....Very impressive.

And your point is?

Great job on the details. The chop is perfect and the 4 banger is a neat change of pace (I love the pipes...big improvement). As a rule I am generally not a big fan of the "Rat Rod" style of build....they have their place, but they always seem incomplete to me...lets face it, a hot candy or pearl paint job grabs your attention and makes you look long and hard at it, but having said that, this looks pretty cool in primer. You certainly have great ability and seem fearless to try anything....I love the combination of skill and creativity. No boundaries. Keep moving on. Nice job.

I went back to have a second look, as I usually do and noticed something that I missed before. Your tires, which I agree look better on the car then the kit supplied ones, appear to have very little if almost no tread left on them.....I suspect that that is very accurate for a car with the power and torgue that this thing has....it could eat rear tires for lunch without even blinking. Nice little detail....not all cars have factory fresh tires all of the time.

Very clean built...I can also attest to the "sleeperness" of that car. I was Controller of a Buick store back then and drove many a GN....they were fun and great fun around people who did not underatand what they were capible of doing. They were the fastest product coupe made in America back in the day so they didn't really talk the talk, but they sure could walk the walk. They were fun, almost as much fun as the Thunderbird Super Coupe I had as a demo from the Ford store we had. The GN put you back into your seat when you got on the gas, but the Turbo Super Coupe had a stick, so on the road, a nice little downshift, heavy gas and that little 2.3L four would explode to life, throw the front end up in the air and just leap forward like your Doctor is giving you an unexpected rectial exam....man what a rush. I enjoyed the GN too, but back in the 80's GM was the king of gray plastic interiors ( I mean, just look at the dash on your model, pods of gray plastic lumps stuck together....flat, square and boring) and I could not get past that problem on just about all GM offerings of that era. Anyway, you sure captured the look and feel of the car, and you are right, the black paint is the ony way to go and you did it beautifully. Nice build.

I am very impressed that this is your first Top Fuel rig. Very well done...super clean and nicely detailed. You must be very happy with it....my only guestion is: Is there enough room on your display shelf???...this thing looks about a mile long.

Not a hot rod you see every day....pretty crazy and different idea....this is what our hobby is all about.....the classic line.."What if". What if you took this engine, with this chassis and that body with this color. Very cool, I like the Dualie rear tire setup. And of course the Allison engine is nutz.

These are just amazing Art-Deco designs……everyone of them. I am so impressed. I have a Cord model that I am planning to build in a style very close to these. Thanks for the pictures, I enjoyed it. You must have really enjoyed your time there.

I have one word and one word only for this build……Insane!!! Simply an amazingly detailed and awesomely laborious build. You are a very patient and steady craftsman. ( I looked at your photo record on this build so far, it rivals War and Peace in its scope). My attention span on any given build is nowhere near the time and effort invested in this build. Great workmanship.

I really like what you did here. This very different and unique. I am in the process of finishing up a 1967 Mustang GT350. I am going the Eleanor route as you almost did, but I am putting my little twist on it. It is a conversion to Eleanor but with some of the current day Shelby GT dtyling que's. It will be pretty sharp, but I can't say that a Bunny drove it, or even sat in it like you can say.

Welcome aboard...great looking builds there, you will fit right in. The two Hot Rods look great...that black channeled low boy is perfect...the wheels set it off just right. Keep'em coming...this group has a huge appetite for pictures.