ChevyAsylum

I did a little Googling on Messerschmitts to see if I could determine what the body shells were made of. I came up empty handed. But the British sites state that the bubbles are made of Perspex...and that may be the UK version of plexiglass. But one thing that was pretty clearly stated was that they tend to craze when exposed to the sun for extended periods. I dunno if that means hours, days, weeks or years. But here's a site that has one picture of an unrestored early Fend Flitzer, which was the forerunner of the Messerschmitt. http://www.promotex.ca/articles/cawthon/20...01_article.html I can't tell if the rust-appearing marks are from the trim or the fasteners...and the front section appears to be polished metal, possibly aluminum. And here's the site of the Messerschmitt Owners Club in the UK http://www.messerschmitt.co.uk/index.php?o...ge&Itemid=1 There might be some stuff I didn't see in the "articles" section of that site. Or you might email them and ask. Hmmm...what a concept. Anyway, I love the whole idea of the V-12 motor and the Messer body on a rail frame. It's an awsome idea.

That's a real gem of a rat rod. I really like it a lot! There's so much detail it's hard to see it all at once. I can only hope my rat comes out near as good. Thanks for posting the pics. I'm gonna save 'em for reference.

Ismael, ya beat me to it. It took me a while to find the info, but I came up with the same answer you did. The LA Times Invitational was the name of the race. The article I found: http://www.corvettemuseum.com/specs/2006/Z06History.shtml said that they had silver, white and blue cars and mentions a 4th Z06 with no indication of color. The blue one had number 47, so that wasn't it. I'd guess that it would have been red or black, given the shading of the monochrome image and by process of elimination...although I suppose it could have been a second blue one. Pat, I think you've got a good prototype to model. I look forward to seeing it.

Jairus, your V-12 (or is it 16?) gave me the idea of building a straight-8 using 2 Model A flathead 4 motors. I've recently seen 2 1:1 rat rods, one used a Packard motor (with a McCullough centrifugal blower) and the other has a Pontiac straight-8 with 7 Stromberg carbs. (There are pics of them on my website in the Cruisin section: http://www.chevyasylum.com/cruisin06/060607/060607.html I think this might be a real good basis for a rat based on the Beverly Hillbillies 23 Olds. I'll post some pics when I have something cobbled up.

Well, if you ever run out of things to build, you might end up rebuilding some of the rejects. Just a thought. I've found something else that's just about brought my building to a standstill: summer. At least at the moment, I've been taking my Ugly Truck (64 C10) to cruise nites and going to local car shows (there's one Saturday [6/24] in a town about 45 miles away and I'll probably go there) and working on my main 1:1 project, a 29 Ford Model A pickup. I got that one last year and it was a "field find" (as opposed to a "barn find")...that is, it'd been sitting out in a field for quite a while. It's needed a lot of work and still needs a lot more before I'll even be able to try to start it. I just found out this morning that its radiator is junk. Bah, humbug! There are pics of the current state of the project on my website...the url's in my sig. But I'll get more model building time as the days get shorter (we're on the downhill side now) and the weather gets colder.

Really kool, Billy. Each of your bulds is better than the preceding one. This is a neat thing. Keep up the good work and (like I said before) we'll see ya at one of the GSLs.

Hmmmm...looks like you're setting it up for bump-drafting. Not that you'd want to at Phoenix.

Nice collection of birds. Question for you. Why does the Glotzbach's car show 429 cubic inches while all the others show the more widely known 426?

I gotta agree with Rex. Some of those models could be real easily resurrected with a trip to the CSC tank, a decent paint job and some BMF. The Imperial convert strikes me as a likely candidate. What kills a project for me is not being able to decide what to do next. I get to a certain point and my mind sorta goes blank. I have to wait until the course of action gels in my mind again.

Very kool way to spend the LeMans weekend. Great builds. Ya gonna do it for next year's Daytona 24? Speakin of LeMans stuff...I just ordered my weekend pass for the ALMS race at the Tooele, Utah (pronounced two-willa...I can hardly wait to see how the tv commentators pronounce it) track (Miller Motorsports Park) and I'm lookin forward to seein the Audis, Corvettes and Aston Martins running there. They say they'll run the Audi R-10 diesel cars for that race and I'm hoping to get some pics from the paddock area as well as the track. And the price wasn't bad: $70 for a 3-day ticket, including the paddock (pit) pass. I may get the inspiration to build a C5 or 6 to "commemorate" the occasion.

Thank you, Bob. Now I know. I always thought that wind was one of the benefits of a convertible or roadster...but I guess that ain't the case no mo'. I'm tempted to take the thing off the model, just because I think it spoils the aesthetics of the car. But then, what do I know? I'm just a cantankerous old fart that likes OLD cars and trucks.

This is gonna be wonna them "long story" things. The other day I went out to run some errands and I asked my wife if there was anything I could get for her while I was out. She said, "Oh...get me a Ferrari." Well, since one of my errands was to get some paint at the LHS, I happened to see a Revell Ferrari 360 Modena Spider...so I bought it (and I even remembered the paint) and brought it home for her. I was actually hoping to find a 330 P3, but it was this or an Enzo. It took her completely by surprise ans she got quite a chuckle out of it. So now I'm starting to build it so she can display it alongside the Jeff Gordon Monte Carlo (she's a big fan of his) that I built for her. I did my normal web-based research to see what I could find out about this car and I found something I don't understand. That's where the question comes in. Here's a pic of the 1:1 prototype: See the mesh thing between the roll bar hoops? I can't figure out what it is. It reminds me of a screen door in a submarine. Fly catcher? Something to keep yer girlfriend's long hair outta the engine compartment? I dunno. So any ideas (preferably those who might really know) would be appreciated. TIA,

For some reason, your build looks a lot better to me than the woodie wagon. It seems to have more personality. I think it's great and it's the type of rod I'd love to have for my own in 1:1 scale. Good stuff.

Thanks, Ken. It was a fun one to build. Just straight outta the box except for the "nerf" balls in the carbs (pin heads.) I agree with both you and Jairus about the printer. I have an HP OfficeJet Pro that I can run at 600 dpi, but it still isn't fine enough. Maybe some day a super high resolution printer (that can print in white as well as color) will be available to the dude on the street...but I don't know of any right now.

I don't mind a bit. Personally, I'd just rather be referred to in print as "ChevyAsylum" or "the head nut at the asylum." There are reasons behind this and if you need more of an explanation, drop me an email. Btw, as soon as I get some more data from people, I'll be glad to update it. I spose I otta be going thru my own kits for update info, but my sons and I have been working on this little project: Between that and cruise nites, it's kinda takin up a lotta free time.

If you're looking for a program to reduce the size of images like license plates or instrument panels, then you might want to look at IrfanView as a starting point. It's a freeware program that has some editing capabilities: http://www.irfanview.com/ It will probably take a while to get used to working with it, as does any graphics editor program. I've been using Photoshop for about 8 years and I'm still learning things about it. One thing that I've had trouble with is maintaining image clarity when reducing size. I can shrink a license plate down pretty easily, but the resulting printed image isn't all that sharp, even though I edit the image to make sure that all the edges, particularly those of the characters in the plate, are very crisp. But, it's better than nothing, I spose. Here's a T-bucket with a plate that I made: http://www.chevyasylum.com/models/25tbucke..._029r8_jpg.html It's acceptable, but I'd prefer something with more clarity. Good luck with it,

Wow! I really like that engine compartment! Great work. Just a suggestion: you might wanna edit your post to close the "img" tags.

Why? You're doing great!

Great build, super paint! I love it. But where did the skull shift knob come from? I'd like to get ahold of a few of those...they'd match the 1:1 shifter and brodie knob I have in my 64 C10: http://www.chevyasylum.com/64c10/64c10_03.html

Outstanding! My very favorite year of El Camino (I have a 1:1 80 SS clone.) If I could get my hands on a full-sized 59, I think I'd build it just about the way you did the model. I really like it.

There's a track in the basement of a hobby shop in the greater metro area (Salt Lake City, Utah) where I live. Years ago, they had an HO train layout...it seems to have been replaced by the slot track. I haven't done any slot car racing since before my army daze...and that was a lotta years ago...since I'm considered to be a "VietNam era veteran." (I served in Texas and Europe...fortunately.) I spose I otta find out when they race and just go check the whole deal out. Thanks for bringing this up and giving me the thoughts about it.

I don't think that "foreign" (since SlotBaker isn't from the US, that sorta makes the term less than meaningful) is an all bad concept. For example, there's a recently-built Vee-Bucket that's pretty kool, and at one time (70s, 80s), 4-cylinder street rods gained some popularity. I know for a fact that non-traditional motors are VERY common on the salt flats. Someone wishing to build a replica of one of the smaller displacement roadsters might find what they need in such a list. With tuners becoming more and more popular, something like a (please forgive me here, but I'm totally out of my league when it comes to what's hot and what's not as far as fwd cars are concerned) Civic with a Taurus SHO motor might be conceivable. Might not be easy to do in 1:1, but in 1:24? Could be. And to continue the international flavor, the tastes of modelers in Europe, Australia and NZed may be a bit different than mine. I like rat rods and muscle cars. But then I've never built in hot rod outside of the US. I can split the lists into US, Non-US and Heavy Truck versions and see what people think. I don't spose it'd hurt anything.

Thanks, Slotbaker. Just to shed a little light on that, He (Slotbaker) added a WHOLE bunch of motors to the spreadsheet and made some changes in the columns that make a lot of sense. The vew version is on my server at: http://www.chevyasylum.com/models/motors/ModelMotors.html One thing I've thought about is possibly making 3 sections or 3 separate pages: one for US motors, one for "foreign" or non-US lumps and one for truck motors. It would make it a little more difficult to maintain if it was all in one, but it might make more sense and add a bit to its useability. Lemme know whatcha think, k?

Thanks for the info, Aaron. I got it entered and it's on the server now.

Aaron: Thanks for the truck engine data. I've added them to the web page. http://www.chevyasylum.com/models/motors/ModelMotors.html Just a quick question. I'm trying to find out the cylinder arrangement and displacement of the motors. I'm givin it my best shot, but could you double-check the web page to see if I need to make some corrections? One other thing....I'm assuming all of these are turbocharged diesel motors....is that correct or are some of them supercharged or fuel injected only? If anyone else has data to add, please sent it to me at rbuck@aros.net and I'll get it done as quickly as I can.