Bluzboy66

Thanks for the compliments guys. I was sooooo happy when they reissued this kit. A long time favorite. The chassis is the regular reissue MPC chassis. I'm kinda going the box-build on this kit just to enjoy the feeling of actually 'finishing' a kit again. lol. I'll throw a bit of detailing in for good measure. I may build another one (I bought a lifetime supply!), and try using one of the other 'cokebottle' B-body Mopar chassis from that early 70's era. I need to do some research to see what'll be most accurate. Here's an update..... Mike

Niiiiiiiiiice Monte! Mike

You cannot go wrong with a 5-star rim on a Nova. I also dig the Holli's by Pegasus. Now you got me wanting to crack open one of my Nova kits! Mike Here are the Holli's on my '72 Chevelle........

Love the blue. I gotta get me one of those chopper kits. You guys are such an inspiration. Mike

Charlie, you are a great friend. Looks like your buddy was livin' it......the Challenger looks incredible. Looking forward to seeing the finished 'Bee. Mike

Love the color. A Dart never looked so well 'put together'! Mike

NICE Creme sickle 'mad! The colors are perfect. Mike

Looks NICE!! Mike

Cruz, Brother, that Camaro turned out perfect. Looking forward to seeing it person. Missed you at the Overlea model contest. My boy Alex took first place in the Show Cars ADULT class with his Beatnik Bandit II! Mike BTW, here's my 'finished' Johan/AMT Road Runner.....still need to work out a few details.....and after looking at your Camaro, I need to crack open the polish again.....

Here are a couple of pics of the GTX......one of my favorite modern kits....... Mike

Man, thanks SP much for that post! The pics are incredible. I may have to add the Roth pinstriping to my model. Mike

You're a very lucky man. What I would have done to have a moment with the legend himself! I did get to meet George Barris, a living legend in his own right, but Roth really was the king. Mike

Your Triumph chopper is looking real nice. Now I KNOW I have to get started on mine. If you definitely want to keep the Triumph look, use the kit's original Triumph tank, strip the chrome and shave off the decorative ribs on the sides. If you're real good with an X-acto and file, you may be able to salvage the molded-in Triumph emblems. Triumphs are the only bikes that look right with Triumph tanks.........leave the Harley tanks for the other guys. Another tank that was always popular on Triumph customs was the old faithful Paughco 'Mustang' peanut style (like the one on the chopped Triumph in your original post)........the narrower, the better........ http://www.paughco.com/2003_catalog/page111.htm I've carved these tanks out of balsa and basswood in the past (custom seats too!). You can coat the final shaped and sanded wooden tank with thin coats of super glue, sand smooth, and then prime with your favorite primer. Mike

Just found this tidbit of Tweedy Pie info....... According to the book, "Rat Fink - The Art of Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth" by Douglas Nason & Greg Escalante, Tweedy Pie was originally built by Bob Johnston of Anaheim, California, a car show acquaintance of Roth's. As for the engine, the March '62 issue of Rod & Custom, Roth's Tweedy Pie had a 270cu.in. '58 Chevy small block V8. It IS possible, however, that Johnston's original car had the flathead. Good question. More details - from the same '62 Rod & Custom mag.... The car had '51 Ford truck transmission, and a '48 Ford differential and brakes. If there was ever anyone who would appreciate those small details, it would definitely be you guys. Mike

Oh yeah. Love the Roth rods. I'm a sucker for all of the Show Car stuff.......even the wacky 70's stuff most folks laughed at. I'll have to show you a pic I have from '73 or so.......Dad took a pic of me standing in front of the custom Bob Hope golf cart. It was a golf cart with a huge fiberglass Bob Hope noggin' as the cab. Mike

Thanks Cruz. Mike

What, did I violate an ordinance ALREADY?? Mike

Well, I am a newbie, but I'll share a few of the details with you, and risk being banned from the Forum for being off-topic. The '64 TR6 originally came with a standard rear swing arm suspension. This particular bike was so far 'gone' that I decided it would be easier (and cheaper) to just go 'kustom' instead of a full restoration. I decided to go the 'bobber' route. I bolted on an early aftermarket hardtail section, which will eventually be a fully welded-on structure. I then laced a brand new chrome plated 16" Harley rear rim to the original '64 Triumph 'Quick Change' rear hub/drum brake which I had powder coated gloss black. I used stainless steel spokes. The front end is a late model 39mm Harley Sportster unit. I used a conversion bearing kit to bolt the front end on to the Triumph frame. Most guys run a springer or girder front end on Triumph choppers. I prefer the look of the minimalist standard fork setup. When I get into final assembly, the front forks will be rebuilt with a 2" lowering kit which will let the bike squat a little lower in the front. I will also 'shave' the aluminum lower fork legs to eliminate the front fender mounts, and then I'll give the legs a nice high polish. I laced a brand new chrome plated 21" front rim to a polished aluminum Sportster hub, which will allow me to run a single disc front brake. Again, stainless spokes. The 1" diameter handlebars are very low with a 2" rise, and about 3" pull-back. They're bolted to "0-rise" risers. The controls are chrome plated early Harley units, which will allow me to hydraulically actuate the front disc brake (old Triumphs had mechanical, cable-actuated drums in front and rear). I really hope to have the bike completed by the end of the summer. I'm thinking of liquidating my huge diecast toy car collection to help raise some fun-money to finish the project. NOW!, BACK TO MODELING!...... I've got the 1:8 scale Revell-Germany Triumph T100 kit that I'd love to customize. Trouble is, finding other bike kits in the same scale is tough. I've pretty much come to the conclusion that I'll have to fabricate a custom rigid frame to replace the factory Triumph frame. Another option I've entertained is to build a Marlon Brando 'Wild Ones' replica, complete with a photo display base. Mike

I agree. The Tweedy Pie nails the 'look', and Roth knew just what to do to the car. He purchased the car as a basket case, assembled it, and thoroughly messaged the 'look' up until '62 when unveiled it to Rod & Custom (I have an original copy of that magazine - March '62 - see below). I've seen pictures of the car with the shortened bed, different wheels, different intakes, etc. The headlights, I'm not sure of. I like the quads. I put the little white balls (heads of straight pins) in each velocity stack on the engine to mimic a display technique I remember from my childhood.....the owners of the street rods put ping pong balls, tennis balls, super pinkies, etc in the stacks at car shows to keep debris from finding their way into the carbs. The real trick in building the kit is finding a shade of paint to go with! Every photo and article I have of Tweedy Pie shows the car in a different shade of purple/mauve/ultraviolet. I've decided that the metallic/pearl mauve looks best to my eye, so that's what I went with when I built my version of the car. I would have liked to reproduce the intricate pinstriping that Ed applied just before showing the car to the Rod & Customs guys........BUT........the version I based my build on didn't have the pinstriping yet, so go figure, I didn't have to reproduce it! Mike

Thanks. I took a couple of outdoor pics today.....that British Racing Metallic Green is TOUGH to capture in photos........ Mike

Thanks for the compliments guys. It's going to be a nice Road Runner. Sure wish someone would dig up the old Johan molds for that old '69 Road Runner kit! I'm good for a couple cases myself. How about it?? Mike

You and me both!! lol. It's a long term project that I throw a wrench at from time to time. You might appreciate that THIS is what it looked like the day I brought it home 2 years ago.....pretty gnarly, huh?....... Mike

Thanks. I've got a load of the Roth kits from years gone by. They've always proved to be quite a challenge to build......for me anyways. Mike

An engine shot, and a couple taken outside....... Mike

Thanks for the compliments guys. I've always loved those 60's B-body Mopars. That GTX kit is really an awesome kit - nice detail, perfect proportions. They should all be that nice, right? I'm no photographer, and I can assure you, the car looks MUCH better in person......very smooth with the perfect amount of gloss. I definitely spend more time painting and polishing than I do building! For paint I used Testors Model Master 'Custom Lacquer System' Dark Bronze Metallic #28111 (to closely match '67 Chrysler Turbine Bronze), followed by Testors 1814 High Gloss Enamel Overcoat. I spray the 1814 into an airbrush jar and then airbrush thin coats. The 1814 takes a while to set up well enough to polish, but I really like the way it flows and polishes. I also like the Model Master and Tamiya clear lacquers, but lacquer is very brittle by nature and I've been getting fine microscopic cracks in it while polishing.......the type of cracks that only show when the light hits the surface a certain way. Sucks. I just bought a can of the House of Kolor clear that I'm going to try on my next project. I've been hearing good stuff about it. I've tried acrylic urethane clearcoats in the past, but I'm not crazy about the way the detail gets lost in the film thickness. I'm not the monster builder some of you guys are. I'm incredibly impressed! I just enjoy building clean, simple and accurate renditions of my favorite old cars once in a while. My eyes aren't the best these days, and I don't foresee a scratchbuilt 1:25 scale Carter AFB throttle linkage in my near future, so I'll probably just stick to the basics. Oh, and those are MRC wheels and tires on the GTX. REAL Nice quality - deep chrome plating and soft rubber tires. I was going for the early 80's look (class of '84 here!), and the Keystones seemed appropriate. Keep up the incredible work guys. Mike