gwolf

Another quick update: I bought a sheet of scale plywood and cut out a pic of it to make a new floor board and kick panel. For the kick panel, I cut the shape I needed, then for the bend I made a slice, bent it to the correct angle, then filled the slice with Tamiya putty and sanded when dry. I may make another one as a one piece unit.

Thanks Chris. This is going to be a beater through and through. Once things start getting glued it'll straighten up. I need to add some material to the firewall so the body sits higher on the rails.

Ok, I made some more progress. Got the front axle set up and have decided to use a parts box radiator shroud as well. The new radiator shroud is a little thicker than the original one, and attaching the hood pushes it out just slightly, gives the appearance of motion. A little less channeling towards the front than before. The scooped out crossmember and shaved axle springs have made a nice drop in the front.

A few small updates. I'm changing the stance by following Bill's lead with the wedge channel. The rear of the body of the AMT roadster sits on the molded in rear axle. I used some aluminum tubing and built up the hollow area there, raising the rear of the body. The front axle broke and has been replaced with a parts box one. I shaved down the top spring, clipped the nib off the top side of it and sanded. I used a Dremel sanding disk and "scooped" out a section of the crossmember and tucked the springs into the notch. Since the photo (below) was taken I've leveled out the cut in the firewall and sanded more of the frame. The engine mounts on the frame were unsalvageable so they were trimmed off and the area sanded. I'll make new ones using the flat plastic where the numbering is on kit sprue.

Amazing work, Bill! You have me rethinking a lot of stuff.

Kerry, that 32 you made is gorgeous and the work you put into it is incredible. Not sure mine will be as detailed, but your post is inspiring. I'm going to try to fab a Ala Kart style bar on the frame to lower it a little. The front end suspension will stay the same as what came with the kit. In the future I'd like to swap it out the way you did yours. Also, my AMT kits have the molded in exhaust pipe and real trans. What version is yours that doesn't have that?

A quick update: With some prying, trimming, shaving and sanding, I'm at this point. Steelies and front suspension from the parts box. I'll need to make new engine mounts and figure out a good stance. Still doesn't look like much, but it's a start.

What are the fork things on the left and right of a 32 frame? I've never found out and never see them in 1:1 cars...

Two cars, David. ; )

"Rougher than a night in jail" LOVE THAT! It'll be what I would've built had my old man let me buy an old car on lawn mowing money.

Dude, I agree about the whitewalls and Cragars- I grew up seeing Cragars on Camaros, El Caminos, vans, etc. I'll most like go with some steelies or baby moons. I just like how raw this car was when I bought it.

The weather is starting to get warmer in Northern Virginia and I'm getting the fever to build again. I figured I'd start out with a bang by bringing this old AMT Trophy Series 32 Ford Roadster back to life. It's an older kit, and some might gasp at the thought of chopping it up, but that's what they're here for. I paid $11 for the box, which included this stripped down roadster and another, almost pristine stock version. As the seller told me, "The roadster is rough.." and rough it is. It looks like it was put together with a hot glue gun or clear caulking. Certain adhesives interact poorly with styrene, so this has some "dents" in it, which is ok with me. The rumble seat that normally fold ups and down on this kit has been glued shut and a wide gap is left at the bottom (don't you love this?). There is no floorboard beyond the bench seat which has been glued to the body with what could be a liberal dousing of JB Weld. That's ok though, a little balsa wood or a flattened out piece of a Coke can will do the trick. The frame is mostly ok and whatever hot glue or caulking was used on this kit to put it together is mostly forgiving (the areas with Crazy Glue however, are not). The front axle is broken in two places, but the broken part is there, so I could be difficult and not use a replacement from he parts bin. In case you're wondering, the axle is broken because the builder didn't have a second metal rod that came with the AMT kits, so he glued the rims straight to the axle. The engine didn't come from his kit and is the kind that has a short transmission area that matchs up with the molded in transmission similar to some of the older Jo-Han kits. In order to make this engine fit, pieces of sprue were cut and glued onto the frame. The nubs for the radiator shroud are still there, so that won't be an issue. The tires are interesting, I can't tell if the whitewalls were painted or if they came that way. I usually replace the tires on glue bombs like this with the nice AMT whitewall Firestones available recently, but I kinda like these. The Cragar style rims definitely did not come with this kit, and even though I do kind of like how they look, they might be replaced with parts box steelies. Appropriately this guy will be turned into a black primer-ed rat rod, maybe with a little rust thrown in. So there's going to be a lot of work; lots of filing, scraping, sanding. I'm looking forward to it.

What is your opinion on building or rebuilding an original issue kit from the 60s - 80s? I say build it, but I have a friend that sort of sighs at the mention of me rebuilding a gluebomb original issue kit from the 60s. Any thoughts?

Love those old Pontiacs! Nice work!

Looks great!

I have the 59 Dodge. I'm afraid to build it since I'm sure I'll probably never find another one.

Man, I loved that kit (and all the other USA Oldies)...

That doesn't surprise me that they're on backwards, Charles. Pretty sure it was a kid that built it. Still fun though.

I love rebuilding gluebomb models I find, so I was excited when I found a couple. Not sure I have the heart to tear this one down though; think I'll just set it on the shelf as-is. It's just so raw looking. I have the window frame, it needs glued down, though. Here it is- it's a mess, but it's interesting. Seats and firewall are molded in black, engine molded in red, radiator shroud molded in white; all unpainted. Whoever built it had to have been looking at magazines or seen the real thing, because the radiator shroud is lowered to match the cowl height of the channeled body. The firewall is also trimmed to allow the drivetrain to pass under. The rumbleseat was not installed, instead, the rear panel was glued (heavily) shut. I feel like I've seen this before, but maybe not; there are "plugs" in the notches under the rear fenders to raise the rear end of the body. Anybody seen this before? Pie crust slicks and chrome brakes. Anyone know where these brakes are from? I love the "don't care if it's pretty" attitude of this deuce. Would love to have talked to the builder. I'll tear down this builtup kit instead. The fenders and running boards will have to go, along with the wide tires.

Nice! Looking good!

I had that kit, too. Love the kit and the vehicle, hated the gasser look. Looks like a fantastic start!

I like the way it looks, I think it's bad ass! Make it into a rat rod dude, we wanna see some wheels on it!

Love it!

When George Lucas made the original Star Wars movie, he hired model makers to build the space ships he wanted in his film the old fashioned way. They in turn, built them by scavenging parts from everything from scrap metal to ship, plane and auto model kit kits. A guy has been building a 1:18 scale, 3 3/4" action figure sized version of Han Solo's ship, the Millennium Falcon and found something interesting... So what does the Millennium Falcon and model cars have in common? An AMT '57 Chevy undercarriage! Check it out: A photo of one of the actual Millennium Falcon models used in the film. His 1:18 version of the Millennium Falcon... Another shot of the inner mandible of the Millennium Falcon on display at a Star Wars exhibit. Pretty cool, huh? Take a look at the work this guy has done: http://toyroom.wordpress.com/2011/11/25/when-11-equals-118/

i HAVE A FEW...