Russell C

Never heard of that stuff before. Sounds useful. EasyCast Clear Casting Epoxy: https://www.eti-usa.com/easy-cast

I see cars that aren't there. That should be.

As it turned out, the cheapo Ranchero parts pile I got for the taillights and rear bumper also had an interior painted similarly to this gluebomb's rear wheels. Too much green there, and too much pure unpainted white of the gluebomb's interior, so I toned down the appearance of the parts pile interior by painting white into what would be the two-tone areas of a factory green Ranchero. So the story could be that a rodder took a green Ranchero and turned it into a speedster custom, but saved the rear wheels for slicks that could be swapped in at the dragstrip. From what I could see in photos for 1:1 interiors, the AMT kit is missing a bulge in the transmission tunnel for the floor shifter, so a bit of carved plastic tub cures that problem. The old problem inherent in these AMT interiors where the steering wheel is too close to the seat cushion is remedied with a slightly smaller rim from a Fujimi Porsche (the X-shape there is the remains of its spokes and hub). Hard to see in the bright sunlight, I 'lathe-turned' a bit of aluminum wire in my motor tool to create the glove box button, and a larger bit of white metal to make the ignition key receptacle. I used the same method on a bit of aluminum tubing to make the ring for the shifter boot, and on some black plastic to make the rubber-looking boot, and on some white plastic to make the shifter ball. That aluminum wire will be the shifter rod, of course, and the thinner wire with the blob (unfinished there) will be the turn signal lever. I tried to peel up the seat belts in order to be able to file them thinner, but they aren't budging, and I fear they will take too much paint with then if I bust 'em loose. They'll be black-painted later.

Isn't that the country where the word for the graphics we put on model cars is "deckles" and the word for zero is "Zed"?

I've been known to locate things from time to time, but the most I can dredge up is a guy doing the same search almost 10 years back, who thought it might have been in Car Craft's circa 1966 Oakland Roadster show coverage: http://saacforum.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=4fchtgu65fs149jivih6afgrq0&action=printpage;topic=36.0

I continue to be a sucker for cheap ebay gluebombs. The Ranchero one I snagged further above now has its own WIP restoration thread. This one will be different, a simple rebuild. The decals had been applied, but they easily peeled right off. No offense to the original Monogram models designer, but in near box-stock form, this particular kit version really lends itself to only one specific result. When I'm done adding a couple more lights and providing tires & wheels for it, you'll see what I mean.

Thanks for the additional comments! Next, the newer kit release Ranchero parts pile I got just for the taillights and rear bumper also had a painted tool box and half-painted jack, 1st photo below (I scraped off the box handle there). To create more visual interest, I drilled holes in teensy bits of red raw plastic scrap to create the places for the electrical wire-sourced toolbox handle (with a remnant of its blue insulation being the grip area), and to create the side hold-downs for crushed/split wire "wingnuts" holding the box onto wood uprights - which would be bolted to the floor if this was my full size Ranchero. Popsicle stick wood material there. That star in the middle covers up the overly scratched down area where the handle used to be, and it was fun to use it up since it was the last star I had in my decal collection left over from the Revell '54 Chevy panel I gluebombed myself back in the early '70s. The other two decals are from a 1969-era Hot Wheels decal sheet. Remember, save everything because you never know when you'll need it next. For the jack, I ditched the handle, filed a slot into the ratchet part and drilled holes through that, then got a tiny bit of sprue where I filed one end into a tab and drilled the other end for where the tire iron fits in. Put that into the slot, drill, and put a bolt through it, and you have a functioning ratchet thingy. The function is not actually important, but I do need it to be moveable for when I put it into the limited space in the bed next to the two tires, and I want the tire iron to be stuck into it. The pole is a length of .05" solder wire, where the 'teeth' of it are created by mashing it in a pair of pliers with one of the jaws covered in a layer of cardboard - thus, only one set of ridges from the pliers goes into the wire. The tire iron itself is just heat-stretched gray sprue, with the end being a larger diameter bit of the same stretched sprue drilled out and stuck on.

I could see the image in my head, but couldn't remember the name. This one, right? http://www.eddylenders.nl/Peterbilt COE Turnpiker pete AMT5006 6646.jpg

Now, to answer why the rear wheels are turquoise. I can't guess why the original builder of this thing painted 'em that way, but the story I concoct is that they are just temporary slicks on wheels that get swapped out for a pair of more stylish early '60s era customs with treaded tires, which would be on the car for regular street driving. To make those, I took the later version wheels from the aforementioned Ranchero parts lot, and sliced off the rim parts to put together with a pair of cheap original falcon caps I got off ebay. Those caps weren't long for this world, the outer layer of plastic was reacting badly with the vinyl tires. Later on, I'll paint on thin whitewalls to match the fronts. I'll be sure to take photos of these street wheels/tires on the model when it is finished, but otherwise they'll reside in the back with the Ranchero kit's tool box and jack.

Darker coloration in the exhaust pipe welds. Must. Remember. That. for my own future builds where it's needed. Good work!

Thanks guys! I'm actually decently far along in this restoration / tidying-up effort, been stacking up photos as I go. Gotta bring at least one model, even if just for display, to the late April GSL contest. (secured my hotel reservation today) As can be seen in the 'as delivered' photo composite in the first post, the shortened windshield had some tragically large glue blobs holding it down. I've pretty well erased those, and have hidden them below a strip of black vinyl. Quite likely it was a chopped window kit piece, since the top edge shows no signs of cutting or filing. However, I can't say that the way the original builder sanded the hood totally flat was a good idea. So, I hacked the raised cowl induction section out of the Eckler's Corvette glue bomb that I got for a different project (needed its wheels and unused decals) and plopped that there. I'd think a dragster or dry lakes car would have a hood covering some kind of increased power. Pretend that it is front-hinged now. I'll be needing a replacement decal, look out for a post on that in the Wanted section. Second photo shows the reamed out taillight holes for the aforementioned parts lot Ranchero taillights, plus the beginnings of the underside framework (raw plastic at the moment) for a sheetmetal-looking tonneau cover. I also scratched off the oversize Pennzoil decal and put back the tailgate hinges that the original owner sanded off. More on the story of what goes into the bed area in an upcoming post. It will visually explain why this thing has turquoise rear wheels which don't match the fronts.

A super cheap ebay parts pile provided the missing taillights (and other useful parts). They are chrome blobs begging for real definition of where the back of the ring is supposed to meet the body, so I 'lathe-turned' a pair of fixtures on my motor tool which I could glue into the back of the units so that I could later chuck them into my mini-lathe, enabling me to carve away the material behind the ring. Also, this setup will allow me to chuck them into my motor tool like you see here, when it comes time to paint the red lens areas in a perfect circle.

Chrome headlights have long been a pet peeve of mine. Turns out here that the headlight lenses out of an AMT '56 Crown Victoria fit in the reamed out areas with only minor tweaking, and the reflectors of the foglights out of a Revell '69 Camaro are a perfect fit. Not ambitious enough to solve the turn signal lights that way, so they will eventually get a wash of liquify white paint. But the look of separate bumper bolt heads is easy to achieve - drilled out the molded-on ones for the polished ends of aluminum paper clip wire.

'61 Ranchero speedster gluebomb, that is. This one was dirt cheap last year on ebay with free shipping, probably destined for the trashcan after several price reductions. The photos were so dark, I thought it had a tonneau cover. Long story short, the interesting overall look was something I couldn't resist, and I could see where the original builder was going with this idea. Plus, I can envision a reason why it had such an offbeat color for the rear wheels. But it also had too many distractions going on. It's one of those models where you say "cool concept, except I'd fix this, and that, and that …." So, first, the 'as delivered' photo composite, then onto the fixes.

No problem. I've seen a few other guys overlook this detail. Doesn't take much to bring it out, just a bit of black on the jack and irons, and maybe a leftover yellow decal bit that looks like a warning label. On my former Blazer there I had sandblasted the rust off the clamps and two of the irons and hadn't yet painted them.

In case you are unaware of it, the shapes on the top of the passenger side fender liner are the jack and the tire irons, along with the clamps holding them in place.

No doubt many have had this same overall idea, myself included. I've even gone so far as to acquire two kits to accomplish this (difference being both are rag tops), although with my own brand of demented twist to it. But it's just a collection of parts on the shelf for the time being.

Ditto!

Ran across this guy's R/C Toyota Chinook years ago. Don't know my R/C stuff, so I couldn't say what scale it is. https://toyotachinook.wordpress.com/2012/02/11/the-scale-model-rc-toyota-chinook/

Very true! It was one of three photo alterations I did years ago to mess with the mind of a Cobra kit car guy I knew. He didn't like it either.

Cobra mini home camper? Remember the '70s do-it-yourself one with the VW Beetle nose? (so-so photo alteration I did years ago)

Seen while bicycling through a retirement community. Lack of snow might be responsible for this ...

X3 on this one and the "Mother's Cherry Pie" variant. Of the two, the Woodstock retained its wheels when I played with it in the carpet, but Man! were those things a chore to assemble. I snagged a pair of the original blue-molded panel off ebay recently for cheap (1 unpainted built-up & 1 complete kit), with the intent of finally conquering that kit. Stay tuned on that later.

You have just one post here. Stick around for quite a while and you'll see the rest of us tell our war stories on particular models. Even for some of the most experienced, there are some kits which look ok at first, and the deeper you get into them, the more frustrating they are, although those with experience declare all-out war with major efforts to correct what's wrong with the kits.

Not actually an island here, but the weather here is not especially different, and we do have palm trees. Plus Gregg will likely approve.