Russell C

Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner. I still have a few bits of leftover interior pieces out of it.....

Back in 1986, I traded/sold off nearly all of my leftover 25th scale truck stuff in exchange for a bit of cash and two kits: a Monogram Folgers Monte Carlo and the kit that's the basis of this model (brownie points to any who can identify the make & model + what the kit was). Don't ask me what prompted the 'hobby career' switch from sane model trucks to wacko model cars. I like to have some fun messing with people's minds, I guess. I'm more of a Ford NASCAR guy than a GM one, but the body lines of this one seemed to be a nice (although utterly impossible in reality) fit at the time. But "why stop there?", is what I thought, so I gathered up what I could find out of SAE 1:1 reference photos and did the best I could to replicate the wiring and other detailing found in Cup cars circa the mid '80s. And in a good effort to make this an accurate "inaccurate", I did a reasonable amount of research into what would be seen on a Cup version of this car, along with some bits on the optional in-car bulky camera, and the color scheme for the main sponsor decals. Yep, besides the base car being wrong, you'd never see that sponsor on an '80s car. The Rock Island railroad went bankrupt in 1977. And if I have it right, #14 was already a taken number by the Foyt team, but it is my favorite number, so tough beans. Plus, I always wanted to drive one of these, so there's my name on the upper doors. That Thermos jug next to the seat is painted in accurate colors, by the way. I own a '70s-era jug that looks exactly like that. The gearshift knob is painted to resemble a #14 pool ball. I forget if the number on it is a decal or if I had to paint it. All of the NASCAR bits on this came from the Monte Carlo, including the fender flares and of course the chassis, which happened not to need any adjustment of its wheelbase. The reflection under the model, by the way, is just what happens when I use the smoked glass pane from my coffee table on top of a piece of white poster board. One more added bit is the fuel overflow tube sticking out the back, the end piece of a Pentel pencil where the lead comes out. Within the sights of the in-car cameras in those days were decals on the dash of the driver's number and name, his primary sponsor, and the TV network. So, I couldn't resist creating paper 'decals' for the Public Broadcasting Network. Some heat stretched & shaped red sprue makes a reasonably realistic set of air ducts for the brakes. Four pipes on just one side of the engine indicates another major intentional inaccuracy, though. Yep, that's an Isuzu 4-cylinder in there (my dad lathe-turned the air cleaner out of aluminum for me). The problem with all those 1:1 reference photos I had, none had good views of the engines. But I did have perfect 24/7 views of the engine in my Chevy Luv pickup, so I used that as a reference to turn a scrap parts engine & tranny into an accurate replica. Who was going to stop me? Yep, I had fun with it, I still get a kick out of it. If you think this one is blasphemous, wait 'till you see the rest of the top fuel dragster I did as a lark for a special theme category at one of the old Arizona contests Tim Pentecost and the White Mountain Plastic Modelers used to have.

That got some rusty old unused gears turning in my mind, but the name still didn't sound right. Finally remembered it, it was Power Graphics Truck-Um-Up Posters, and a bit of searching turned up the original printer company and that guy's ebay store page where he sells reprints.

Just kidding, actually, I prefer the direction you are going. And, "Foxer" beat me to the bit on embedding links. Though if you had a resin version available later, and if I had the time later, I can already envision the pickup version via a quick & dirty photo alteration using this guy's pic. Perspective is still a tad off, and I'd have to do something a bit better with the angle of the rear surface, but it gives the general idea, particularly the application of the 914 taillights.

And in case you need any additional ideas, there was actually a full size 914 'ranchero'.

The biggest mod was to fill in the bottom edge of the windshield opening. The center section of the bumper was flat plastic sheet, while each end was bare metal foil covered modified ends of the Astro bumpers. All 'eyeball engineered' rather than by using real measurements, so one could perhaps get side & front views of both where you could overlay the printouts and see more accurately where they differ... The bigger chore was using the Astro dash as the basis for the new one, where I used sheet plastic and rather uncooperative cardboard to form the new dash pods. I might be able to dredge up the bottomside photo of the dash later.

Heat-stretched green plastic sprue might be another option, though it would be a bit tricky to glue in place. I used red as stripes on a 32nd scale stocker's wheels since there was no way I could paint a really thin consistent width red stripe.

And thanks again for the kind words, all. I'll be digging a couple others out of storage later, all from the '80s.

Back in this thread, I had one photo showing the Ertl unit that I had altered to be a Crown 500. That was a long time ago, back in the mid '80s. I forget where I saw a full size one, but I thought it was neat how the Crown 500 had a little outside exhaust stack.

Don't look too closely. The project was beyond my skill level at the time, I used it later at a model car club meeting as a demo on how a person should be his own harshest critic when it comes to 'big league' model car competitions. The person with the garbage truck who came in second to me at Lou Kroack's monthly contest should have gotten first. I'm thinking of re-working it to clear up all the junior modeler mistakes I have in it, but that'll have to wait 'til I have a lot more time.

Oh, yeah. Starting around the "Movin On'" era and on up to the mid '80s, I looked forward to going to the truckstop every two months to get the magazine. Got my two differrent 15 minutes of fame with first place finishes in Lou's monthly contest, May/June '82 with my Pete well driller, and July/August '81 with my Diamond Reo C-90 (based on the Autoworld "Building Model Trucks" how-to article). The Pete is a bit harder to dig out of the closet, but I still have it.

Naw, friction fit. Which probably explains why my 1:1 that was rebuilt as a scrap write-off sheds its parts.

A designer named Carl Green did a prototype 1:1 for AMC of a pickup. Look out for an old copy of Petersen's Trucking Trends 1977 with an article in it about it, or a copy of the July '77 Pickup Van & 4WD magzine. Another repaint of the car at Green's own page here.

Or a variation on that theme is to heat-stretch some sprue out of whatever kit the body came from - same color plastic, in other words - and glue it into the line via capilary action with either Tenax or methyl ethyl ketone. Allow it to dry for hours, then sand it smooth.

Many thanks for the nice words. I'm impressed, too, but in a different way, which sorta beats up on teensy models when they are viewed at actual size. Way back when I entered this one in a contest or two, in rooms that weren't so well lit, it seemed to get lost in its own basically dark color and its small size. Funny how on the computer screen, it is much bigger and the details come to life out in the harsh sun. That's one reason why I get a kick out of a diecast Cobra I have, its dark metalic blue is ok inside, but the color really pops out in the sun. And from the pic below, it reinforces how my apartment is actually really murky at night with just the 60watt lamp behind me. I had to turn on whatever the extra light is in the ceiling fan above....

I'd argue that 3D printing is "here" and available for general use among hobbyists in no different manner than destop publishing is here. Destop publishing will never replace mass-publishing by traditional printing presses, but the average citizen with a computer can print up rudimentary "lost pet" flyers with photos and clipart graphics, or they can go full tilt and publish a model car magazine like Roy Sorenson does. Or they can design their own decals from scratch, perfectly replicate old sheets and resize them as needed, or do artwork for photoetch parts. But the barriers are learning the software, and finding service providers to complete the work, and having the money for all of that. It's all a matter of how involved each person wants to get. In the case of both publishing and 3D printing, the technologies were totally out of the reach of the average citizen. Check out this short tutorial on what looks like a simplistic drawing program, and you get an idea of how a person can create a part that injection molders will never be able to justify making, due to their own barriers of low-volume / niche market problems. Then rummage around in YouTube for other tutorials on how to draw 3D cars and the parts on them. I can hardly wait 'til the time I can take the total plunge into this myself.

I built this one way back in 1991 for a club theme contest where we had to build "a vehicle for sale". I figured nobody was expecting anything this small. The kit is a model railroad N-scale '34 Ford, and as can be seen from this first photo which I snagged off eBay, there's only 4 pieces to the kit. Really primitive. I hollowed out the cab, and wiped out the passenger side door purposely so I could hang a crooked scratchbuilt new one made from clear sheet material. It has a very narrow bit of scotch tape to simulate the beltline, and a tiny bit of wire for the door handle. The interior has a scratchbuilt steering wheel, and some scrap bits to simulate the remains of a seat base. The gear shift lever is either very fine wire or heat-stretched sprue, I forget which. To simulate a bent-open tank compartment door and partly open hood, I gouged away the metal and simulated those panels with the same clear sheet material. The "4 sale" sign is just stiff dirty paper, marked with a fine marker pen. I 'lathe-turned' the headlight buckets, horn and wheels/tires on my motor tool. I'll have to do up a photo tutorial to show how easy it is to make small plastic parts like that from scratch. No need to own an expensive lathe to create such things. The headlight cross bar is stretched sprue, so that the headlight buckets could be solidly glued onto it. The weeds are also heat-stretched sprue, yellow plastic pulled to hair-thin thickness, wound into tight ovals, stuffed into holes in the base, then the tops were cut off which resulted in the toothbrush bristle look. The tumble weeds under the truck are wadded up (and glued to hold that shape) stretched sprue, placed there to hide the rods that holds the truck to the base. The 'dirt' is a combination of tan paint heavily sprayed onto the base and then immediately covered with extremely fine windblown dust gathered from a roadside curb. The wood base was a cheap craftstore pine item, stained to look like better quality wood. I forget exactly what paint I used, probably an airbrushed model railroad color with a bit more work with watercolor brown and tan and some dust rubbed into it to get it looking like good ol' out-west rust patina. Handy thing with derelict vehicles, you aren't obligated to create windows.....

Appears the domain registry lapsed or something. But using the internet archive web site, you can still view what used to be at that site: http://web.archive.org/web/20110622062249/http://straightlinemodeler.org/parts/parts.html

Aaargh. Zip ties are what holds the aftermarket used '88 grille on my current ride, a 1986 with 300k miles now (plastic odo gear broke right after I got it, so it sill says 86k. Yes, indeed, I would have rather had what I have now as a first car instead of the truck I had in high school. More fun than some ordinary boringmobile. I avoid going offroad for my Colorado vacations like I used to (a bit tough on vehicles not intended for such things), but mine is still a hoot to drive on the curvy paved roads. Remember to keep the shiny side up on yours, and you'll have many happy times.

That one, plus 6 others relating to '70s era Chevy Blazers.... and I got roped into being the #2 moderator at the Blazer Chalet / GMC Jimmy Casa Grande owners' & enthusiasts forum.

I want a 3-D printed Buckaroo Banzai Jet Car.

I did quite well with this paper Bluesmobile kit at the GSL 21 contest where I ̶̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶a̶w̶a̶r̶d̶e̶d̶ ̶ awarded myself first place. (borrowing KCSlammer's Fotki photo of it)

Then there's the integral sleeper version....

I favor "dust art" cars, being that it takes a bit more talent to create one.....

Cheapo junk mail adhesive-backed chrome mylar sticker material from a particular auto club is what I use. Various stickers are smooth all the way across instead of being partially textured, with enough material for sideview & interior mirrors, plus random reflectors for taillights & front turnsignals.