ChrisBcritter

"Santa Baby A Nova station wagon beneath My tree..."

My, my. Great job on that woodwork and upholstery!

Yes, I built up an NOS '63 Nova kit 327 for my '65 Nova - it was molded with a manual, but I swapped in a Powerglide to match the automatic setup in the interior:

Oh, am I stoked to read this - even though I FINALLY managed to make a good set of red and clear tail/backup lights just yesterday . Wonder if the new ones will have those little reflectors in the middle? I just hope they'll do justice to the original trim and emblems. Interesting to see they want to do an engined version as well; not a giant leap since both original versions have a full engine compartment and separate hood (unlike the '64 Ford or '66 Skylark). Wonder if it will get a 6/Powerglide or just borrow a V8 from an existing tool? Pretty sure a surfboard rack will be involved, at least!

It's not as iconic, but I fell for this car over 40 years ago when I got the magazine; hopefully it survived but I haven't heard anything since I posted it on the H.A.M.B.: It's a sectioned '49 Dodge Wayfarer with a supercharged Plymouth poly V8.

There's a learning process for the UV resin red taillights I'm making - seems like even with a four-minute blast of light, they end up hollow with a gooey red center on anything thicker than 1/16". I did manage to drain the centers out of the Nova lights I'm doing, and got an acceptable set of red/clear tail/backup combos for the '63 wagon and '66 hardtop.

My condolences to you and your family, Carl.

Thought I already posted the finished '64 Coupe deVille from Cooley High here, but I guess not. Seeing Glynn Turman in the new Fargo series reminded me, so:

Got some clear red taillights cast successfully for the Lindberg Granada, Aurora Alfa Romeo, Jo-Han '62 Chrysler, Premier English Ford, Hubley '61 Ford, and some spares for the '60 El Camino and Hubley Renault. Need a little more practice with the red/clear combos for the 63 and '66 Novas. Also got the '62 Newport firewalls fixed where I removed the incorrect heater box and Treadle-Vac can - put clear tape over the holes and filled them from behind with resin.

Scratch and... lose

I can split hairs and say that MAD's paperback book collections influenced me - they got me into song parodies long before Weird Al showed up.

The mold came out perfect - clear and bubble free. I went to make test shots of several items; I usually put the UV resin into the mold a drop at a time with a straight pin. Now with a nice clear mold I can see I'm getting bubbles in the resin; the more I try to lift them out with the pin, the more I get! So I chucked it into the pressure pot for ten minutes at 50 psi, and they were (nearly) all gone after that. The Badman headlights, Renault headlights, and '63 Nova wagon clear taillights all came out excellent with two minutes under the UV lamp. Now I've got some red taillights under pressure; I'll pull them out later and hit them with the UV - fingers and toes crossed again; I think I may be able to make both the '63 and '66 as one-piece clear and red tail/backup lights. Stay tuned...

In Deerfield, the model shelves were still full when I picked up the '29 A roadster; seems like the train and Pinewood Derby stuff moved out and robot stuff moved in. No Supernatural Impalas; haven't seen one there or in Niles yet.

At last, found a (resin) '61-'64 Pontiac promo engine filler: Which means now I have at least the bottom half of a "Slim Jim" Roto Hydramatic transmission, and my '62 Catalina mild custom will be automatic like a good cruiser should be.

Got all the (mostly) chrome head/parking/taillights attached to the base to pour a clear rubber mold later tonight, I hope. Full list: '62 Chrysler 300 taillights Premier English Ford taillights '63 Nova wagon taillights '65 El Camino original taillights '66 Nova taillights '55 Chevy Badman head and taillights Aurora 1/32 Alfa Romeo taillights Hubley '61 Ford taillights Hubley Renault Dauphine head/tail/parking lights (the latter were molded to the body and had to be sawed off) '64 Chevelle Malibu backup lights (also molded in; had to make a mold, cast a copy of the rear panel and cut out the masters) Lindberg 1/32 Ford Granada taillight (have one, need two) '60 El Camino taillights (these were NOS, right off the tree - just try to find a builtup that still has them, or doesn't have the custom lenses glued on top of them! I'm using clear rubber so I can get a thorough, fast cure with the clear UV resin. If this works, I have a few more to try (like Lee custom taillights for the '56 Chevy). Edit 4:30 AM: Mixed, poured, into the pressure pot and we'll see what happens in 24 hours. Fingers and toes crossed.

Picked up the Revell '29 A roadster at HL on sale; the idea being to use the guts under the Butera '27 T sedan delivery I won at the LMMCC raffle last weekend. Also got some 3/32" ID rubber windshield washer hose to put over the shanks of those miniature drills to make 'em easier to use by hand.

It's the original Tempest LeMans coupe body and chrome with the wheelbase altered and rear wheel wells modified, paired with a newer chassis and gutted interior. IIRC this version was first issued in 1967?

I got this set from Harbor Freight, cheap: So far, so good - nice and sharp. Wish they came with a 3/32" shank instead of 1/8" so they would fit my little Michael's grinder; I can work them by hand OK but I do tend to get cramps in my fingers after a while. I'm going to pick up some automotive rubber hose with 3/32" ID and cut short lengths to fit over the shanks as cushions to see if it helps.

I checked the pickup bed shell that comes with the Gear Hustler El Camino since it's a flat panel about 2 1/8" by 3 7/16", but it has the same issue (wrong number of thin ribs and the thick ones aren't thick enough). Here's a cropped shot of your trailer with the pattern enhanced: Your closest match would be the material used for the MPC Open Road Motor Home. You'd have to sand the thicker ribs down almost level with the thin ones, but that would get you very near to perfect:

little glue problem

One other thing about the Ford pickup tonneau - the surface has a slight texture to it so it's more like leather or calf grain vinyl; the El Camino unit is smooth.

Just got back from another pleasant meeting with the LMMCC, and brought home a few goodies: The Courier is complete and untouched; the T (raffle prize) is sealed, and the Deuce I got to put the interior into an AMT '32 Tudor body - and maybe swap the Phaeton body onto the Show 'n' Go chassis. Someone was giving away a bunch of paint so I got a couple cans of Testor's Copper that haven't leaked. Yet.

I've cast up a few sets of bezels, David - PM me your address and I'll send a set.

Got one around '71 and built it stock; I remember it went together very well, and I always thought it captured the "look" of the car better than the AMT kit did. Good rubber tires, too. Wouldn't mind building another someday...

Sorry to hear this, as he did a set of bumpers for me a while back with no problems or excuses (five week turnaround), but thanks for the info - I have a lot more stuff that needs redoing and it looks like I may have dodged a bullet.