Hammerdown

Thanks guys for checking it out. The 1/10th parts are from the RC world including the Parma Baracuda body and the rear slotted mags, the tires are off road nobbies that I sanded to slicks. I have a RARE 1/10th Blown Hemi funny car motor, injection molded by Parma that you used to find hanging on the racks at RC shops. It was also released in boxed packaging by MPC as a kit with Sirley "Cha Cha" Muldowney on the cover, which iI saw recently on the net for $160!! Pretty well everything else including the front five spoke Cragar mags I want, will be scratch built. I'm struggling with the paint scheme, beautiful candy blue and orange custom California or an existing scheme like the Snakes feared Black Cuda or fireman Jim Dunn's front and rear engine cars or Dam Yankee or Keeling and Clayton or the Shoe's Stardust? Hmmmm what do yuall think? Can't wait to finish it and make the video with it doin a smokie burnout. My buddy is making one with a 1970 Charger body. I see a 70's AA/FC RC Match Race in my future, that I'll upload to the Tube. Coming to a scale dragstrip soon..

Thanks guys for checking it out. Mike the 1/10th parts are from the RC world including the Parma Baracuda body and the rear slotted mags, the tires are off road nobbies that I sanded to slicks. I have a RARE 1/10th Blown Hemi funny car motor, injection molded by Parma that you used to find hanging on the racks at RC shops. It was also released in boxed packaging by MPC as a kit with Sirley "Cha Cha" Muldowney on the cover, which iI saw recently on the net for $160!! Pretty well everything else including the front five spoke Cragar mags I want, will be scratch built [thanks Joe] . I'm struggling with the paint scheme, beautiful candy blue and orange custom California or an existing scheme like the Snakes feared Black Cuda or fireman Jim Dunn's front and rear engine cars or Dam Yankee or Keeling and Clayton or the Shoe's Stardust? Hmmmm what do yuall think? Can't wait to finish it and make the video with it doin a smokie burnout. My buddy is making one with a 1970 Charger body. I see a 70's AA/FC RC Match Race in my future, that I'll upload to the Tube. Stay tuned boys.

I have video just have to get it on this site. Hey Chris... I race you man, $50 or pink slips.

JT I think I developed this technique. It's a form of card modelling but I am creating the images using my digital camera, in this case the various body panels and exterior surfaces of a Western Star.

Thanks guys. Ya Greg, basically they are a 3D photograph combined with the plastic chassis. JT you could use this technique in any scale.

I scratch build these 1/43 scale Western Stars based on the trucks I have actually driven. The lumber hauler runs on Vancouver Island and the produce refer unit I ran from Vancouver Island to Nevada, Arizona, California and all points in between. To achieve the accurate finished model I was wanting I first took digital photos of the real trucks from every angle then scaled all the photos to 1/43rd. Then I cut out all the parts from the photos, doors, fenders, hood, grill, etc. and glued them over foam core bulkheads that were mounted on a plastic chassis and wheels. The finished model is an exact photographic replica of the real truck

Scratch built 1/12th scale Jet Dragster that really goes, fire, smoke and all! Using styrene balloon straws I fabricated this Jet Dragster chassis. This car goes like stink, powered by C-class hobby rocket engine that slides into a PVC pipe inside the muffler tape covered, afterburner, tailpipe of the scratch built General Electric J85 jet engine. I run it down the street on a scale quarter mile length of fish line, anchored at both ends. after crossing the finish line the engine back fires and pushes out the parachute that slows the smoking machine. It's very cool to see and I entertain the neighbourhood regularly by match racing another version I have built.

I Love 70's Funny Cars!! Hanging out at the track as a kid helping my brother run his C Gas Dragster, I got exposed to the Nitro Funny Car Circus with all the fumes and shakin goin on and have wished ever since to own and drive one of those Plastic Fantastics... till then I build them to scale. The latest is a scratch built 1/10th scale 1973 Baracuda, one of the coolest AA/FCs back in the golden days of drag racing. I am using a 1/10th Parma RC body with a, hard to find, 1/10th Parma blown hemi kit. It's a slow process since free modelling time is so hard to find. I'm fabricating two chassis, front and rear engine layouts using styrene balloon straws. I'm planning on being be able to switch out the body and hemi and have two great models in one. I've sanded down some off road RC tires and found some, not bad looking slotted mags, I'll have to make the front five spoke Cragar mags. The plan is to install an RC set-up so I can create some excellent videos with smoke, fire and sound effects on a scale strip... stay tuned. Sunday... Sunday...SUNDAY!!!

I Love 70's Funny Cars!! Hanging out at the track as a kid helping my brother run his C Gas Dragster, I got exposed to the Nitro Funny Car Circus with all the fumes and shakin goin on and have wished ever since to own and drive one of those Plastic Fantastics... till then I build them to scale. The latest is a scratch built 1/10th scale 1973 Baracuda, one of the coolest AA/FCs back in the golden days of drag racing. I am using a 1/10th Parma RC body with a, hard to find, 1/10th Parma blown hemi kit. It's a slow process since free modelling time is so hard to find. I'm fabricating two chassis, front and rear engine layouts using styrene balloon straws. I'm planning on being be able to switch out the body and hemi and have two great models in one. I've sanded down some off road RC tires and found some, not bad looking slotted mags, I'll have to make the front five spoke Cragar mags. The plan is to install an RC set-up so I can create some excellent videos with smoke, fire and sound effects on a scale strip... stay tuned. Sunday... Sunday...SUNDAY!!!

JOHN... you must be from another planet. Your master modelling abilities are phenomenal! I wish I had time to spend on all the projects I have on the go. Time is the most valuable commodity in the world and you accomplish the most amazing things with your time. You have said you'd like to be a professional model builder. Your work IS professional quality you just need to get paid for it. I build custom truck models for clients who are prepared to spend some pretty good coin, but it's only a secondary income at the present. I'm hoping to make it my sole source of income soon. Has "Large Father" seen the project you are working on? I'm certain he'd buy it when you're done, it would make a great addition to his museum. You need to send your portfolio to the Smithsonian or Peterson Automotive Museum or WETA in New Zealand where my sister and her husband work with Peter Jackson on all his movies. If you really want to make a living using your exceptional skills, I don't think you'd have trouble finding work. After seeing your latest masterpiece, I think I'll give up model building and take up knitting. GO JOHN GO!

You're right JT, I scratch built them using a number of materials including paper.

Fantastic looking rig.

EXCELLENT!!!!

A couple of my 1/43 Western Stars. I've driven both trucks for a number of years, the "Super B" around Vancouver Island and the refer from the Island to California and Nevada.

Thanks for the comments guys

More pictures of my 1/43 scale digital photo replicas. 1. Take photos of real subject from every angle. 2. Scale photos on colour copier then cut out all the surfaces. ie, hood, doors, grill, etc. 3. Mount all the pieces together over foam core bulkheads on top of a plastic chassis. 4. Wire them with micro LED lights for super detail.

More photos of my "kit bashed" 71 Camaro Funny Car. 1/32 scale Monogram body stretched over a chopped and channeled Revell chassis. Fully plumbed with many metal and working parts including, throttle linkage, steering, fire extinguisher and parachute release systems. Built in 1973 and I've still got it! I made this model as realistic as I could, at the time.

Great job. Very accurate look and detail for a fantasy car. What are the build details? Revell chassis what body etc ?

Thanks guys. I'm going to fix some broken details but leave it as is. I am building a ramp truck for it and will post pics.

Ya 40 years ago I was hanging out at Bison Dragways watching Tom Hoover, Gary Beck,The Snake and the stars of the day. I helped run a C/Gas Dragster with my brother. I was nuts about Funny Cars [still am] and wished I'd scrounged a job with a touring team. I spent many hours replicating what I saw at the track and in my favourite Magazine... Drag Racing USA. This model kicked butt at every model contest I entered back in the day. I think I might spend some time and restore it. It could use some attention. It's great that after all these years of it sitting on my shelf that through this technology I'm able to expose it to my fellow modelers from around the world! Thanks for looking guys.

Excellent. Looks like what I use to see a lot of, out on the big road, around Chi-town in my 78 Mack, back in the day.

Looks Great Man

Ya, any scale. I'm doing most of them in 1/43 since the toy chassis's I'm using are affordable and easily available. Plus the finished product with base and dust cover measures 28" long and about 6" high. This makes a nice size for displaying on a shelf or desk top. I've actually built a 1/64 model for a customer. The subject was an International Eagle with Fiber Optic lighting. There aren't many limitations on the scale of the finished model although a 53' trailer does photocopy onto an 11"x 17" sheet in one shot at 1/43. I do have some 1/32 chassis's that I'm going to get to work on. Dam, if I had to I could build a 1:1 model LOL but it'd probably be cheaper and easier to just go down to my local Western Star dealer and drive one off the lot.

Here are a bunch of more photos on 2 pages http://s1281.photobu.../?sort=3&page=1

Thanks for looking and sharing your thoughts, guys