RatRod

Nice clean build!!! These are the fun kind of builds, we all need to do now and then.

Man, I have always wanted one of these, but never did get one, I even missed the reissue.....Duh!!! You did a great job Tony!!!

Randy, The wheels I used here I don't think are being made any longer, but MAS does some really fantastic aluminum, and PE dragster wheels!!! http://www.mas-parts.com/

After a week of thrashing, here it is!!! Enjoy....

After getting my Digger Cudas, and opening one, I noticed that the body was slightly warped, and the length was slightly off between the top, and bottom body halves. Hmmmm, what to do? Well here's what I came up with. I first cut the bottom out of the lower body. Then installed the rest of the lower body panels to the top. Then added strips of sheet styrene around the bottom edge of the body, to mate the two sections together. After getting a little further along, I realized that another problem had arose, the radius rods would be wider than the lower section. I mounted the batwings inside the torsion bars, and made new rods using polished aluminum. This put everything back inside the lower body piece. The only other thing I changed was to cut the rear axle down 1/4", and cut the stem of the rear inner wheel flush with the rim, this narrowed the track down 3/16" on each side tucking the rear slicks closer to the frame. I also had some old Herb Deeks Models white metal, and photo-etched front rims, and the kit tires fit great, so the were added. Next post.....

Thanks for all the great compliments!!! It was a fun build, and one I've wanted to do for a lifetime.... Tony......The paint I used was Tamiya TS-52 Candy lime green from the can, and then Tamiya TS-19 Metallic blue through an airbrush, after decals, it was topped off with Dupont 2 part clear.

Excellent build Dave!!! It's always great to see your builds, and in person is even better!!! I really love the color!!!

Very nice clean build Curt!!! It's always great to just do a simple project like this, and have it turn out so good!!!

This is my first real build this year after a looooooooong slump. As a kid I always loved the box art for this kit (and still do) but always thought it would be hard to paint correctly so I never bought one. When Revell reissued this kit many years ago I bought up 5-6 of 'em, and they have been boxed up ever since. While digging around back in September I stumbled across the only one I had opened, and figured at 50, it's about time to tackle it!!! I started on this car the last week in September, and really got some good motivation going when we all received the sad news of Bob Paeth's condition, and passing. (Bob designed this kit in 1966) After a brief setback, I continued on, and really felt like Bob was sitting right here coaxing me along to get it finished. This one's for you old friend!!! The truly awesome artwork.... The build.... The only real flaw (other than it's a 1960's Revell kit ) are the headers. The kit headers don't even come close to the box art design, so I still might scratch build a new set!!

Don is right about the Double Dragster kit, and Round 2 IS reissuing it later in '09!!!! For those that have a few of the Blueprinter reissues can use the frame from the fiat, but it is such a simple frame to scratch too!!!

Another fantastic build Tom!!! You are a master, and hope you place high with this wagon!!!

From what I can see it looks pretty good!! You need to resize your pics to at least 640X480 so we can see better.....

$369 today, been jumping 3 cents every other day, so $3.70 will here by weeks end. What really sucks, I drive a Chevy Tahoe, and my commute to work both ways is 90 miles a day.....

NICE double nickel!!! Since I'm taking a small break from bikes, the Revell 55 is on my desk. You did a nice job on the two tone, is this the new Revell kit?

I use a multi-speed Dremel, along with a Dremel "motor speed control" This way I can dial in any speed I need to do whatever job. I don't know if they even make the MSC anymore, but that would be the ticket. One drawback to the speed control is the cost. I paid $45, and that was many moons ago.

Man, after all that hard work, and changing you mind more that your underwear, that Lil truck turned out pretty dang nice Mike!!!

I guess I'm the kid here.....I'll be hitting 50 in a few short months, and like some of you I'm taking several courses in college at the moment trying to refresh things I did 30 years ago, and learning a lot of new things as well. Your right, it's never to late to improve yourself, and keep your brain in check. So, with all that's been said, isn't it funny that all us dusty old farts still build models, and scan the toy isles at every store we walk into......

That's pretty darn cool!!! I've seen several nice wooden autos & bikes over the years, keep at this one, can't wait to see it finished!!!

Very nice roadster!!! That would have been a perfect candidate for a flathead!!! Are youu the same papin67 that used to hang out at Joes Diecast Shack?

Thanks Raul!!! The headers are from the Matt & Debbie Hay T-Bird kit, and fit the engine & chassis like they were made for it. The turned Megs are from a old aftermarket company that no longer exists. Sorry, but this is no longer in my collection, and these are the only pics I have of it. The chassis is your basic Revell 32 with a much lowered stance, shortened rear frame rails, photo-etch brake rotors w/ poloished pewter calipers. The exhaust system was made of polished solder with turned mufflers & megaphones. I also had to do some work to get that motor shoehorned into it, the firewall is modified, and I still had to cut the hood sides out for the valve covers....

Those are just plain sweet cars!!! Looks like an incredible build!!!

Ok, here is one of my big winners from 1997.... This '32 was built to see if I could try my luck at winning the Model Car Sunday for a second year in a row. I chopped the top, made the rear rolled pan, bobbed the fenders, and smoothed the running boards, and molded the fenders so they looked like one smooth piece. Back then the big tire & wheel craze was just hitting, so I used the rims & tires from a Revell Prowler with Ford center caps. The engine came from an AMT Mustang Cobra, and was detailed out. The paint is Duplicolor dark blue metallic (My very first use of lacquers) with a light ivory interior. I used many photo-etched pieces throughout, and yes.....it won!!! Actually this car has been in both SA, and Model Cars magazines more than once, so you might remember it....

Sorry guys, no updates as yet, I haven't had time lately to do any work on this build since I went back to work (funny how that works....lol) I do need to get it done pretty quick though, and will post the finished product when I do!!!

Very nice T Mike!!! I have a few of those, and have had some ideas, but this one is top notch.....

Ditto to Firefox!!! I use it, and like it much better!!!