jbwelda

one word: Ferrari oh and that big blank white space where there were evidently supposed to be sponsors...

that is incredible! and a ferrari powered companion will be perfect!

thanks so much for the replies, all great info, exactly what i was hoping for! one thing, i do have a drag racing parts pack and it has most of the parts except of course the center steer dashboard. thats kind of a puzzle because its molded in yellow too...but it could have been drilled out i suppose, it doesnt look like it to me but could be. so the front end and wheels come from that exterminator dragster? i think that means i have to buy at least one of those just for the wheels (and all the motor stuff too!). i have stayed away from the lindberg big models because i always found them kinda toylike compared to the monogram series. they did have some cool parts in them, i love those lever shocks and these wheels of course! on a big tub i recently built and posted here i used a skull shift knob from some lindberg issue of their big red rod. the funny thing about this one, again bought on ebay but unassembled, is that it all was anodized in clear red, really strange. maybe the former owner somehow did it with candy paint but it sure looks like anodizing and im not sure why he would just spray ALL the trees indiscriminately. anyway, i used the red anodized skull shift know, stuck some blu tac in the eye holes and painted it white. gave it a black wash and some detailing and then removed the blu tac...glowing red eyes! thats about the only thing i could think of to use that anodized red! thanks for the tip on the website; i had visited it before, i can tell from the link being "used" in history. it is another great resource. thanks again for the replies and great info! art: the big rod had the large chrome fuel tank that was also a parts pack piece. the big drag had the turtledeck...

thanks jody, thats more and more what im coming to think as well. a couple of history questions if anyone knows their "big" history: was the big t issued in yellow? if so approx what year? was the big drag ever reissued at all? i was also thinking maybe the front end and wheels and maybe tires (michelin though?) came from that double engine dragster recently reissued...does anyone recognize the assembly from there? and the lever shocks sure look at home on the front end...they definately do not look like the lindberg lever shocks from say the big red rod. i would really really love to read a complete well researched article on the big cars, their variants and reissues and that sort of thing. maybe a MCM history writer could consider it? maybe *I* should consider it? thanks again and anyone else with any ideas please chime in.

i bought this Big Drag model built on ebay some years ago, from a guy who had a lot of 1/8th scale buildups, some right out of the box, some highly customized, some mildly modified. he probably had 6 or 7 of them actively being auctioned when i saw this Big Drag. i ended up winning this one and could have gotten a really great looking 32 ford custom but i was unsure of whether the guy could pack them up nice, i didnt want a box of parts. anyway the big drag arrived in absolutely perfect condition, the guy had build inner supports and protection and despite being pushed and dropped clear across the country, it was unscathed. the more i looked at it, the more i was amazed. there is pretty much ZERO glue stains or screw ups or anything. absolutely nothing was painted; i went in and did a couple things like black out the tips of the headers, stuff like that, but when i took delivery nothing was painted. looked straight out of the box. but the more it sat on the shelf the more i wondered: hey wait a second, the big drag came in blue only as i recall, and wasnt there a turtledeck and here i have a pickup bed? so i started thinking maybe it had been built up from a Big T reissue in yellow (was there ever one?) and the various parts packs still available. only problem is, there seem to be some big drag only parts: the center steer dashboard and steering gear primarily. and whats up with these mega cool halibrand spoke front wheels? so i dug out some old mags on the "big" cars i had and sure enough, as you can see in the pics, what i have isnt it. heres a front end shot of it, notice the straight axle. also note the lever shocks, clean factory looking wheel mountings, i didnt shoot the left side but if i had you would notice the big T etc radius rods are missing and instead this drag link steering gear you can sort of see from this angle. also note the magazine cover behind it illustrating what a "real" big drag should look like. heres a shot that shows the halibrand wheels and the simplified, drag link steering. note that nothing is painted; all that yellow is yellow plastic as is the orange engine block. a shot of the interior showing various big drag accourtrements. note center steer dashboard and it doesnt look like it was drilled out, looks molded in.: finally, a shot of the halibrand wheel, sorry about the glare, if i had more of these i would take care of that problem by stripping the chrome and painting them magnesium metalizer! im afraid i didnt get a good shot of the pickup bed, but its there, in yellow plastic with a white tonneau cover. so what do you think? is this a reissue of the big drag that i never heard of? is it custom built? if it was custom built, besides the obvious parts, do you know where for example the front wheels came from or any of the other parts? i would kinda like to see a magazine article done on the more obscure big models monogram made back then; seems to me each had their own unique parts and only some of those parts were available in the parts packs, a history of the reissues and accessories would make a great article! (i should also post this in the big scale section and i might in a day or two) edit: hey wait a second, i just noticed: Michelin tires?

i know this topic faded away and for bringing it back i apologize, but i tried to throw in two cents then but my internet (lack of) connection was stopping me, so hopefully i can still throw it in. my favorite from my childhood were actually a group of models, Monograms "color" models, Green Hornet, Black Widow, Blue Beetle, Yellow Jacket, those ones. i still have buildups of them i either built or collected later on, with some cool period store displays that are available on ebay regularly. i still need a Green Hornet one. i just dug these models, especially the black widow and green hornet, where you could remove the body to reveal the primitive frame and running gear. just too cool.

thanks for posting those links to prior threads, it was nice to see those myself. it does remind me how little its come along in a lot of years. seriously, it was supposed to be literally a 2 week, quick ratrod sort of build.

no one else? then its looking like sonny may have been a bit misinformed. i was hoping at least to hear a story about how revell or someone had one planned but then realized who the hells angels were. on the other hand i was very surprised to hear about it to begin with because the angels are very proprietary with their name and especially their graphics, and i had a hard time imagining a model company wanting to put themselves in the line of what might amount to thinly veiled extortion (not the illegal kind of course) that might follow initial run. ive long wanted to build a diorama of a WT trailer park with meth lab in the back of a camper shell and the motorcycle seemed like just the thing to give it that edge!

>Where did you get the engine? etzel speed classics, resin offy motor. unfortunately it no longer appears to be in production nor does the company exist anymore. might look on ebay but ive been trying to score another one for a year now and have not seen one come up. there is an earlier buildup thread here on the workbench from some time back...maybe search for the string "offy" and you will find it. thanks for looking and thanks for the comments again folks!

nice informative write up mike, keep posting pics of your progress. as fortold by Nostradamus...

i think they all do use the "polycap" design, but you might find odd ones that dont use it. thats not saying any tire will fit on any car, but if you can cram it under the wheel well, it will probably fit on the suspension. its kinda a case by case basis though...

thanks david, yeah its been around for a long while, but not much real work on it. it started out to be like a 3 week build around the etzel offy motor, and i had the all american models T body and nose lying around. but one thing turned into another and you probably know how that goes!

thanks folks, mike i wasnt at the meeting the other night due to other obligations, i would never skip it just to work on a model! hey raul yeah i finished up that big tub last year, now im thinking about the next big scale car (to take me the next 5 years at the rate im going!) bigger pix now!!!

well its been a while but this time its on the bench to finish, in time for NNL West. Still some fiddly bits to get done, complete the interior, hook up front brake lines and of course the front wheels and buick finned brake drums. photos here really dont do it justice because they dont capture the nose low stance that i am aiming for, but with the front wheels on it really looks cool! ok big size images now! problem was: rtfm... couple of notes: the chrome brake handle (the only brake activator on the car...thats gonna be a wild ride!) is only there for position, i need to cut it down, probably replace the handle with alum tubing and do some detailing; the upper radiator hose (anyone else also have nightmares trying to hook up realistic looking radiator hoses? its the bane of my model "career" as it were) is only in place for fitting, need to do some final mods on it and paint and clamp it, and the steering gear and instrument panel need to go in place along with a proper seat support... i will add a couple more photos in a minute assuming my connection stays fairly speedy... heres one of assorted components more or less ready to install: thanks again for looking and the kind comments.

great work jairus! hey bill: the secret to soldering and not undoing adjacent joints is to use a big enough iron that you can heat the area locally hot enough to flow the soldier without keeping the iron in contact with the piece long enough to let the heat migrate beyond the joint youre working on's area. i used to try to use a pencil iron for soldering brass tube like jairus is doing but it would never work out well because i would end up undoing joints as i did others. then someone more familiar with the tricks said that little iron will never work, use you bigger gun. i didnt think that would really help but sure enough it did...hold the trigger down long enough to get the element red and then apply to the joint and pull away as soon as the solder flows. i will let jairus correct me if he has some other secret (heat sinks help too) but otherwise try out what i say and see if it works for you, it did for me. with that big clunky tip though there is a bit more cleanup but if youre careful it is minimal. jairus seeing that makes me want to build more slots even though our track went down!

i was recently reading sonny bargers bio and he said something about there being a hells angel in the midwest or south at one time who campaigned a harley drag bike under the banner of the angels and that evidently revell or someone had either kitted the motorcycle or was considering it (kinda ill conceived if you ask me esp after the way they treated ed roth when he became associated with the club, but anyways...). the question is, and im not one to call sonny barger a liar , was this kit ever released? anyone ever hear of it or have it in their collection? ive never seen it nor ever seen a mention of it that i can recall...but mind you im not calling sonny a liar!!!

thanks for the correx tim, i dug my grease kit out and like you say its the triumph & bsa. and i was confused about the R&MM one i guess; didnt even know amt made a triumph, thought revell had a corner on that market.

heres some shots of one built up: i thought i had some better images saved but i cant find them when i need them!

theres a real cool one being offered in resin. i built one a couple years ago for the NNL West give away, maybe a search on NNL West will turn it up, i am afraid i dont remember the name of the guy doing them (though in a strange tangent to the motorcycles thread elsewhere, i think its the same guy who does the triumph repop for replicas and miniatures of maryland), but they were very nice with some cool vintage speed equipment that i dont think the original had.

yeah i have that grease reissue too, but i think mine only has the honda and the stock triumph; were the harley and the custom triumph reissued as well? i remember just a few years back revell and/or monogram was scheduled to reissue all the motorcycles in a parts pack issue like with the motors, but then all of a sudden it disappeared from their release sheets. too bad to, i was chomping at the bit for that to come out.

and dip the model in cold water before you put it in the freezer, the ice will help force it apart.

wow. thats pretty fantastic!

>I did have the black bleed on a tan interrior after aplying clear over it... yep that will happen. hitting it first with future might protect it but i think i remember it bleeding even using future. so you have to do the sharpie after all clears etc are on.

heres some ive picked up or built over the years: moto guzzi die cast: mini bike out of the bed of some truck model i think: and finally (its been a short career in motorcycle building), the vespa from campus friends set: one more of it, this time real fuzzy but you can see the extracter system i built: one of these days i need to break into the revell parts packs motorcycles i have, its too bad they never did reissue those, though you can get a resin triumph from replicas and mins of mary

depending on whether you want to weatherize the car, you might think about using that effect for some grime around there...in snowy or muddy weather crud would build up there anyhow. then seal it so it doesnt leak out any further.