Straightliner59

Try this one: http://www.plateshack.com/

My relatively humble collection.

A lot of the US Bicentennial plates were cool. I grew up in Montana, and their '76 plates are my favorite. I am sure Acme used to have them, but, you're right, they aren't there, anymore.

I love all the little things you do with your work. I'm always checking out your threads, for ideas to steal! ?

Radius rods progress! Once they are permanently installed, I can finish up the details in the lower "half", at which point, I can begin working on the seat and cockpit coaming. I will use white glue/water infused parchment paper for all the leather surfaces, and a whole lot of piping to hide the seams. Fortunately, there is a lot of piping on a real one, too.

Thank you, Steve. These roadsters were pretty dang cool! I just need to clean up, and paint the radius rods, then, they can be installed.

Stunning work. Absolutely gorgeous!

This entire fuel system is scratch built, from the pump, to the manifold, to the stacks and injectors.

Feels like I am rolling, here! I got the rear radius rods almost built, and have the seat cushions made. I will likely cover them with parchment paper, although, I am considering another option. I also cast new front wheels. The rear axle is solidly in place. I hope to have the rest of the suspension mounted by the end of next weekend.

Thank you, Nigel. It was actually something with the seat, and the cockpit , and the multi-piece body, and the way it assembles. I just had one of those head slapping moments, and voila! The project is back on the bench! I just got the idea for the grill, yesterday, and tried that, and it was a quick finish, to that!

I am unabashedly beginning another WIP thread! This model was begun at least twenty years ago (are we noticing a theme, here? ?), and has been revived by the BOYD thread. Many of my projects tend to sit from time to time, while I fiddle around with some new idea for another project, or, an epiphany on an old project strikes me, which brings it back to the front of the bench. In this case, we have the latter. This model was loosely inspired by the Belanger Special, which (obviously) is a full-sized Indy car. So, why start with the ancient Monogram Midget? First, it's an old Monogram kit! I have some kind of affinity for these things, despite their shortcomings. Second, it's a Kurtis Kraft, so it has the proper, general look. Finally, it's box scale, and larger enough than 1/24 scale, that the size difference works in our favor. I don't recall what I used to lengthen the belly pan. I added a few details to the engine, and covered the inside of the belly pan with tooling aluminum. I will use a pink eraser to dull its shine, some before final assembly. I rebuilt the steering, so that it's poseable. I added some plastic rod and half-round to represent chassis tubing. The seat base is bent from tooling aluminum, as well. When I took the latest photos, this morning, I noticed that the front tires and wheels had begun a parasitic relationship, so I sent them on their way. I wasn't happy with the tires, anyway. Fortunately, I had recently made a mold of the front wheels. They are from the Heller BMW 328, and I like them, in this place. Unfortunately, that means that the rear tire/wheel assemblies had to come apart, so that the paint can be stripped from the wheels, because whatever can of paint I used on this set of wheels, is loooooonnnnngg gone! In the process of removing the wheels from the (plastic) tires, one of the tires was broken. In a drawer full of old tires that I'd set aside, specifically because they were unique, and thought they would likely be useful, one day, I found a complete set of black plastic, two-piece Indy car tires! I had to chuck them in the lathe, and open them up, a bit, so that the wheels will fit. The fact that they will need to be repainted opens up color options. Since I opened the project back up, last night, I made the seat back from .005" Evergreen sheet, for backing, and .125" half-round, for the padding. The padding will get some reshaping, to make it look more natural. I also made the grille from expanded metal mesh from a grease splatted screen, formed using a doming block and die. As I get further along, I plan to use actual gold leaf, for some of the graphics. Most likely, that will be the numbers. Questions, comments and critiques are always welcome! Thanks for looking!

That went better than expected! I used expanded metal mesh, from a cheap spatter screen and a doming block, to make the grille. The seat back is .005" styrene sheet, and .125" Evergreen half-round, for the padding. It will receive some shaping, before being covered.

Alrighty, then! It's Monogram's ancient Midget kit, adjusted to more resemble a "big car", inspired by the Belanger Special. You can just call it Midget/Indy Car. I want to switch, because I was looking at some photos of old Indy cars, and the solution to one of my dilemmas suddenly came to light!

There's some great stuff about that from Tom Jobe, talking about how they arrived at their setup. I think I have it here, somewhere.I'll post it, if I can find it, if you're interested.

Mr. Snake, sir. I would like to request permission to swap horses, right here, in midstream. I've had this sitting around for about 20 years, and it's a lot closer than the Pete is, and, I would really like to see it through!

Okay, it's old, and it's Monogram. That must mean that I have been wanting to build one! I found some old Cox magnesium Chaparral slot car wheels on Ebay, a while back. I found some tires in my parts boxes that fit them, and have roughly the correct profile. The wheels/tires pictured here are from my stash, and were only to assist in determining the stance. If anyone knows of a good source for those old Firestone tires, I am all ears! Otherwise, I will clean up the sidewalls, on these, and apply decals. I like poseable steering, on my models, and the way this kit was designed, there wasn't near enough room, for that to be a reality. They had "footwells" molded into the model that ate up the clearance that would allow the wheels to steer. I looked at how other Chaparral kits were designed, and started whacking out the offending plastic. I replace that with sheet plastic. I will make some very basic suspension arms and spindles for the front end. I also began installing interior "panels". I used a small block Chevy from the parts box. I found a set of downdraft Webers,--I believe from an old IMC kit. The manifold is an injector manifold from the parts stash. It will get fuel lines and plug wires. I'm off to start working on getting the upper body to fit over the interior, and fabricate and install further "paneling", to block off any readily-visible openings. As always, questions, comments and critiques are welcome! Thanks for looking!

I'm sure everybody, but I, has seen this! I ran across it looking for stuff about Chaparrals, and found this trove of great stuff! https://slotracer.online/community/showthread.php?tid=147&pid=756#pid756 I also ran across this. What a classic shot of CanAm cars!

I love this project! I intend to purchase one of those crappy, old AMT kits, just based on this. Looks great, Geoff!

Those Revell wheels are nice. I hadn't seen them, before. I never got around to one of those 'Vettes, but, I understand they are beautiful kits.

Those do look better. I stand corrected. Those wheels (Vectors) were in a lot of different kits, all around that same period. I have a set of Otaki Vectors that are very nice, but they are much deeper.

Beautiful work!

Oh! That's what they're from? They have a real Johan "feel" about them, but, I knew they weren't Johan. Sure enough! Here, they are.

I used individual letters from a Microscale model RR sheet. Yeah, that was fun! Ray's wheels are beautiful!

Read my response. I didn't say they were exact matches. I said they're the best I have. Every other set I have seen have even fewer spokes. It's nothing to sand down a hub, and add a spinner. But, whatever. Show me some better ones!

Francis, your machining skills are a wonder, to see! I always appreciate your sharing of your work, my friend!