Straightliner59

I started work on this almost twenty years ago, moved on to something else, and put it back in the closet. Last night, I decided to get it out and take some better photos of it. It began as Monogram's old off-scale Midget kit. Inspired by the old Belanger Special Indy car, I cut it apart and lengthened it, to better represent one of the "big cars". I am considering finishing it up, as I don't think it would require too much time (relatively speaking) to do so. The radiator is completely scratchbuilt. The firewall, hood and seat support are aluminum sheet. Evergreen styrene tube and half-round were used to represent the chassis tubing. The dash has photo-reduced gauges, is covered with "tooling aluminum" found at a crafts store, with bezels (one of which has detached and departed) made from aluminum tubing. Most of it is from the kit, with some modifications and/or enhancements. I've said before that I love these old Monogram kits! I've also been told that I do much more work on them, than they deserve! For me, they capture a real sense of Americana and nostalgia, and, given some attention, they look pretty cool, sitting in the display case. Comments and questions welcome. Thanks for having a look!

It's been a while since I've updated this. That's because it's been a while since I made any kind of progress on it. That's a long story...suffice to say, this project has been on life support. Everything that's led to this point has been a part of that story. Those white pieces at the front of the floorpan are from AMT's '68 El Camino, as are the firewall and the cowl. The El Camino's firewall didn't align with the older AMT chassis, partly because the area filled by those white pieces was empty, before. Fixing that led to a lot of judicious (and some not so judicious) cutting and sanding and fitting and repeating. Cutting the front clip loose was also a big help. It's finally close enough that I figured I could share it. I added a thin strip of styrene at the cowl/firewall joint. Also visible are the smoothed firewall and the heater block-off plate. I chickened out at the idea of opening the cowl vents and covering them with screen, although, you never know!

Thanks, guys! Your kind words are appreciated! Curbsides and slammers are a lot of fun, for me.

I built this a couple of decades ago, and ran across some photos of it in the computer, so, I thought I'd share some of them. It's my take on Boyd's Aluma Coupe. Since I rarely stray far from my drag racing "roots", I incorporated elements of '50s-'60s gassers, but kept it low to the ground. It's more or less a "slammer", given the blacked-out windows. The paint scheme is loosely based on the old Santa Fe Railroad "Warbonnet" scheme (although not the colors!). I used a dropped tube front axle and added front brakes. The wheels are from a Johan funny car kit. I found some old dried out and separated duct tape, stuck to something, and cut the surface film into strips to create the tape over the headlight lenses. Those, along with the capped headers were employed to create a street/strip look. The front wheel dust caps were turned on the lathe. Shocks and radius rods are scratched from brass tubing and HO scale model railroad handrail stanchions. The paint separations are a little rough--c'est la vie...Anyway, it was a quickie build, and a lot of fun, and I like it! Comments/criticisms welcome. Thanks for having a look!

That Cirello mag is awesome! Very, very nice work!

Looking great, JC! Love these old Trans Am racers. Keep 'er rolling along!

Nice work, Bernard! Period perfect graphics!

Thanks, JC. Haven't had much time to work on it, the last few days. Hoping that'll change soon!

Thank you all for the compliments! Since I started it, before I left Denver 14-1/2 years ago, by the time I got around to finishing it, I had to wash it! I guess it's kind of miraculous that it survived five moves, during those years!

Thank you, Brian! That could take a while. It won't be for a lack of trying, though!

I think I knew that, but had forgotten! I couldn't tell they were open, in the photos with the hood sides taped in place, so I thought you'd cut them open, yourself!

Been a while since I updated this thread. That's mainly because I was struggling with how I was going to do the cowl; In the meantime, I finished up a couple of projects that were close to complete. Those are now posted on the Drag Racing Models thread/board. I digress. A friend suggested the cowl from AMT's '68 El Camino. Bingo! It's now cut to size. I think I am going to clean it all up (no need for wipers on a MP racer!), open the grilles and install some sheet to replicate the duct/plenum, beneath. I've also cemented strip to the edges of the hood, to replace the kerf from removing it from the body. I'll remove the heater and wiper motor from the firewall, as well--again, no need for that stuff on a race car! I'll also install the Cowl Induction scoop from AMT's '70 Chevelle (thanks, Rusty Shackleford! Good call!). Not a ton of physical progress, but, progress nonetheless. The Revell hood will need to be thinned considerably, but, it appears that the hood will nestle beautifully between the fenders, once it's cleaned up.

Diggin' this. The louvers look great! Nice job with them!

That depends a lot on the builder. For me, it's very important, because I am completely anal-retentive about such things!grin It's so easy to figure it out, too. I just "Google" "Curb weight of (insert make/model here), then divide by the displacement of the engine I'm using. Done deal! The same formula can be used for virtually any "class racer". Just my $.02.

"Pretty darned detailed for a humble diorama model." Thanks, Bernard. That's because it's so dadgum difficult for me to just build something! It's always, "Gotta' add this. Oh! This would look cool! Let me try this!" I appreciate your kind words, as always. Originally, I had some apprehension about the towel, as well (it was one of the aspects of the model that played into the dio's theme), but, as the project wore on, across the better part of two decades, I finally looked at it as, "Well, I won't have to mess with throttle linkage, this way!" Overall, I'm pretty happy with it, but, I think I like the '34a little better.

Finished 'er up, tonight! Oops! Just noticed I forgot the tank bracket bolts.

Thanks, Snake. That's what really does it for me: researching to ensure that the speed equipment, graphics, etc., reflect the era of the car I'm modeling. Maybe they're "pseudo-replicas" they are replicas of fictitious cars! Hahaha!

Thanks, Edgar! It's not quite finished, but, I'm hoping for the end of the day, today! Thank you, Chris, much appreciated! Rick, thanks! As I recall, I used a color from PlastiCote's "Classic Metals" line. There are several of those that were great for modelers! One color was perfect for unpolished magnesium wheels. I found them at either Michael's or Walmart.

Thanks, Walt! I appreciate that, coming from you. The kit headers are double butt-ugly!

Thanks, everyone, for the nice comments! Well, Snake, gotta have that weight transfer!grin Going to try to get it done today!

A couple more engine shots. The project evolved, as far as its purpose, which is why some photos have the towel, and some, the scoop.

Terrible towel in place.

I am about to (FINALLY!) get this project off the bench. I began work on this before I moved to Minnesota. I accomplished a lot of this work while living there. Never took it over the hump. That's about to change! While awaiting a shipment for my '70 Chevelle, I will finish this one. At one time, this was going to be part of a diorama project, thus, it is pretty much a curbside deal. The diorama is also the explanation for the "rag" covering the injector. I think the "terrible towel" looks okay, so I won't be eliminating it (even though everything beneath it is detailed, sans hydraulic throttle linkage).

Thank you, Sam! The snappers definitely can make for a cool model.