RancheroSteve

Just finished this one up before we move house. I built this back when it first came out and remembered enjoying it, now I had the chance to apply my more adult skills to it. I've always thought the box art photo was great, so I tried to simulate that as much as possible. The extra roll bar braces were removed, the engine lowered, and a driver figure added, as well as some wiring and plumbing. Built from the latest (2018) Round2 release of the kit, which finally includes the correct decals and a nice reference booklet. Thanks for looking - comments and questions welcome.

You really aced this one - just perfect! I have the Avex Dome version that I hope to get to one of these days.

Hey, just stumbled across this post - good work so far. Glad to see that you did your research and removed the roof lip. It's the worse thing about the body, which is good in most other ways. I always cringe a little when I see an otherwise fine model where the builder hasn't corrected that issue. Here's a close-up shot of a Ranchero roof that shows the rounded contour of the back of the roof edge and the chrome trim. I believe the chrome trim was the "deluxe" option - base level Rancheros had the same trim, but painted body color.

I'd guess starter clearance on the passenger side and steering box and clutch pivot on the driver's side. Everything's tight fit in there on a first generation Mustang.

I found this teardrop in my parts box - pretty sure it came from the Galaxie kit. It's yours if it'll work for you.

My father in law owned a Henry J back in the 50s. Said it was the worst car he ever had.

That "damper" is actually the hydraulic ram for the power steering - so yes, it needs to go.. Great work on this so far, JC!

This is great! I had one of the Hawk versions back when I was a kid and I bought a couple of the Testors re-issues with something similar in mind. I'll be eagerly following your progress on this.

Looks excellent, Phil! Looking forward to seeing more.

Looks like the last re-issue was 2015 (the one with the Roth figure). They're widely available for relatively cheap. I built mine from the 1993 re-issue, but apart from the figure everything is the same.

Vince, here's another shot that shows a bit more of the hut. I built this quite a few years back, so kinda hard to remember exactly what I did, but I think I generally just tried to copy what the box art looked like. I mixed an appropriate shade of brown for the thatched parts, then went over it with a dark wash that settled into the cracks. Then painted the stuff on top of that, like the curtain, guitar, etc. Finally you want the whole thing to look dull & flat, because nothing will kill the realism of something like this than shininess.

It's a fun little kit.

Here's an article about the building of the recreation which also includes some photos of it side by side with the original. https://www.drivingline.com/articles/the-mooneyes-dragster-cloning-our-heros-3-of-3/

Wow, excellent in every way!

I modified the roof from the Monogram '58 Thunderbird to build this: Shown here earlier in progress:

Wow, that does look good! I may just have to buy one and keep it in my original box.

Wow, this is great! I've always liked this car - I bought a Monogram 1/32 built-up earlier this year. Wish someone did a 1/24 version.

Also Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros: "… I took a tram into the fourth dimension 'Cos I had the blues, the blues of throwing it all away Just gimme a Tequila, I'll slam it the 4 D way And when I got there you know it had certain similarities Like no smoking anywhere And hiding in the khazi to avoid paying the fare"

How did I miss this thread before? Yes, I have a few, especially if we're counting Rancheros. 1. Built from a glue bomb; the roof had so much paint on it that it melted and was toast, so I grafted a roof on from another source: It has a more modern chassis and drivetrain: 2. 1/32 scale stock Ranchero: 3. 1/32 scale Ranchero slot car: 4. A replica of the Shelby '63 sedan delivery parts getter/test mule: And finally, my 1/1:

Many thanks for the kind words, everyone! I like to think that I build for my own satisfaction and for enjoyment of the process as much as the finished result, but it is gratifying to have my efforts recognized in the forum here among a group of my peers. The builds I'm working on currently are not quite as ambitious, but hopefully they'll be wrapped up sooner than this one was!

That's a beehive oil filter - a style of remote oil filter used mostly on flatheads in the fifties.

I began this back in 2013 and it became probably the longest and certainly one of the most challenging projects I've undertaken in my modelling life. Thanks for the support of those that followed along and encouraged me over the course of this build. I'm glad I stuck with it - while far from perfect, I feel it captures the look of the car pretty well and I ended up with a replica of a piece of automotive history that's unlikely to ever be available in kit form. Work in progress thread here: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/78039-kurtis-sports-car-update-12717/ Some history of the actual car here: https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/1949-kurtis-sport-car-drive/ Thanks for looking - questions and comments welcome.

Believe it or not, it's finished! I'm taking some photos and I'll put up an "Under Glass" post a little later today.

More Racer's Wedge inspiration - this one's a little different.

This very clean Corvette being photographed in front of a location some of you might recognize (only a mile or so from where I live).