RancheroSteve

Yay!

Any word on the Black Max "Torque Trike"?

Absolutely no offense taken - I always welcome constructive criticism when it comes to getting it right. One of the great things about this forum is the ability to connect with folks that have knowledge. One small point though - I painted the radius rods mounting points steel-colored because that's how they look in the photo of the the car I have (see my "Under Glass" post).

Richard, thanks for your input and for the history. Based on the research I did, I recognized that there were some inaccuracies with the kit, especially as you point out in the firewall area, but also decided that most of it wouldn't show too much when completed and I didn't want to get overly obsessive with this one.

Much appreciated, Art - and thanks for sharing that story.

Ahh, good tip - thanks!

Best looking one I've seen yet! I'm hoping to make some similar improvements when I build mine. How do you cut the hypodermic needles without crushing them?

Whoa, amazing work you're doing on this - looks real, and I've ridden on one. Truly sorry for your loss - I lost my mom last year and my dad this year. This is a beautiful way to honor the memory of your mom.

Just to be clear, I say this in fun. I was born in the UK and my first (and dearly loved) car was a Hillman Minx.

You do understand that this is a British car, right? ?

A little back story on this build: a few years ago I started getting fascinated with the cars of Frank Kurtis and discovered that the Los Angeles Public Library had this now out of print book in their system. Inside, I came across this photo of a midget driven by Sam Hanks at Milwaukee in 1950. Some of you might be aware that I've also been working on a replica of the Kurtis Sport Car (yes, I know - for ages). It was around this time (1950) that Earl "Madman" Muntz https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madman_Muntz purchased the rights from Kurtis for what later became the Muntz Jet, so that probably explains the sponsorship connection. Anyway, with the Revell Midget kit on the bench, I began trying to build a near replica of the Hanks driven Midget as depicted. Decals had to be made, of course, so using my mediocre Photoshop skills, the scan of the photo above, and a few images found online, I was able to print out the Muntz lettering, logo and the number one on inkjet decal paper (both white and clear). The few contingency decals under Hanks' hand had to be guessed at and approximated (apart from the Champion spark plug logo) and came from a variety of sheets I had on hand. Other modifications include reshaping the cowl and adding louvers, making a windshield, adding the bubble over the intake trumpets, adding the rear nerf bars, modifying the front bumper, converting the three-eared rear knock-offs to two-eared, and re-working the steering link. Since I was working from a black & white photo, the colors are my best guess. For a better look at some of what went into it, "work in progress" thread here: Thanks for checking it out - comments and questions welcome.

It's done - all except for the trailer, at least - I still need to build that, but here's a shot of it finished. I'm going to do an "Under Glass" post in a few minutes with more photos and details. Thanks to all who commented along the way - your encouragement means a lot.

He was great guy - I'm really glad I had the chance to meet him. The Attempt 1 buck was a last minute addition to his donation - I had just recently built the kit and spotted it on a shelf just as I was getting ready to leave. I remarked on it and he said, "Here, The Museum might as well have this too". I was kinda floored just looking at it and realizing what it was, but then I got to hang out with it for a few days before I shipped it off. We did talk a little about the Aurora drag stuff, but I don't remember the subject of the busted mold coming up.

I had the privilege of meeting Tom West back in 2007 when I facilitated a donation he was making to the International Model Car Builder's Museum. Part of that donation included a lot of the promotional materials for the Aurora Racing Scenes.

Earl Bruce's Von Dutch flamed Gullwing was pretty upsetting to the sports car purists back in the fifties.

I decided I was unhappy with how the "snaps" along the sides of the seat looked. I had tried to represent them with dots of silver paint, but it just wasn't cutting it in my eyes. I went back and drilled a series of small holes where the snaps were and inserted pieces of .035" wire. Also applied a few contingency decals; sponsor decals next.

Got mine yesterday - really good!

I'll admit I took just a casual glance at the parts and presumed they were mostly the same, but thanks for the more precise info, Tim (no surprise)!

Just since I haven't seen anyone else mention it, I wanted to point out that apart from the Bantam body, the chassis, engine and other mechanical parts in the Bantam Blast are identical to those in the Willie Borsch "Winged Express" altered. I suspect the Borsch model came first?

More progress: the seat (with belts) is in, windshield and handbrake lever on. Just some decals to put on, a couple of small details, then a few touch-ups and it should be done.

Up on its wheels; the dash is in and wired, and a few more parts added.

Getting the bodywork and a few other bits on.

Very nice work on all of those, Gary!

Thanks again, Josh. It is Viking Metallic Blue (from MCW Finishes) - the correct color for the early Cobras and Cobra Daytonas before they changed to the darker Guardsman Blue - and incidentally the color my Ranchero was painted when it came from the factory.

Or go here for a bunch of views: https://public.fotki.com/Roullier/model_cars-1/shelbys_cars/