RancheroSteve

Yes, the Justice Brothers have a close association with Frank Kurtis and his midgets: "After World War II was over, Frank Kurtis started Kurtis-Kraft and it was at this time that Zeke became his first employee. Following World War II Ed joined Zeke at Kurtis-Kraft. Both were part of a small crew that constructed a reported 500 midget cars. Zeke was also part of the team that built the legendary Novi engine powered Indy car. Because of Ed's background as an aircraft mechanic, he suggested to Zeke one day that they should add Dzus fasteners to the Kurtis midget they were working on instead of the currently used 'nut plates'. Thus resulted in the first use of Dzus fasteners on a racecar. During their time at Kurtis-Kraft, they started a racecar repair and fabrication shop they operated during their free hours of nights and weekends. It was called Justice Brothers Racecar Repair & Fabrication." https://justicebrothers.com/company/company-history/

I've got one: a photo of the Surtees Lola shortly after he parked it at the Bridgehampton Can-Am in 1966. Taken through a fence by my dad (I was standing right next to him). Looks like you're off to a good start - I'll be watching your build.

Actually, I have to correct myself a little - I think these might be the style of wheel you're looking for? Not sure if they're still available, but you can Email Norm at replmincomd@aol.com or call him M-F 9am-5pm EST at (410) 768-3648 for availability and ordering. Photo from Craig Stansfield's Fotki album: https://public.fotki.com/crstan/replican-and-miniat/replicas-and-miniat/page4.html

Replicas & Miniatures makes a nice set of Halibrand kidney bean wheels (P-147) that might work for you.

Ah, Wallichs Music City at Sunset & Vine in the background. Nice build!

Beautiful work overall, but especially exceptional and authentic detailing on the engine! (And this is coming from a Ford guy).

Fantastic! Another winner.

FYI, in case you didn't know - Slixx made a nice decal sheet for this car (#6711/1141). Not that I want to stop you from making your own.

I hope it came with the letter!

Worked out an excellent trade with br67. Good guy to deal with!

Mazda's first car, from 1960. ARII 1/32 scale kit that I bought on a whim from my LHS a year or so back. I've been somewhat house bound due to a torn Achilles and ran out of certain supplies needed to progress on some of my builds, so I started looking to what I had around that I could build with available paint, etc. As you might imagine, this thing is TINY! Here it is next to a 1/32 scale Ranchero. Thanks for looking.

I think I remember reading that they are F2 cars with different bodywork to make them look like F1 cars.

I think that's just pretty much the silver plastic that it originally came molded in. Many of the single seaters I've built have the issue of a very visible and distracting seam because of the nose section being in two parts (mainly due to the limitations of injection molding). I usually try to solve this problem by cutting the front suspension off, gluing the body sections together, filling the seam, and then remounting the suspension after painting. So if the body sections were chromed, the builder would have to accept this seam. In the case of the MP4-25 that I'm currently building, I was able to leave the front suspension arms intact, but separated the upper arms so that I could mount them in from either side.

PM sent

I've had this one around for years. It actually came with another built-up that I purchased on eBay (a Falcon, I think). Neither the seller nor myself knew what it was and it took me a while to figure it out. I never considered it as particularly rare or valuable, maybe until just now, ha. Missing the steering wheel, but otherwise apparently complete. It just sits on a shelf with some other built-ups and future projects as I never have figured out what I should do with it. Restore or use as the basis for an unusual hot rod/special? In any case, I will be watching your re-build with interest.

Thanks, didn't know about the newer McLaren - that's a good one of the current generation to do, they've certainly gotten it right. Wasn't suggesting I'd expect to see a 2026 car that soon, just hoping that they continue kitting F1 cars as possible. I've still got plenty of the older ones to build, anyway!

Yes, first issued in 2010 with Hamilton and Button liveries (separate kits). The only real difference in those is the numbers and the driver's names on the decal sheet. I'd like to see them do some contemporary cars - or wait until next year and see what the "new rules" cars look like.

I'm actually building one of these now. The livery is giving me fits! Decals over chrome is a tough combo.

I've got three books by Dr. John Craft that are all quite good: "Classic Stock Cars", "The Anatomy and Development of the Stock Car" and "Vintage and Historic Stock Cars". All of them look to still be in print and readily available through various sources. They all focus mostly on NASCAR rather than short track cars. "Anatomy" has the most technical detail, if that's what you're after.

Pm sent

The Tamiya kit is (naturally) a joy to build. Here's one I did about twenty years ago:

I surely hope it is going to be great, although I'm wondering if this is intended as a factory stock kit? Now that we can see the mechanical details, there are a few things that concern me. I realize these are 'renderings" so I don't want to jump too hard.

Remember, kids - your transmission has a "neutral" position and your ignition has an "off" position.

Good summary, Bob. There's lots of "my brother/neighbor/friend had a HiPo Comet", much of which comes from the K-Code confusion and is nearly always anecdotal. The Durability, African Safari, and drag cars are well-documented of course, but those and maybe a few other HiPo '64 Comets were purpose built/special order cars. I think it's pretty safe to say that the average Joe Public couldn't just check a box and get a HiPo in their '64 Comet.

Right you are, Mark. Also bigger brakes and a 8" differential. I can't imagine a six cylinder Falcon platform holding up very long to the stresses of a V8 without those changes. A further bit of trivia on the transmission hump issue: to put the four speed T-10 in the Falcon in late '63 (like my Ranchero), Ford just rather crudely hacked out a part of the tunnel and riveted in an extra piece to clear the shifter. When I stripped that part of my car down I was kinda startled to see how rough the cut was. As far as I know, they continued to use that piece in '64-65, but I'm not sure if they did it any more cleanly .