Snake45

Yes, yes, and yes. I was thinking the woman swimming topless might have been a dream, but it WAS on broadcast network TV!

Googled that one and got the same result. Perhaps you have forgotten the scenes I'm remembering?

"Eating people alive? Where does THAT get fun?"

I cheated and Googled it. Not my favorite film from that star. I've only seen it once and the only thing I remember is the cigar scene. Oh, and the fact that there's a topless girl swimming in it at one point. I was watching it on network TV and COULD! NOT! BELIEVE! they were showing that!

I think I've mentioned the metal chassis on Johnny Lightnings before, possibly re the '69 Camaro. These things are HEAVY. They could be used as deadly weapons. Seriously, I've got a few handguns that actually weigh less.

I built this body up so long ago I don't remember if the flip-front gasser kit has the little scoops or not. If it did, I removed them with no tears--I don't care for them. Matter of fact, I've also got a street '57 Vette going somewhere and they're coming off of it. I've seen lift shackles on cars in NHRA competition (back in the day) but of course nothing as tall or silly looking as these (or the ones in the AMT "Old Pro" '72 Nova). But I'll live with 'em on this build, at least for the time being, just to GITTER DONE. I might build up another complete frame later, which wouldn't be this high in the nose.

Yeah, it might, but I don't wanna buy a whole expensive kit just for it.

I wouldn't even bother stripping it, just prime it and paint it (I assume you'll be masking off the grille). Or, you might take the opportunity to knock off the molding lines if any with some fine sandpaper. Just give the rest of the bumper a light sanding, too. Or maybe rough it up just a skosh with fine steel wool or a fine Scotchbrite pad. I paint chrome all the time, no problem.

Finished the Snake-Fu on the T-Bolt last week, finally got pics posted. See 'em here:

Does anyone make convertible up-tops in either resin or vac? I know R&R Vacuum used to have many of them, but they've been out of business a long time. I'm specifically looking for an up-top for a GM 68-72 A-body (Chevelle).

BOO-YA! GOTTER DONE! And looking good, too! You're the fourth completion of this round (and were also the second). Gonna try to get another one done before the end of March?

Bought this Maisto '64 T-Bolt used at the local toy show last year for $12. Had never seen one before but I thought overall body shape rated at least an 8 (out of 10) for accuracy, and I liked the chrome reverse wheels, the slicks, and the screens in the inner headlights—nice detail touches. It followed me home, and then sat in the Snakepit for a long time waiting for the mood to strike me, which it recently did. Had to use 2nd Degree Snake-Fu on this one, and had 8 or 10 hours in it. There was no tampo silver around the glass, and I determined that the glass would have to come out to properly hit the frames with Silver Sharpie, so the rivets had to be Dremeled out. Then, the side window frames had a lot of problems. There was casting flash around all the inner edges, which had to be filed out, and paint runs and drips on the frame sides, which had to be scraped and sanded out. When I got them acceptable looking, they too got the Silver Sharpie. The left side of the hood stood proud almost 1/16”. With repeated and careful bending force, I was able to get it down to darn close to flush. Close enough. I was afraid if I went any harder, I'd break something. The windshield also had to be adjusted and finessed to fit better on the right (passenger) side. Again, I didn't get it perfect, but did improve it quite a bit. The body side trim all had to be touched up with Silver Sharpie. I did the white strip with a permanent (oil-based) White Sharpie as an experiment. Had to do this in three coats, and I'm still not 100% happy with how it looks, but it's kinda-sorta okay. (It looks less ragged in 3D than it does in the photos.) In retrospect, I'd have had an easier time (and better result) just masking and airbrushing this, and I might do just that sometime in the future. (In fact, I might strip all that off and foil the side trim and then airbrush the white.) I detailed the grille and rear panel trim (and taillight bezels) with black wash and Silver Sharpie. The whole front end looked a little “heavy” to me. The grille and bumper are molded together, with a strip of chrome between them. I figured this strip was probably body color, but in researching, I discovered something interesting. On stock Fairlanes, there is in fact body-color sheetmetal between the grille and bumper. But on the Thunderbolts, no body color is seen there—it looks like this piece was dispensed with (no doubt for lightening) and the bumper mounted a couple inches higher, just about touching the grille. So I razor sawed the grille and bumper apart and filed this strip away and mounted the bumper higher, like the real T-Bolts. I was surprised how much better this made the whole model look. Between this and the “chrome” trim on the window frames (and at the base of the C-pillar), body accuracy now looks to me on the plus side of 9. 25 I spent a little time on the interior of this one, which I don't often do on diecasts. Everything is molded in a very light tan, very monotonous looking. I painted the headliner and dashboard with Krylon Nutmeg, decanted and brushed. The floor was hand-brushed flat black to represent the simple rubber mat seen in some of these cars. The dash (and steering wheel horn ring) got detailed with Silver Sharpie with black gauge faces. A nice touch is the model has a tach mounted on the dash, and a couple of gauges in a panel under the dash. So that's my Project Easy Thunder. The cherry on top is that it scales out to true 1/25, not 1/24, as I'd assumed the whole time I was working on it. For about the same amount of time I'd have spent scribing out the Revell kit body's panel lines and doing other standard body prep, and priming and painting (but NOT polishing) it, I have a fairly nice '64 T-bolt on the shelf—time, effort and money well spent. As always, comments welcome. (Oops, just saw I forgot to Sharpie the door handles. Will take care of that!)

So do I. As I said, these are extra bodies--I've got decent, intact '65 and '66 Vette roadster bodies that will be restored to factory stock. I just thought it would be fun to do stock, race, AND custom versions of the '66 using all the cool optional kit parts. In fact, I think I have a second good '66 body, which will be built using the kit's slicks as a drag car for a fourth variation.

More progress on my '57 Vette gasser (or street freak--we'll see what happens). Top painted--I planned to paint it Tamiya Lime green solid, but OF COURSE I couldn't find that can , so I used Testor metalflake lime green instead. (I don't like it quite as much, but if I ever find the Tamiya can, I can repaint it later.) Drilled and filed out the extended solid rear spring mounts to make 'em look like long shackles--I know, very very wrong, but they now look less silly than they did solid. Time for a quick set-together/attitude check. It's more nose-high than I usually like, but hey, that stance and the metalflake top both say "Mid-'60s," so whatdahell.

More milestone progress on the EMPI! 2-piece hard vinyl tires glued together and treads sanded. Wheels 90% reconditioned and detailed with semigloss black and Silver Sharpie (the outer rims will be polished and Molotowed shortly before final assembly. Chassis painted semigloss black. And, for the first time in at least three decades, the Imp is back up on its wheels! BOO-YA!

Looking very, VERY good! Testor Mystic Emerald is a passably good match for '68-'69 Chevy Rally Green (a little sparkly), which is identical to that '69 Dodge green, so, good choice! Drive on!

Now that you've bought a new one, you'll find the old one very, very soon. Probably today. Don't ask me how I know this, but it's why I own two or three of everything.

Have a Pleasant Valley Sunday forever, Peter. This one's for you.

Very cool! Never seen one before. The kits are worth at least $50 each, maybe more. But build one and you devalue the whole display. Worth $550? I dunno, but where/when you gonna find another one?

What he said. I just started re-reading the Motion book, and have a couple Motion-inspired builds in mind.

Since we've kicked over to page 14, time for an update: Straightliner59: Junior Fuel Dragster MAKING STEADY PROGRESS! Dave Branson: '70 Chevelle Belugawrx: Castrol F1 MAKING TREMENDOUS PROGRESS! Mod3lLover: Mustang Disconovaman: 36 Ford 5-window THIRD COMPLETION! GOTTER DONE! Maybe '55 Chevy Junkyard Jeff: '41 Chevy truck 89AKurt: '48 Chevy truck “Canopy Express” Modlbldr: '40 Ford “Starlet” FIRST COMPLETION! GOTTER DONE! Moving on to '65/'96 Mustang Snake45: '57 Corvette gasser MAKING STEADY PROGRESS! Lordmodelbuilder: '69 Camaro Bobthehobbyguy: Tarantula dragster Can-Con: '67 Bonneville MAKING TREMENDOUS PROGRESS! SuperbirdMcMonte: Jeep Honcho SECOND COMPLETION! GOTTER DONE! Moving on to '68 Hurst Olds MAKING TREMENDOUS PROGRESS! Geemoney: '34 Ford Spex84: '59 Impala Martin9428: '07 Shelby Mustang Drive on, everybody! GO! GO! GITTER DONE!

Sweet! I wish I could find one of these. Drive on!

Very nice, very clean, especially the interior. Well done and model on!

If I didn't have so many projects on the bench right now, and so many more bubbling up I WANT to do this year, I'd challenge you to a '36 Ford Gasser Buildoff!

I used mine today to do the side marker lights on a couple bodies. The paint is thin, and flows and covers well though 2 coats are often needed. Dries fairly quickly too. It makes a great base for the final Turn Signal Amber or Stop Light Red and is much easier to use than Testor White and a brush! I'm starting to like it ALMOST as much as my beloved Silver Sharpies! Oh, I just remembered a trick you might want to experiment with if you want it flat like shoe polish. After it's dry, rub it with a pencil eraser. That's what I do when I use gloss red or orange paint on my handgun front sights to kill the glare.