Spex84

Frustrated that this very enjoyable thread is devolving into racist and bigoted bullsquirt. More photoshops please.

Hand striping? You're brave! Love the panels...they're all kinds of wild n' groovy.

Wow! Love the detailing, great paint and decals. Great work . ..oh btw, one of your velocity stacks (pass side rear) is having a slight malfunction

I think both of these are pretty darn cool! The Foose truck will look great as a 50s or 60s custom, just needs to be kitbashed with some of the available AMT parts! It could also look great as a neo-retro custom, slammed on wide whites. The engine and suspension could be swapped to other trucks or cars for that pro-touring/g-machine style, and the body has various mods that help it look less awkward than a stock '56 (most notably, the re-located front wheel arches)...mods that I'd make anyway on a custom F100, so now I don't have to worry about all that bodywork anymore. The thing I like about the '56 is it's not a completely re-designed version, like the proposed Foose Cadillac...it still looks 99% like a '56 F100. A really good starting point. And the suburban has that oddball charm, can't wait to see some of them done up as forestry rigs, push trucks, etc.

Wow, that's looking super smooth. Love it!

Neato, haha. My first thought is "who demos a '56 Chevy???" but a few years ago somebody put a '57 in a derby not too far from where I live...I didn't see in in person, but found the youtube video later. Poor thing got taken out in about 2 hits.

"Rodder's Journal" #70 has an article on a (supposedly original) moonshiner '39 Ford. From the RJ website: "Moonshiner John Phillips purchased his ’39 Ford Standard coupe new and built it to run liquor in Alabama and Georgia. Much like early stock cars, the Standard was stripped of all its nonessential components and fitted with a radical full-race flathead. Throughout the coupe’s storied career, Phillips corresponded with some of hot rodding’s biggest speed manufacturers—including Vic Edelbrock Sr.—for speed equipment and go-fast advice. Miraculously, the car hasn’t changed since it rolled into storage in 1953, and we have the full feature on the survivor in TRJ #70." I've read the article and while I'm not quite convinced the car is 100% legit, there were some really cool tidbits of info: -trunk held shut with turnbuckles so it can't pop open -floating model T spring added so the car looks normal both loaded and unloaded -oversized truck radiator, with hood sides crudely hammered so the wide radiator fits -slightly wider steel wheels -extra headlight/fog light ]http://nebula.wsimg.com/190597b38eed4e68573bb3217a91e08a?AccessKeyId=7C2E9993607837544222&disposition=0&alloworigin=1

This thing is incredibly cool. I'm enjoying all the work and engineering you've put into it so far!

Yeah! I love it, very cool parts choices, paint, and detailing. That 50/50 paint mix seems to have produced a more 50s-appropriate color than what comes out of the can. What are the front tires from? They almost look like New Tool Ala Kart? I like 'em. Funny, I have a stalled project that is basically...this, but with a blown 409 and intended to be painted orange 'flake with red-tinted windows. Had some serious trouble with a badly warped body, so every so often I pull it out and reinforce stuff, trying to get the body to hold together better.

I love the concept!!...but the wheels don't really do it for me, and by minimizing the fins and rear bumper, somehow they've made it look a bit like a Henry J

I'm enjoying this so far! I had started a Monogram '30 coupe in this style a number of years ago, but bailed out and changed the build style. Looking forward to seeing this project progress, very cool parts choices and engineering so far

Incredibly sweet paint, the car is looking fantastic so far. Nice tire holder

You're doing great work with this Plymouth! The stock wheels are so much better than the "custom" ones, and I'll remember that Silly Putty masking trick. Very effective. The re-built fender welting is an excellent touch...one of these days I'll have to build this kit, as I've developed an odd liking for the '41 Plymouth (I used to think they were ugly) and wouldn't mind having a 1:1 version some day.

Wow! Great weathering, it's very convincing. Corvettes in this condition are a familiar sight in north america. Excellent photos, too. Thanks for sharing this build with us!

Whoa, this is WAY ambitious. My suggestions, if you intend to do this yourself: -buy a 1/25 version, and build it. Look at photos of the real car, and observe how the model has been simplified and re-engineered so that A. the parts can be successfully molded and B.the parts can be assembled in sequence without the builder getting stuck. -learn to use 3D modeling software enough that you can make your own parts; then you will have the beginnings of the skills needed to modify the 3D model you have purchased. The Impala you bought looks like a good model! But it's very complicated and will no doubt have to be significantly tweaked for printing. For instance, if some of the surfaces need to be smoothed further or closed ("made watertight") because they might be modeled as hollow shells, which cannot be printed (lots of video game cars are "shell" style models rather than solid objects). -3D model something simple and set it up for 3D printing. I used NetFabb to process my files from 3Ds Max into a format that could be printed, also to calculate volume (and therefore final pricing for the print). -Observe the detail levels of the various materials available from 3D printing services (ie detail plastic vs rougher and cheaper solutions). Get your model printed by them, and examine the results. -Now you'll know how much work, time, and money the "loop" of development will take. You can probably iterate faster if you have your own 3D printer rather than sending away for prints/having them shipped to you. -Make molds of the part to learn about resin casting and how to build good molds for the best results...this is important because it will inform how you modify the original 3D model for both good printing AND good molding of the 3D printed parts. I'm sorta dipping my toes into the process right now with some tires, and that's about all my pocketbook and skills can tolerate right now!

I don't see how those bodies could be both high-detail and $50. I just 3D printed 2 tires with shapeways, and it was $26. Last year when I priced out a body, because of the dimensions and volume of material it was going to cost $500 to print. Yikes! Something I've been thinking about--right now prices for 50s/60s promos are fairly nuts. But in 20+ years, will anyone be collecting those anymore? What about the cottage industry of replacement bumpers, floorpans, re-chroming, etc? I agree that there's a ton of stuff available. Some of it will go extinct, sadly, but for every set of 1960 Buick bumpers we can no longer order, there will be a modern mud drag truck engine, or some other offering that fits into a niche previously unexplored by the aftermarket.

Cool, I was waiting to see if someone would tackle a stock-style roof insert. Looking forward to seeing more

Whoops, bad link. Let's try that again:

I really enjoy this old kit. I think the roof "feels" like a model A in a way that the new Revell kit fails to achieve (but the new kit has many advantages!!) I'm building one right now, with one more waiting in the wings...and if I get the chance, I'll buy more. http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m312/Spex84/ScaleModels/30 Ford coupe 60s Style/30FordWIP_Sept12016_sm_zpsxvouhgbb.jpg

Awesome! I have some spare parts put aside to build a crazy Fad T, but I wasn't going to go to the trouble of modifying the body to look like the Leg Show T. This project will be very interesting to watch!

This thread is rad! Eric, that model is really something. When I was in high school I was obsessed with car design,my favorites were car-design and development stories from the 50s and and 60s; I'd admire the old chalk and marker drawings (and try to emulate them), and I'd drool over modern design studies built by students of Art Center and CCS in Detroit. That dream never really panned out. I did end up in an Industrial Design program where I built some models out of blue foam and MDF with polyfilla and bondo to smooth things out. Worked pretty well, actually, as long as there was a neutral barrier between any lacquer-based products and the foam. Breathing the MDF dust probably took years off my life, haha. Ace, I'll experiment a bit more with the foam I have access to, and if it doesn't work I might take you up on that offer!

Wow, that's nuts! It must have taken a ton of work to re-shape the front fenders like that. I think it's cool that you've retained the overall proportions and styling of the Hot Wheels car. Really cool result

Hey, great links guys. Thanks! I have some floral foam but was hoping for something a little less likely to crumble into toxic dust while I work with it. Maybe mine is just too old.

Love that gas tank! Very nice detailing. The louvered trunk is going to look great, and shows off the partition/mesh very well. Took me a minute to clue in that you've opened the doors too, awesome.

Very cool, and that's probably how I'd want to approach it too. I'm trying to find some good foam right now for a model car interior, with the idea of applying some kind of filler on top (maybe Polyfill) and sanding it smooth. About 10 years ago I knew a guy who was helping a university Formula SAE race team build their car...designed it in CAD, laminated sheets of foam into a block, CNC rough-milled it into shape, and discovered that the thin glue seams made hand-shaping the form very difficult, as the seams would always stand proud. They were hoping to lay up carbon fiber over the foam form. Never did find out if it worked in the end.