Spex84

Holy moly, that's a lot of effort. Very interesting to see someone doing this without a styling bridge, fancy clay, etc. Just regular tools in a regular garage. And LOTS of patience. Reminds me a little of the russian custom cars built with spray foam applied directly to the car, carved/sanded, and fiberglassed on top...

I've grumbled at the new-tool kit many times, but don't have an original to compare it to, so this analysis is very interesting to me! I love the shape of the original kit's body and fenders compared to the newer version, regardless of which one is more correct.

Oh, this is just too cool. Welcome Jack! I love those 60s builds; I have a file on my computer full of scans from the old magazines, mostly the pages that featured a model that caught my attention. Your Hybrid Special is in there somewhere...

Dang it, that should be "subtle curve of the upper window openings" NOT the door tops. The door tops are straight, as can be seen in the door opening on the yellow coupe.

Del--appreciate the feedback, but I must protest! The Monogram 1/24 '30 has arched door windows (correct) and arched door-top cut lines (incorrect). The new Revell '30 has straight/square windows (incorrect) and straight door-top cut lines (correct). The 1:1 '30 coupe has arched door windows, and straight door-top cut lines. Here are some 1:1 interior shots that clearly show the subtle curve of the door tops:

I'm enjoying this project too. Very offbeat, the parts work well together and it's looking really good.

Love the scratchbuilt boom, and the rusting fender-bolt holes are a great touch! The weathering is very convincing overall...I appreciate how you've kept the heavy, boiling rust to a few select areas in the lower body rather than applying that treatment absolutely everywhere.

Incredibly cool. I love the welder, deck, weathering, grille guard...the truck looks absolutely authentic. Some pretty serious gravel damage though, wow!

Right on, it's lookin' tough! This is indeed a great kit, and a more pronounced frame Z is just what it needs. Out of the box it sits pretty high!

Wow...not really my area of interest, but the idea of Round 2 tooling up new full-detail kits caught my attention! Thanks for the comprehensive review and photos, also for pointing out all the features that "step it up" over older kits or even modern competitors' kits. The idea of maybe some modern truck kits in this kind of detail...oh man, would that ever be awesome. I might even find myself building late-models again. Pretty cool to see a new hat in the ring!

Joe, for a person who dislikes Millenials, you sure spend a lot of time thinking about them. Why would they need to work when they can live in your ol' noggin rent free? ... Back on topic: my 18 year-old car is a particularly 90s shade of blue that flops purple in the sun. Honestly, I think it's a paint color that should probably stay dead.

Looking good! I dig the maroon/leather combination. Going to have to use that on one of my projects sometime!

I actually kinda like the big, single air cleaner. Is that AMT '49 Ford? It helps the model stand out from the legions of others that will be built with the kit's triple air cleaners. I also like how the headers look de-chromed and painted.

I gave in and decided it was time to try coaxing the body into something I'm more satisfied with...so the top has been sanded across the back panel to make it flatter (a little too much on the driver's side, oops), the top has been split and wedged to force the back panel into a vertical orientation (parallel with the door cut lines), the quarter windows were split and forced into a shape that I feel is more consistent with 1:1 chopped '30 coupes, and the visor was split and re-glued after removing some material so it would take on a slightly bowed appearance, as per the 1:1 example. Visor still needs work, has a duck-bill appearance. Also, the door top seams were cut open and the door tops forced into a slight curve. Finally, because I'm using a Monogram '30 dashboard, it worked as a template to remove a little material from the bottom corners of the windshield opening. Now the kit windshield won't fit and I'll have to make a new one, but at least the curve is a bit more pronounced. Cleaning up all the cut seams will add work, but I'm much happier with the roof shape now.

Really well-done mods! I like the deeply-set grille. The bumper is something I've never seen before...so that's interesting!

Very nice chop! Looking forward to seeing this build progress

Thanks guys. Skip--I have not decided on a top insert yet, but right now I'm favoring either the kit insert, painted white, or a colored acetate insert to represent a tinted plexi insert. If I could heat and vacu-form the acetate over the kit insert, that would be perfect. We'll have to see... I'm also hoping to track down some white embossing powder so I can build a display base with "salt" on the floor, surrounded by the stanchions from the Outlaw kit. I picked up some in-scale chain the other day at a thrift store, to run between the stanchions.

Update: The Ala Kart axle has been paired with shortened radius rods from the Revell '30 coupe, and a shaved-down parts-box spring is mounted behind the axle. The trailing edge of the front crossmember was cut out and boxed in, so now it's flat. The frame had to be notched slightly for spring clearance. One little problem: the big mechanical fan I'd planned to use no longer has enough clearance. Might have to go with a smaller fan or cheat the water pump/timing cover depth to gain space. I'm planning to add a triangle of material to the top of the frame where the radius rods mount, allowing me to keep those nice big chrome brackets. I've noticed from viewing lots of vintage photos that 50's builders were often proud of their chromed bracketry, whereas these days people try to clean everything up and hide it. Out back, for the sake of convenience I'm using the kit rearend and coilovers, with the ladder bars cut down to represent a 4-link. New anchor brackets were made for the ends of the 4-link. The body has metal tailpipe tips from the Monogram '30 Touring sunk into the kit taillight locations. The track width in front needs narrowing, but I like the idea of having finned drums...I have made the left front removable, with a magnet in the wheelback and a steel pin in the brake drum to hold it together. The wheelbacks are gluebomb AMT '62 Impala with the center post removed.

Looks awesome. That angle makes the blower look as big as the engine!

Love the color and the conversion job. Nice work!

Lookin' good! Nice and clean, with some appropriate parts added. I like the Blue Streaks and cragars, and it's nice to have a change from the standard '25 T body. Looks like it rolled right of...maybe 1968? Very cool.

Thanks for sharing-- all of your hot rods have wicked stance, color, and parts choices. Love the detailing, and cool photos too. It sure would be hard to see out of, though! Definitely inspiring stuff. The photo-etch '34 grille insert is wicked!

Looks good to me! You must have very successfully wrangled that AMT kit into shape. Yellow is always a great color for a woody. For several years I had a favorite shirt with a yellow woody on the back. I think it's entirely possible that a real car could have wood that dark. Scenario: California, early 50s: the paint is still fine, but the wood is drying out and fading in the sun, so the owner has re-stained all of it, resulting in a darker finish than factory.

I think too much is better than too little. Too much: pick and choose what you want to look at or comment on. Too little: people stifle their urge to share their work, and the community dies. I often have very little to share in updates, because I build so slowly...when I get a part modified or scratchbuilt, it's usually a Big Deal to me, and I may or may not share it online. I have learned SO much from photos and descriptions of others' work. I would hate for modelers of any level to feel discouraged and stop sharing. And can we stop bashing young people as being a "look at me" generation? If the young people of 1969 had smartphones, they would have friggin' drowned the planet in selfies. Thanks very much in advance for sharing, fellow builders.

I can do without most of the new-tool Ala Kart. It has some neat bits for kitbashing (headlights, taillights, bed rails, maybe the suspension? nerf bars) The headers and side pipe, sadly, strike me as being underscaled. But man-o-man, the wheels and tires are gorgeous!!