Spex84

Thanks Colby! Some more little updates...I've been struggling with the rear suspension, it's almost sorted now (the quarter-elliptical lower links are missing in this photo). It took 3 tries to get the suspension brackets "close enough" and more or less placed correctly. It will all be hidden by the bed, anyway. Also have the beginnings of some simple engine mounts, and started hacking and chopping the interior bucket and firewall. I think I'll build a new, flat firewall and possibly trim down the cowl apron---or whatever that perimeter piece is called...it's going to get in the way of the rearmost exhaust port, so it might get the knife. This thing is going to have severely limited foot space thanks to the height of the transmission and bellhousing inside the cabin. But it should look cool, lol!

Oh, and to carry this to the next possible point (although I've drifted off the topic of models, but might as well mention it): many model kits (most?) are manufactured in China now. China is notorious for knock-off products and copyright infringement. The website Alibaba had a fairly enormous IPO a couple years ago; if you're not familiar with the site, it allows anyone to buy stuff directly from manufacturers in China, cutting out the middleman. Recently I purchased a hard-drive enclosure for $7, with free shipping on Ebay, from a Chinese seller. Free shipping to Canada is fairly rare I've found...and I thought the product would probably ship from a warehouse in the states or something. It showed up a couple weeks later, with Chinese characters all over the packing slip...contents as expected. Seven dollars. From frickin' China! I can't even fathom the amount of fuel that must have been burnt shipping that stuff over, compared to what I paid for it. How long before we're all buying knockoff kits (that are the same as the official ones) directly from unscrupulous (and clever) manufacturers overseas? This kind of activity would not only gut the local mom-n-pop hobby shop market, it would hurt the model companies that actually develop the kits in the first place. But I have no doubt that given the choice, people would buy cheaper kits if they could get them. So before celebrating Wal Mart for evolving with the times and out-pacing their competitors...watch out, there's still room for even purer expressions of consumer capitalism, enabled by the supply-and-demand dynamics of the internet economy. Yikes! //rant over, haha.

I have fond memories of Sears and the wishbook too. A lot of my clothes came from Sears when I was a kid, haha. It's been a shame to witness the company's decline. I have purchased some items from Wal Mart, but I try to keep business local when I can...a lot of small businesses are failing, and part of it is due to large corporations taking advantage of incredibly low wages overseas, and massive production scale, allowing for certain efficiencies that smaller companies can't match. It's good business. And it pretty much eats everyone else's lunch. As for Wal Mart being a shining example of capitalism working its magic...I feel they're a bit like Lance Armstrong. Strong, capable, driven...and using every trick in the book to get ahead and stay that way. I read an article a while back about Wal Mart's activities in emerging economies (in this instance, Mexico), and some of the stuff they're doing would be literally criminal in America. Bribes, payoffs, blackmail, buying land cheap from business owners they've deliberately bankrupted and and then evicting tenants, skirting zoning and environmental laws with payola...incredibly mercenary stuff. Again, maybe "good business" but not the kind of thing that gives a person that warm fuzzy feeling...unless that person happens to be a shareholder :/

Yeah, poorly faked patina (ie, rubbed all over with scotchbrite so the primer shows through in even spots all over the car) is laaaaame. Done well, it's indistinguishable from the real thing. My first encounter with fauxtina was a magazine feature on a crusty '32 roadster that had all kinds of interesting details, a "survivor" through-and-through. Then I got the end of the article when they revealed that it was a fiberglass body, and the bullethole in the tailpan, the rust, the layered paint...everything had been painstakingly applied by a careful artist. In that case, I wasn't offended because they did such a good job that it looked 100% convincing...it was almost like a functional movie prop, using many of the same techniques that prop-builders use to create authentic-looking aged objects. Most patina-fakers try too hard (or not hard enough??) and their results are regular, predictable, and incredibly easy to spot. Gotta say, a high-tech style fiberglass hot rod with fake patina (like the '37 in question) is pretty lame IMHO. It goes well past homage and into pastiche territory.

Little update--the beginnings of a front and rear crossmember are in, as well as scratchbuilt rear quarter-elliptical leafsprings and driveshaft hoop. Also built another front radius rod. It's almost up on all fours now. The plan is to do a triangulated 4-link in the rear, using the leaf springs as the lower pair of links. Also cut the deck down to fit in the shortened bed. I think if the radiator is tilted slightly, there should be ample clearance for the tie rod. The grille will be laid down to match the angle of the cowl cut-line (or maybe slightly more).

I don't recall seeing much in the way of patina builds before about 2006. There must have been some, but they really caught on by 2010. There were definitely rust-crusty rat rods being built around the same timeframe, but again, don't recall seeing much in the way of rusty rat rods prior to 2004. As for why it started...well, a combination of things: -the rat-rod trend, bucking the high-dollar street-rod trend by fetishizing raw and rough engineering and details. -the traditional and "barn find" trends: old hot rods and customs are finally being recognized as culturally significant and are being preserved, scars and all. -the farm-truck trend: fondness for vehicles that have "been around" and acquired scars and patterns indicative of a long, useful life. Often these patterns of naturally worn paint were quite aesthetically pleasing. Once patina builds became a celebration of a vehicle's history, builders began to match the existing worn paint when doing repairs, which led to... -Fauxtina: faking a worn paint job, patina, or rust in order to make a build seem like it has a long history or a story to tell. Just recently I found photos of a Willys gasser build in which the builder applied dust to the body and matte-clearcoated the dust onto the paint, so now the car has permanent dust. That strikes me as going a little too far, but what the heck. It looks very authentic.

Bob, I think you're getting the Lindberg roadster pickup confused with the '34 closed-cab pickup, which is a much superior kit.

That's a fantastic looking chop! It matches the fat fenders very nicely, great flow.

Great work! These kits are so cartoony and vague it hurts my brain, but when they're treated with some care and creativity...well, this happens!

Thanks for the comments folks After some thought, I've realized this thing needs to be an Altered rather than a gasser. So I'll be ditching the headlights...and it now has more dramatic engine setback and a moon tank in the empty grille shell. The front of the engine will come down a little after I modify the cradle to fit the frame better in its new location.

Hahaha rad. Great attitude on this one...and I love the combo of purple with the gold metalflake steering wheel. The slicks look convincing, as does the cage. Thanks for the info on the styrene rod--I've been buying small amounts of expensive hobby stuff, didn't realize there were bulk sellers online! I'll remember that if I ever have a bunch of roll cages or other fabrication to do.

Years ago I chopped a '37 cab (my first ever chop) and it didn't quite turn out right. Then I planned to use the cab to build a rat truck with an inline 6, but used that engine for another build. Every few months I get the cab out and mock it up with various engines and spare parts, but nothing ever came of it because I didn't have any frames that would work very well. I'd shortened the bed, but as the glue dried the panels warped. It went back in the box. A couple days ago, inspired by the trucks of Rudy Rodriguez and Ian Loska, among others, I decided to just make a frame, and go from there. So far, it's coming together fairly quickly. Some notes: -AMT '27 Touring front wheels and tires -Monogram classic rear tires on Monogram '30 ford wire wheels out back -Ford 9" from AMT 57 Corvette street machine -front axle from AMT '29 Ford roadster, modified with some bolt detail, scribed lines on the spindles, and plastic axle stubs -disc brakes from the junk pile. Calloway corvette, maybe? -resin Buick Nailhead from The Parts Box in Australia. -AMT '34 Ford grille The plan is for a fairly extreme neo-traditional rod. At this point I'm undecided if it will get shiny paint or patina, or a combination of both.

A little spring project, because starting new builds is more fun than finishing old ones *EDIT* It's going to be an altered now. Ebay parts-lot warped body, hogged-out 1/43 semi tires on the front with AMT 55 Nomad wheels, Double Dragster front radius rods, scratchbuilt rear ladder bars (will be drilled to match the fronts), AMT 56 Ford rearend, AMT 62 Impala 409 engine with offenhauser valve covers, AMT parts-pack blower and injectors with AMT 57 corvette gasser front cover, manifold, and fuel pump. Roll bar is sprue, seat is modified NASCAR piece. Bear with me as I've been having problems linking from Photobucket and the "edit" feature doesn't seem to function on this forum

I had no idea this could happen. Mind blown. I don't collect diecast, so until now I'd never seen an example of zinc rot/diecast cancer/etc. What a nightmare for collectors. Now that I know, I'll be careful if I ever decide to buy any diecast.

Richard?? Anyway, looking good! I like the various paint treatments you've been using. The Krylon chrome with weathering looks very good. I'm always amazed that you can get this far on a build before, say, chopping the grille shell.

Hey, I have one of these. The caps are kind of cartoony, to be honest. I can't decide if I like them or not. I do like the tires that come with the original kit--they're taller than the firestones included in the Lindberg version. The T-bird mill is also in the Lindberg version, and those are pretty easy to find online. I'd also like to know the story...the Lindberg '40 is a very close copy of the AMT '40, as far as I know...but not the same tooling. The Lindberg '34 PU, though,appears to be exactly the same tooling as AMT.

I'm a little bothered by the idea that just came to mind...that perhaps people, upon hearing that the Modelhaus was eventually (inevitably?) going to close, began ordering enormous stacks of parts to sell later on Ebay. I hope I'm wrong and it's just enthusiastic builders stocking up on excellent quality parts for their own builds. Either way, I hope Don and Carol can retire on their own terms, and not be yarded around too much by their loyal customers

Great work! I particularly like the hood latches--where did those come from?

Yesss more AceCarGarageGuy insane projects! I love this. I liked the original starting-point, and what you've planned with the skirted fenders, rear fin, and new nose. Looks like a monolithic undertaking O.O

Haha, just take a trip over the border into Mexico around Christmas. It's like there's a war on when the kids get their holiday firecrackers. Living in Canada, I had never experienced M-80s until a visit to Baja. It's a wonder the kids have any fingers left! //Love the hobby shop photos. Ever feel nostalgic for a time you never actually experienced? I have a bit of that going on right now...

Sick. You're going above and beyond, putting all that effort into making the underbody details screen-accurate. I love the steering wheel and that tiny skull shifter. Witness this thread, brothers!!

Beautiful work! Very smooth paint, clean assembly, and the modified wheels are fantastic. They must have required many hours of work, but the result is well worth the effort. You have made an old kit look really good, congratulations!

Lookin' good! For optimal proportions, try moving the front wheels back by about 1cm or a half inch. It's looking very long in front right now. All of those wheel-tire choices look good; I'm fond of the first one. The chrome-reverse/painted wheel in the second photo is very cool, but with the double white/red stripe slicks it's a little busy looking.

Looks like some good parts so far...I love "A" coupes. I'm fond of the center steering wheel, the tri-spoke design with the bullet center. I guess it depends on the overall style goal.

Innovative and creative build (thanks for sharing all the steps) and a fantastic result. The subject is a bit crazy for my taste, but the execution is so awesome that I'm immediately drawn in. The stencil-cut frame grabbed me at first, but once you got to the scratchbuilt luggage-rack gas tank, my mind was properly blown. Oh, then the dashboard. And the foiled body...and the wood interior bracing... I'm almost sad to see this one finished, because I enjoyed watching the build process so much. Oh, and the other two are sweet builds too. All hits, nary a miss in the bunch!