Spex84

Very cool! I enjoy this one, even if a full-size Chevy as a gasser doesn't make much sense. The details and engineering sell it...stance, the fenderwell headers, straight axle, moon tank, headlight delete, etc all help to give it "the look". But the detail that really hooked me, oddly enough, was the perfect shade of Hurst yellow-white on the shift knob The foilwork and badges are convincing too. Great work.

Aw yeah! Love it so far, especially the section job and molded skirts/shaved gravel guard.

Picked up one of these kits a while back--tons of great parts inside. The custom taillight/bumper unit looks awesome blended into the back of a sectioned '49 Ford, for anyone so inclined. I found the bucket seats in my kit have a rib pattern that is totally butchered, full of blemishes. Other than that, the parts look very usable.

Hey packrat, I appreciate the work you did to try and make that old pile of parts as appealing as possible under the circumstances, like detail-painting the blower to try and make it look more 'period', and the patina paint job. After being so harshly dismissive of this kit, I've found myself thinking that maybe there should be a community build where everyone tries to do something cool with it..silk purse out of a sow's ear and all that. In the interests of being constructive rather than negative, here's a sketch of what I would do with mine:

Thanks for the comments guys Tim--thanks a bunch. Your builds and articles have been inspiring me since about 1997 or so. To put things in perspective, I was in elementary school then. JC--Thanks for your interest. I have a build thread over on "the other" model car site, but I may import it over to MCM soon. Rob--I have an airbrush, but was too lazy to use it! Also, I've brush-painted smaller parts with this paint before, and after collecting lots of reference photos, I found that the bare-metal finishes I liked best had a slightly mottled appearance...so an airbrushed finish would be excessively smooth and consistent. Too clean. So I just used a regular hobby brush, like the ones Testors sells with the white handle and black bristles, and smudged the paint on. Emphasis on smudged--I wasn't "brushing" so much as smushing the bristles into the body. Exactly what 'they' tell you NOT to do with a brush, as it wrecks the bristles. Oh well...it's good to have a dedicated dry-brushing brush anyway. It looks terrible at first...but I think the paint is lacquer-based, because it dries very quickly. As it was drying, I continued to stipple with the brush, essentially taking the paint that I'd applied and distributing it over as wide an area as possible. This action starts to even out the finish and remove any areas of paint buildup. The end result of the dry-brushing/stippling is a fairly uniform semi-gloss finish. Even after the body was dry, some paint would come off when touched. That's where the buffing comes in...I used a piece of blue heavy paper towel and buffed the surface to a shine, removing any paint that wasn't attached (not much, really). At this point, I decided the finish was nice and shiny, but too dark. That's when I applied a very small amount of aluminum paint to the cloth, and buffed it onto the body, taking care to mostly hit the high spots (trim, hinges, tips of the louvers) and to NOT cover the entire body...so the darker Steel layer would still show through. In order to figure out the approach, I did a test body with several combos. I tried: -Mr Hobby Steel over grey primer -Mr Hobby Steel over black primer (the mottled look is more pronounced and the overall final product is a tad darker) -2 coats Mr Hobby Steel over black (the black disappears and it ends up looking like the first test over grey) -Mr Hobby Steel over grey, with a layer of graphite rubbed on top (too dark) -Mr Hobby Steel over grey, with Aluminum buffed into it afterwards. Bingo!

Much appreciated everyone. Rob--I feel like I got lucky with the Mr Hobby paint. It's definitely worth tracking some down and giving it a shot!

Thanks folks! I enjoyed every step of building this thing, even when it got tedious. It's my dream car...one of 'em anyway. Ben--the paint is Mr Hobby "Mr Metal Color" stainless steel metalizer (from Japan), dry-brushed over grey Plasticote primer. This created a mottled finish, which I then buffed with a cloth. Then some Mr Hobby Aluminum was rubbed onto the high spots using a cloth with just a skiff of paint on it, and a little copper Rub-n-Buff near the bottoms of the doors to create the impression of light oxidization. The Rub-n-buff has wax in it (I think?) so I'd advise against trying to paint or apply decals over it.

This one has a few little issues to be taken care of (radiator cap, black paint on ends of rear axles where they're exposed, mis-alignment of driver's side interior panel(doh!), but it's pretty much done. The build began in September 2011, and it's progressed in fits and starts since then. Thanks to Acecargarageguy for transmission advice (way back when), and Eric Macleod for trading me a box of old Monogram and MPC tires. They worked out very nicely. A few notes on the build and parts: -Monogram '30 coupe, chopped, wheel wells/bead detail added, Revell '32 5w louvered trunk modified to fit, cowl light and gas filler holes filled. Beltline trim added in half-round styrene and strip plastic. Windows made from overhead projector sheets. -Revell '32 5w interior, brush painted in thin layers of acrylic reds to mimic oxblood leather. Piston shifter and '40 Ford dashboard from same kit. AMT '40 Ford steering wheel. -Floor modified to match width of 1/24 Monogram body. Scratchbuilt trunk floor and interior. -Styrene trunk lid detail and hinges. Gas tank from Lindberg roadster pickup, parts box cap. -Modified Revell '32 frame. Front crossmember moved forward to lengthen wheelbase, Revell '37 Ford PU X-member, Monogram '30 rear crossmember, custom transmission crossmember. Original molded-in floor removed from frame. Friction shocks added from Revell '29 Pickup. -Firewall footwells flattened for engine clearance, scratchbuilt fuel blocks (styrene, hypodermic needle pieces) -Modified Revell '37 Ford axle (dropped, ends filled, posed steering). Scratchbuilt drag link. Pitman arm from Revell '29 Tudor. Metal mono-spring on '29 spring hangars, scratchbuilt radius rods with early style rod-ends. Revell '50 F1 pickup steering box. -AMT phantom Vickie headlight lenses and bezels on modified AMT '40 Ford "Rides" headlight buckets. Headlight stands are cut-down AMT Double-T parts. Taillights are Revell '37 ford with aluminum tube bezels and lenses made by melting red styrene into the bezels with liquid glue. Taillights have 5-min Epoxy on top to give them a domed shape. -Monogram '32 ford roadster '40 Ford-style brake backing plates, plumbed with partial brake lines. -AMT '53 Ford PU Desoto Firedome hemi engine. AMT '57 corvette T-10 transmission with custom JB weld adapter (ha!). Stock exhaust manifolds adapted to side exhaust dumps made from sprue to imitate exhaust pipes made from cut-down '30s Ford torque tubes. Scratchbuilt "U-fab" style intake. Carbs from '53 PU dechromed, split (they're molded in pairs). Parts Box resin intake scoops modified and re-cast, painted with Alclad. Fuel lines are clear stretchy beading wire coated with a red sharpie. Carb linkage made from thin wire crimped on the ends. Scratchbuilt stock-style valley cover and alternator bracket. Scratchbuilt thermostat housing/water hoses between intake and radiator. -aluminum driveshaft with slip joint. Rearend is a quickchange (double dragster?) combined with axle housings from Tweedy pie (I think). -Front tires are Revell '37 Ford PU. Wheels are Revell '32 5w kit's 40-Ford style pieces with AMT '40 Ford "Deluxe" cap on one side only. -Rear tires are MPC '31 Chrysler with modified Monogram '41 Lincoln wheels ('40 ford center lug detail spliced into the Lincoln wheels) -Door handles from Revell '30 Ford touring. License plate from '30 Revell Ford Woody.

For anyone who wants more info, google "Shamrockaway". It sounds like the builder was a somewhat eccentric tinkerer and inventor and built this thing in his retirement. Wild! *whoops, looks like the website Ace posted is back online. Well, if it goes down again, that google search will lead you to other pages that also featured the same vehicle.

Love it. Everything flows nicely and has that 50s touch. The body mods, scallops, gold grille and center caps on the sombreros, and crazy detailed engine...definitely worth the wait! I have an extreme kustom project or two that are in a similar predicament, and a mild custom that I've dug out of the box after it sat for 10+ years. Your awesome project gives me hope that with time and patience, they'll get finished

Nice work! Especially if you're new to chopping and scratchbuilding. It turned out great. The speaker grilles look like pipe filters? That's a cool touch. I had that pink VW kit as a kid, and now I only have some little shreds of plastic left from it after I attempted to customize it and made a terrible mess. One of these days I'm tempted to get another and build a volksrod out of it. The large-diameter painted 5-spoke mags on this build are a little unusual, and I like them. What kit are they from?

Thanks for the info on oil spray cooling--I didn't even know that was a thing. Crazy!

Looks fantastic, Dennis. You making getting dialed-in proportions look so easy. This thing looks totally sweet just sitting raw plastic. I'm not sure what you did for cooling, but mashing the engine right up against the grille shell results in great proportions. Is the intent that the car would make a run with solely the water in the jacket? I've seen some photos where a drag-spec engine has a small reservoir mounted between the water ports on the front of the heads, but space looks tight here. Maybe the backs of the heads could be tapped? I have no idea where the water channels are internally on these engines. Anyway. It looks awesome.

I dig it! Bold color and cool wheel/tire package. What are the wheels and tires from, by the way?

Wow! Love the new mods. Hand-operated master cylinder...that's a new one to me. Will have to put it on my "things to research" list.

Love the re-build so far. So much attitude! A massive hemi combined with stock wheels seems ridiculous, but it looks so darn cool...and I know for a fact there's at least one 1:1 rod out there with the same combination (one of them is a gold roadster I think). I dunno, something about installing an engine so violent it could fling most of the body and driveline into a pile of scattered metal shavings the first time the driver tromps on the go-pedal....appeals to me

I'm enjoying this one--great trick photography, and the weathering is really cool...and accurate! I see trucks like this parked out in fields or for sale all the time (western Canada, near Alberta/BC border). The "rag instead of gas cap" is a neat touch--there's a 1:1 abandoned '55 Ford near where I live that has the same thing.

I'd keep that fabric pattern limited to the suitcase/trunk and not on the seats....the leather inserts sound great. I'm really enjoying how you're making each sub-assembly a model in itself. This build floors me a little more every time I check in. Eventually I'll be so floored I'll have to start digging, haha.

Wow! The end result you've achieved looks fantastic. The photography is too--for a second I thought I was looking at a Street Rodder magazine photo of a real car that you were using as reference, then realized it was the actual model. If that's what a "miss" looks like...I'll take it!

And I should comment on the build that this thread is actually about, too : Great work on those headlight stands and spring mods! The car should look much more dynamic with the front end and headlights lower.

You mean the firestone dirt track fronts? Looks like I need to backpedal-- I agree that the Revell tire is very, very close to the 1:1 dirt tracker. I had somehow confused it with another ribbed front tire, which the tires in the old Orange Crate '32 represent. I've attached images of both so you can see how I got mixed up: I think the dirt tracks are interesting, but a little cluttered-looking I'd love to see the other style offered in scale again, too!

Nice work, looks very clean, and your photography is impressive too. I agree that the headlights seem too high/widely spaced, but I think the same of the 50/60s aluminum headlight stands that placed the lights in pretty much the same position...and those stands were an authentic part that abided by the headlight-height laws of the day. An example of such headlight stands can be found in the AMT '25 T, and John Milner's couple from American Graffiti. The only other things that bug me about this kit are the front tire sidewalls (what's with the double row of treads on the sidewall? I've never seen a 1:1 tire like that)...and maybe the overall "squareness" of the parts and detail. It's a kit that actually looks better with a thick layer of paint on everything to smooth out the mechanical nature of the molded detail.

Ooh, looking forward to this. I have 2 glue bomb '28 sedans in my stash, planning to build one almost box-stock, authentic 60s style, and the other with some more modern parts.

The "Rides" '40 ford also has lowered rear suspension achieved by bending the rear axle. They even put ribs around it like a bendy-straw, like it's some kind of flexible independent rear-end or something. LOlolol. Trash. The body is usable for a commercial build if you have some other fenders to put it on. The fenders in the kit could be used on a custom of some sort. I recently used the headlights for my '30 coupe build (with AMT phantom vicky chrome rings and lenses). The chrome door-sill plates can be modified to look like the plug covers on a nailhead engine. The wheels and tires are a joke. It has modern bucket seats and a dashboard with digital gauges/radio molded in (if I remember correctly). If I was actually going to build one of these, I think I'd try to make it a chopped convertible speedster by lowering the roof to form a trunk....and I'd scribe the fenders to look like it has hidden headlights, like the Cord 810.

Wow. Talk about lipstick on a pig. That kit is terrible by today's standards, looks like maybe a few parts have changed. I have the version with the pinkish-red version on the box-top. The photo-etch is an interesting addition, if you're into rat rods. Let me list the issues: -all the parts are toy-like. It has a "hemi", a "quickchange", a "deuce grille", and so on...but all of the parts are chunky and ill-proportioned. The windshield frame is slab-like, the rear nerf bar is "D"-shaped in cross-section rather than round bar stock, the wire wheels stick out of the tires, and frame is about as simple as you can possibly get. The bench seat is molded to the body... So if you have a hankering for a retro build, it IS possible to build something nice out of this kit, it's just that it will look like very dated in terms of detail and accuracy.