Spex84

Revell's reissued Tweedy Pie has pretty nice carbs with frogmouth scoops. 6 of 'em, too! They oughtta bolt right on. The repminco scoops are very nice but I find they look like the air vent stacks you'd find on an old ship...not quite the right shape.

Having had some time to mull over this potential offering whilst working on my 1/24 Monogram '30 coupe builds, I am now completely sanguine about the possibility that the new coupe might not be 100% what I was looking for. Because man-o-man are those old Monogram bodies a lot of work. Sink marks, incorrect beltline and side trim, misshapen quarter window on the passenger side, mold seams, brittle plastic, chunky door handles, flash-laden chrome, poorly modeled door hinges....oof. Any new body will be an improvement by default, and save me many hours of work (especially considering how many model As I want to build). Also,an observation: is anyone else seeing what looks like telltale gaps indicating a removable/separate top (ie, possible stock height roof or two different chop-top options)?

My suggestion: build something you are not familiar with, try a new technique, and don't sweat the small stuff. IE. if you build race-spec euro sportscars, and now you can't do an OOB build without seeing details that need correcting all over the place...try building a model of a rusty dump truck. Or a spacecraft. Something you know less about, so you don't see (or care about) the small deficiencies. A weathered build can be entertaining, because mistakes can be considered "happy accidents" that add character rather than causing stress. Last summer I was starting to feel overwhelmed by the unfinished builds that were stacking up, so I took an afternoon to sit down with my stash of junk plastic, pill bottles, and scavenged bits and pieces. I decided to build some kind of sci-fi robot. I normally build 1/25 scale cars, and have not built anything space-themed since I was a kid. I'd also never tried a speed-scratchbuild. I used a hot glue gun to quickly attach parts, and if I didn't like anything I ripped it apart. I blasted the end result with primer, and then did some basic paint detailing later. The end result is no show-winner that's for sure...but it was fun, liberating, and so enjoyable that I'm quite fond of it and plan to make more. So all in all, a great antidote to endless research and struggling with paint, bodywork, and nitpicky details.

Those wheels make the build! They look both retro and contemporary simultaneously. Nice work. I think it looks fine without foil on the trim strips. The front badge scripts could use a bit of something, though. Maybe even lightly, carefully grazing them with a silver sharpie marker would do the trick.

Cool dio and great re-proportioning on the T. The AMT double-T kit is insanely long in the frame...what you've done is trimmed it down to look more like the Tommy Ivo and Norm Grabowski T-buckets, both very well-proportioned cars (partially because Ivo's was surreptitiously measured from Grabowski's). Pink isn't exactly my favorite color, but it works here. Just the thing for driving to the malt shop

Nice work, they make a great pair. Recently I was standing in front of a pile of kits at the hobby shop, wondering if I should buy the Chevy or the Olds, or both, and eventually decided to go with the Olds because A: I liked the roofline and B: it's a new-tool kit with less issues than the old AMT offerings. Sounds like I made the right decision You managed to make them both look very nice, though. I agree the Chevy could still use some lowering. It's a common issue with a lot of older kits...they all seem to ride sky-high.

Beautiful color and finish. The wheel/tire package looks very good too!

Very cool. I enjoyed the book too. The decals and detailing on this build are great. Those big CRTs are funny, but believable too.

Beautiful work. I love the flared cutout for the air cleaner and the auburn dash. The shortened taillight stanchions look great too. A very clean and classy build!

Wow, that's some ambitious work right there! Very cool result too... I like that you just went ahead and built your own version.

Great process and engineering as always. Thanks for sharing the gritty details

Nice work so far. It's reminding me of the 1:1 "Little Boy" and "Death's Doorstep" rods. In the past I've had problems with laminating styrene...it tends to warp over time as the glue cures. Hopefully your frame rails are thick enough that they won't experience this.

First impressions---a bit overwrought, but I like it! There's a whole thread on the HAMB devoted to wild exhaust, and some of the creations of the '50s-70s were truly nuts. If nothing else, they give the truck its own unique flavor. It looks fast while standing still, and that's always a plus.

Useful, thanks for posting. Now I can tell the difference between '55/'56, and between '58/'59.

I really enjoy the color scheme on this build. Nice work!

Love it! Where did the bike come from?? Somebody needs to do a 1/25 XJ cherokee so I can load some bikes on it as a replica of my 1:1

The nailhead looks great so far, and I'm excited that the presence of '30 parts in the box definitely indicates that we'll be getting the '30, sooner or later. The patina decals.....remind me of the "fake wound" stickers one could find in vending machines in the 1990s But I'm glad you're trying them out, so we can see what it all looks like.

Beautiful! My first thought on seeing the thread title was "nobody chops a Willys...I have to see this!" And it's turned out great so far.

Haha, "trying too hard" absolutely nails it. The 'vette could look much better if some of the "Hot Wheels meets Transformers" was sucked out of it. Liking that mesh so far. This re-style removes some of the fussiness of the rearend and lets the better aspects of the design speak up and be heard.

Watching this build with great interest. The 3D printed parts look pretty good, especially considering the relatively low cost of the printer! Is the plastic filament material expensive? (thinking of regular ink printers, which are cheap, but the ink is massively pricey). The silhouette cutter is very cool too, I didn't know such a thing existed. Does it use a bladed cutting head like a vinyl sign cutting machine? I like seeing technology used to speed modeling...it reminds me of the "behind the scenes" stuff for movies, where prop departments will do whatever they can to create realistic results, quickly. For 5+ years now I've been following the Flickr account of Harrison Krix at "Volpin Props". He mostly builds replicas of video game weapons and other objects. He started with almost completely hand-built projects (lots of hand shaping and sanding, much the way we build our model cars), and over the years has added a laser cutter, large vacuformer, vacuum box for casting, CAD mill, and recently has used 3D printed parts. He still does a ton of hand-work...except now he is able to produce more complicated and sophisticated results than before. While some might celebrate spending 15 hours to hand-file a complicated styrene inner door panel, I think it would be cool if I could just spend 30min drawing it on the computer, a few minutes printing on the sillo cutter, 15 min cleanup, and boom, done....time to move on to something more rewarding.

Mighty fine build! I like that you put in the extra effort to hook up the lake pipes, swap the transmission, and fit the tuck n' roll interior. It makes for a very authentic result.

I think you have a winner, here! I also think the taillights on the new 'vette are a little too camaro-like, and not really in keeping with the quad circular tailpipes. Your plan sounds good. I'm imagining the taillights looking like a Ferrari F-40...or for something different, maybe a perimeter-taillight like the McLaren P1.

Just realized those exhausts would solve 3 or 4 builds I'm working on right now. This kit is a treasure trove so far!

Killer build. Nice and simple, solid vision. I don't think I've seen one quite like it. And extra bonus kudos for the awesome photos, too! Very artful shots.

Thanks for the updates, this is going to be very interesting! It takes hours to make a Revell '32 frame look like that.