Spex84

I like what you've done with that goofy Vicky roof...it looks much more distinguished now! My eyebrows certainly raised when I read the "three day" goal, haha. That was really ambitious. Looking forward to seeing this build progress!

I am suitably chastised. Again...my hope is that anything "wrong" with the kit (from a nit-picking enthusiast's perspective) will be easy to fix. That's all. On the other hand, I can afford to be wrong on the internet. Because if I am...then we all win!

It's funny that as classics get older and tougher to find, and all the truly iconic classics are becoming increasingly unaffordable, 4-door sedans and wagons are starting to stage a comeback. Especially overseas, where any american classic car is a cool novelty. A few years ago, somebody down the valley from me entered a '57 Chevy in a demolition derby. Naturally it was destroyed in about 2 hits. The youtube video is full of commenters blowing a gasket that anyone could derby a '57. But for decades you could barely give them away. Across the valley from me, there are some cars that were chopped into pieces and pushed over a bank, partially covered in dirt. A 55 Chevy. A '50 Mercury....and more. But they were all sedans, so they were evidently stripped for useable parts and then disposed of. This probably happened around 30-40 years ago. In the year 2040, 1950 Dodge 4-door sedans will be desired and sought-after! Oh, and all the restaurants will be Taco Bell

"It appears to be too tall, and squared off" That "squared off" look is something that is very visible in the new-tool Ala Kart that was released a while back. It just sucks the life out of a design. I call it "chamfer-itis". Rather than accepting that a part has a gradual curve, the sculptor/3D modeler has decided to make a box and chamfer or fillet the edges (anyone who does CAD will know what I mean). And having seen that 3/4 view now...yep, the roof is way flat across the visor. That's going to be tough to fix. I personally lack the "eye" that some people have for curves and compound forms. I understand compound forms as a series of cross-sections. I'm not much of a sculptor because I can't instantly "feel" a form; I have to dissect it first and that takes time. I'm getting the impression that whoever is doing the 3D modeling for these kits has a more pronounced example of this condition, and is missing the forest for the trees in some areas. Some aspects of the kit are totally understandable--the firewall dimensions allow for the thickness of the hood, and the squared-off shape will help the hood sit level and flush. But it doesn't look remotely like the real thing...feels like kit engineering has taken priority over realism. I recently almost purchased a Moebius '56 Chrysler (one of my favorite cars), but something looked "off"...I went home and did some comparisons using photos of the real thing vs photos of the built-up model, and discovered that the real car has this glorious taper to the taillights and bumpers, like the whole car is leaping forward. The kit, on the other hand, presents the taillights and bumpers as vertical, squared-off, and stodgy as hell. Because the taillight frames and bumpers are chrome, it would take a collossal amount of work to make the back end of that car look like it should. It was enough to stop me from buying the kit, because it would be a parts kit and I don't need any more hemi engines right now. So in this case, if they fix the roof/cowl--- I'm happy. I don't care about the firewall, that's an easy fix, or someone will make an aftermarket piece that is more accurate. Even if the body has serious shortcomings, there will be enough cool and useful parts in the '29/'30 kits to make them worth buying.

The old filament-style prints are what I tended to have in mind when visualizing the output of home 3D printers. But the parts you're getting out of the new machine are light years better. Love it. That new, more resilient resin should be a welcome change as well.

The new door cut lines make it look more like a '30. Cool! Molding the fenders on was an interesting decision. Looking forward to seeing where this goes.

Thanks for the useful info, Horsepower!

Lookin' smooth so far!

Very impressive. My mind is working furiously right now, trying to figure out how I can do something like this. I can already 3D model. I just can't see a way to make it anything other than a hobby...resin casting takes a whole other skill set and large investment in materials, and then anyone with some rubber and resin can make knock-off parts. Maybe the solution is to charge people for 3D printed parts, or offer custom modeling and printing services. But that will slow down as more people build their own printers. So much potential, though!

Made up a driveshaft using some aluminum tube...

Could have sworn I already posted this...weird. Anyway, Jantrix--I wanted a graphical element on the side of the body, so that's why the filler door is there. The seat had tipped back in that shot; now it sits forward and is notched in the side for the filler neck. Should just barely fit together. Putting the filler in the deck would almost be too logical!

I've been trying to figure out what to do for headlights and taillights. I'm hoping to make something thatlooks like LED clusters or projector headlamps. I have a few options: -stock-style rounded buckets with quad chrome "lights" made from carb intake pieces from a MPC '32 (looks kind of bug-eyed) -small diameter bullets made from 60s mustang mirrors (these look like the motorcycle-style projector headlights offered by 1:1 company 'Headwinds') -Square LED cluster headlights made from cheap costume jewelry. For taillights, I have the round units from the Phantom Vicky, or possibly a long horizontal flush-mounted strip would be good, like a lot of 90s and 2000s high tech street rods. I think I'd use a strip of CD jewel case painted with transparent red to form the taillight lens. The body is quite square, so the rectangular headlights/taillight might work well. On the other hand, the filler door and intake bells create a circular theme, so the bullet headlights and taillights would work too. Hmmm...

Rip the foil? Whaaaat?...I'll take your word for it, and maybe I'll give it a try. Because that is such a cool and convincing finish.

Cool! I actually really like the headlights. Combined with the "nostril" sculpting on the hood, it looks like a dinosaur skull or something. Also enjoying all the molded body mods on this build, they add a lot to the Baja look.

Thanks guys! Dave--I totally forgot about the Buttera T. I have not built it before but I'd like to someday; I hear it's really fiddly. Here is some work on the floor. Because I hate building transmission tunnels, I tried something different this time: Milliput. The resulting 'blanket' was trimmed to fit the floor. It's a bit crude but I think it's working. *edit: yeah, no foot room in this thing. That's the price you pay for horsepower, haha.

That's awesome. I don't see any seams in the BMF. Did you use a single piece for each major body panel? How did you avoid wrinkles??

So here's what I did to the intake. I don't know if it would ever work in real life, but it has the look, so it'll do. Because I'm undecided on color, I tried out a few things in Photoshop: And... here's how the gas cap was done. It's two aluminum standoffs used in electronics (salvaged from some junk circuit boards), chopped up and screwed back together:

Clearly the long wheelbase is for extra stability in long-distance jumps. Great for wedding parties...everyone can relax in the shade of the undercarriage! Anyway, that's nuts. It's going to be one of a kind!

Michael-- the suspension in the Phantom Vicky is somewhat simplified, but it does an OK job of representing something like what you see on the various builds of the Rat's Glass 'Speedstar' bodies: I remember there were a few years where it seemed like every other car featured in Street Rodder Magazine was a Speedstar (part of the reason I lost interest, even though I like the design of the body)...so the Phantom Vicky kit is actually fairly useful for depicting that era of hot rodding. But yeah, IFS choices are pretty limited. There's the Revell '37 (not chromed), the AMT '34 street rod (chunky and not very convincing) and Testors' Smoothster (1/24 scale). Maybe there are more, but I can't think of them right now.

I think the main reason modern cars are tougher to do "traditional" custom mods on, is because they're all unibody, whereas older vehicles were body-on-frame. Also, 1940s-50s vehicles tended to have headlights, taillights, and trim that was applied to the suface of the car, so it could be taken off and re-purposed on another, whereas today the those parts are blended into the unibody. If you're looking for traditional custom tricks like roof chops, channeling (body drops), taillight and headlight swaps, extreme lowering, shaved door handles, etc...then look to the truck customizing scene. Pro-touring, drifting, and "stance" might be hot right now, but the truck crowd is still doing a lot of stuff that the 50s customizers would recognize instantly. Up to this point, trucks have basically been built like the vehicles of the 1950s, albeit with some refinements. Convenient! There are still vehicles today that look like a blank canvas to me...the Chrysler 300... 2008-era Ford Fusion...Dodge Challenger...Toyota FJ... Creativity is still possible, and so is atrociously bad taste! *I love the two 60s show rods that were posted. Winfield's Reactor is an undeniable piece of history, and in my opinion looks great too.

Thanks all! I've been trying to decide on the paint scheme...the intial plan was to do an unconventional hi-tech theme with silver/matte black and black chrome, but I'm not sure how to achieve a black chrome effect. So it might end up silver/gunmetal/chrome with red accents.

After test-fitting the body and suspension, I found the back end needed a step-up and the stock crossmember removed. In order to get the grille in-line with the front wheel centerline, I couldn't use the complete '32 vicky IFS unit...it had to be split and the A-arm towers mounted separately to the T frame. Then the frame needed to be opened up to clear the steering rack. The rack has been split in 3 and shaved down in a couple places to clear the radiator. And a mockup of what it looked like at this point. Coming together!:

Bernard--I'll post what I did with the intake soon. It's pretty simple and maybe not all that realistic--I just pitched the kit intake, filled the top of the manifold to make it flat, and have plunked the intake bells right down on the manifold. I figure it's an electronic direct-injection setup, or something. Lol. It has the look, and that's what counts!

The '32 vicky bench seat needed some narrowing in order to fit the '25 body. In retrospect, I probably should have narrowed it another 3mm or so. Getting it up and into the body will be a bit of a trick. For the dash, I want to use the kit part on another build, so it was replaced with some flat stock and will receive a photoetched gauge panel.

Dude, that is nuts. I loved Transformers as a kid, and this car looks about ready to get up and walk away! Are all the folding parts and the suspension static, or do they articulate? Either way, very cool build.