FredRPG

Not to get too far off topic, I’ve never had much interest in early rails but something about this one with the steel wheels I really like.

My lucky day, I’ve been looking for one of these at a reasonable price. I hesitated for a little bit wondering if I was snatching it away from you, but figured I’m probably the only idiot who would think $20 was a good price for this thing.

Another option would be black silicone, if it’s done carefully the door gap looks like 1:1 door rubber.

It’s the only reason I go to Ollie’s.

Short and squatty with big rear fender inlets, maybe not this kit but one like it or a die cast.

I’d like to invite Wayne, Garth and the mirthmobile to the party. Not sure what I’m going to do with the drive chain just yet, I thought about a 928 since it’s basically the same car, but they all seem to be curbside. Well other than the Revell, but the engine in it is crummy.

This is the difference between an engineer and an artist. As an artist that works with engineers all the time, I’d like to say you’re both right. I recently had a discussion about illustrating a missile coming straight at the viewer. To most people it looked like a hubcap, to the engineer it was just right. In 2d or 3D often you have to cheat to get things to look right, but no one notices because it looks right. For the missile I cheated the angle down a bit and exaggerated the perspective compared to the Apache in the background. Most everyone agreed that it looked like you were about to be hit, except the engineer who thought it was going to miss by several feet. He wasn’t wrong literally, but he was visually.

I got this off of eBay for what I thought was a very good price considering how cleanly it was built. The ramps are a little mismatched from what came with it new, but nothing to complain about. Haven’t decided whether to leave the roof with the tilt or straighten it out, it is a stunt car after all. Might need to hunt up the other two cars and the hauler ( that might be hard to find).

Thanks for the kind offer, I don’t have one on my build list, I just think the exposed plywood on such an over engineered car is a funny juxtaposition. You’re probably right though, the way you are upgrading and redoing some of the awkwardness of the car, it would be out of place on your build. (Just like the k-mart fog lights bolted to the engines for headlights were) thanks again for sharing your build process, I always look forward to the updates.

You would be my hero if you replicated the bad exterior grade plywood floor as seen from below. ?

I like to use thin strips of aluminum foil or stainless tape used for duct work. Not as shiny as bmf and stands out in relief a little more.

I agree with above ^. What about half way in between, sort of like a survivor turned hot rod?

It's not in the contest, but I've always been partial to this one:

Jada so of course it's a little oversized, but it has a blinky light to make up for it.

Just added another vehicle to an obscure corner of my collection, the Russian vans.

Here is a version with slightly different door shields. These might look more like the movie car, but I like yours better. https://www.diecastxchange.com/forum1/topic/218577-custom-031-cannonball-run-trans-am-nhp/

A decent substitute is the fake wood trim from Home Depot or similar place. I think there are different kind of composites but the stuff they have in 1x4 in the moulding section carves and sands easy. I've been successful glueing several together for larger/thicker pieces. I seem to remember someone mentioning the composite fencing end caps being nice big blocks to work from as well.

Yup the firebird is Nevada highway patrol.

I wouldn't fret too much if you really want one, I don't think anyone is paying the $200 price tag. I have three (one half built and two in boxes) that I've picked up off eBay in the over the last few years. Just have to be patent, the half built one was $45, the best boxed one was 70 something and the other one some where In between. Sometimes people can get little too optimistic with the buy it now price.

This kind of seat (right) always irritates me, I know why they were moulded that way but still, especially in a convertible. Also they always seem to sit up so high the steering wheel touches. This is a really nice conversion Steven.

This is great, one of my favorite illustrations in 3-d, brilliantly done. Don't know if you noticed in the illustration Velma's bandages were Freddie's ascot and Daphine's scarf. Again wonderfully done, thanks for sharing.

They are not kits, modified Hachette die casts. I have several of these, they come with some incredibly fine details like the wipers, would love to see more on what modifications you made.

Yeah that does the trick, nice to see fat tires as well, they really fit the overall look.

I agree the balance seems a little off to my eye. Just a thought, it could be as simple as hanging the wing lower and further back. Whatever you go with it's a great build, look forward to seeing it in paint.

I built several of those in the 80's, this one and the East African Safari version. If I remember correctly it has one of the motorized chassis with a non-prototypical steering set up. Nice body though and as you can see by this nice build, very detailed decals.