E St. Kruiser50

I have hated this term "Rat Rod", as I drove one in the 50's, as a "Work in progress" hot rod, and haven't been paricularly thrilled with the whole "Rat Rod Theme" in real or scale, but unfortunately I'm being taken over by "THE DARK SIDE" , because of some of the incredible work here on this site, and actually have collected parts to build something that isn't SHINEY AND CHROMY. OH MY GOODNESS!!! It's actually a pretty close copy of a real car I was driving behind in my neighborhood, and it just blew me away. So as the perversion continues, I will eventually "MAN UP", and begin this new aventure . ( By the way, very nice start on this latest project )

WOW, WOW, WOW James, this is very cool . I love all the "Resiny" stuff you've made and shared here. This is going to be great to watch. I think you're right on target here, with this build. Love the body stance, sectioned body and stock roof height. Your builds are always "Way Over The Top Cool" . Keep up the great work as we'll all be watching. Thanks for the PM - dave

Hey Bernard This "CLIFF HANGER" was my idea, as I'm a real people person and love to joke around, and I love the people here on this forum, and was sure everyone would have fun with this. For me this is sorta "tongue in cheek" fun, not meant to be serious, or a "SECRET" for any "DEVIOUS" reasons, but something new and fun for the magazine, and for all of you. Expectations can be a lot of fun, and remember I HAVE TO WAIT TO, JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE. I hope this new idea doesn't upset anyone, as this is for the fun of it, and hopefully will stimulate more interests and growth in our hobby, this forum and the magazine. Bernard, I haven't thought that far ahead about our NNL in April, but will definetly be there, and looking forward to meeting you, and hopefully buying some kits I'll be looking for. I guess there's just never enough kit's in the ol' "CLOSET" . Any comments about this is greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone for making this build so much fun for me. I look forward to many more here - dave

Well guy's, she's all done . Harry got in touch with me some time ago and asked if I wanted to do this. It took me a while to decide , yeah, about two seconds , so THE FIRST PIC'S of the completely finished car, with wheels/tires, exhaust, etc., will be in a multi page article by Harry in July. I WON'T POST THEM HERE until after the july issue is out. SEE YOU THERE . Thanks for all of everyone's support and Harry's "Art Work" and suggestion's - Dave

Hey george That's really cool you're doin' the leather thing. I just use the leather the way it comes. A 1/64th of an inch shoud be fine to use. Never tried what your doing. Try doing samples using the Testor's styrene glue, and cover some pieces with contour so you can learn to stretch it and have it stay in place. It took me more than several tries to get it right, just don't give up. I guess most of what I do looks pretty effortless, but everything I've learned wasn't easy at all. I just never quit trying 'till I get it. Determination After a while you'll get it, and you'll be so proud of yourself and excited. When that happen's, post some pic's, so I get to see how you're doin' to Anyhow, good luck, and if ya got more question's, just fire away - dave

Well here's one of the seat's with all it's black dyed leather and the yellow center area that help's open up the car, and give it some depth and contrast, as well as tie the inside to the outside. A little hard to see all the detail, because it's black.

Hey all Last week-end was a blast at the BOB PAETH PORTLAND CLASSIC MODEL CAR CONTEST. Several of my buddies from Eugene came up and entered, and we spent a lot of time catching up and eating out - YUM , and checking out over 300 1 to 1's out in the Roadster Show. One of the the best I've seen in year's. The model contest was one of the best too, in probably ten years. We had over 340 model, with some of the best quality ever. Steven Carpenter came all the way from Arizona to win BEST IN SHOW and six other firsts, and say'ed he "Was In Shock" to win what he did. Jeff Miller came up from Calif., and won the first annual BOB PAETH - BEST OF THE BEST AWARD, and several other nice awards as well. A young gentleman who just moved here with his new bride from Italy, showed up with some amazing builds with a lot of scratch-built features and won big also, and may be at our next club meeting. We had people from Washington also, who came down and won some cool award's. There were tons of very nice awards and kits given out as prizes, and the people loved it. The layout of the model contest was changed completely this year, with a bunch of seating for the first time, and models displayed totally differently, and there were a lot of compliments on how comfortable and professional the show was. The Portland Roadster Show promoter was so impressed with the quality of our show, that he wanted the BEST IN SHOW'S award's next year to be presented at their big car awards event - First time for our model event ever. Pretty cool. We felt very encouraged. Next year should even be better

The interior detail on this kit is really nice. The seat's have plenty of detail too, but need to be deepened and widened by using a file shown here. The next step is to cut the leather a little larger than you need, then put glue in those "Accentuated" deep details one at a time, and then I use a flattened on the end wood ice cream stick, that has been shaped to a flat point, so I can press the leather into the deep area where the glue was applied, then let it dry, before going on to the next area. Very 'Meticulous" and time consuming, but well worth it when done. Anyhow, here's a few new pic's. The flat piece is done and the other is started and drying. Here's 5 of the 6 pieces started. The 6th is the center piece which has to be reinforced, narrowed and then the leather colored yellow to match the outside of the car, and then applied. Here's some of what it takes to do this. Here's the other pieces of leather I had to cut out and dye, because I didn't start with enough, and also the boot creme I'll use to give the leather some more softness and sheen.

Hey all Takin' a bit longer to get these seat's done. Partly because of a busy life right now, and partly because there's more parts, and the leather preperation is more involved that I was expecting. The dying process takes a day to dry and then I needed to apply a black creme conditioner/polish, that helps brings back the luster and suppleness to the surface, and that has to dry over-night, then polish. I didn't start with enough leather either, so I have to dye another piece, and go down and buy some more of the conditioner that comes from a boot store here in town. Each seat now has 6 pieces of plastic, with two more scrap pieces for back up on the center piece, for a total of 8 pieces of plastic, plus 6 pieces of leather, for a total of 14 pieces for each seat. 28 pieces in all. Here's a pic of the plastic pieces for one seat. All of these will be covered with leather.

Harry This a beautiful hand-made "ART DECO" style Delahaye. Been collecting picture's for years, on these styles of stunning "Rolling Art", with tons of incredible "SWIRLY CHROME" all over the body. Some day........! In the mean time, I'll enjoy watching how this build turns out Marcus . Great start on your project, that'll mirror one of the most wonderful period's of automotive history. Keep us all up to date - dave

Hey Foxer Glad to see your sticking around and posting. These are great build's of your's. Love all the detaily stuff and converting. Very nice work - dave

Hey Les . Nice to hear from you. Glad your back into the hobby. I see this is your first post here on the forum. WELCOME !!! Hope you join in and stick around. It's a fun place here, with a lot great people, and really great builder's. For cutting opening feature's, door's, etc., I use a #11 Exacto blade, and I used to use the back side like most guy's do here, and use it as a scribe, but discovered that if I use the sharp blade side, almost no material in removed, and the gap stay's much tighter. It take's longer to do, and is DEFINETLY more dangerous, as the sharp edge is coming at you vs., the dull side coming at you, so it can be really tricky. I have a fresh bandaide on my left pointy finger from today . Anyway, hope to see some posts of your work here - dave

Here's where my OCD comes in handy LOL Three pieces on the left are one seat and there'll be more pieces, but haven't finished figuring out where to go on the cutting part. I think there will eventually be either five or seven pieces per seat that'll be covered in leather. You'll find out when I do . Gotta get a plan before I do much more. Started knifing the back off the right seat a bit ago, and may finish that tonight. Takes awhile. Anyhow, here's a couple up-date pic's. This is a small "scrap" that I cut from the outside edge of the "Skin", which is actually the belly of the animal, where the skin is the thinnest. The animal is split length-wise at the belly. The back area, or the center of the skin, is the thickest. After cutting it out, I used my oil-based black dye to color the piece, and it'll need to dry until tomorrow, before I start cutting. Hope I cut out enough .

Hey GT - How are ya? Yeah, it was covered, but sorta buried in all the post's. The leather I use comes in "Skins" from Denmark, and unfortunately, at least where I come from, isn't available in pieces. They're usually around 9-18 square feet, and you're charged by the square foot. My experience is, you have to go to a leather supply store and buy what you think will work. That's how I did it. The skin thickness is catagorized by a numbering system, 1 & 2, being the thinist - around .013" - .020" thick - about the thickness of a #79 micro-mini drill. Extremely thin and supple. If you go to a thrift shop and look for women's leather purses and winter gloves, or look for men's driving gloves, that could be an inexpensive source for your "Skins". I use Testor's styrene glue glue sparingly, and there's never been a problem with bleed-through. Hope all this helps. Good luck - dave

Hey John - Thanks Gonna have the ol' girl done today, maybe tomorrow at the latest. Been a fun ride, but got some other COOL PROJECTS just "Sizzlin", and need to get after um. Lot smaller builds and less time for them. Be fun to see this all done, and getr in a case. Later - dave

Thanks Jeff Got a different set of handles to use. These on the door's look to big to me. Later this morning I'll start on the seat's, after I go out for breakfast with a friend. Car should be done today or tomorrow. EEEEHAH Be good - dave

Gettin' closer for the ol' gal to be done. Leather added to the top of the door panels and wood grain added also, like cars had in the 60's. I also added some chrome trim, and chrome door handle and window crank's, that if real, are switche's to activate the electric window's and door's. FUN TO PRETEND Seat's covered with leather are next, and the car is done........... !

Sounds exciting Ron I'll be watching for your thread and new pic's. Can't wait to see how everything is coming together. Talk to you soon - dave

Thanks "Zuk" Had a great time yesterday at the move-in for the show. Lotta models showed up. Lotsa great 1 to 1's out on the floor. Probably well over 300, with some great rides. Got my camera today . Havin' lunch with someone everyday, so it'll definetly be a fun three days. Have a good weekend - dave

Here's some of the materials I'll be using and the part's I'll be covering. As you can see, I've already started to cut the seat's apart and there'll be more cutting before I start. There's a sample piece of leather that was dyed at the leather goods store, to make sure it would work on the color of leather I chose. I may finish dying it, and use it, as it turned out really well for a scrap piece. There are swabs pictured here also, as is the oil-based dye, which allows the leather to stay soft and supple, and retain it's natural sheen. Here's a pic of the skin that I'll use. The light color is the leather side, and the darker side is suede. And here's a new color I picked up, that is a kinda butterscotch - very pretty . Again, the light color is the leather side.

Hey everyone Gettin started on the last leg of this fun project. Gotta go down to the Portland Roadster Show today, and help with the move-in for the BOB PAETH PORTLAND CLASSIC MODEL CAR CONTEST, as I'm the vise-president of SABA, and helping officiate and judge the event, so won't be gettin' serious about this 'terior stuff 'till next week, as this run's through Sunday, but figured I'd share a few thought's about it, and post some begining pics here a bit later this morning, before I leave. The leather I'll be using is about .015", fifteen thousandth's thick, the same thickness as the diameter as a #79 micro-drill >THIN< . It stretches and fit's rounded contour's very nicely. It comes from the country of Denmark, and is tanned in Sweden. I buy it in full skin's and it comes in different colors, thicknesses, and sizes. Usually about 9-18 square feet, and they charge by the square foot. The door panels will get one piece covered along the top of the door panel, and the seat's will be two-toned dyed and colored leather, and there'll be several pieces of the seat's to be covered when I'm done cutting them all apart. All the pieces to be covered will be removed and covered seperately, and then re-assembled to it's rightful location. Very meticulous and time consuming - BUT FUN Anyhow, I will take some pic's and post them later - dave

Hey Aaron My spray booth is a five sided box made of 3/8 plywood. It's 24X30, and 18" deep, with extra lighting installed on the inside roof of the booth. The filter I use is 20"X20" and is slid in from the back, and is at the rear of the booth, where I spray directly into it. The extra large size of the booth, 24X30 allows me to have some of the thing's near me that I need, like extra cans of paint, my solvents and extra air-brush bottles and paper towels for clean-up. The top side of the booth, I used a hole saw and made a hole large enough for my air-brush to rest in, and keeps it outta the way. I have several plug recepticles and switches wired in, and mounted on the side of the booth, to control the lighting, the vent motor, and the compressor. Works great. Remember, this is inside of a 5X10 walk-in area that is heated, lit and vented. Good luck on what you choose - dave

Hey Raul This week-end is the "REEEELY BIG SHUUU" ( 'Member Ed Sullivan?). Good luck my friend at the unveiling of your "RAPTOR THREESOME", as they should WOW the crowd . I'm excited for you and wish you the very best. You deserve it. Have a lot of fun - dave

Yeah, no kidding Hey Raul, have fun this week-end at the NNL WEST, and good luck with unveiling the RAPTOR three-some. I think many of us are excited for you . All the best my friend - dave

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY - THIS IS YOUR DAY - A HAPPY BIRTHDAY (Someone's supposed to sing this to you - LOL) . You wouldn't want me to sing it:blink: . Happy Birthday Gregg - Thanks for making all this possible - dave