E St. Kruiser50

WOW !! Never seen the back of the Raptor before. That is very cool. This is an amazing theme your caring out through the entire project. I'm having fun watching it all come together. dave

Hey there my friend I keep looking at your truck and seeing small fins on the top of the bed, with tall arched taillights frenched in, going from the top of the fin to the bottom of a rolled pan of some kind. That ol' 50's Barris look. Whattaya think?? . I love the whole look of your project. Very cool, whatever ya do. Just like to add my .002 cents worth All the best - Dave

Thanks ajulia I was lazy today and got next to nothin' done. Stormy and rainy and I get sleepy and take naps. Maybe I'll do something tomorrow- retirement is great

I know about the wheel/tire thing Marcus. Guy's usually like 'um or hate 'um . No problem. As you can see in this pic, I build what I drive. Just can't get past "The Look". This is my "Nasty looking" supercharged T-Bird sitting on the ground, with Extra Large", 10 inch wide Neepers. What a blast to drive.

Your '57 would clean house on me at any contest, but they would look nice together. Your Cameo is a stunning build and is painted one of my favorite colors . Be good ya'll - Dave

Hey flatheadgary I've had the same problem some time ago, and it was always because I didn't wash the part with soap and warm water, to remove the silicone mold release, and then lightly sand the surface before applying the putty. Once in a great while I'll still get a small area that doesn't stick, and I'll just use some super-glue to stick it back in place. Works great. Good luck - Dave (I'll probably hear about this one. Please don't take this personal about your choices, but I put Bondo in the same catagory as Krylon paints. They are cheap, but the complaints just never seem to end here until people switch to a more expensive brand. The old addage - "You only get what you pay for still holds true.)

Hi Raul The deep whites were there just to confuse you -LOL . As you see in the previous pic, the white centers were cut out to install in the red backing plates, and then the deep whites were discarded. Still going with the "whites and caps". Sorry I confused you . Just wanted to show the detail. Got the rear suspension completed today, and the wheel/tires installed. Everything even sits flat and square. Imagine that . I love it when a plan comes together. Still have to finish the front suspension and add the tires. Then I'll start on foiling the rear fins and the fender spears on the tops of the front fenders. Getting closer Chow

Payback huh ??

Hi again There's a lot of pieces to this suspension, and moving everything forward a scale 5 inches didn't make it any easier. I cut all four of the A-arms off the chassis, and modified them so the could be moved. Also had to modify the trans axle the same amount, and move the axle shaft locations forward on the trans axle. The wheels came next. As you see in the pics, I had to marry lot's of pieces together so the wheels would slide on in place - at least that's the plan . The trick is trying to keep it looking stock, and the changes subtle. Anyhow, we'll see how it actually works . Still more pieces to add.

Hey terror I just use plain ol' testors, in the red and white tube. It absorbs into the leather, and attacks the styrene, so they become one. Nearly impossible to remove. Any other questions, just give a holler - Dave

I agree - but no pressure Raul

Hey Raul I really like how this is coming together. I think Kevin may have something with the tan roof idea. No matter though what you do, everything is lookin' great. It's fun to watch your progress. Thanks for keeping us updated - Dave

I've lived a very sheltered life

No problem asking Some of his finished things, as I've heard, are goind to museums and some of the finished things are staying with various family members.

As a lot of you know, Bob Paeth was a good friend of mine. Not because he was Bob Paeth or a man of some celebrity, but because of his kind hearted nature. It isn't often that you meet a man who loved life as much as Bob did, and was so laid back about it. This last week-end was the sale of all of Bob's model collection.It went really well. In the first hour and a half, 3/4 of his things on 4 table's was sold, and all of it was gone by the end of the model contest. Everyone I talked to who has gotten something was so excited. Lot's of fun. I got a few nice things, and thought I'd share them here. In the pic is a kidillac diecast pedal car, and a never opened 'till I got it '92 Corvette promo, still wrapped in tissue paper. Also a memorial print about Bob, and one of his business cards from Revell. The biggest prize for me as a builder is the Corvette Indy " Dream Machine" that Bob turned into an El Camino, that I will finish some day as a tribute car. Hope you enjoy - Dave

Raul, Here's one more pic where you can see the "Gastly Bright Interior" All the best-

Same for me Bill. The '55 is way my fav of the three also.

Hey there My Friend Here's that V-Dub you asked about. Built this about 6 or seven years ago when guy's were first startin' to build tuners. Most of the guy's in the club hated these thing's, so I built it to pis...oops, tic them off. (Sorry Gregg ) Anything to have a little fun ya know, specially at someone else's expense . Anyhow, this is when I first started experimenting with HOK catalyzed single stage and two stage urethanes, and micro mini metalflakes. This is silver flake over PPG "Sparkle Aluminum", then HOK Organic Green. The decals came from a Joe Amato dragster kit. The yellow stripe is PPG "Southern Belle Yellow". After I laid down the decals, I clear coated with HOK catalyzed urethane. (How do you like those interior colors?? Drove the club guy's nut's ) All the air dams, and front and rear end are scratch built. The guy's in the club hated it. I took it up to Washinton to a contest up there, and won a "Best" with it - Pretty funny (The young guy's couldn't believe someone my age could design and build something like this . Pretty cool for me.) Anyhow, hope you enjoy - Dave

WOW WOW WOW This is very nice. I wasn't expecting this. BEAUTIFUL !!! The foiling and color are great together. Again - BEAUTIFUL. I have one of these kit's and this is the color I was thinking of. Now I'll do it for sure. Thanks for for sharing it and helping me out - Dave PS. Your not "JOE THE PLUMBER" are you?? Just kidding - LOL

Hey all Thought it would be fun to share this When I was down at Seaside Oregon a few years ago, at a huge week-end cruize-inn, this T-Bird really got my attention. Never seen one this color before and it just GRABBED me. I was able to walk up to the car and look it over in a parking lot, and it was stunning. Just perfect. But no camera. I ran back to the motel to get it, and just as I was getting back, the owner was driving away. I waved my arms and yelled at him, like crazy car freaks do some times , and he stopped and let me take some pics. Really nice guy, turns out. Anyway, I built it last year, and it's still one of my favorite builds. I love the color. This is a '56 Monogram kit that I modified. The top and rear bumper are scratch built, and the badging decals I got from a guy in Canada, and their really nice. I keep it in a special place in my "Building Cave" where I can look and enjoy. Hope you enjoy too - Dave "The Cave" - LOL

AHHHHHH YESSSSSSSSS IMAGINATION IS ALIVE AND WELL NOTHING LIKE WAY OUTTA THE BOX RAUL. GREAT START. ENGINE IS OVER THE TOP !!! THIS WILL BE FUN TO WATCH Where do these kinda idea's come from? The treehugger(still huggin' um)

Thanks guy's Glad you like the leather work. Here's a few others with full scratch-built leather interiors. Hope you enjoy - Dave 1932 Chrysler Imperial Phaeton Street Rod with full scratch built leather interior. Full scratch leather interior in an all scratch built 1935 Duesenberg SJ Airflow Coup'. 1200 hours Complete scratch built leather interior in an all scratch built 1941 Hollywood Graham - 2000 hours.

Hey Harry Happy Birthday. I noticed there's no reference here in any of the posts about your age ????????? Yeah, Yeah I know Have a good one - Dave

hey all Years ago I decided I wanted to try doing real leather interiors for my models. So I went to a local retail leather supplier, and purchased "full skins" as you see in the photo (about 9 to 12 square feet each), that came from Sweden and Denmark. Over a period of time, I bought quite a few different colors. Glad I did because the quality and color is much better than what is available now from China. One side provides the leather surface, and the back side is the suede. Very, very thin, and beautifully supple and soft. These are the small pieces I will use for the carpet. In this pic I have made a template and cut out the right side and have the template laying on the left piece, ready to be cut out. Notice the carpet is a little darker and will give the interior a warm rich contrast. Here they are done and installed. Here's one of my full leather interiors.

I spent most of my time today taping and spray painting. I did a lot of black for contrast. This is one of those projecte I have so much fun with that I feed off of it, and it gives me energy. I love detailing when i can get into it, and the detailing on the interior just comes alive for me with the contrasting colors. Luckily it worked out this time,as there's been plenty of times I've had to redo it Whataya think - Any suggestions? The last picture shows some of the pieces still I have left to install, probably next week. Thanks all - Dave Here's before the contrasting black was sprayed. Here's the parts still to be installed.