Dave Darby

I don't know about better proportions. I've always found the Monogram grille too tall. The MPC kit has always looked more "right" to me.

I guess your handle makes that clear enough. Like this post if you agree we should do a 71 and or 72 Roadrunner soon. -Steve Last issued in 1987, and now as I understand it, the tool is MIA. Maybe we should put it on a milk carton? I too would like to see it back.

That is way cool. Uber nice job!

That's Hot Curl. He came with the MPC Wild Ones 29 Model A Woody/ Roadster Pickup. His history goes back just a bit farther though... https://surfsimply.com/surf-culture/the-legend-of-hot-curl/

If it does (and it just may) Atlantis will have it. Scott's build was featured of 3 consecutive issues of Model Cars magazine (211-213, I want to say?) And it's very inspirational reading. This is a seriously amazing build.

Here's my first completion of 2023. I actually started it nearly 20 years ago, and worked on it in spurts last year and this past month. The yellow is polished plastic. The wood side panels are painted Tamiya Desert Sand, to match the original 1965 Woody Wagon color. The rolling stock and front axle are from the Blue Bandito. I made the license plate in Adobe Illustrator to match the vintage box art. The Deuce radiator shell is from one of the yellow Monogram 32 Roadsters. I actually backwashed a grille insert, but it looked better plain, so... You can't have a surf woody without a surfboard, so I grabbed one from the Bandito donor and smoothed the edges and pins off of it. It's painted with Duplicolor Pure White basecoat/clearcoat. I finished it off with a decal of my own design, created in Photoshop. (Actually, I re-did it after the below photo. The next one down shows the finished board.) This is my first attempt at making my own decals, using an Inkjet printer and decal paper from Hobby Lobby. I buried it in clear, but you can still see the edges. Surf's Up!

Took me a minute to get past the no wheel opening look, but this is a seriously stylish build. Looks it could have come out the GM styling center.

Looking good. Your color change is a vast improvement!

Actually, Chevy would have had only to look at their Corvettes, by that logic. Corvettes had body exiting exhaust from 1953-55 (with the tips extended in 54 to keep the soot off the paint) and exhaust through the bumpers from 1956-60. So I doubt that was ever a consideration.

Thanks Tim! I'm hoping to eke out a little more time to work on this one soon.

Not a lot to report here, but I did get some white corduroy (can you say "old school"?) for the interior and running boards. I test sprayed a spoon the other day with some cheap purple pearl acrylic. I think it was A. Too cold out, and B. A bit too thinned. I'll shoot a spoon again on a warmer day, and bury it in clear. Also tried out some Tamiya transparent yellow on a center hub a la Ala Kart. I think I like it. Oh, and I got some gold on the engine.

That is true with one caveat. You have to cut away the rumble seat floor from the roadster fender unit. This works great for the Woody and the Roadster Pickup. For the sedan, you'll also need to trim the inner portions of the rear fenders to match that of the old ex-MPC units to all the body and interior tub to clear. Here's a Woody body on the Roadster fenders. Using these also allows you to use the much nicer Roadster hood, radiator shell and headlights. I really need to finish this thing!

You did that survivor proud. I'm glad you saved the decals.

Concept and execution are both exceptional. Very well done.

Love it! And the grail ram horn manifolds.

Looking gorgeous Gary! You gonna bring that to Spartanburg? I hope to make it there myself.

30 Sedan is Revell 1/25th scale. You could cross breed the phaeton with the stock parts from the Monogram Coupe easily though.

Actually, up until the 1970s, the Monogram 30 Model A Phaeton could be built stock, and is a pretty nice kit in its own right. I rebuilt a survivor a few years ago, and was amazed how nicely everything went together with a precision fit. The similarly designed Monogram 30 A Coupe has always had the capability to be built stock.

That's a thought. Or the Monogram 32.

Yep. I'm not a big fan of the kit windshield either, so I tried using the windshield from the Lindberg "32 Ford Hot Rod". Alas that didn't fit too well, and the cowl is too wide for an AMT windshield. So for now, it's the kit windshield. That is, however, very much subject to change. I may have to make a frame.

Verrrry Cool Tim! Like Dennis, I really like those black reveal lines. That color is the bomb! I noticed the tires getting a little chummy with the wheels too. I'd be tempted (if possible) to separate them, and some semi-gloss clear on the tires, and/or foil on the inside of rims to isolate them. Those wires have to be getting unobtainium these days too. That panel body would be a natural for Round 2 to clone. Thank you for sharing your talents with us Tim!

Just saw this one, Alan. Like Dennis said, you totally nailed it. You could have told me it was a Tim Boyd build from a 1980's SAE and I would have bought it. Very, very well done.

Looking good Craig!

I like that idea, but my wife nixed it because... This...

Moving around to the rear suspension, I'm utilizing an AMT 29 Model rear crossmember, and the rear suspension from the 25 T Rod version. The driveshaft is too short, so I cut it between the connection at the front of the quick-change housing and the front U-joint housing, and inserted the driveshaft from the Ala Kart rear suspension assembly. I drilled each joint with a #69 bit, and a small section of paper clip provides a nice interference fit, and a strong joint. The pin on the driveshaft locates into the hole I drilled in the center crossmember. I'll be drilling a couple of holes at the front of the radius rods, and using the ends from a pair of 25 T windshield braces as pivots. The rest of that old axle mount will be trimmed away. Let's get back on top of things... Those spotlight holes needed to go, so I used the same method as I used on the headlamp mounting holes. Much better. Here is an overall shot at this stage of progress. Here we see scribed door lines (the originals are raised - but incredibly easy to scribe, using two layers of 3/4" masking tape as a guide). I cut off the curved out ends of the side pipes, drilled them out, than sanded a beveled "baloney cut" into them. The raw plastic was finished off with some Molotow. You can also see the new tonneau cover, which is longer, and wraps around the cab, giving it a more finished appearance. In the current Vintage Workbench, I pointed out that the engine block, along with the intake/heads assembly in the Lindberg kit are straight from the AMT 32 Roadster kit. Great for restoration and cloning, but we can do better for a more up to date build. I drilled the Lindberg block to match up with the mounting pins for the newer post 1964 32 Roadster heads, with the intake from the Ala Kart Hemi, and rocker covers from the Monogram Predicta. (These are probably the best plated stock Chrysler Hemi rocker covers ever. This is before I trimmed the pins on the bottom and moved them higher on the heads. After this, I made a new full length firewall from a piece of disposable aluminum baking pan, and polished it up. I whittled the kit headlight mounts down a bit, and switched the lights from side to side, mounting them in the new holes I drilled lower on the fenders. Reflectors are the custom Lucas Flamethrowers from the 55 Nomad kit. I'm hoping with the kit bezels and the lenses, the headlights will come together as planned. This is where we are at currently, although the axle housings and engine have been painted gold, awaiting the rain to quit so they can get a second coat of clear, Paint for this one will likely be a light lavender pearl, with a white corduroy interior. But I still have a couple more ideas to try before that happens. Stay tuned.