Dave Darby

Coolness! Where did you source the resin tires from?

Soooooo... Has anybody tried that Olds roof on the Chevy yet? I know Ken Kitchen has done vice-versa... Nice builds, BTW.

Looking good, Kerry!

The pickup bed goes all the way back to day one. It was in the original issue as an option.

Great build Steve! I like that you built the early Roth version. I still one day plan on building the original Bob Johnston version, with the early Ford steelies, and the Flathead. Again though, LOVE your build.

Danno, did you ever finish this build? I'm liking where it's going. And I learned quite a bit, such as what happened between the 1967 annual issue of the Corvette, and the Streaker Vette reissue in 1976, which, ironically, has no molded in exhaust system. Oddly, the chassis in all the subsequent reissues has now pivoting lower control arms, returning to the original 1964 style chassis. Two chassis inserts? Sounds to me like Round2 could still have the body bits and more to the Cosma Ray floating around. I may have to hook up with Mr Wann in the meantime...

Sweet paint! Is that the Honduras Maroon? I can't wait to see this one finished.

Well I got back on the horse and made some progress! All the hood supports were broken off, so I made new ones from sheet styrene... Primer! One color for the first time in over 20 years! Still some bodywork to do, here... Annnnnnnd at long last... The same paint I originally painted it with 35 years ago.... (In 1977) Almost done!

More pics, D-Rock! Looks like you are off to a great start!

I like it! Nicely weathered, and not overdone.

Keep up the good work, Dan! What color blue is that? I like it.

It does at that! Not happening with this one, but it would make an interesting project. although someone's already done it with a 1/18th scale diecast.

Nah, after 35 years together, she ain't going anywhere. Today I sealed the edges of the old putty up, and filled the deep stuff with Zap A Gap, then gave her a couple of skim coats of Spot Putty. Nowadays I normally use Evercoat for this sort of thing, (I almost never use lacquer based spot putty) but this is a real restoration, doing it just the way I did it when I was 16. Hard to believe it was 35 years ago I first built this. It felt strangely familiar sanding on it. It brought back memories. I was working on it in my best friend Bob's basement, and I had it already to paint. I came back the next day to find his little brother had ripped the wheel flares off of it, and I had to do them all over again. I had to smile to myself when I thought of that...

I built this one back in 1977, when I was 16 years old. I painted it a couple more times over the ensuing years, then got tired of how it looked, and stripped it down to bare plastic (which of course ruined the filler) in 1989. After that, it sat in pieces, as you see it here, but scattered to the wind, until just this year, when I sorted through all my parts, and got all of the original pieces I could find back in one place... The wheel flares and front spoiler were made from the plastic flats they divided record albums with at the stores... That green piece is a leftover bit from a '69 Cougar that was painted with the same can of paint... Originally painted Plastikote Metalflake Green, I recoated it a few years later with Testors Candy Transparent Green, which made it a good deal darker. I ran the stock hood, but in 1989 I decided to do this 'update' using the scoop from the 69 Chevelle kit. That was also when I reshaped the door windows, painted it red, and then, unhappy with the faint panel lines, stripped the body in 409. That rear spoiler is the front spoiler from the Revell "Jungle Jim" Vega funny car. Got a little rambunctious with the sanding there, didn't I? Sorry, louvers! Considering that it went through the stripper, that automotive spot putty has held up pretty well. (except for this flare...) Here's the motor and the rolling stock (minus the back halves of the tires (had yet to dig these up, still.) Not shown are the side pipes, which I ended up painting black. They'll be replaced with chrome ones. Keep in mind that was 16 year old me that put those plug wires on... The header flanges will hide the ends. I think the wheels were cribbed from the "Iron Horse" Mustang kit, but the Countdown Series 66 Mustang had 'em too. Anybody got 4 good ones like these? A little drilling, filing, and pinning got her back up on 4 wheels, with engine in place. Dig those old school sewing thread plug wires.... Here she is mocked up... First time on all four wheels in 23 years. And after searching diligently, I've found me some Plastikote Metal Flake Green in an old school can! Just like I painted it with back in 1977.... What do you think? Worth saving? You can see more photos of the rebuild process here...http://public.fotki....vette/?show=all

I built the box art car for the '53 (same tool) in the 3 car set back in the 1990's, and I can vouch for the ride height issue. However, I will say that the SAE article Larry Greenberg speaks of is incorrect. I believe Bill Coulter wrote it, and he felt that side trim was running uphill. Bill suggested taking a pie-cut out of the body to 'correct' this. The fact is, on the 1 : 1 car, the rockers run downhill, so if the body was sitting on the ground, it would give an uphill appearance. So I would leave the body be, and concentrate on the ride height. I believe I corrected this on the box art car by flipping the spindles over in front, and trimming the springs in back. And yes, the divider between the seats came off sometime between delivery and photography.

Thanks for all the great comments, guys. This is the first all new model I've done in quite a few years. It was a labor of love, and Cristi and I had fun exploring all the options as we were 'designing' it. Cristi wanted it pearl white, with a red interior, and she wanted a custom grille. In many ways, this build actually brought us closer together, and she got to see firsthand what it takes for us guys to do something like this.

Hey Kenn. Back to work! We wanna see this through!

I agree about the rear fenders. If you have either an AMT or MPC 53 Ford, those fenders are a lot nicer, and your truck will thank you for it. I like what you've done so far!

So far, so good!

Finally finished this one, after 41 days on the workbench. Paint is Testors One Coat White Lightning Pearl. Lucas "Flame Thrower" headlights from the AMT 55 Nomad kit. Custom Lenses from the 53 Studebaker kit. Scratchbuilt steering column and turn signal lever. Shifter made from a straight pin. Bucket seats from the AMT 53 Corvette. Vertex magneto from the 57 chevy kit, Plug wires have correct firing order. Scratch built fuel log and gas line. License plate made in Photoshop that says "Cristi" - my wife's name. And yes, she is quite pleased with her belated Christmas present. Off the bench and on the shelf! Since I'm in here, a few new bonus photos... Here is a link to the build process... http://www.modelcars...o=new_post&f=18

That's a nice chop. Looking good!

I'm a little late to the party here, but WOW, WOW, and WOW! Gorgeous build, John. I had a Pyro (?) 1/32 scale kit of that car when I was a kid. Your build makes me want to go out and score another one. Not that it would even come close to your level of detail.... Your's is a work of art.

Since I had the ability to redo this post to restore the photos, I decided to add a few things that didn't make it in the first time around, like some of the engine detailing... The kit exhaust manifolds (center) were pretty bad, so I replaced them with the chromed manifolds from the AMT 57 T Bird. Plug wiring and fuel line plumbing... This is the antenna from the AMT 25 Model T kit. OK, how anal retentive is this? Here are a couple more teaser photos before I take it apart, polish, and do final assembly.... The headlight lenses are from the AMT 53 Studebaker kit, dipped in Future to make 'em more clear. Now you can see those Lucas headlights better... And here is the rear. Taillight lenses are from the AMT 63 Galaxie, and similar to the headlight lenses, spent some time on the 4 way nail file to remove the extra height, then dipped in Future. The bumperettes are from the pre-1992 issues of the AMT 57 Ford. This photo shows off the pearl a little better. (Before I trimmed the taillight lenses down - Please, no red-rocket jokes...) All finished, and here is a link to the completed build:

That's the same idea I had. But, drop me your addy in a PM, Tom. Can't guarantee how fast it'll get to you, but you are welcome to it.

I like this better, how bout you? OK, I still have color sanding and rubbing out to do, plus finishing the engine, but here are a couple teaser mock-up shots for you... Paint is Testors White Lightning Pearl, with a Flame Red interior... What do you think?