Joe Handley

Came up with this idea when I was still at the LHS and we got in the Fujimi Pantera curbside kits. Bought one and never got around to aquiring the GT kit until after switching to my current job. The idea was to take one of ex-Polar Lights Ford GT kits and put the chassis and drivetrain from that under the Pantera body. Kinda surprised how close the two were in size and only had to cut down the GT pan a little and will need to hog out fenders to fit the larger rolling stock from the GT, especially out back.

Restarted the Kustom Beetle I started last summer, bought a new kit and started doing the filler related mods with that Bondic UV Resin. Also plan on doing an EV West style VW EV conversion on it too. Started a build I started buying kits for in 2015 or 2016…….requires less work than expected so far? Dad and I are making a Sam’s Club run, but the Dremel is coming out when we get home and unleaded?

Got the part to fix the end over problem in the mail today! So long as I put it in the right way, the truck will be 4wd going forward and RWD in reverse and while braking! Sounds like this is a common mod for this chassis in the Japanese market.

From what I understand if the Beast of Turin, that was raced on street courses before there was much for race tracks. A lot of the time, they were also driven to the races by the driver and mechanic…..and none of the Beast’s drivers have ever been slow. Imagine being in some little Italian village 110 years ago, possibly just barely knowing what a car was, then this thing come blowing through on the tires and roads of the day in excess of 100mph with the sound, flame, and fury that car creates then wondering what happened after it passes……….or being on the British equivalent of the Interstate in modern times and have the exact same experience while rolling along at 70mph and wondering the same!

This is one of my “bigger” kit bashing projects and It’s finally done, here’s a few of the pics I shot yesterday8) It’s a Tamiya GF-01TR Monster Beetle Trail with the portal hubs that were taken out to be kitbashed onto yet another Tamiya R/C. Since I had an otherwise nearly complete kit, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it and I didn’t care much for the body this came with, soooooo………. I bought one of these, one of Tamiya’s WR-02 Wild Willy 2 kits! Turns out the WR-02 and GF-01 share a large number of parts, even though one is 2wd and the other is 4wd and have similar dimensions that make putting the Wild Willy body on the Monster Beetle Trail’s chassis very simple! Not only were these both use ABS plastic “hardbodys” that need to be painted like a model kit, but Willy also has a driver figure that needs to be painted too. I used Jeep Moss Green Metallic automotive touch up paint mixed and canned by my friend Miguel at RestoPaint in West Chicago from Sherman-Williams automotive product for the color coat in the truck body and helmet then gloss cleared the helmet and flat cleared the truck then painted Willy with a mix of Testors Enamels, Vallejo and Games Workshop Acrylics, and Tamiya Flat Clear after the body was painted, this also just so happens to be the first figure I’ve ever painted too! Unfortunately, it did endo while shooting some video of it yesterday and I now have a one way front differential on order for it to fix that little drivability issue and plan on removing the roll bar and painting it and the roll bar lights where the silver pinstripe tape isn’t with the bedliner I used on the spare and inside the tub. There may be oil filled shocks (stock are friction shocks dampened by rubber tubes inside the body vs oil) and a Holmes Hobby Snub Nose Revolver motor and Castle Sidewinder Electronic Speed Control in it’s future, however!

Bought this out of a Walmart clearance isle last week to see how well it works to cure that Bondic UV curing resin. Worked well enough, but I think it’s going to eat batteries, may need to look into rechargeable AAAs for it.

Saw that on David Frieburger’s IG post the other night, this is the 4th person he personally knows that it killed.

It is a difficult decision, the next time I build one of these, it may be the Pegasus big and little narrow white walls on the chrome steelies.

If you don't mind Torque Thrust style wheels, theres always the big and littles from the '34 Ford snapper and the big inch from the '63 Stingray Roadster snapper Then there’s always the Pegasus Sovereign-T style wheels too!

Well, my little friend Willy here is ready to wheelie this weekend?? That’s also the first time I’ve ever painted a face too!

First heard this one on the radio right after I got out of the hospital in February.

Looks good so far Mike!

Thanks! I know I have a Revell Z06 C5 that I was going to put the engine in a Monogram Fiero, I just need to go and look for both, plus I have 2 C6 ZR1 kits upstairs and a regular C6 somewhere. I also have a late 90's Silverado 4x4 from Revell that may donate the transfer case for the 1st project and once I figure out where I put that mild kustom Ranchero I had at a club meeting a few years ago, that was going to get the SCX24 motor I pulled out of Dad's truck when that went brushless.

Oddly enough Brian, I had the same thoughts in both cases! I even picked up a Foose C7 and was going to pull the transaxle out of that and put the motor from my Axial SCX24 (which now brushless?) on it for that, but it’s molded to the chassis, so if I do that, I may have to pull apart a Vette kit I may already have. I’ve also spent the last 24+ Hours trying to remember if I have something to rob a transfer case out of that may not get built……….

That’s what I was thinking too, Gerry, but the i8’s are back ordered and the ones out there are expensive right now. I was looking I to getting one for the club project this year. It would be nice to see electric cars being kitted though, especially as the national EV fleet grows.

Has anybody ever seen a Tesla Drive Unit, or really any variation of EV Drive Unit 3D printed or in resin? I’m wanting to make something that is EV swapped, but can’t seem to find that on Google or Shapeways, or even something that kinda like that. If there isn’t something like it already, a Model S drive unit would be fairly easy to fab up.

They start at $32k, so they’re not super expensive, though having to rebadge them to keep people from losing their minds over it being “a Mercedes” is stupid. Unless these people don’t think the mail carriers deserve heat, a/c, and then to not to have to worry about their 30 year old solar ovens……..errrr…..delivery vehicles catching fire on their routes due to aging wiring until the new purpose built vehicles can be delivered.

That's what I like doing with the Revell '05 Impala police car, but instead of a civilian Impala, make it a retired cruiser that is made into a whole different sort of "cruiser"

Change the outfits of the people in the background, that would look like the set of a Mad Max movie!

Thanks, I’m taking some insulin plus a couple other things and gave one of those LibreLink things for my phone……which I like better that poking my fingers. Hopefully if I keep this up, I can be off the insulin by my birthday this fall.

No updates, but I showed the body to my friend that sells automotive paint and body supplies today, he’s also thinking that stripping and reshooting is my best option on this one.

Had my A1C checked as part of a doctor’s appointment today and it was down to 6.2, when I was hospitalized in February, it had spiked to around 12? and pre-pandemic had been averaging around +/-7.0!

It'll like;y be great for people who think they need a truck and/or want the AWD, but can't see themselves in a minivan and can't use/don't need something as big as a full size or mid sized. If he didn't have a minivan already, this would work well for Dad and his scooter as well, I have to drive myself when we do family shopping trips as the van doesn't have the room for us, his scooter and my Sister, BiL, and niece, thn this would add mobile charging for the scooter and more room for groceries.

I still say that would be a decent little truck for that need a cheap little truck, plus with the power outlet option, you could throw a windowless topper to haul R/C cars or the smaller R/C planes around in. Also be good for older people with mobility scooters as well, should be able to change those while transporting it!

I guess these could be considered outlaws, more power and better handling, no gas needed either!