Rocking Rodney Rat

Work continued on the Stude this past weekend. I fabricated up an interior/firewall.... I also got the front suspension dialed in.... the front axle is from the Cosmic Charger, the four links are from a Polar Lights funny car kit. More later.... -RRR

That's a nice start. I was thinking of picking one of those bodies, if they're still available. The visor looks a little droopy, though. -RRR

R&D Unique was an aftermarket manufacturer of 1/25-24 scale parts and later resin bodies. His original products were white metal (pewter?) items such as suspension components, a '32 frame and such. The original owner was based in the Seattle area and was a member of the club KK and I belonged to when we lived in the Pac NW. His Corvette Waldorf Nomad is available on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/174629208178 Not for the light of wallet! He also went by Mini Exotics and Scale Equipment Ltd. Apparently the company has changed hands a few times? Website is still up: http://seltd.net/ I don't know if it's in operation. I still have a few pieces around, here's some of them. The '32 frame has been partially assembled. ....and I have this '30 pickup I have never attempted to assemble. I found the white metal parts needing a lot of clean up and not easy to work with, very fragile and easily bent and broken (that was about 30 years ago and my skill level was not that great back then). His resin is pretty rough (compared to Replicas and Miniatures, anyway), I guess comparable to Jimmy Flintstone "quality" If one would use that term... -RRR

..and in the beating a dead horse department....WHEN ARE WE GOING TO SEE THIS KIT AGAIN????? (yes, I'm yelling!).... TIM- what have you heard recently, anything? -RRR

As I understand it, the '29 and the '30 kit are part of the same big mold. Parts specific to each kit are separated when put into their respective boxes. There is some inevitable overlap of parts on some trees. You should also notice there is a dashboard for the '30 in the box. It has an oval hole in it. The gauge panel is chrome and not included in the kit. It would seem to make sense that Revell would make mention of this as part of the instruction sheet, but obviously they chose not to. Carry on..... -RRR

Good idea, Jim. I've never used acrylics.... -RRR

Alan- I like the hood side 'grille' for lack of a better name. How about cutting a rectangle opening in the hood side and recessing the grille piece into it so the grille doesn't stick out so far? Or sand down the back side of the grille real thin and gluing it on? A piece of sheet Evergreen slightly massaged to get the curve needed can be used as a hood side. Just some thoughts from here on the other side of the globe. White paint...yeah it's an issue. If you're trying to paint white over red plastic, forget it. In my experience that red will bleed through no matter what you do (others experiences may vary?). It will be especially noticeable if some parts are white plastic and some parts are molded in some other color (the darker the color, more pronounced). It also seems that some lacquer paints are 'hotter' and will react more with the plastic. Maybe if you're painting white over a colored plastic, enamel might work better? When I'm planning on white (frankly not that often) over a colored plastic, I use grey primer first, then when I have the body work completed, I give it a coat of white primer before final white paint. It might also be a good idea to paint all of the white parts at the same time, maybe tape parts all together (close to each other as they would be assembled, you see this in 1:1 paint booths) and that will give you as even of a paint coverage as possible. Again, just some ideas, I'm no paint expert. Hopefully others a can chime in here as well. Carry on and good luck.... -RRR

Now, we're ganging up on you! No pressure...☺️ -RRR

Super Kleen!! I like everything about it, especially the paint, beautiful color and finish. The interior detail is exquisite! For a first time custom you hit it out of the park!!! I want to see you build a chopped Merc, ADL style! -RRR

Super clean build! Looks really tuff!!! -RRR

I'm not sure how I missed this the first time around. A nifty kitbash of a venerable kit. Well done!!! -RRR

Boy this takes me back. That Rick Dobbertin car was all the rage when it came out. I built that one, the Beretta and the Corvette version. Bring it on!!! -RRR

Nice detail on a build of an iconic car. -RRR

The chop looks good!!! -RRR

Shooting brakes are one of my fave styles. I see a few around here once in a while. Nice work. -RRR

I shot a quick coat of primer to see how the body looks...a few spots to work on, but not too bad at all... now to turn my attention to the chassis, suspension and engine... -RRR

Yup, very kool, Ray, thanks for posting. I knew I'd seen some done before. I'm also planning to mask off the boomerang side swipe as you did....still debating color combo... -RRR

back on the Stude this weekend. Fabbing up the front spoiler. Lots of filling and sanding on the front of the hood where it meets the body. The fitment is poor and it's taking a few schmears of putty and elbow grease.... I'm going to add a strip of half round where the white and blue edge meets, that will clean it up a bit...more later. -RRR

Beautiful color. Nice rod. -RRR

It's always nice to see a build of this dynamite kit. Well done, I like the normally aspirated engine and those seat panel decals are sweet. Six thumbs up! -RRR

WOW! It's good to see all of you guys keeping the economy afloat!!! -RRR

Alan- It's coming along swimmingly... -RRR

I like it. That '66 Nova pan fits in there pretty well. I'm using some similar ideas on my sedan delivery version of this kit (when I get back to it), keep on building! -RRR

Nothing like a trip to "Big's" place in Ocala to get you jazzed about building some scale nostalgia drag cars. Pix of Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing here: https://public.fotki.com/jferren/don-garlits-museum-/ Carry on! -RRR

Thanks, ADL. I still intend t get back on the '63 Nova sedan delivery, this Stude just jumped out at me.... Thanks for everyone's positive comments....-RRR