Custom Mike

It's nail polish, as long as it's thinned to the right consistency, it'll be a breeze, I use 'em all the time! And it sounds like a really cool color, what's the name and manufacturer?

Rob, if this was mine, I would have stopped and been happy. But after seeing the '39, I understand, it looks much more realistic!

And now just some random stuff I worked on yesterday. The filler piece at the back side of the bed has been modified to fit the new wood bed, a bit of paint later today will finish it off. Then I test fit the filler at the base of the cab, it's a good enough fit that I'll just glue it down, if I ever build another one of these, it'll be molded in. I'm not willing to chance re-painting the cab again, so I'll live with a filler panel that doesn't exist on the 1:1 truck. And finally, a pair of steering wheels, I'm leaning toward the one on the right, we'll see once I get going on the rest of the interior!

Now for a bit more work on the seat! Since the upper part of the seat is visible through the rear window, I had to fill in the hole in the back side of it. I added two strips of angle stock, cut a filler from .010 sheet styrene, and got to work on thinning another piece of leather. A bit of Detail Master Krome Foil was added to the arms, then gluing them down to the seat got me ready for the new seat back to be installed. A bit of Craft Bond was sprayed on the filler piece, and now we have a completed seat! And now just some random stuff I worked on yesterday. The filler piece at the back side of the bed has been modified to fit the new wood bed, a bit of paint later today will finish it off. Then I test fit the filler at the base of the cab, it's a good enough fit that I'll just glue it down, if I ever build another one of these, it'll be molded in. I'm not willing to chance re-painting the cab again, so I'll live with a filler panel that doesn't exist on the 1:1 truck. And finally, a pair of steering wheels, I'm leaning toward the one on the right, we'll see once I get going on the rest of the interior!

Thanks guys, it's looking nice from this side of the monitor too, so I'm very happy! And Alyn, I picked up some tiny bolts from my LHS yesterday. They didn't have any rivets so I'm going to be sanding some tiny bolt heads down today, wish me luck! Now for a bit more work on the seat! Since the upper part of the seat is visible through the rear window, I had to fill in the hole in the back side of it. I added two strips of angle stock, cut a filler from .010 sheet styrene, and got to work on thinning another piece of leather. A bit of Detail Master Krome Foil was added to the arms, then gluing them down to the seat got me ready for the new seat back to be installed. A bit of Craft Bond was sprayed on the filler piece, and now we have a completed seat!

Bill, where do I start? You took one of Starbird's funkier customs and given it a chance to be really cool! I love the new front end treatment, I agree the monster engine is cool, but overwhelming, and I say go with two sets of slicks on the back end, it is a show-car after all, right? Whatever way you go, I'll be watching, this one is gonna be wicked! Will you be keeping it orange?

Alyn, you may have solved this for me, I'll check at my LHS tomorrow, they have a massive selection of Train stuff! Jim, I'm a 1/2 step ahead of you, and they're way too big unfortunately... Ron, Johann, you're making my head swell, stop it..OK, not quite yet...Yeah, now I can't get through the doorway, just right! Johann, get yours out and just enjoy building it, I know I'm loving this one so far! I never try to set the bar anywhere, I just build for myself, and push my limits occasionally. This one's going to have a few firsts for me, one of which you can already see in the wooden bed, there will be a few more firsts coming later! And I test-fit the filler piece at the bottom of the cab, it's not a bad fit, but I'll post some pics tomorrow night when I get home from work and you can judge for yourself, I really don't want to risk another re-paint of the cab, it looks really good right now!

Alyn, I'm still trying to find something on the cheap for the bolts, now I'm obsessed with adding them to it!

Since I'm too freakin' tired to work on this tonight, I'll just post a pair of pics of the bed mocked -up. The straight pins were glued in place and the fenders were glued to the sides of the bed, then it was all slapped together for a few pics, enjoy!

Sounds like a lot of work Jeffery, I'll let you handle all the heavy lifting while I watch, sound like a plan? Since I'm too freakin' tired to work on this tonight, I'll just post a pair of pics of the bed mocked -up. The straight pins were glued in place and the fenders were glued to the sides of the bed, the it was all slapped together for a few pics, enjoy!

Ron, thanks for that info, if I get the chance tomorrow night, I'll see how well mine fits, and go from there. I've only used filler on the dash so far on this one, the filler pieces for the front and rear fenders were just glued in place and sanded smooth, maybe I can pull the same stunt with that piece too!

Frank, this is gonna be sick, I want more!

Great start Bill, that should be a very cool Hot Rod once you're done!

Thanks guys, I worked my arm off thinning that leather for this, I was happy it looked in scale when I finally got it done! Roger, I've found that they made it a separate piece just for the reason you started, it allows the interior bucket to get in the cab. Mine fits nicely, but I'll check it again just to be safe!

Note: before anyone says anything about the brake lines, Alyn has already beat you to it, and I'll correct them just this once, but on my next build I'll make the brake lines into a wild mess of lines with no rhyme or reason! Now here's where I make Pete ( A good friend of mine over on Scale Avenue) happy, I show the seat back he sent me being put to good use...after some hacking on it! First up tonight, a skull shifter knob! I picked this up from Scale Repro's Plus, along with a 6-cylinder distributor for this build. I hacked off the T shift knob, added a small piece of 24 gauge wire to the skill, and drilled a hole in the shifter. A dab of superglue, and it's ready to go! Now onto the seat, I really worked hard for this part, believe me! I took some tan leather I got from Danny years ago, and started thinning it for use on the bench seat. This is where Pete came to my rescue, supplying me with a second seat back. Elmer's Craft Bond, thinned leather, and the seat base, all ready for some work! And the seat back Pete sent me, with it's piece of leather, waiting for it's turn! Now the hacking on the seat back happens. To get the leather on the seat back, the arms had to be removed, which is why I needed a second seat back. I carefully removed the arms from the seat back I got with the kit so they could be re-used, then sanded the arms off of the seat back Pete sent me. I wrapped the newly bare seat back in leather, drilled two holes in each arm (And the sides of the seat back), added a pair of straight pins to each arm, and we have a leather covered seat back! I'll put some Detail Master Krome Foil on the arms later, this is just for mock-up purposes, and thanks again Pete! Nothing simulates leather better than real leather!

Now here's where I make Pete ( A good friend of mine over on Scale Avenue) happy, I show the seat back he sent me being put to good use...after some hacking on it! First up tonight, a skull shifter knob! I picked this up from Scale Repro's Plus, along with a 6-cylinder distributor for this build. I hacked off the T shift knob, added a small piece of 24 gauge wire to the skull, and drilled a hole in the shifter. A dab of superglue, and it's ready to go! Now onto the seat, I really worked hard for this part, believe me! I took some tan leather I got from a friend years ago, and started thinning it for use on the bench seat. This is where Pete came to my rescue, supplying me with a second seat back. Elmer's Craft Bond, thinned leather, and the seat base, all ready for some work! And the seat back Pete sent me, with it's piece of leather, waiting for it's turn! Now the hacking on the seat back happens. To get the leather on the seat back, the arms had to be removed, which is why I needed a second seat back. I carefully removed the arms from the seat back I got with the kit so they could be re-used, then sanded the arms off of the seat back Pete sent me. I wrapped the newly bare seat back in leather, drilled two holes in each arm (And the sides of the seat back), added a pair of straight pins to each arm, and we have a leather covered seat back! I'll put some Detail Master Krome Foil on the arms later, this is just for mock-up purposes, and thanks again Pete! Nothing simulates leather better than real leather!

Oh man, Mike, this is just so wrong! I love it, you have got to get this one finished up!

James. I used a base coat of Dupli-Color Ultra Silver, but I don't think it's necessary, I just wanted a bit more "pop" to the Red. For primer, I used my old standby, Dupli-Color Primer/Sealer Alyn, you're gonna make me get accurate now, aren't ya buddy? And after I made that pretty block too, man, you're mean to me! OK, I'll redo the brake lines just for you, but just this once, next time I get to do 'em in a way that is completely unreal!

One thing I've learned after attending a bunch of contests is that some guys, when presented with something they couldn't do themselves, find a way to bash it. Sounds like you kicked their butts, and the only reply they have is to tear down what they can't accomplish!

Beautiful paint Richard, and the Caddy tail lights are just right on this! I know that feeling all too well!

Beautiful truck Ron, nice and used! And the bed looks great, it's hard to believe that's the kit part and not real wood!

Like I said on you Fotki page, that bed of yours blows mine away, incredible work! The rest of the parts look great too, I can't wait to see it all come together!

I agree Randy, what started out as a quick box-stock build blew up on me, and I couldn't be happier. I never plan on builds like this, I think it's better to just let it happen when the mood strikes!

I'll bet it's a full set if Ginsu Knives and an old Ronco Pocket Fisherman!

Crusty Rob, very crusty! One day I'll try this, but I'm having too much fun with the shiny still!