Custom Mike

Great work so far Greg, the ride height is dead-on! Where did you get those rims, I need to get myself a set of those beauties!

Man, that's a land yacht Richard, and bright to boot! I love it, great job!

Gregg, I've picked up a copy at Hobbytown USA in Spring Lake, NC!

Now a bit of suspension work. The kit axle melted on me after being glued, so I cut the rim attachments off. I drilled out the pumpkin, cut a piece of aluminum tubing to the proper size, and drilled some holes in it for the leaf springs. I slid the tubing through the pumpkin, epoxied the leaf springs to the new "axle", and slid my rim attachments into the ends. Now I have a new back axle! The new back axle, I'm thinking about repainting all of the suspension and frame Black, what do ya think? And the frame and suspension mocked-up. I'm just not feeling the Silver anymore... A hole drilled in the frame for routing the brake line to the rear axle... And a hole drilled in the battery box so I can get the positive side out and up to the starter. Now onto the brake lines for the back axle. I started out by shaping a piece of sprue for my line junction, I'm getting better at making these little boogers! Two holes drilled on the axle side... And the block mocked-up with the line from the master cylinder side. BTW, this kit does not have a master cylinder, either that, or it got lost when this kit was removed from it's box and put in the one-gallon Ziploc bag I bought it in. Heck, I don't even have the instructions, so who knows if what I'm doing is actually correct! And the two lines mocked-up out to the rim area, so far, so good!

Now onto a bit of suspension work. I'm bouncing around a bit, but hey, I'm weird, you should know this by now! The kit axle melted on me after being glued, so I cut the rim attachments off. I drilled out the pumpkin, cut a piece of aluminum tubing to the proper size, and drilled some holes in it for the leaf springs. I slid the tubing through the pumpkin, epoxied the leaf springs to the new "axle", and slid my rim attachments into the ends. Now I have a new back axle! The new back axle, I'm thinking about repainting all of the suspension and frame Black, what do ya think? And the frame and suspension mocked-up. I'm just not feeling the Silver anymore... A hole drilled in the frame for routing the brake line to the rear axle... And a hole drilled in the battery box so I can get the positive side out and up to the starter. Now onto the brake lines for the back axle. I started out by shaping a piece of sprue for my line junction, I'm getting better at making these little boogers! Two holes drilled on the axle side... And the block mocked-up with the line from the master cylinder side. BTW, this kit does not have a master cylinder, either that, or it got lost when this kit was removed from it's box and put in the one-gallon Ziploc bag I bought it in. Heck, I don't even have the instructions, so who knows if what I'm doing is actually correct! And the two lines mocked-up out to the rim area, so far, so good!

Dang it! I knew I forgot something! I always forget to drill out the door handles, somebody remind me next time! Johann, those look great, but money is tight these days, so I'll go without 'em for this one. Hey, for my first wooden bed, I'm happy! Maybe I can find something around here I can use to simulate those, because I could use a pin-type piece instead of those tiny PE bolt heads for sure!

Thanks Edward, you keep watching, and I'll try not to screw up too badly!

I had to use 'em sometime, I figured this was a good place to start. Now to find a use for the other ones on the fret....this could take years! And that color is beautiful even without polishing or a clear coat, it lays down so smooth straight from the can that I was tempted to leave it as-is and do it as a Satin paint job. But I polished up the tail light panel, and immediately knew it had to be shiny, the color pops when it's got a shine on it!

Since I decided after painting the cab to add the gas filler neck and cap (Heck, after painting everything I decided to go back and get crazy with details), I needed to repaint the cab. Dupli-Color Ultra Silver base coat anyone? And three coats of VHT Engine paint, color name is Red Fire! Now onto a modification for the interior. This is me bringing the dash into the current century! I sanded off the kit speedometer, and dug out some PE gauge sets I had for my '32 Ford 5-Window that never got used due to time constraints. I traced the shape of the new gauge cluster on the dash, broke out the Dremel, and carefully removed enough to get the gauges flush. I had to add some filler since I screwed up a bit on the top edge, but it looks fine now, trust me! Now if I could only find my PE radio faces, I could have some killer tunes in this baby!

Since I decided after painting the cab to add the gas filler neck and cap (Heck, after painting everything I decided to go back and get crazy with details), I needed to repaint the cab. Dupli-Color Ultra Silver base coat anyone? And three coats of VHT Engine paint, color name is Red Fire! Now onto a modification for the interior. This is me bringing the dash into the current century! I sanded off the kit speedometer, and dug out some PE gauge sets I had for my '32 Ford 5-Window that never got used due to time constraints. I traced the shape of the new gauge cluster on the dash, broke out the Dremel, and carefully removed enough to get the gauges flush. I had to add some filler since I screwed up a bit on the top edge, but it looks fine now, trust me! Now if I could only find my PE radio faces, I could have some killer tunes in this baby!

Next up is a minor body mod, I removed the filler neck for the gas tank, it was basically just a tiny stump sitting there. I'm making my own filler neck and gas cap from Aluminum tubing and a bit of sprue! Begone tiny stump! Big tube with little tube inside, big tube with some sprue shoved into it, ready to be cut into a cap! The gas cap has been made, polished, and is ready to go! Gas cap in place on the filler neck... And the filler neck in place on the cab!

Thanks guys, it's rolling along nicely so far! Jim, I looked at my PE bolt heads, looked at the straps, and decided real quick that I wasn't even gonna try that, the ones that would fit are way too small for me to work with! Call me a wuss, but I hate losing super tiny PE parts, those babies are expensive! I'll use 'em on a flat surface, but I couldn't even imagine trying to get 'em in those straps! Next up are the tail lights. For some reason, the Corvette ZR-1 style tail lights were nowhere near big enough for the tail light panel in this kit. No problem, I just added a strip of .010 styrene around the edges, and they're a much better fit. I also didn't like the fact that the attachment pins made them look bad, so I drilled them out to accept more...straight pins! They'll get a dab of Clear Blue to make 'em look like the old "Blue-Dots" once it's all done! Next up is a minor body mod, I removed the filler neck for the gas tank, it was basically just a tiny stump sitting there. I'm making my own filler neck and gas cap from Aluminum tubing and a bit of sprue! Begone tiny stump! Big tube with little tube inside, big tube with some sprue shoved into it, ready to be cut into a cap! The gas cap has been made, polished, and is ready to go! Gas cap in place on the filler neck... And the filler neck in place on the cab!

Nice work Pat, how'd you get the paint so weathered looking? OK, update time for mine, still no engine work though, I'm waiting on a resin copy of the Paxton Supercharger from the AMT Avanti kit from a member here. Next up are the tail lights. For some reason, the Corvette ZR-1 style tail lights were nowhere near big enough for the tail light panel in this kit. No problem, I just added a strip of .010 styrene around the edges, and they're a much better fit. I also didn't like the fact that the attachment pins made them look bad, so I drilled them out to accept more...straight pins! They'll get a dab of Clear Blue to make 'em look like the old "Blue-Dots" once it's all done!

Drew, we're all our own worst critics, I hate all of my finished builds too, so you're not alone! From this side of the monitor, this is beautifully done!

Mike, the level of detail is insane, has your daughter seen this yet?

Bright, isn't it? Looks like it's gonna be a beauty Mark!

Christopher, that is probably the best description of this car I've ever heard! Jim, I drove a '75 Matador back in High School (Not mine, a friend's), it wasn't a bad car, all I remember was the gigantic back seat....

Bob, just imagine this is a real car, with that beastly 427 upfront, man what a hairy ride this would be! Looking good so far, what color do you have in mind?

The only shipper I've found that will handle aerosol cans is FedEx, and it cost me $25 to ship a can, and the paint was only $13! Not exactly cost effective to be sure. This could work with guys that are local to you, but not cross country, simply due to cost of shipping.

Thanks guys, and to whichever Mod moved me to the correct forum. Sorry I put this in the wrong one to start with, but no one has ever called me a genius! Jim, it will be SHINY, I don't do dirty because I can do shiny so well! As far as the bolt heads, they'd have to be some really tiny bolt heads to fit in those slats, I've got some PE ones here, I'll see if any of 'em are small enough. Alyn, I plan on blowing this thing up with detail, I already have the chains for the tailgate, and some heat-shrink tubing small enough for the covers too! Everyone else, stay tuned, this is just the tip of the iceberg!

Thanks Doc, I'm enjoying this kit! it's really a well done one from AMT so far.

Almost done with the bed.... The straps have been trimmed up, and we're looking good so far! Now I need to remove the attachment points from the kit bed, and attach them to the new wood bed, this looks like a job for my Trumpeter Panel Scriber! I slowly started cutting the attachments loose... Both attachments free and cleaned up for installation on the wooden bed... Mocked-up on the wooden bed, along with another piece of the c-channel styrene for the stiffener between the attachments Here's the forward attachment epoxied in place in it's new home... The stiffener epoxied down... And the rear attachment epoxied down. The marks on the edges of the bed were slightly off, so I used the frame to line them up in the proper locations. The straps were painted with Alclad Aluminum, I thought I had some Chrome, but noooo... And a bit of touch-up painting of the attachment points and stiffener, the new wooden bed is now completed!

Almost done with the bed.... The straps have been trimmed up, and we're looking good so far! Now I need to remove the attachment points from the kit bed, and attach them to the new wood bed, this looks like a job for my Trumpeter Panel Scriber! I slowly started cutting the attachments loose.. Both attachments free and cleaned up for installation on the wooden bed... Mocked-up on the wooden bed, along with another piece of the c-channel styrene for the stiffener between the attachments... Here's the forward attachment epoxied in place in it's new home... The stiffener epoxied down... And the rear attachment epoxied down. The marks on the edges of the bed were slightly off, so I used the frame to line them up in the proper locations. The straps were painted with Alclad Aluminum, I thought I had some Chrome, but noooo... And a bit of touch-up painting of the attachment points and stiffener, the new wooden bed is now completed!

Thanks Virgil, I'm liking this kit so far! Having decided I wanted a real wood bed, I decided I wanted more detail! So I drilled out the fender bolts on the inside of the bed, and will replace them with straight pins! Neatly drilled holes, what have I gotten myself into this time??? A quick mock-up to see how they'll look when they're in place... Trust me, they'll be straight once they're clipped and glued down! I scribed planks into the underside of the bed floor, this part will be visible from the bottom of the model... The underside of the floor and the planks for the inside of the bed, all stained and ready for some glue! At this point, I've added some angle styrene to the sides of the bed to hold the new wooden floor in place, and started gluing the basswood strips to the bed floor... And all the strips glued down. The straps are held in place without any glue, the strips are so tight that glue wasn't needed!

Having decided I wanted a real wood bed, and seeing Casey's incredible detail work, I decided I wanted more detail! So I drilled out the fender bolts on the inside of the bed, and will replace them with straight pins! Neatly drilled holes, what have I gotten myself into this time??? A quick mock-up to see how they'll look when they're in place... Trust me, they'll be straight once they're clipped and glued down! I scribed planks into the underside of the bed floor, this part will be visible from the bottom of the model... The underside of the floor and the planks for the inside of the bed, all stained and ready for some glue! At this point, I've added some angle styrene to the sides of the bed to hold the new wooden floor in place, and started gluing the strips to the bed floor... And all the strips glued down. The straps are held in place without any glue, the strips are so tight that glue wasn't needed!