bobss396

More progress on the '56. Scratch built the radiator and support. The dash needed location help too. The cage is a parts box donation with added bars. Seat is from Ron Coon Resins.

Some earlier shots of the build. I always make up location blocks for pinning the body to the chassis, so it goes back together the same way. You can see how I closed up the wheel wells.

This was completed last month. Big Donkey resin body, NASCAR donor chassis. Tons of scratch built parts. Tires are from Big Donkey, wheels and hubs from Ron Coon. Paint is Tamiya #45 pearl white and #76 silver.

Found some un zoomed pics of the build.

I have this one super heavy positive cable on my Ford, it goes from the firewall solenoid to the starter. Black, it came off a junk car many years ago. It hung on a nail on my garage wall for about 35 years. The ones for my Ford I had made up by a speed shop while I waited, I went black and red.

I have an OG issue of this kit in the small box, with the tube of putty and the stick-on felt. I really should say, fork it and build it.

I never wanted to be the "best" at anything. I like to be respected, let someone else take the high honors. With stock cars, I was happy to take a 3rd or 4th place finish with a 10th place car. With models, I could go way out there and super-detail them. I have done it and it consumed me for 9 months on ONE build. My brother did an amazing rollback wrecker, that took a solid year out of his life. I see guys in my club build 4 or 5 models in a month, mostly out of the box and maybe some parts swapped around, but zero scratch built details. Making stuff out of nothing is where I am at. That is the fun part, honestly the build loses some of the fun once I start squirting paint on them. There is one modeler some of us may know, he is known as The Primer King. He rarely finishes anything in the 20 years I have known him. He is my spirit animal.

I did one about 12 years ago in black primer. They are great kits. The blue looks good on it.

Thanks. I have to find some pix that are not zoomed in.

This is made from the old MPC modified coupe kit. I built it late this year in exchange for an old rare kit. I tried out some new ideas on this build like using real springs in the coil overs. Paint is Tamiya TS98 orange, decals by Ace, wheels are from PPP.

IMO, the most crucial part of the build is the glass. If that is off... so is the rest of the car. You have done the car some real justice.

I built the convertible years ago. I put a roll cage in it and made it into a stock car, IIRC at age 11. I have some of the new '64 kits that were released maybe around 1996. They are always a fun build.

Word. I strive to build as best as possible, no matter where the car will wind up. ALL of my builds are contest-quality in theory. I don't let anyone see sub-standard work off my bench. If it shows in the finished model, it has to look good. I have a "few"... cough... cough... models that have gone back into storage. I finished up a '49 Ford that I started in 2008, a '64 Fairlane stock car started in 2010. I have a '60 Chevy wrecker that I put away at 80% completion in 2000. I have reached a burn-out state in the past, not a good place to be. I find myself dialing the detail level back a bit and it gets me past those slumps.

I like Ace Hardware enamels for stock car chassis and cage work. They dry fairly fast (faster in the dehydrator) and hold up better to handling. The Tamiya sprays wear through pretty quickly.

I used 2 pieces of .030 x .188 Evergreen stock and a piece of .020 x .188 to close it up more. I used Tamiya liquid glue and finished it off with thin CA glue, let it set up overnight. Then got out the sanding sticks... it took only a minor amount of spot putty to fix up some low areas. I have to get back into this soon. I'm close to doing the final cage and chassis assembly.

The old Hobby Heaven board was rife with disinformation and bourbon-legends regarding painting. My last visit there was like 15 years ago. Another hobby paint that sprays well from a can is the Model Master Extreme Lacquers. Their clear is also quite good. I have 3 or 4 airbrushes. I'm lazy and have a lack of space to contend with. So cans it is.

She wanted a bonded pair. One other place, too many flaming hoops to jump through. This place was close to us. I was surprised they were not scooped up already. There was another kitten, all over the place and very friendly and playful. For a single kitten, it would have been perfect.

My girlfriend wanted 2 kittens for Christmas. We went all over before finding these 2 sisters. We picked them up today. 10 weeks old. Names are Brie and Blue.

I'm roughing this out for now. Dug an old parts kit out that has 2 busted roof pillars. They will ge fixed once I have the major body work completed. Engine will be the VCG Resins 240/300 straight 6. I removed the front crossmember to make room for it. Based on what I did on the '51 Chevy. I will be using the vent windows, I need more strength for the broken A pillar. Some cars had them, some didn't. I will run a RF safety hub, this depicts a slightly newer F8 build.

Painting takes practice. If I take a few months off, I get rusty and have to be careful when I start again. But it all comes back pretty quickly.

The Chrysler engine is good in that kit. I built one years ago with a 292 Ford engine that looked good. Most Trophy Series engines will swap back and forth between kits. My first I built in 3rd grade, painted it with a brush, Testors yellow.

I did one recently and went to the purple pond, only minimal success. Then to oven cleaner, really not great either. I washed some off carefully with lacquer thinner. I'll try the alcohol next if I have to in the future.

Not sure if a 28 second video will post. Ivan likes to play with his toys attached to the packaging. 20231225_155044.mp4

I'll use Ace Hardware paints for chassis parts. Roll cages too. Easy touch up if it needs it. And it is more durable than Tamiya sprays.

Next up is another figure 8 car. I had this '56 Ford kit forever. It has a broken A and B pillar that has to be fixed. Engine is a 240/300 Ford from VCG RESINS.