spike morelli

That car is a knockout! Diggin' on the Utah plate too....

Sorry for the out of focus shots, the car really came out sharp. I'll try to get a handle on focus clarity because I have lots more to share. Some of the guys posting have really gotten some close-up detail with their pics. Apparently, I'm better with a tube of glue than a camera....

I have collected and built most of the Roth Fink/Monster kits. Here are 1964 original kits, ( I know, they all told me DON'T build them....I didn't listen, I dug 'em ). The only change made here, is on "Mother's Worry" ( yellow car ) the removal of the corny injector stacks on the engine, and replaced with small aluminum tubes, which looks better to me. I can hear it now......WWAAAAAAAAAAAAA! The Drag Nut kit is also an Original '64 kit, as is Rat Fink. Mr.Gasser, in his blown '57 Chevy is a re-issue. I have even more built Finks, to funk up my shelves...

Yet another sixties Monogram Hot Rod kit that is a "must-have" for serious car kit collectors ( I think anyway ), is the "Black Widow". A few years back, some courageous fellow actually built a full size one of these for the Grand national roadster Show, and it was displayed with a huge setting of the model box-art. This was a blast to do up ( the model ), I left the top off for display as I feel it looks better. No magic tricks build and paint straight from the spray can....that's just how I roll, baby!

...Spike, as in Spike Lee, Spike Jones, ...

I'm not sure, but I think this may be one of Monogram's first offerings of Hot rod model car kits. This is a re-issue of that early car kit. Again, no suprises in my build, pretty much straightforward out of the box. Monogram didn't even supply the kit with a clear plastic piece for the windshield. I could easily have made one, but I opted to leave it as-is, since the rest of the model was devoid of real detail. Apparently, no body told the mold makers at Monogram that flathead Fords have 3 exhaust pipes per side, not four! Oh well, blow some gloss black on her, paint up the driver, and there she is. ( I left the driver out of the photos ) Very cool.

Another one of those great sixties model car kits. This kit was actually patterned after a real show-and-go drag car called the "Grasshopper". I haven't strayed much from the kit version. I changed the wheels to some more closely resembling the real car's wheels, I replaced the multiple "v" belt blower drive with a gilmer belt drive, and I left the fenders and top off. I think I put a different grille insert in too. I've never put a prime coat under the finish coat of paint ( unless I've puttied or modified something ), I fairly good with spray painting, even though I have an airbrush, this is green metallic right from the rattle can. I like the early hot rod kits, and I have built most of 'em. Appologies again on the photo work, the camera has an auto-focus, but I need to work on better clarity. Enjoy!

As you guys get to know me here, you'll find I'm a sucker for old model kits. I built this one pretty much straight out of the box, I don't think I changed anything, save for adding radiator support rods made from wire. The red body is the original plastic color, just shot over with some clear. Oh, I could super-detail these old kits, but their simplicity in presentation is such a breath of fresh air. Thanks Monogram .O.K., I added the last photo, taken prior to these, and it's in focus ( someone else took the photo, I just found it in a file).

O.K., this is my very first posting with photos. I shot the pics with a camera I've had for a while, however, some shots aren't sharp enough to really see detail and I appologise for that. This is a re-issue of the sixties kit of Stroker Mcgurk and his "surfrod". This was cool to build. It's not quite finished yet, as I plan to add spark plug wires to the Hemi. I chose Wimbledon White ( a FoMoCo color) for the surfboard, as it comes closest to the color of a real fiberglass board, and shot it right out of the spray can. Stroker's body is moulded to assemble in two sections, upper and lower, separated at the waist, so that a rubber band suspension piece would let him quiver and shake. That's great....until the rubber band hardens and breaks some time later, and you have to scatter to re-assemble the finished model...no thanks! I positioned Stroker together and filled his body with a quick shot of that expanding aerosol foam in a can that you get from hardware stores to insulate with....problem gone. The "rope" is a piece of crafting twine my wife had, which looks appropriate I think. The injectors, as moulded, had only 3 throats ( in real life, Hilborn made/makes 2 or 4 throat upright injectors ), so, I filed the as moulded injectors off and added 1/4" tubes, 4 each, to the top of the blower to be less "cartoony". Speaking of making the engine more like real life, the kit comes with exhaust headers which, essentially are just 4 short, straight stubs sticking out below the heads. C'mon guys, on a drag engine, the headers are a focal point, and I figured I could do better than that. After trying to bend plastic, copper, and aluminum 1/4" tubing, and kinking every try, I went another direction. A trip to Walmart netted some baby clothes hangers, moulded in 1/4" poly styrene with bends already moulded that I cut, shaped, and glued into place, then I made a "strap" out of styrene to hold the tubes together like real zoomies have. Finally, I re-shaped the airscoop to more closely resemble the shape of those fiberglass scoops popular back then. Almost done, I'm happy with the overall vibe. Now, I have to find a shadow box to display this in.

Love the Tom Daniels stuff as well! At one time, I had the "jones' to collect all show car models. I'm 62, and the sixties kits really take me back to a fun time. I built Tom's "Beer Wagon" kit not too long ago, and it was a kick ! Being new to this site, (this is only one of my beginning posts), I haven't posted any of my models ......yet.......but I have lots, just need to photograph some and put them in the computer file and hope to join in the chatter with you guys.

Perhaps technically not a "Hot Rod" song, but whenever I hear the "Route 66" theme song, I imagine being out on the open road in a high-powered machine just rolling along at a good clip.

Joe Cruces? Could it be the same Joe Cruces who's black Tall "T", ( whose exhausts exited forwards then down ) made many magazine covers back in the sixties? Looking at that first photo, there's two rods in the garage behind the "Crucifier"and the one on the left could be the "T" coupe. I suppose my knowledge of this shows my age, huh?