Jantrix

As always Bill, your work floors me. For me the wiring/plumbing is the least enjoyable part of the build so I'm pretty frugal with what I spend on it and how much of it I actually do. Here's a hemi I just did and what I used. I added only spark plug wires, fuel lines and I'll add coolant hoses later on. This is about all I ever do. The spark plug wires are 30 gauge wrapping wire from Radio Shack, they are about $3.99 for 50' and comes in several colors. As Harry mentioned running the wires along the engine and curving in the last couple millimeters or so maintains the realistic look. The spark plug boots are just insulation from a larger diameter wire. The fuel lines are beading wire which comes in a roll and costs about $2 for 30'. The fuel fittings are small hexagonal beads from a craft store. They are silver and with a little blue/red Sharpie, the resemble anodized zerk fittings very well. In this case I just painted them bronze. The vial of beads is less than a $1 and holds enough to keep me going for a long long while yet. I hope this helps.

The move is in a stall due to lack of funds. I'll probably move to my folks house until I get a couple of paychecks + severance under our belts and then move. As for the nice parts, I figured the 426 would have set you off before the seats. I wanted this to look random, very rad rod without the junky, rusty, unsafe at any speed feel that seems to be so popular these days with rat rods. So if I was gonna build one, I'd find the best parts I could on a budget, but still make it safe and look good.

NIIIIIIIIIIIIIICE! Great work. Very authentic.

This I did with some black acrylic and a good fine brush.

Man, that is brilliant. Talk about originality. Great thinkin.

My wife has agreed to let me pack the hobby table last so I'm still plugging away. Starting to detail the engine and the interior is coming along. I'm not sure about the dash yet. I might scratch one out and give it a metallic look like you might do if you were building a junkyard rod, but didn't have a dash that would work. Gonna add a skull head shifter if I can get my hands on a skull head. I'm gonna head down to the local gamers store and see if I can find some skeleton gaming figures that would work. Starting the fuel lines tonight too I think. Be cool.

Yeah I think adding more lanes/cars to the track is a recipe for disaster. Also did you notice how slow that lane was third from the left? Not a single car got a decent start outa there.

Yep, what he said.

Well before I vote I'd like more info. How restorable is that winshield/sidewindows? Hows the chrome? Any body/frame twist? Missing parts? Curbside or full detail? EDIT: After closer examination of the pics, I say restore it to best of your ability with the parts you have. The windshield can likely be replaced with some other windshield cut down. The side windows can be omitted. The wheels look bad, but replace them with something that still looks right for this car. Not too modern. This car has a great design and overall visual appeal. I think it would be a shame to start cutting on it.

I love suede hot rods. Great work.

Wow. Talk about originality. That takes the cake. Well done.

What he said.

That's pretty fantastic. Great work.

I was able to find lots of pics from a Google image search.

Charlie, so far so good. As for airbrushing craft paints, I'd shoot ol ###### Cranky an email, that's his arena.

Wow. How the hell did I miss this thread. This is some seriously fantastic work Wayne. Are you planning on bringing this to Jaxcon? I'd love to see it in person.

You do excellent work. And I do believe there is a market for what you are suggesting however with todays economy people have less disposable income. I suggest you do up one kit. Get a great glossy finish, take pics outside on a good sunny day so the quality of the work shines though. Start the bidding at say $35 and see what happens. That Willys is a pretty popular kit, people like it, it should sell. It should be a good measuring stick for the future of your idea. Just my $.02

Try some of the bargain stores - Big Lots fer instance. You can find some of the various diecasts there pretty cheap and most of them are tough enough for a kid to zoom around on the kitchen floor with. Glad to see a future gearhead in the making. You sure came to the right place for advice Terri, not a one of us has matured beyond age 12 when it comes to cars and toy/model cars.

Following an economy driven corporate layoff I need to move again. I got a new job about four hours away. We'll be in a rental for a while and I'm not planning on unpacking all my build ups. I'll just wait until we find a permanent home. What would be the best way to pack and store these models? Anyone done this? Any help would be appreciated.

Making something from nothing, it just doesn't get any better than that.

I'm not a big fan of the 50 Ford. I'm not really sure why. But this one really grabs me. This looks so period perfect, I expect James Dean to be driving. Great work.

Hmm.................I'm looking forward to this.

I have seen flat, semi-gloss or semi-flat and gloss black in the Krylon section at WalMArt.

Looks great. Very authentic.