Raul_Perez

Thanks, guys!! Yeah...the more I look at those tailpipes the more hidious they get...they draw too much attention to themselves. Looking at the rear view, I may extend the rear valance panel and the back edges of the rear fenders down just a bit to cover up some of the exposed frame. That will also help bring together the line between lower rear edge of the running boards and the lower front edges of the rear fenders. A little PS magic, Bernard, to see how that would look? Later,

Thanks, guys. Well I finally got the tail lights sorted out. I found these in the parts box. I'm not sure, but I think they're off of a '49 Merc. I had to recess the bottom edges of them into the body to keep them from looking like they're pointing down in the side profile view. I also tried putting a set of quad round tail lights from an early 60s Vette down below the rear door, but being that low, they make the upper proportions of the car look even taller. I added the stock tailpipes from the WagonRod, but they probably will get replaced with something a bit less distracting. Later,

I don't know, Curt...Leopard print always reminds me of Peg Bundy. Too bad that show is over. You could send pics to the producers to do an episode where Al was having a custom car built for himself, but Peg convinced the builder to add a couple of her design cues to the build. Too funny!!

You are too funny!! Thanks for the early morning chuckle!! Later,

Thanks, Donnie!! Yeah...I'm going to try a couple different versions of tail lights later today. I agree that the round ones from the 60s would go well with the primarily rounded features of the Wagon Rod. Later,

All of the little hardware details look GREAT, Jeff!! Later,

Very nice work, Steve!! The machined parts look GREAT!! Thanks for sharing,

Here's the final mods to the running boards. I added 0.04" of styrene strip to the top of the boards and 0.02" to the bottom edge of the doors and quarter panel. I also radiused the corners of the running boards at the wheel openings. All that's left to do the the body is figure out what I'm going to do about the tail lights. Later,

Very nice!! Yes, I can see the metalflake in the pics... Those wheels are awesome!! Later,

Thanks, guys!! Mike, I may add another 0.10" piece of styrene to the bottom, but not until after I add the piece of 0.04" styrene to the top. I don't want the boards to look too thick, either. I also still need to radius the the sharp corners on the bottom edges to match the original corners...but I'll save for later... I thought of adding a Vette side scoop to the area where the hood side panel and the front edge of the door come together, but I think it would look too busy with everything else... Later,

Very nicely done, Steve!! All of the CF work looks great!! The matte black trim work also looks top notch!! Thanks for sharing,

With the lines for the belt line, the grill and the hood panels sorted out, it was time to move on to the running boards. Here's part one of three for completing them; creating the arch on the bottom. With the WagonRod engine and interior having a strong Vette influence, this feature is intended to bring a bit of the early 70s Vette influence to the rocker panel / running board area of the body. To help give it a bit more of a forward leaning stance, the mid-point of the arch was positioned well forward of the center of the running board. I like the way this feature looks with the slanted "B" pillars. To split the difference in fixing the gap between the running boards and the bottom edge of the doors and quarter panels, the second part will be to add 0.04" to the tops of the running boards. The last part will be to add 0.04" of material to the bottom edges of the doors and quarter panels. That will effectively close up that nasty gap and add a slightly modern touch to this portion of the body. Well, that's all for tonight... Later,

Thanks, Jim!! Yeah...I like seeing some progress, too!! Actually, I only took one of the five weeks from by sabbatical... When's your next club meeting? I've got to get down your way and see what's going on... Later,

No worries here, Ken!! I don't get my feathers ruffled when someone posts a pic on my thread to share something that's part of the conversation. I saw the pics that you sent Bernard. The proportions on your most recent version look awesome. You've got to get back to getting it done!! Later,

No...I probably won't make it to the next Stockton show...but...it might be finished (or at least close) by the following show...

Thanks, Ken!! Typically models that are already stylized are difficult to improve on through customization. All I've really done is fix a couple of things that either didn't match well with Jarius' original concept or were omitted from the kit. The mods to your Willys looks AWESOME!! I am curious why you chose to use a different chassis, (unless you started with a dragster version of the kit instead of the street rod version). I've actually bought several of both the dragster and the street rod Revell Willys kits just for their chassis and engine parts. Both of them look GREAT when built. Based on my friend Bernard's comments, I too bought the Phantom Vickie for parts. I'm also looking for a couple more of the WagonRod kits to use as chassis and engine donors. The WagonRod chassis fits pretty well under the old AMT '51 Chevy convertible. The wheelbase is identical. Bernard, I'm not sure, but I think Ken posted the Willys on the workbench forum a while back...I'll have to look for it again. With everything going on at work and home, there probably won't be another update until maybe Sunday...Too much to do and not enough time... Later,

Thanks, Jason!! I may get another one or two of these kits just for parts, if the price is right. I've always been a big fan of the ZR-1 engine. The whole chassis on this model is really nice. I'm going to have to measure a few of my older AMT and Revell kits to see what else I can slide this chassis under without too much modification... Later,

Very nice work!! Thanks for sharing,

That's a very nice, clean build!!

It looks like you've got the major elements of the design sorted out and are making GREAT progress!! Thanks for sharing,

Thanks, Bernard!! Yeah, I think it's the anal retentive bodyman that still live inside me that makes me fix even the small things in the body design like the arc of the front side panel and the hood. Though it's a lot easier to remove the running boards, I kind of like them. What I need to figure out is how to modify them to fit in with the Vette theme that this model carries from the engine, chassis and interior. An interesting task, considering there never has been a Vette with running boards... I'm still stuck on the tail lights, too. I'm leaning towards somehow molding in a set of stock ones. That would jive with the molded in headlights. We'll see... Anyway, once I sort out those two things, this one will get a bit of primer and a few shots of color!! Later,

I tried to squeeze them together a bit, but they're too thick to move much. They're actually stonger than the frame!! Oh well, this was meant to be a quick, mostly box-build... Thanks, Steve!! Yes, the hood will have a side mounted hinge, opening on the driver's side. Yeah, the original headlights are way too low, and, they look like they droop down. I'm leaning towards reshaping the running boards, at least adding enough material to bring them up to meet the bottom of the doors. Later,

GREAT touch adding the ball of the shifter to the base!!

After reshaping the grill, I didn't like the sharp curve at the lower front edge of the hood and side panel, (in front of the shortened side spear). BEFORE: AFTER: It's a very subtle change, but one that was necessary to sell the reshaping of the grill and the hood. I still need to decide what I'm going to do with the running boards and the tail lights before this one gets a good coat of primer and a bit of paint... Later,

Thanks, Alyn!! Yesh...I thought about filling the mufflers and the air tank, but from the bottom you can't see that they're hollow... Thanks, Jeff!! Yeah...I might play with it a bit more, but the two front mounting tabs for the exhaust pipes are right under the cross-members that are in front of and behind the mufflers.. There really isn't much room to change things without making the pipe too short to then reach the header. You know how it is...fix one problem, create two more... Later,