Koellefornia Kid

Thanks a lot, guys!

Hi, guys, today, I want to show you my scale replica of Billy F. Gibbons´ / Pete Chapouris-built ´58 Thunderbird, "The Mexican Blackbird“.Here a picture of the original car: And below is my attempt of building a model of it. I call it an attempt, because I had a lot of problems trying to build it. At first I have to say that the Monogram ´58 Thunderbird 2n1 kit is just horrible. Literally no part fit to another (that´s why doors are shut, they just won´t open). Then I nearly went mad about masking tape that didn´t want to stick properly, a set of wheels which are just a little bit too small... I could continue but my my blood pressure is rising again. I´m glad to have it finished though it has a lot of issues and it just didn´t turn out the way I wanted it. The model features a smoothed hood, lowered suspension, different sizes of bearing balls to replicate the front bumper guards, taillight bullets and wiper caps, a set of Appleton spot lights from my parts box, Pegasus cross bar hubcaps and whitewalls and a wired engine. I wanted to expand my collections of Billy F. Gibbons-rides... ....and Pete Capouris-built cars: Though it has issues, I hope you like it! Thanks for looking. As always, comments are welcome.

Great work! Thanks for showing!

Cool! The black paint with the black steelies gives it a mean, aggressive look. Like it!

Simply amazing!!

That front end was a very good idea! Looks much better than the original, for sure!

Very cool! The paint looks like it´s a mile deep. Love it!

I do envy you a little bit I only got my Traditional Rod And Kulture Magazine, where it was featured, and the www to have a look at this beauty... And now my display case, of course.

Thank you, guys!

I love these panel trucks! Nice work on the frame for the rat! The yellow one looks cool, too!

Wow, there´s some awesome detail work going on here Don´t worry, Dax! It´s worth the wait!

Oooooh, I like that color! Can´t wait to see it finished...

Please don´t take the following creation too serious! It was just some fun I had with a ´41 Lincoln convertible glue bomb I got from ebay and a Black Force snapper I bought just for the wheels some years ago. The idea was to build something like a weird 1/64th custom Hot Wheels die cast. I transplanted the roof and trunk section of the Black Force onto the Lincoln body, extended the rear fenders with angled AMT ´57 Bel Air custom taillights and added ´57 Chevy rear wheel wells. Exhaust tips were scratch built from Evergreen tubes, the rear Bumper is a ´49 Mercury overrider. Wheels and bumper bullets came from my parts box. The Ford V8 from Revell´s ´55 Panel truck was topped with a scratch built air cleaner. To be honest, I didn´t have something like a concept to do this, I just wanted to get rid of some scrap parts from my stash and this was the outcome... I called it „Weird Science“, though there was no science involved here...

Nice one! Is that an Elvis hanging under the rear view mirror?

It looks awesome, Dave! Very nice work!

Cooool! I love the continentals of the 60s and this is a very nice example! Great paint job!

Nice one! I like the grille and bumper treatment!

This one looks period perfect! Love the paint job!

Never liked Comets very much... until today! Looks good, nice interior!

That looks very convincing! Just love the trunk key

Very nice build!

Awesome build! Love the paint and the wheels!

Thanks a lot, guys!

Tried to build a scale replica of Roger Trawick´s „Electracutioner“, a ´62 Buick Electra, tasteful customized the Bellflower way: Unluckily I messed up the paint job, body color turned out way too dark: The model features a scratch built tube grille with the kit´s Lucas headlights, scratch built Bellflower exhaust pipes, Pegasus Sovereign wheels and scratch built custom taillights (the owner/builder calls them „Isno“ taillights, they appear to be chrome but are fully functional). Also tried to copy the original interior and upholstery including a Beatniks Koolsville club plaque. Definitely not my best model but it was fun build. Hope you like it.

It was worth the rescue, Snake. Looks good!