Uncle Mike

I think you hit it, James. My brother and I take pains to 'accurize' kit offerings, yet we both admire the efforts made by the early kit mfrs. (otherwise, we would still be building with balsa, right?) We both have built some of these old Monogram kits, pre-'60; the '32 Sport Coupe and the two different '32 Roadster models...All these projects got Super-detailed, without changing the old lines. Only a few members recognized what they were. Is there a "one-page seminar" on posting pictures?

Ken, I have the Real Story on the "Hollywood Knights" '40 Coupe. It was built right here, (its second build after the rescue from its first build!) A great story, I assure you! -Uncle Mike. melauerman@aol.com Email me. I'll reply with the lengthy story.

Thompson, that is Icy! Now I build my woody. Now. What I put behind it (trailerwise) is next, but I am inspired. When a journeyman Ford specialist in '64, I was asked to look at a friend's little brother's '47 Merc Station Wagon. He was going surfing daily, a 32-mike trek over the hill (highway 17) to Santa Cruz, from our home base in Santa Clara, CA. The Merc had a 5/16"X1/4 flattie, (276", '49 Merc crank) Edelbrock Super intake, 2 Stromberg 97s, Edelbrock 9:1 finned heads...it was getting warm running uphill at 60, with a full load of "wharf rats" and their boards. A recent black-laquered restoration, I passed on the 'latest rage', the small block Chevy...instead, I swung a 364 inch Cad, with a 'ring' adaptor, and retained the Merc tranny. Dual exhaust and the factory Carter 4-bbl netted H.P. and torque sufficient to pull the steep hill in high gear, no strain. "That's No hot rod", the sidewalk critics said. I thought it was classic and beautiful. It was right. Tried and proven. And it remained 6 volt. Pure. Lucky me, there are 1/25 Cads galore, many sources! And they fit the Woodies like they were meant to go in there. Hey, there were Caddies in there before Chevies ever saw Ford engine rooms! And there were Oldses...but that was another story...God, I love this hobby!!!

Think it was Ron Cash for the resin ones. I got a set from a pal, believe that was where he got them. Hope this helps...

YES! Same '32 rails as the 3-window and the Highboy '32 Roadster. And it fits those frame rails just as slick. Tim Boyd built an introductory version, and those wire wheels are fat-spoked for Kelseys! Plastic molding process would be difficult to get them scale, as the real ones are 1/4" diameter! (that, in 1/25 scale would amount to: .250" divided by 25=.010".) Ten-thousandths inch. Nice for wire size, but styrene?

Hi, m408 and Barbo! If building in 1/24-1/25, here is the tip: Get a 6" machinist's rule. A good one will have inch scale on one side, and metric on the other. As there are 25 milimeters to one inch, and we are working in 1/25, (1/24-close enough) there are 25 milimeters to one inch. Therefore, one mm. equals one inch. Your house "man-door" will be 78 mm high. A typical car tire will be about 25" tall (25 mm in our scale) Six-foot tall guy: 72 mm. Five-foot tall girl: 60mm. The guy's feet are 12 mm long... Car steering wheels are 14.5"-17" diameter. Make the model car's the same, only in mm. Chopping a top? 4"=4mm. Neat, and handy. Sears, Orchard Supply, Harbor Freight. Just make sure it is Metric at least on one edge!

DAVID!!! Where did you get that '32 Ford frame and grille shell in 1/87 laying alongside the Servicing Station? I'm Looking for some of those, saw some pieces in a casting of an HO trackside "Junk Pile" long ago. There were '32 Victoria bodies, grille shells...but no frame rails.

A pal called and said try Big Lots here...(merced, Central CA) I burned some '55 F100 rubber, when I got there I had missed the '63 Galaxies, but there were two 'Bigfoot' trucks left, and 12 or so Merc Topaz (?) and 2 display cases, which I snagged. Got to watch the Big Lots. Michael's Arts & Crafts stores carry AMT/Revell also. Last year, they had a sale and AMT kits were $6.

Ever tried 'Parafilm'? The late Bruce Treadwell gave me some of that prior to his death, I used it for a 2-tone job (yes, cleared around the parafilm edges!) and it was great. Someone is marketing this under a different banner, anybody know which?

Hi, all. I'm "Uncle Mike", not new to much of anything but this great board! My bud Don Graham sent me a posting and I had to join in! We are in the Central California (Merced, 60 miles North of Fresno) area, and are hangers-on of the infamous "Yosemite Area Model Car Ass'n", or "YAMCA". The 'Uncle Mike' handle is one that was hung on me years ago for much of my assistance to fellow hot rodders and Drag Racers in the San Jose area (1960-1985) [they would be heard to say'I got a rich uncle'] My model building began in 1953 with the Revell Highway Pioneers series, in 1/32 scale. I built everything from the Renault Town Car to the Stanley Steamer. When the 69-cent Hot Rod was released (same series) I built it, then about 5 more, all different. Finally, I bashed one with the Highway Pioneers 1920 Center-Door Model T Ford sedan...Chopped 7 scale inches with a hot needle, same hot needle removed the hood, bobbed the rear fenders, and stuffed that flathead V8 in there, along with the hot rod axles, and the Big & Littles. My buddies were building too, and came up with some cool stuff...They all recognized my butchered Center Door Sedan as the Art Chrisman "Torrid '29 Tudor", as coined in Hot Rod Magazine. Around '56, Norm Grabowski built a T-bucket and it was featured in Hot Rod. I cut up a Renault Town Car body to make a '22 T bucket, mating the body to the 69-cent Hot Rod rails and upholstered seat. The '56 Revell El Dorado gave up its Cadillac engine, and the rest was done by hand, with Pactra 'Namel! Firewall and pickup tarp were cut from a playing card, with the "7 of Clubs" marque on the tarp. My buddies said it was "Real Zorch!", 'cuz that was THE new word then, man...we were 14, and way cool... Har, har...

There's a 'way cool method we use for Control Line model airplane canopies: cut & sand a male 'buck' from soft pine wood. Heat a piece of a clear 2-litre soda bottle in the oven, remove it when warm and pliable; place the plastic piece over the wood buck and pull down. Trim off excess... For the back window of a station wagon, I'd do the same thing...maybe a 1"X4" piece of pine, 3" in length, end-fitted into the window area of the wagon. Sand until the end of the board fits loosely into the cutout, from the inside. Now c/a glue the 'buck' onto a longer piece of wood, so you can vise it, pulling the warmed soda-bottle material down over. When it cools, if your 'buck' was accurately 'undersize', the window will fit like a glove! Polish the finished "glass" and you're done. I used this method on an AMT '56 Ford, cut into a convertible, to replicate my old ragtop. Looked much more like a windshield than the AMT thick plastic in the kit!