geetee66

I finally got it done... Feels like I've been doing this for months. I might have BMF burnout now! The build was inspired by the legendary Larry Watson. I hope I've done it justice. I admit that this was a difficult build at times. One of the most challenging aspects, was the mating of the chassis to the body. I genuinely had beads of sweat forming on my brow. Appletons and Bellflowers are scratchbuilt and I printed my own licence plates (one digit different to Larry's own car) and a couple of little 'Watson' stickers on the windows. I chopped a few scale inches off the ride-height and had to repair the chrome on the bumpers as it was wrinkled in a few spots. Paint is all from rattle cans: Candy red over a silver base. Glitter on the roof. Here are the pics: Thankyou for looking

Stunning work Fabrizio! You really did this full justice. The paint is amazing. Funny how Janis drove a Porsche and not a Mercedes Benz. After all, she sang about wanting one! Seriously, though. I love this build. I take my hat off to you, Sir.

Splendid work Krishna Very authentic, to my eye. Only one thing I can comment on, though. Have you considered using a black wash on the grill recesses? It gives more definition, makes the grill appear to be perforated and it's really easy to do. Apart from that, you hit it right outa the park!

This project is now UNDER GLASS (at last...!!) Thanks to everyone who followed this and contributed to the banter.

Good point, Richard. I can easily imagine the rage I would be in, once I discovered how difficult it would be to remove the BMF...

Man, this is wild! It's got to be one of the most diverse projects I've seen. I wondered if you'd manage to replicate the psychedelic artwork and you have! You must have some good quality brushes there. Your lines are so good and the colour is vivid. I'm really impressed! I'm going to check out some Joplin tunes now, for curiosity's sake...

You have great skills and a good eye, James. This works well. I think you made the right decision with the skirts, too. When I first looked at it, my immediate thoughts were of how well the lines flowed, not about tyre changing problems. It's very easy to imagine in 1:1, a tyre change would require the whole panel to come off. But the builder of the car would've engineered it to be done that way. So it would be cool. The headlights make a welcome change from all the usual 49's, too. Really sweet build. Lookin forward to the Under Glass pics!

Bumper looks good. Nice first airbrush paintjob, too! I've got to try it soon.. The wheels and stance are just right. What are you using for the chassis and interior? The Revell kit?

Thanks Russ I used some 2.5mm tape in places, but I now wish I had used strips of Tamiya tape. The most problematic areas were caused by the lack of adhesion with the other tape. I burnished the tape edges thoroughly, but the narrow tape was not as sticky as the areas where Tamiya tape was used. Some of the scallops were cut on the body and some were done using pieces cut on the mat. What I'll do next time is use BMF and save myself hours of cleanup!!

Thanks guys JC, you're correct. This is the Monogram kit.

Thanks for showing us regular progress shots. I've never had the courage to alter the shape of a car beyond a roof chop. I like to see the transformations of builds. This looks like it's going to be very good!

Incredible detail! At first I thought I was looking at a 1:1 build and you had got hold of a massive coin! But seriously, I'm astounded by the realism, especially as it looks more like 1/8 scale. Thanks for describing so much of the details, it really helps the rest of us improve our skills.

Blown Hemi Charger?? What's not to love? I love the gleaming motor. Colour combo is spot-on, too. Cant wait to see more

Terrific! I'm glad I'm not up against you in any competition..It wouldn't be worth getting mine on the table. I'd be very surprised if this didn't sweep up trophies at NNL etc. Truly inspirational work. Your skills amaze and motivate me.

This is gonna be killer!

Here's the latest I've managed to do... I decided to paint the top of the air filter with the candy red I'm using on the body. Here's a shot of the fuel line. Nothing fancy, just routed a bit of fine wire. The air filter's large and covers the top of the engine, so further detailing would be wasted. I might add a throttle cable though. I've put some hoses on the compressor and the pump, which will join up with the aircon hoses and air reservoir...well, that's the plan! I drilled-out the kit distributor and installed the plug leads. The kit's coil was good enough to use. This is a nicely made kit and the parts have great definition. It took a while to mask the body, but I got it painted with the candy red earlier today. I opted to remove the masking tape before the paint was properly hard, because I was worried the candy might flake-off at the edges. I gave it a coat of clear before the candy red, to try and eliminate bleed under the tape. It was moderately successful. But could've been better. I've got a little bit of clean-up to do, but it's nothing major. A lot of what looks like bleed-through in the photo, are actually flakes that came off the tape, but didn't separate completely from the rest of the paint. Once the paint is hard, a little wet sanding here and there will sort it out. More pics once I get the paint cleaned up and the foil on. I've got a couple of weeks left on this, I reckon. Thanks for looking

I've tried to buy this kit, but so far...nothing. I've seen only one or two kits built. One was by some Japanese guy who did a good job, as I remember. I also remember this car from the TV show. It was the best part of it! Totally envied the kid driving it, too. I had a Dinky ripcord version, but I'd love to have one like this on my shelf. I love the fluffy interior! How are you going to make the cushions? Modelling putty or fabric?

I like this kit, despite the body needing a bit of massaging to get everything to line-up. I liked it so much, that I bought a 2nd kit of this (Both were Dick Tracy kits) I chopped the roof on mine, then discovered Jimmy Flintstone sells a chopped body. The PE set for this kit works well. I'd recommend it. If you do use it, you might find the grille easier to install if you smooth down the front of the kit grille, paint it matt black, then apply the PE grille directly to the kit piece. It helps with the curvature. The paint finish you have achieved is remarkable, considering you haven't polished it yet...

Looks like a real labour of love! Can't wait to see the finished thing

This is looking CRISP! The body colour looks amazing, as does the engine. Love dem 57's

Sweet! I'd like that to be my final ride.. The engine is looking great and the whole design is a real feat of ingenuity I take my hat off to you, sir!

Fantastic! Well done for finally getting this one under your belt. It looks like the wait was worth it, you did an awesome job on both.

Ray, I love this! Who could walk past a title like that??!! It really made me smile, because I enjoy seeing what wonderful creative minds we have among us and because you gave life to parts in your stash that might've been consigned to the styrene scrapheap! Top marks.

Hey Mitch, that's lookin good! Seems to me like you shouldn't worry about attempting a higher skill level. This is working out well!

Blimey, Scott! You're on another level to the rest of us! Your attention to detail and your accuracy are very impressive. I hope that one day, if I try really hard, I might be almost half as good as you!