Claude Thibodeau

Hi! Was always a fan of the 49 Ford. Then, about 4 years ago, a spectacular 429 powered olive green street machine, belonging to a gentleman from NY made the rounds of car magazines. When inspiration strikes...Quick, to the kit stash! AMT's kit, with opened doors, trunk, and reversed hood. Scratchbuilt platform chassis, strut-type front clip, tunnel, console, interior, roll-bar, amp and mega-speakers, door panels, windows, air shocks, air compressor/tank/distribution manifold, rear suspension, 4WDB, etc. Parts-box seats. Iaconio TBird powertrain + rear tubs/floor. Maisto rolling stock, narrowed in the front. Custom mixed beige acrylic + Testor's wet look clear. Fully wired, hosed, polished. I opened everything, just to rib a good friend who excells at that, and is one of my idols. Hours of fun with styrene! CT

Hi! Very nice, bravo! My neighbour had one when I was a kid. Those fins were huge... CT

Hi Michelle! Your painting skills are improving with every model. Bravo! CT

Thank you very much, JT! CT

Hi Larry! The buckets are parts box headlamps (from a 30 Ford if I remember well), with a short section of styrene round tube glued under to make a mounting "ring" to slip on a mounting peg. The lens is a Michael's craft store diamond-shaped sequin, tinted red. Voilà! CT

Thank you Bruce! Happy you like it. CT

Merci Pat! CT

Hi Uwe! Very classy car... and colour combo. Bravo. CT

Hi Steven! Great paint and model. If you would have taken the pic on, say, a piece of dark coarse sand-paper (pavement like), it would fool anyone into thinking it is the real 1/1 car! Bravo! CT

Hi Paul! With the devastating news about the California fires, I hope you are not in harm's way? CT

Thank you Hermann! CT

Hi Kenneth! The irony is, this year, old folks might be afraid to open their doors, and not because of the creepy creatures knocking, but because of the virus, alas... CT

Hi Marty! Superb idea! Just the orchid hue, instead of the ubiquitous copper, makes it different. I have those exact wheels in my stash... You give me a clear idea of how well they look. The stance on your car is the better for it. Bravo! CT

Hi Gary! Well, I hope they beat at path to your shop. More satisfied customers to come! CT

Hi Gary! What a gallery of great work. You got the knack of flames, for certain! But my favorite is the grille & headlight work on the Falcon. I've done a few of those, and I can relate to the amount of work involved. Reminds me of the Funny-Car art that the big-name racers flaunted on their rides back in the 70's. Bravo! CT

Hi Kenneth! Well, I saw they are at a big discount, since the Halloween rounds of candy prospectors will be curtailed by Covid this year... Might as well stock up on old bones! CT

Hi! Great concept and execution, bravo! Exactly the kind of "cars" one would expect to fly over California these days, trough the smoke and the haze... CT

Hi Gary! Great combo. The hand-laid pinstripe around the flames speaks to your mastery of the technique. Bravo! CT

Hi Hermann. Thank you. I was inspired by a report I saw online of the famous Heartland National, a few years ago. I think the car was a Flintstone body, but the paint job got me! (see picture below) I must pay credit to this builder. His pic sat over my bench for a while, and the Eldo panel was the good subject for me. CT

Thank you Paul! CT

Hi Bruce! Very, very, very impressive. World class, bravo! CT

Hi Glen! Great built, I like sthe stance, in particular. Another proof that Mopar should have joined that Ranchero-Camino thing back then... Bravo! CT PS: I see an even wilder Pontiac Frankeinstein in the background on your bench. Can't wait for that one...

Hi Francis! Wow, lots of action in this picture: anti-sway bar, 4 bars and a big TRIANGULATED Panhard rod. Quite cumbersome. My idea would achieve the same stability, but with much less mass and weight. And since your Dodge will be a drag truck... might as well save some weight! Keep on! CT

Hi Francis! How dare you doubt the wisdom of going as far as you've done, detail wise? As you a proved countless times, perfection takes time. I think you've got a huge followers base that claims for more, all the time. And you sure deliver, day after day. I was looking at your 4 bar set-up, and I think your easiest approach would be to copy what some funny-cars do. They often install a fifth bar, diagonal, between the two lower bars. It is mounted on the same pivot bolt as the lower bars, let's say for this example, INSIDE the pivot bolt on the passenger side lower bar (at the front), and INSIDE the pivot bolt on the driver's side lower bar (at the back). So, it triangulates your bar, and prevents any lateral movement under hard acceleration (which this truck will see a lot, isn't it?), or cornering. That would be the less disruptive and/or cumbersome way to nail it, because it would run diagonally between your two lower bars, or upper bars if the driving shaft is in the way when the rear end goes up and down over bumps. Just my two cents, for what it is worth... CT

Thank you John! CT