Claude Thibodeau

Hi Andrew! The discs are from a Revell Ferrari California found in the trash bins at a local event. Nicely detailed box stock. To be honest, attending GSL and the races at Bonneville are BOTH on my bucket list. But as of now, the Canada/USA border is closed to all but urgent traveling. So, who knows. I can dream... CT

Hi Francis! Thank you for the comments. Having been blessed to meet the late Mr. Coddington a few times, I know he was a great person, if maybe a little introvert. Getting any compliment from him would be quite a thrill! Hope we can attend our upcoming local event in october. Let's all pray to the god of styrene! CT

Hi Sir! It's an honour, thank you! As the great Tom Woodruf once corrected me on this forum, while I was mentionning one of my model as "just a curbside": the point is to have something that draws you in and make people smile. Thankfully, that curbside seems to have that effect. Lucky me! Regards, CT

Hi Paul! Thank you for the comments. I actually have a sort of white foam packing material here (much like the lining of shipping envelopes). The surface pattern is quite random, cracked, and translucent just enough that I couldn't help it: I mounted it over a light blue coarse-brushed sheet of flat plastic, and placed random accumulation of "salt" (made of white glue and embossing powder), just like the streaks you see alongside the graded section at Bonneville. It looks convincing, but of course, it is mostly white in color. Therefore, when you shoot pics of the white model on it.... it saturates the camera, and you loose details. Well, if I was a better photographer, I might find a solution, I guess... CT

Hi Peter! As a fan of your numerous and varied creations, I'm flattered. Thanks! Here's how it started, in the butchering stage... CT

Hi Ray! Thank you for the comment. I juggled with the idea of painting it as a full bore lowrider.... but sticking with the bogus concept car theme prevailed. I have other ideas for my next custom, and paint will be more splashier, for certain. Model on! CT

HI Tom! Thank you. Coming from a Legend, it's much appreciated! regards, CT

Hi! I do a lot of mash-up builds... so... lotsa leftover parts! What to do with those? What if Mopar came to the market with the Hemi Cuda in..... 1958? Don't laugh: the Forward Styling was already afoot, so why not? I took an AMT Slammer 58 body, grafted the Chezoom Slammer ubiquitous roof, made my own glasses, shoehorned AMT's 66 Riv interior (modified), sunk a Revell 70 Cuda shaker scoop in the hood, grafted an MPC 72 GTO grille & lights, added Pegasus wheels, and shaved down the rear wings + added a bodyside reveal, à la Imperial. The stoplight is a plastic slit at the bottom of the trunk panel, and the HEMI decal was "spliced & reconfigured" from the 70 Cuda kit. Paint is a custom mix of Tamya's orange, an ancestor to Hemi Orange, if you will... Just a curbside, but lotsa fun. The point, isn't it? CT

Hi Alan! Thanks for the comments. Much appreciated. To your point about the fact the car is tightly "packed"... I agree. As we know, frontal surface is the enemy on the lake, because of air drag. I hesitated between the AMT or Revell roadster variety at the beginning ( I had both on hand), and chose the AMT because of its light "sectionning", a well documented fact among Deuce afficionados. Sleeker, but more packaging constraints. Hence the inverted snorkel scoop and belly reveal: even a small L-4 was too tall! Also had to make the turbo intake tube go in front of the engine, versus above it (OEM). All in all, a pleasant packaging challenge. My next FLAT EARTH SOCIETY car is underway, and will pack the Allison engine from AMT's ALLISON IN THUNDERLAND fantasy funny car. I located one last week-end, to my surprise. It will be a full-bodied looooooooooong streamliner. Variety, you know! Regards, CT

Hi Roger! Thanks for the comments. The rolling stock comes from Mickey Thompson's Challenger Streamliner (Monogram's), painted magnesium with Alclad. The front and rear axles are scratchbuilt, the front one being a mono-air shock "canteliver" system, to adjust riding height on the fly, just before the "Measured MIle"... For a while I juggled with the idea of encasing the wheels in aerodynamic pods (teardrops)... but they are so well molded, I changed my mind. CT

Hi! Was very active during the pandemic. and found time to build my annual Lakester. This 32 roadster (AMT'S) is my latest member of the FLAT EARTH SOCIETY. What if a Cannuck was to challenge the famous So-Cal Speed shop car on the salt? It is a mostly scratchbuilt frame, based on the Phantom Vicky rails, but all the cage, belly pan, suspensions, instruments, tanks, axles, air-ride shocks, Optima battery & all are scratchbuilt. The engine is from Monogram's Turbo Coupe TBird, heavily modified. Scartchbuilt electrical panel, brake & clutch hydrulic cylinders, fire extinguisher, floor pan, etc. The front section is made of Monogram's 36 Mercedes hood top, sheet plastic side panels, Haye's TBird inverted scoop, a pencil eraser "nose cone", some fabrication, and the rear wing is made of a Gilette cartridge blades tray. The belly pan bulge is a plastic spoon, and the clear canopy is from a lightbulb blister pack. The tonneau cover was made with an Avanti roof panel. Fully wired & hosed. Rolling stock & rear quickchange section from MT's Challenger. Custom decals. Tamya's pure white + Italian red lacquer panels. Hours of fun with styrene. Long live the salt! CT

Hi! Looking at your coupe, I think one thing you could try to get even closer to the feel of the Boydster would be to fabricate hood sides that would bridge the whole distance between the rear of the grille shell and the front cut line of the suicide door. The flow of the whole thing would be "un-interrupted" as Mr. Coddington aptly pointed to onlookers. One of his "trick of the trade"... It would require you shave some thickness of the side wall of the firewall. But I'm not minding my business here, am I not? CT

Hi Wayne! Thanks for the infos. I am NOT familiar with archery... Do you mean a material to wrap or "decorate" the body of an arrow? CT

Hi Jim! That famous coupe is also known as the VERN LUCE Coupe. And I was mistaken about the Anthony's car: it was called the FIRE ROADSTER a,d NOT the fire COUPE. There was also a famous 33 called THE CHROME SHOP SPECIAL, similar to the Luce coupe. but for the nose section. Voilà! CT

HI! Great build, keep going! CT

Hi Jim! To my knowledge, the closest thing to a "Boydster" coupe would be the famous 33 Ford Coupe Mr. Coddington built for a customer in the early 80's, and won the Al Slonaker's award with at the Oakland Roadster Show. The car was penned by Thon Taylor, of course. A timeless design. Boyd also built a car for Michael Anthony, of Van Halen's fame. Testor's sold it as the "Flamed coupe" for a while. Rare and hard to come by nowadays... The main component of the Boydster look, aside extended nose, of course, is the sliced and tilted forward body, that considerably reduces the height of the body sides. The Alloway Speedstar and Kugel Muraoc roadsters were of the same design school. CT

Hi! Great car! What was your technique for the flames on the hood & top? Are these modified decals, or one-off stuff you made? They look different and unique! CT

Hi! Nice concept and execution. Bravo! Do I see "latches" on the side of the front fenders? Just curious to know... CT

Hi! This is a nice kit. I removed the top, used the rag top from another Revell VW, and transplanted the Nailhead V* from the 29 A. Enjoy your build! CT

Hi Bruce! If one car ever had the "wet look", this is it! Bravo! CT

Hi Marty! Definitely more contemporary, bravo! CT

Hi Gentlemen! Exactly...Thank you! What a rush of happy memories. Simpler times, as they say... Chances are that the "Demon" version might still be avail at flea markets/swap meets in my neck of the wood. I'll stay on the look-out! CT

Hi! There was a custom Corvette avail in late 60's, probably derived from the Mako Shark... Twin nostril extended air intake front "bumper", long swept rear roof- window that reached the tip/spoiler of the rear end, side pipes exiting the front fenders, and loooooong seats, that looked more like lounging chairs than car seats. All I have left are the side exhausts and seats, crudely painted (alas, I was about 10, and only had access to Humbrol enamel). Has-it ever been re-issued? CT

Hi Chris! Actually, Can Tire bought "clearance" leftovers from Rustoleum, and carried a very limited variety of extreme lacquer, untill they ran out of it. My local Michael's sells the spay cans for 2.47$ these days, and little bottles fo 1.77$. . My local stores in Qc city (I visited them all...) have no clear, alas... CT

Hi Sir! I read with interest your latest comments quoted above. In Canada, the Covid situation hastened, in my view, the failure of two major magazines distributors. Someone new stepped up to the task of distributing american mags, but got in a "fight" about revenue sharing with the newstand owners.... Their usual share of the cover price would have been unilaterally reduced by that new distributor. They then decided to "sit him hout" to force a new revenue sharing, that they recently obtained, to their satisfaction. Starting with september 20 issues, all titles should be back on shelves. after a 4 month hiatus. Further, I learned yesterday that two distributors in Europe (One in France, the other unknown to me) also went belly-up in the Covid crisis. Therefore, all those distribution channels having been impacted, it is easy to imagine that the operating margins of publishers, already thin, have been further impacted. They printed and delivered issues that, sadly, never made it to large territories. I guess outside of John Bolton and some other "tell all" book authors, these days, the print media is not exactly making millionnaires... Ragards, CT