dusty_shelf

You can cut a piece of sheet styrene that is measured to the circumference and length needed, gently heat it until soft and then wrap it around a rod/dowel that is of the correct diameter.

One thing I want to experiment with is lens cleaning wipes. They are designed to not break down or leave lint. They are quite strong and can easily be cut into lengths when dry. Being very thin, they should be to scale for a number of applications.

Shopping for additional “skinnies” for future gasser builds. A member or two had suggested import car tires, including Volkswagen. Have found a few listings but have questions about proper fit. The tires are from the Revell 1968 VW in 1/24 scale. Will these tires mate with standard 1/25 steelies, Cragers, Americans, etc.? What would the VW rim size be compared to standard US rims? Thanks for any input.

I think I have found the right combination. I will continue to strip using the LA’s Awesome. It works super fast and removes paint as well. At the suggestion of Bainford, I immersed the bad parts in 91% alcohol for 24 hours. All of the lacquer flaked off using a fine wire brush. No damage to detail. Thanks to all who commented.

My go-to for chrome removal is LA's Totally Awesome Cleaner. In some instances you can see the chrome come off in real time. Otherwise, a soak for a couple of hours is usually sufficient. I had the bad parts submersed for the better part of two days with no noticeable difference. I did see some removal of the lacquer using non-acetate nail polish remover. However, because of the potential to soften the plastic, I didn’t want to expose it too long.

While working on my AMT ‘33 Willys build, I became very frustrated with the parts I de-chromed. Despite all my best efforts, I could not remove most of the lacquer/varnish applied to the sprue before plating. The leaf springs in particular are unusable. This undercoating obscures the details. I would question of the adhesion of the paint to it. Fortunately, I have a second parts kit and had complete success removing the chrome. Took it right down to the original plastic color. No cleanup necessary. Upon seeing the results, I compared the racks of chromed parts from the two kits. What is evident is there was too much undercoating applied for one batch. It is particularly noticeable on the intake manifold, blower pulley assembly, and the engine block front. Fine detail is lost and some shapes indistinct. Also, when handling the bad chrome, little flakes come off like glitter. I sure wish the manufacturers wouldn’t plate parts never meant to be plated.

Thanks to everyone for the comments and likes! I “tweaked” the seat slightly by adding a strip of styrene to replicate the seat pan. A minor detail that I think makes it look much better.

I am building the AMT ‘33 Willys gasser. Not wanting an out-of-the-box look, I have some changes in mind. One is the racing seat. The kit seat is on the left and the two to the right are from the AMT ‘37 Chevy Coupe. As you can see, straight from the sprue, the Chevy seat looks more like a recliner! The modifications include: shortening the seat bottom; cutting away some of the tub base so as to maintain the correct height; and thinning out the tub itself. Not very evident in the pic, the modded piece tips more forward for better support for the “driver.”

Thanks to everyone for the replies and suggestions. I believe I have found a pair (no name) that will work for this build. They are two-piece white plastic, which will have to be painted. I had to sand down the uneven tread, which I think makes them look track-used. Overall width is right at a 1/4 of an inch. The rim in the pic is just to see how they fit. I intend to take a few pics of the other tires I thought might be candidates, along with measurements. Would be interested in your opinions.

Ace-Garageguy— Thanks for the reply! I now have an idea of what to hunt for. I have eight Goodyear Frontrunner tires that, for size, would be ideal. However, not confident they date correctly. Any idea when they were introduced? Couldn’t find anything via Google.

Planning my build of a mid-60s gasser. Already have the power plant am now selecting the rubber. I have a nice pair of period-correct piecrust slicks for the rear. Where I have hit a snag is in finding appropriate “skinnies” to go up front. I have a few sets that are clearly narrow front tires. Problem is they are all branded and date to a later period. Otherwise, I have hundreds of other slightly wider tires that may work if I knew what measurements I should be considering. Can anyone tell me what width range I should be looking for? I need the measurements of the 1/25 tires. Here is the look I am trying to replicate…

I have been looking at dozens, if not hundreds, of vintage photos of Willys gassers and drag cars. It seems the great majority have a lift-off front cap or a flip nose for engine access. Would all of them be fiberglass in the 1960s-early ‘70s? I would think retaining the original sheet metal, i.e. the hood, fenders, grill surround and grill, would be a bit heavy for either configuration. How would the different body pieces be held together to come off or tilt as one? Adding to the confusion is fact they are seen with solid noses (suggesting fiberglass w/ no grill) or with grills, hood trim and headlights. I want to build a “stock” gasser (non-fiberglass cap) and know that it is period-accurate for a lift-off or flip nose front. Thanks for any guidance.

I have a number of builds in mind. They will all essentially be gassers and street rods of the 1960s-early ‘70s era. I want to be sure that the tires used are correct for the period. Modern kit releases of vintage/classic cars tend to include more modern tires. That is, they are taking cars from the 1930s-1970s and providing rubber from recent/present day. Is there a good source(s) for identifying and dating tires that we often find in kits? Some are branded and with tire style and size. Others recognized only by type (poly, radial, etc.) and wall (white, pie crust, etc.). It would be good to know the general application. Standard from factory on certain makes/models? What about those for drag racing or rodding? Thanks.

Unfortunately, nothing worth the time. All are so-so MPC kits from the 1980s and all are readily available and inexpensive. Lots of excess glue with “burn” to many of the parts. Got some decent tires. Wheels/rims separated. Motors/headers disassembled and individually bagged. The rest to the plastic graveyard.

Thanks for the replies. Here is the real deal compared to the MCG photo-etched and the MPC part.

Trying to find a reasonable representation of the grill on a ‘33 Willys. The AMT “Ohio” George car has a solid nose and later releases of the kit only include a decal. There is one company producing a photo-etched rendering that is not very accurate and looks to be difficult to fit. The only other possibility is on the MPC Willys Paddy Wagon. Not the best but being a styrene piece, it might be modified. Anyone know of a better alternative? Thanks.

My dad had at least five of those shown! Us kids caught heck for playing with them like toys. Interestingly, I have a photo somewhere showing all the gifts my mother and father received for their wedding in 1960. In the array can be seen the 1930 Packard Sport Phaeton!

For the time being, I may just try to repair or re-glue the parts. There is a part of me that wants to leave them alone and preserve them as original builds, much like doing a “rustoration” on a real car. Since all these kits exist as repops, I may build copies and feature them together. I did see an original box and set of instructions for the “Blue Beetle.” I might get them to display with this build.

Surprised to get this lot off eBay for the opening bid of $60.00. Comes out to $10.00 for each. They all date to 1966-68 original release period. For some, the young builder was kind enough to include in his decal applications the kit names and numbers from the sheets! Others can be dated by the plastic color and the design of the tires and rims. I am particularly excited to get the original “Blue Beetle” by Monogram. From additional auction listing photos, I can see all the accessories that came in the kit are present! A rare find. I also like the “Snake Eyes” ‘32 Ford roadster. We have: Monogram “Blue Beetle” (PC93-1967) Monogram “Red Baron” (PC205-1967?) Monogram “Boot Hill Express” (PC188-1967) Monogram “Beer Wagon” (PC189-1967) AMT “Snake Eyes” (#2132-1966) Monogram “Garbage Truck” (PC206-1967?)

Got these of eBay a few days ago. Nothing special. Thought I might try my hand at rescuing them. If not possible, have some great parts for the box.

Yet more purchases! A lot of three early Corvette “glue bombs.” May try to restore or just part out. Also picked up a nice assortment of period-correct “junkyard” tires. Come in matched sets! As well, a set of AMT M&H Racemaster slicks. Will need these tires/slicks to replace the more modern ones included in the re-released kits I bought.

I just had a thought. If I could find old catalogs/ads from the 1960s and early 1970s, I would better know what kits were available at that time. I could then possibly find re-releases. Any members know of a source for these old catalogs/ads? Perhaps scans or PDFs? Thanks.

Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone! Since posting this re-intro, I have added two more kits to the stash! Again, wanting to stay with models available at the time of my childhood, I went with the AMT ‘33 Willys Gasser (originally released as the “Ohio” George car) and the Monogram ‘29 Ford Roadster Pickup (the old Blue Beetle/Blue Bandito). There are some parts changes in these later kits but I can acquire the correct ones from eBay or elsewhere. This is addictive!

Although I joined the forum back in 2019, I have not done any recent posting until just last month. Work and family matters had pulled me away from the project I was to start then. However, I am now retired (8 mos) and have dusted off my box of modeling tools. So ready to get back into building, I even purchased a “portable” work station! I might take some pics and post them as a separate topic. The title of this post says it all. I have been hit by the “nostalgia bug!” For background, I am 62 years old (a Kennedy baby) and grew up in a time when hot rod model kits were everywhere. Not far from our house was a huge indoor slot car race track with multiple lanes. I remember my uncle built for my cousin (spoiled!) the Munsters Koach. It was poised high up on a dresser where us little ones could not easily get to it. My family generally couldn’t afford such kits and I wouldn’t know how to build them anyway. Consequently, I was relegated to playing with Tootsie Toy cars, plastic army men and the like. There is one memory that has remained with me for 50+ years, however. I was visiting a playmate who lived up the street. Against the warnings of his older brothers, I’m sure, he brought me into the bedroom they shared. It looked like any other bedroom except for what was displayed along the walls (think Tut’s Tomb!). Just above the windows and running the length of the walls were narrow shelves. On them were dozens of now-vintage kits they had built. They were all placed at a slight angle, facing out, so that you could see the fronts and a good bit of the profiles. I even remember them being painted in the unusual colors popular in the day. I wanted to do be able to do that! Well, now that I am retired and have the financial means to do so, I am buying the kits from that era. Originals are a fortune and so I am concentrating on rereleases. Already in the stack Tom Daniel’s Monogram Paddy Wagon and Lil Coffin. They will not be out-of-the-box builds. I will be making my own interpretations using scratch building, kit bashing, and super detail. I hope to post them in the WIP section as I progress. For those who dsy you can never go back to your childhood, just watch!

Related to the above described issues? I generally view the forum using my iPhone. Lately, I have been making searches to see examples of builds of kits I am contemplating getting. When I get the results of the search I find, upon viewing any given post, I am not able to return to the list of results. There is no back/previous page arrow or similar. I have to exit out and make the search again. What am I doing wrong or not seeing? Thanks.