MarkJ

Thats good. I wasn't sure if they had plexiglass in 1954. Must have come up with it for World War 2 aircraft.

Thanks Carl. I really have appreciated your support on my latest journey.

Well, I finally finished her at 4 this afternoon. I fixed the left quarter glass fairing and installed the hood and trunk pins. I then put a coat of future on. it's my usual ending to any of my projects to protect the decals from peeling in the future. Hopefully in a couple of days I can take the final photos and get them in the Nascar under glass forum. It took 120.5 hours to complete. Started the project in April. Here's a sneak peek below. I will have better lighting when I do it for underglass.

Andy, that should be nice when you get the cover done and add it when needed. If the male snaps were already there it must have had a cover when it first came off the show room floor. At least you would think it would have. Probably went bad a long time ago if it hasn't been garaged its whole life. Oh yeah, I wanted to know if that roof is hail proof. You might have already covered if its real glass or something else.

Here is the process I use to make the hood and trunk fasteners. If you look at the picture of the pliers you will see a sneak peak of the model. I didn't know it was in the shot right before I'm posting these wips. Just a really small partial shot of the left front fender.

Wow, Andy. I did not know that car even existed. Imagine that a glass roof in 1954. I wish you good luck with your travels and park way out if you have to. But that does not always guarantee safety from door dings. Some people just can't stand that other people have fine rides to drive. Take care of that baby the best you can.

Kevin, I tried to use the oob hood and trunk fastener decals that came in the kit, but they refused to separate from the backing paper without coming apart. the sheet also does not separate the decals from each other. you have to cut them out exactly. I make better decals then that. I will now have to make some styrene hood and trunk fasteners like I usually do. I'm not wasting a sheet of decal paper just to make 5 fasteners. Thanks for your reply

Thanks, Kevin. I'm really feeling good about the build now, but I noticed I have to go back and fix the grille and the left quarter glass fairing after the decals are complete.

Andy, It would be a sin to drive that vehicle daily. That beauty should be in a museum somewhere. If I owned that car and it got a door ding at the local supermarket, I would have a coronary event for sure. What year is that dream car? I'm guessing 55, 56 ?

Plus, the roof was not a very fastback if you know what I mean. Brick is a good way to describe that car Steve. Surprising how good it actually competed.

All the decals are done except the front fender and door contingencies which I always leave till last since they are the hardest to do. Still no issues but I almost messed up a headlight pod 12. The small ones are always the hardest.

I like what you're doing, Kevin. I wish I had done that to my Ward Burton first xfinity win Buick he drove back in the day. But that was years ago.

Your Maverick reminds me of my Santa Cruz. It is also an almost truck but I hauled some fencing materials to fix my wooden fence, and it had no problem doing so. I love my little truck because it's a lot more fun to drive then a full-size half ton pickup.

Mazda has always made very stylish looking vehicles. My other daily driver, which is more like a weekly driver is a 2023 CX-5.

Steve, I'm hoping to sneak a little time in today. Only have a few left to do.

Looks like it just came off the showroom floor. Amazing. Volkswagen should get in touch with you to do a commercial.

Thanks, Steve. If I can ever get all these honeydoos done, I might be able to finish the decaling. These Powerslides are awesome decals. Only had one split on me and it was a very tiny one. But I was able to put it back together so no biggee.

Started on the decals and no issues yet.

Decided to show the build ready for decals.

Been having a lot of home front issues the last two days involving my pecan tree so I haven't been able to work on the build. Finally added the front spoiler this morning. I had to make one from styrene because the one that came in the kit was too big and too thick and would not have had the right angle if I had installed it. Would have looked like a cow catcher on a locomotive engine. So, I should be able to start decaling this afternoon. I just have to go slow and make sure I don't mess any of the decals up. I get excited putting them on because I want to see the model finished and I end up messing one up. Well, there's no extras on this sheet so I can't do that. They are powerslide so they should work well. They always have in the past. Wish me luck.

Gerald, I'm tuned in to watch this one come together.

Looks very good to me. I know how challenging resin can be. What donor kit are you using?

Totally agree with you David. It's weird because I had a 1979 El Camino but it wasn't anywhere as neat as this little vehicle is. It had a way underpowered v-6 in it with a 2-barrel carb and it was not fun at all to drive. I ended up trading it in for a 1982 Silverado short bed pickup with a v-8. It was a lot more fun to drive but wasn't overly big like the 2020 Silverado I had before the Santa Cruz. Its posted below. I really don't miss that truck at all. Thats before I put the side steps on it.

I was looking at the photo captures from the YouTube video of the race and luckily noticed that the aluminum fairings for the rear bumper were not raw aluminum on this car. They were painted red along with the rear bumper and half of the front bumper, so I went to all that trouble painting them aluminum for nothing. Now I need to paint them red again. Bummer, but I'm glad I noticed it now before the final assembly of the build. After I fix that I can assemble the tub to the body and the body to the frame and then add the tires, front spoiler, and the exhausts that don't hook up to anything, and I will be done with the build and can start decaling. Yay.

Yes, David. The main thing is, it is fun to drive, and people are always staring at it like they want to ask me about my little Hyundai Santa Cruz. They have a turbo version available, but they always come with a bunch of other stuff on them like roof rack, bed rails, and gaudy looking wheels that hike up the price about 10 grand. I drove a turbo, and it was impressive, but I just don't need it for a locally only, around my house driven vehicle. The base engine is peppy enough for me.