Steve H

Hi Jon, what a beautiful build! Your craftsmanship here is absolutely superb. The latch and hinge details are amazing… it’s all beautifully done. Cheers, Steve

Wow! That looks great Bill. Black base coat?

Thanks Keith!! I also have the Jimmy version in the stash. That one is going to get a very low pro touring type of treatment. That build is probably a couple of years away tho. I appreciate you checking in sir. Cheers, Steve

Excellent build Steve. I love these types of builds, no rules, just some rusty sheet metal and big horsepower. Very well executed !! Cheers, Steve

Thanks Anders. The Camaro is one of my better builds, it looked great shiny, but the matte finish really made it stand out.

Thanks for joining in Dennis. Hoping for more progress over the weekend.

This is a really cool build Steve. Love that down in the weeds stance, and the extra detail on the motor looks nice. Great work! What is your flocking material for the carpet? Looks great. Cheers, Steve

I got the chassis narrowed and glued some “stops” inside the body to set the chassis in place. Once the chassis was in place, I did a mock up and realized the that the firewall could come forward about 3 scale inches. Time to get slicing and dicing… I was initially going to cut at the front of the chassis just behind the firewall, but decided it would be better at the back. I will explain that in a moment. so, back of chassis cut off, added 3mm’s The reason I liked cutting the back, was that there was more opportunity to strengthen the joint. Chassis back in one piece… This is the area that allowed the extra strength. The other benefit of doing the joint at the back, is that this mess doesn’t need to be cleaned up, as it will be covered by a speaker box later.. On to the front. I still need to add 8mm’s to the wheel base. So….. cut off the front add the 8mm’s, also the front clip needed to be come up about 5mm’s. Here it is back together… I still need to clean things up a bit, but I now have the basic height and length of the chassis set. Next will be figuring out ride height, and engine placement. I know that both the front and rear suspension need lowering still. Thanks for having a look.

Hello Anton. Wow! I thank you very much for the offer. I’m going to see if I can use the kit covers first. I think I can use the parts I have… I still need to play around with the kit suspension, but I believe it will work. Having said all that, I feel like I should be jumping on the 3d bandwagon, it is definitely the direction of our hobby. As far as the nascar chassis, I credit you for that my friend. Thanks for checking in, I think you will approve of this build!

This is super cool! Very well executed and detailed, love the controls. ??

Hello Matija, I did notice that it was not a great fit, but I will address that when I get there. Thanks for the input. Cheers, Steve

A Nissan with a V8 hemi!! That thing is wicked. Love it! Great stuff as always Luke.

Thank you Anton.

Looks awesome Greg! Beautiful work in the engine compartment, the details really add a lot. Sorry to hear about the having to glue the roof, was it too warped to cooperate? Those tires are all business… I just had a forehead slap moment ??‍♂️, I totally forgot to install rad hoses on my Blazer! ?? That’s what I get for rushing the end… Looks like it will be under glass soon.

Thank you Carl! It took wayyyyyyy too long but happy with the final look.

Thanks for clarifying Bill. I figured that was what you meant. You had me curious about there maybe being some trick looking racing Caddy heads and valve covers. Once I get deeper into the build I’ll start playing with engine options, I do hope to use the kit valve covers tho. Thanks for sharing this Steve. Thanks for the vote of confidence Phil. Hopefully I can do something decent with it. Seems like there will be lots of help, so that’s promising. Thank you Steve, if I can get the styrene to what I have in my head, it will be killer! Thanks Bob. I should have the basic chassis dimensions sorted out over the weekend. (Length, width, height) Once that is done I can start finalizing ride height, and engine placement. The biggest challenge is going to be the interior. Thanks for having a look. Cheers, Steve

Welcome aboard Mascari. Great looking builds there. I think you you will find this forum very helpful. There are a lot of very knowledgeable and helpful people on here. I look forward to seeing more of your builds. Cheers, Steve

Haha! You know I was just messing with you Jim, but thanks for the “shiny”? I wasn’t kidding about having that in my head while polishing tho. I always want to pass Jim’s shiny test!? Thank you Ricky, much appreciated. Thanks Mario, good to hear from you. You always impress me with both build quality and quantity. I don’t know how some of you do it. Cheers, Steve

Thanks Greg. I do like having the diorama for taking photos, it brings a bit more realism to the builds. Hello Claude! Good to hear from you sir, and a very happy new year to you and yours. I appreciate the kind words, still, I’m hoping for a bit more of quality, and quantity this year. We’ll see… Thanks Dennis! Keep an eye out for my Caddy build, it will be similar to the Camaro. Thank you all for checking in, I truly appreciate you taking the time to comment. Cheers, Steve

Ah ha!! You are a smart one Steve!

I hope so Bill, thanks for checking in. I Agree Dominik, I think these are one of the best looking Caddy’s. Hopefully I can do it justice. Thank you Jeremy, this will have a similar “flavour” as the Dutch Boys Camaro. Excellent! Good to have you on board Greg, I always appreciate your comments. I’ll try not to put you to sleep ? Somewhere between classy and nasty is where I’m heading. Thanks for joining in the fun. Thanks Trevor, I will try not to disappoint sir. Hi Steve, you are always a wealth of knowledge. Oh good, another rwd version, the whole fwd thing was a non starter for me. I will definitely keep an eye out for your build. Thanks for the vote of confidence! It won’t be anything near the level of Martin’s builds, but I’m always learning, and usually improving… Oh ya, keep that snowy weather where it belongs!! Don’t be sending any more of that s… our way. Sheesh Hi Bill, wen you say that, is there aftermarket SCALE heads or are you referring only to 1:1 ? If in scale could you point me to the source please and thanks. The box says 472 but I wouldn’t know if it is accurate in the kit…

Hi all, This project has been percolating in my brain for years. I finally got the kit about 3ish years ago, and I am now ready to tackle it. I spent a few hours last night going thru my stash and parts bins accumulating a bunch of goodies to mash up. The plan is to use a slightly toned down NASCAR chassis, I will keep the body somewhat stock, but shave some trim. I love the lines of this car! The interior will be a blend of lots of parts from various kits, and some scratch building. I will credit the late Juha Aurio (I hope I spelled that correct) for the inspiration of this. He built a beautiful blue custom that was in a contest cars magazine some years ago. My thought way back then was that I would do a simple curbside build, but with what I have learned since being on this forum, I feel my skills have improved, so I’m going all in. Before I go any further, my sincere apologies to purists, and those who disapprove of cutting up collectable or rare kits. I collect kits, but I collect them to build. I treat any kit the same, and I have almost no knowledge of “box stock”. So here we go! Starting point… The body is actually in very nice condition, so far the only flaw I see is a short shot on the driver side tail light area passenger side.. driver side… Shouldn’t be too hard to fix up. Chassis before any tinkering… The chassis needs to be narrowed and the front of the chassis (forward of the firewall) needs to be extended a scale 10”. Some of the inspiration I have found.. No, it will not be black!! No, it will not be a full roll cage NASCAR build. Man these look good dropped down tho!! It will be low, and will be very aggressive looking, but hopefully still classy at the same time. I already have a colour but not sharing that yet. I have several wheel tire choices, still need to narrow that down. I also plan on ordering some wheels this week, so my choices may actually expand. The engine will be a big block with a modern intake, or maybe twin turbos, regardless, it will have more than enough power to move this beast along. Still need to play with options once the chassis is further along. If it works out, I will use the Cadillac valve covers in the kit. I have all the ideas sorted out in my head, just need to start slicing and dicing to make it a reality. LOTS of details to sort out still, especially with the interior. This should be a fun one. As always, all comments welcome and thanks for having a look. Cheers, Steve

Thank you Jeremy. Hope you’ll follow along on the next one. Hi Phil! I appreciate he kind words. It fell a bit short of my expectations, but… it actually looks quite good in the display case. I was going to pose it driving over the rock wall, but as if this thing is going four wheeling… Thanks Larry! Much appreciated Joel. I got 2 thumbs! That’s awesome! Thanks Rooster! The top on these kits are always warped quite badly, at least the 5 I have are. I wanted the top on this one, so I decided to mold it on. This also gave it more of an SUV look, or at least I think it does. Thanks Jim! By the way Jim, every time I’m polishing a model I think of you, hoping that I’ll get a “shiny” from you!! I do literally think of that. Obviously this one did not pass the Jim shiny test… unfortunately the next one won’t either as it will have a matte finish. Well, I just need to keep practicing lol… Seriously though, thanks for having a look. Thank you Anton, always good to hear from you. Thank you David. Ya, I think the top looks good that way. No way is the owner taking this in the bush, or even on a gravel road! Poser truck! Thank you all for having a look and taking the time to comment, much appreciated.? Cheers, Steve

Roger, I have a question for you sir. When you do your satin paint jobs, (they all look amazing) do you do any polishing? I know you use Tamiya polishing compounds, (which I just picked up) on your shiny jobs. I haven’t tried polishing a matte finish as I think it would end up too shiny?! I’m asking you before experimenting, as my next build will have a matte finish. I’ve achieved fairly nice smooth results with the Mr. Hobby super smooth matte clear and no polish. Thanks in advance for your input.

Thanks Mike! Ya the Camaro has a bit of a nasty side…