Steve H

Incredibly realistic looking leather. As Jim, (cab driver) said above, you likely make this look much easier than it is. And Jim has crazy good skills! I have seen many of your builds in magazines over the years, all beautiful builds. Thanks for sharing Steve. Cheers, Steve

With the west coast rain falling, today was a good opportunity to get some desk time. I mocked up the Deserter leaf springs/axles to the frame to establish mounting locations. After a bit of filing, cutting, gluing, and sanding it was a fairly simple swap. First pic is before any mods. After adding and subtracting a few things… To start, I didn’t worry too much about ride height as I figured it would be pretty easy to add a bit, or remove a bit. Very different from my usual builds where I’m trying to find every fraction of a millimeter I can to lower it! So with the wheelbase established, I drilled some mounting holes, added some pins, and… I still have a bit of clean up to do, but as far as frame mods go for suspension, it’s close. As mentioned above, I didn’t really pay attention to ride height at this stage, but… it’s almost perfect! Total fluke. I may need to tweak it a scosh, but it’s really close as is!! That almost NEVER happens. Still need to figure driveshaft lengths, but I think that should be easy enough. The kits radiator is… well, small. I’m sure the stash will provide something more suitable. After playing with engine options, decided on the 396 from the ‘67 Chevelle pro street kit, which will get mated to the kit trans. After cutting, the oil pan needed some filling. Still not decided on intake for the 396. I have a whipple blower that looks good on it (same as I used on my Anglia build), but I also have a single 4 bbl set up, and the injection set up from the Monogram sprint cars. Final decision on that later. I will definitely keep the engine under the hood, no scoop. No photos of interior yet, but I have some bucket seats picked out, the Deserter console will fit with little effort. I plan on doing some wood grain on the dash, and door panels. That’s it for now! Hopefully more soon, thanks for having a look. Cheers, Steve

I love these cars. Very “crisp” build Thomas. The paint and details are fantastic.

Sheeesh! This is an incredible work of art Dave! I don’t know how you guys do it… Not sure how I missed this one until now, thanks for sharing. Cheers, Steve

Thank you Renaud! I appreciate the kind words. Thanks Ron, nice to hear from you. Adam! Thank you sir. Are you coming over for the Duece Days in scale show? If so, PM me. Tim, your compliments are very humbly accepted, and much appreciated. Builders like you, Francis, and few others are the ones that set the bar (and continually raise it) for the rest of us on the forum. Thank you for sharing your incredible talents with us. There is some better photos of the finished build under glass if you haven’t seen them guys. I was very pleased with how this build turned out, and the colour really turned out well. Thanks so much for taking the time to comment. Cheers, Steve

The big block looks good nestled in there Greg. I’m debating between a 409, and a 396 for mine, probably mated to the kit trans. Bronze with a black top sounds like it would make good looking combo ?. Nice fix on the firewall, mine looks similar but flush. Cheers, Steve

Hi Mark, nice start on the mirrors, looking forward to seeing how those come together. Good thinking for the easy fix on axle width! Hoping I can get a bit done on mine later this week. Cheers, Steve

Roberto, those are all fantastic!! I do remember seeing your flat deck version before. You’ve got a whole fleet!! Thanks for sharing those. The double axle one will be super cool…

Really like that front 3/4 view Roger, and that blower looks sweet. Shame about the scoop, but you’ll have that fixed up in no time. Much better to find that now than after paint! Cheers, Steve

Oh ya… those look nice.

Hi Greg! Great to see you dig out the Blazer. Definitely looking forward to seeing your take on this kit, and I’m going to soak up some of your 4X4 knowledge. I knew I had seen someone on this forum fix the firewall “hole”, it was Bill and his spoon fix! Happy hunting in the parts bin! Maybe Mark, you and I will entice some others to join the Blazer build bonanza. Cheers, Steve

That’s awesome! Thanks for sharing your build details, and photos. I will probably have more questions for you once I get deeper into this build.

Haha!! Excellent! This is great having three of these on the go. I’ve got about a week and a half of house stuff to do so unfortunately I won’t have much in the way of updates for a couple of weeks. Which, is perfect, I can learn from you and Mark! I’m not as familiar with Mark’s builds as I am yours, but I know that you have some 4X4 knowledge which will certainly be helpful for me. Cheers, Steve

Haha!! I know right! I had the “ya, it’s got a hemi” bumper sticker too, but decided to keep that for possible future use. There are things in my parts stash and decal box that I think, “I’m NEVER going to use that”, then something silly like this comes along and BAM… Thanks for humouring me and taking the time to comment Francis.

Hi Misha! Thanks for sharing this, I don’t recall seeing it before. That is a wicked looking beast. I’m not going to go that far with mine, but I see a few things I really. The light bar, ohhhhh, I really like that. Is that scratch built or… VERY nice build Misha. Thanks for checking in, always appreciate your comments and input. Cheers, Steve

Thanks Roger. Ya, sometimes I just like building something quirky. I did still learn enough with the lighting experiment that I will do it again. I’m really enjoying your Nova build sir. Cheers, Steve

Bring it out Greg! The more the merrier as they say. My 4X4 knowledge/ experience is a bit limited, but this will be fun for me. Hi Mark, this one will be so different than the PS version I did. I recall finishing the build and still having pretty much the whole kit minus the body and floor pan. As for the roof, I’m still about 50/50. I think it would look cool and more custom if painted body colour and molded in, however the fibreglass white would give a nice two tone look. Hmmmmmm….. the good news is, in my mind, both options will look cool. I just want a top on this one!! Thanks for having a look guys.

Hi folks, with the Mystery Machine silliness behind me, time for something a little more serious. Going to stay over here in the truck section. I will start with an apology to Mark (‘70 Grande). He has a really nice build of this kit underway already, which I’m sure if you are reading this you have seen his build. Thanks for sharing your insights Mark!! Mine will be a little different, it will also be VERY different from my usual low, pro street/pro touring type of builds. This will also likely be a slow build, as bench time is limited in spring and summer for me. Enough pre-amble, here we go. The plan is to kit bash the Blazer with parts from the Deserter GMC truck. I haven’t built a 4X4 since I was about 13, roughly 40 years ago! I’m going to try to keep it relatively simple, and not fuss TOO much over details. Having said that, I want a nice looking truck for my shelf. So the last time I built this kit, (about 15 years ago), it looked like this… Here’s a mock up of where I’m heading with this one… (pardon all the tape) As mentioned in Mark’s thread, the tops on these kits are warped. I have a total of 5 of these, 3 already built, this one, and the recently released Jimmy. All had warped tops. For this build, I definitely want the top on, so it will get glued in place. The body will be Hugger orange, a colour that I think looks amazing on 1:1 versions of this truck. I’m tossing around two options for the top: blend it into the body, smooth it out and paint it body colour, or…. paint it flat white and leave the “fibreglass” texture on it. Final decision will come to me as things progress. I’m open to opinions on that of course. The wheels are parts box items that I believe were from a dually Chevy 4X4. I’m 95% decided on the wheels, but I do have another set I like. The tires are from Modelhaus. I bought them a few years back before they retired, I know they are doing tires again so they might be available again. Along with the Deserter parts, there will be some parts box items. I dug up this bush bar, which I believe is from the “Bandit” version of this kit from wayyyyyyy back. I’ll strip the paint and see if it cleans up ok. That version had an awesome full roll cage too. I have started work on the frame and will try to have an update soon. This should be fun! Thanks for taking the time to look, and as always, all comments are welcome. Cheers, Steve

Hello Francis! First, I really hope I get to see this in person some day, truly amazing. What an incredible work of art, every individual piece, and the sum of all the parts, just fantastic. This definitely belongs on the cover of the magazine, along with a multi-page spread. Your craftsmanship is pure perfection. Does the turn signal work?! That interior is great stuff, I love the odometer. You continue to raise the bar, very inspiring. Thanks for sharing this journey with us. Cheers, Steve

Hi Mark, great progress on this project. I have built 3 Blazers, (about to start a 4th) and have the Jimmy kit for a future build. All 5 kits have the same warp issue with the top, very unfortunate. Your insights on the kit are spot on. I had seen someone else on this forum correct the HUGE firewall opening as well. The engine block is oddly long, I had never noticed that before. Thanks for sharing your fixes! Hope you don’t mind, I will be starting a WIP soon, but I’m a slow builder…. Cheers, Steve

Awesome update Roger! This is a real beauty. For what it’s worth, I think those wheels look great, good choice to stick with them. The engine you have chosen will be killer. I appreciate that you shared your mock up mishap, good lesson for kit bashing. Check, double check, then check again… I can’t tell you how many mock ups I had that were “perfect” then, oooops… missed something. Sounds like Dennis and I have the same idea about tubbing the ‘64. Cheers, Steve

Look at all that colour!! I’m generally not a gasser fan, but this build is looking fantastic. Seems that gassers are the trend right now so I’ll likely build one eventually. Hard to tell in the photos Luke, is the Nova colour shift paint too? Regardless, it’s a stunning paint job. Beautiful engine too!! Cheers, Steve

Hi Jeremy, hmmmmmm not sure if “impressive” is the right word for this silly thing, but I very much appreciate it!! Thanks for having a look. Thanks Bob!

Hi Phil, with any luck, a youngster will see this at a show and want to try building models. That would be better than any trophy or award!! Thanks Larry! I appreciate you having a look. Hello Mario. The lights were fun and easy. I will eventually try the same technique on a more “serious” build. Thanks for the kind words Hi Nigel. Ya, there was no attempt to “keep it real” here, strictly for fun. They are fun little kits with potential for fun builds. I’m hoping Mark (McHook) has a go at one of these as a neglected rust bucket, or maybe a tow truck conversion. Thanks for taking the time to comment, much appreciated. Hello Claude!! It’s fun to mix it up once in a while. The LED idea worked as good, maybe even a bit better than I had hoped. As mentioned above, it’s something I will eventually do on a more serious build, the effect is quite convincing. This was a perfect opportunity to experiment with a new idea. Yes indeed, those are Prowler wheels sir. Thanks for checking in, always a treat to hear from you. Thank you all for the kind words Cheers, Steve

Thanks Bill. It would be cool to see Shag and Scoob cruising the boulevard with the tubes glowing. I appreciate you taking the time to comment.