Steve H

Hi all, This was a “quick build” between full detail projects. It wasn’t particularly quick on the calendar, but as far as desk time it was fairly quick. I like doing these as exercises in trying new things. This was my second build with working lights, I plan on doing a full detail build in the future with working lights, so a little more practice doesn’t hurt. Gremlins, in my opinion are not an attractive car, they are somewhat awkward looking. However, they are one of those cars that are so “ugly”, they are kinda cool. So the goal was to aim for making it “cool”. I have to be honest though, as the project progressed, I came to like the lines of the car more.... The rear of the car got a face lift, I filled the rear tail lights and added new vertical lights. Both bumpers were removed, and I added the front “bumper” from a J2000. The wheels, tires, and brakes are from Pegasus, I wanted to try a deep smoke chrome look on the wheels. I sprayed about 5-6 coats of Tamiya smoke. I often do one or two coats of smoke on chrome parts, but for this build I wanted dark. I’m quite pleased with the result, and will likely do this again on a future project. There is no interior, and only the bottom half of the engine. The hood scoop is actually one of the kits seat backs cut to fit. The lights are from Evan Designs, and are very easy to install. There is a thread in the WIP section if you are interested. As always, thanks for looking, and all comments welcome. Cheers, Steve

Hi guys, time to wrap this one up. This wasn’t a “quick build” on the calendar, but really didn’t spend much time at the desk. It won’t win any contests, but will look good in the display case. The lights went more or less as planned, I mounted the switch in the gas tank... The original plan was to have the battery mounted to the body... however, due to the amount I channeled the body over the chassis, there was a fitment issue. So I carefully removed the battery holder and mounted it to the chassis.... The wiring is super simple. I highly recommend anyone to try this. “Evan Designs” has a great website, with lots of interesting lighting products and info. For this project I didn’t spend any time trying to hide the wires as it really wasn’t necessary, however, I plan on doing some lights on a full detail build in the future and I don’t think it would be too difficult to camouflage the wires. The body is now painted and polished, so I’m going to call this one good enough and put it under glass. Thanks to those who followed and contributed comments, much appreciated! Cheers, Steve

Hi Nigel, not sure if I missed it in the thread somewhere, but what colours did you use for the interior. They look fantastic! Cheers, Steve

Hi Mike, you are doing some fantastic work here. Loving watching this come together. So.... I like everything low, my thought is, if you drop it down it may balance the “long” tail? That’s my 2 cents. Look forward to seeing whichever direction you go, it’s a very cool build. Cheers, Steve

Hi Chuck, you’re becoming a real Brat aren’t you! I can’t decide which one I like more. Both great builds. I have one of these that I plan on lowering, ( I have a habit of lowering all my builds) and building as a pro touring style car/truck, whatever it is. I might be partial to the Rat Brat. Cheers, Steve

Hi Chuck, thank you sir, and thanks for looking. I’ve only built 2 resin kits, both Modelhaus, so I don’t have a comparison, but they are very well done. I wish I had had bought more, 3 left in the stash though! From what I have heard, they were the best resin kits available. Cheers, Steve

Hi Chuck, that is an awesome build! Very creative, and well executed. Cheers, Steve

Thank you Brian, I appreciate the feedback sir! Looking forward to seeing your build “under glass” beats work.

Looks awesome Brian. Love the colour, stance, and wheels. Very nice job on blending the bodies together. I’m looking at ordering some Z- wheels, would you recommend him? Cheers, Steve

Hi Jim, wow, that colour REALLY pops in the sun! Beautiful build sir, love the wheel choice too. Cheers, Steve

Hi Tom, the colour looks wayyyyyy cooler on your Impala than it does on the Prius I built for my daughter! It somehow looks... “pinker” on the Prius Look forward to seeing your build come together, beautiful so far. Cheers, Steve

Hi all, still haven’t had much desk time, got a little done in the last couple of days though, so thought I would share. I made a couple of tail light “reflectors” from sheet styrene. The inside is covered with BMF for reflectivity when the lights are not on. A small hole drilled to poke the LED light thru. These pieces will be glued on after body is painted. To prevent “unwanted” light from shining under car I paint the backs of the LED’s with black paint. For the wheels, I decided to try something a little different. I often use Tamiya smoke on my chrome to tone down the shine a bit. For this build, I wanted little or no chrome, so I decided to go heavy with the smoke for a black chrome look. First pic is side by side with unpainted and smoked. Probably not everyone’s taste, but I am really pleased with the look. I did the same treatment on the grill. The kit did not have lenses for the turn signals. A quick dive in the parts stash turned up a tinted rear Camaro tail light. Perfect! In keeping with the tint theme I cut a couple of pieces and painted the backs with clear orange, added some BMF and voila! Thats it for now...

Hi Tom, that is wicked cool! Look forward to seeing the finished project. Cheers, Steve

Pearl white!!!! That would look wicked with dark or black wheels! Of course it’s your build and will look cool no matter the colour. Maybe consider Tamiya smoke on the wheels? Just a thought, I just painted a set with several coats of smoke for my Gremlin build. Love where this one is going...

Hi Roger, a very creative and different approach to a chop, and extremely well executed. I will be following along. The bonus, that car will look cool no matter what colour you put on it, cause it is that cool! Cheers, Steve

Hi Dax, I agree with Tom, you make this look easy. Then I think, hmmmm.... no way I could pull that off. Brilliant sir! Cheers, Steve

Hi Dax! Your builds are some of the coolest I have seen. Your “hint of realism” is indeed superb. They look like they would fly for sure! I wish my brain worked like that, the imagination and creativity is just fantastic. Very well done, awesome weathering, top shelf all round. Cheers, Steve

Mike, you’re not messing around here!! It looks.... well, nothing like a T-bird. I will be watching sir, love what you’ve done so far. Cheers, Steve

Hi Oliver, thank you sir! First, (and likely last) time someone would confuse my work with the formidable Claude T. Thanks for looking and the kind words! Hi Steve, yes, they are missed. I wish I had discovered them earlier, but still thankful to have three more to build. I’m sure you know this, but you can still get tires, and I believe some wheels as well from them. Thanks for the compliment, and for having a look. Cheers, Steve

Hi Claude, thanks for the re-route. In my dreams could one of my builds be mistaken for one of yours! Thanks for sharing the photos of the 1/1 cars. Nice job on the red number, beautiful work. Cheers, Steve

Hi all, sorry for lack of progress, it’s been a couple of weeks, with almost no desk time. My wife had a second surgery on a badly broken foot, and I did my Christmas lights early this year, and I do LOTS of lights. I feel we all need a little “light” in our lives right now, so trying to do my part. Chassis is in paint now, battery holder done, including Velcro strap to hold in place. I know I said no motor earlier, but, there will be the bottom half of the motor and exhaust. Still some detailing to do on motor, but not much. The body work is close, likely one more round of fill, sand, prime... I will do a few detail photos and description on lighting soon, I’m probably not the right person to do a tutorial though. This is my second car with lights, both are slammers. I plan on doing a full detail build with lights soon... Cheers, thanks for following

Hi Geoff, beautiful build, I love 80’s nascar cars. It looks lowered? Or fully box stock? I built a couple way back when these came out, I think it would be fun to do one now, skills have improved somewhat since the 80’s. Thanks for sharing. Cheers, Steve

Hello Francis! Always nice to hear from you sir. Yep, I like low! I felt very lucky to purchase some Modelhaus kits prior to their retirement. Sill have a 61 Caddy, 65 impala wagon, and a 60 Olds 2dr HT to build. Hopefully someone will purchase the moulds and produce kits of the same quality. Thanks for the comments, stay safe and be well. Cheers, Steve

What the heck!! Is that a real production car?! Definitely never seen one of those. Thanks for chiming in Claude, always great to hear from you sir. Cheers, Steve

Hi Kurt, build it! That is a cool looking car. Needs at least a V8, some sort of twin turbo induction.... low, low, low! I’ll follow. Cheers, Steve