2doors3pedals

I always enjoy these end of the year posts, so I'm sharing mine. It was a fulfilling year in my life time hobby.

I always enjoy these end of the year posts, so I'm sharing mine. It was a fulfilling year in my life time hobby.

Thanks guys! Your kind words are very appreciated.

Nice work. You have captured the essence of the first generation Bronco well. I'm inspired to pull mine out of the box and get it going.

I've finally finished my '55 Step Side. I like them shiny and this one is Rustoleum Hunter Green with white top and wheels. The cab started as a Cameo Carrier, the bed is from the '65, and the 6 is from a '60. Yes, I took the long way.... The wheels are from Rookie Resins with generic, but close enough, hub caps from Parts by Parks. Other than fiddling with mismatched components, I added scratch built tailgate chains, opened the back of the grill and used a Scale Motorsports decal to the seat. I'm mostly pleased with the result, but wish my eyes and fingers were younger! Thanks for looking.

In its natural environment - a 140/170 six in a '61 Ranchero.

Thank you all for the kind words. Glad you like it. I enjoyed this one and am considering building several of the great old Trophy Series models. They are still very cool!

Really well done! Very clever and believable modifications. I can see it fitting in at the Motorama.

I've been around long enough to have bought new 1958 AMT kits at the local corner store. On occasion during the past 65 years I have imagined building the chopped top 25 T hot rod, but just never got around to it. I have finally rectified that situation with a version of what I think a '70s style show rod might have looked like. It's mostly built out of the box, but I used the 6 carb manifold from an earlier issue, and wheels and tires from the parts box. The kit chassis is a fiddly one, but I managed to lower it just a little. Tamiya paint and some minor wiring and fuel and brake lines were added. The old survivor in the background was found on ebay, so it doesn't count. It's likely how mine would have looked in 1960 or so. It feels good to finally have this one on the shelf.

Here are a few of the 800 or so entries:

We made it. Left Northern CA at 5:30 a m and arrived 6:30 p m. The speed limit across most of nevada is 80 mph which was fun in the Cooper S. The Mini is filthy from the rain and dust. We're very excited to be on site tomorrow.!

I'll be there for the finale. I was involved back in the early days and it will be fun visiting old friends and acquaintances. I expect it will be like my 50th high school reunion - who invited all these old people? Wow, I've been building model cars for 65 years!

I made this as a replica of a truck I owned years ago. I bought it from my best friend Paul, used it as my every day for a few years and then gave it to my son when he started driving. The cab is an MPC '78 long bed on a Little Red Express chassis with a resin short bed. I've added side moldings and some minor engine detailing. It took three paint jobs to find the right puppy red color for the top half. The wheels are from a Mobius ford kit and match the Mohawk chrome ones on the real truck. It was a fun build and brings back many good memories. Hope you like it.

I too have a 6 cylinder Camero in the works. It will be a replica of my wife's high school ride. Hers was a '68 with a floor shifted 3 speed. She claims she could beat anyone on the stop light gran prix - for the first 25 feet anyway. I agree with the other posts above that it's fun to see a different take on an over done subject. These were very common back in the day.

Heller 1/43 Citroen 2cv.

In my 60+ years of model building I have never built a military vehicle - I like them shiny! When my local scale model club decided have a contest with only military models I did some head scratching and came up with this one. It's mostly out of the box but being the street rod only version I had to find some stock parts make some adjustments. I used Tamiya flat olive drab on the outside and Tamiya light sand with an overlay of clear orange and clear yellow inside. It was a nice break from hours of wet sanding and polishing paint but felt a little funny dechroming the shiny parts. I got out of my comfort zone a bit with this one and enjoyed the journey. I'll probably never need the rest of that can of Army green again.

Thanks, I'm glad you like it.

Engine swaps like these were fairly common in my youth. A guy with a welder, a big V8 and a little imagination could build an inexpensive high-performance car. In the early 70s my cousin had an Austin Healy 100-4 powered by a 327 Chevy. I can't remember the rest of the power train but the rear tires stuck out past the fenders quite a bit. Probably added 100 horse power and was plenty fast and squirrely. While pretty crudely put together it reliable enough for a wild eyed kid to be a daily driver. Another kid I knew had a 58 Corvette with a 389 tri-power Pontiac engine. How we survived in those things is a mystery. The car culture's fascination with this type of car is probably why the Cobra was and is so popular.

Thank you all for your encouraging words. Wouldn't it be great if Moebius kitted this subject with some Wagoneer versions too? I think they would be good sellers. I'm glad you guys enjoyed the Jeep.

Hi guys. Here's my version of a backdated Jeep Gladiator. I started with the Revell '80 Honcho kit and a Model Car Ranch resin grill conversion. I removed the kit rear window louvers, side marker lights, emblems, gas filler tail lights and wheel lip trim. The interior was largely scratch built by reforming the dash and adding a photo reduced instrument cluster, heater controls, speaker grill and seat upholstery patern. The steering wheel was modified and scratch built door and window regulators were added. Outside the front bumper was filed to a more accurate shape and the hubcaps are the centers of the full wheel covers found in the Mountain Goat kit. The grill emblem was made from a mold taken from the hub cap centers, but it's a little oversize. Finally, the back bumper is a Rookie Resin 3d item (really nice!) with a home made hitch ball. Paint is Ace Hardware spray cans with the clear coat sanded and polished. This one took a lot of time but I like the results. Thanks for looking.

Thanks, these old trucks are my favorites currently. The Klondike Gold is simply Ace Hardware metallic gold rattle can that's close enough for me. I'm having good luck using all Ace products for primer, paint and gloss clear. It takes some color sanding and polishing for a good finish.

These are four I've been working on this year. They are a little past "mock up" but still in progress. I clearly need to focus!

Wow, I haven't seen this one for a long time! A friend of mine owned this car sometime in the '80s and it looked pretty much the same. He drove it to car shows and got lots of attention as you might imagine. I remember being very impressed by the workmanship and quality displayed. It looked like a factory job. When I rode in it the ride was best described as "squishy ".... I sure wish we had a scale '50 - '53 Buick. Thanks for the memory jog.

I learned to drive in my dad's 66 GMC Suburban - V-6, three on the tree and power nothing. That was a beast for a 16 year old. I kind of miss the old column shifters!

As they say, it's only worth what someone is willing to pay. $3K for a work of art by a recognized master seems appropriate. By the way, this Lincoln is built off a 3d printed body. The interior is mostly scratch built as are many details. Awesome work Paul!