Dan Hay

I was honored to have my hospital build featured in this issue. We are super happy to have a healthy baby boy, but the magazine feature was the cherry on top. Many thanks to the great folks at MCM!

Incredible! Beautiful.

I kept staring at this thing because something was wrong but I couldn’t figure it out. It dawned on me the front tires were too small and didn’t fit the wheel opening very well. If I lowered it more in the front to help with how the tire fit the opening it would no longer have that speedboat stance but would sit level or a little nose down. Lowering it more in the rear to compensate is not an option without major surgery. So I tried a larger tire from the Revell 40 Ford coupe kit and that did the trick. It’s taller and has a wider white wall so it fills up the opening better and raised it up a little to give it more speedboat stance. Scroll up to my previous post to see a before.

Working on the stance… when I’m building real cars or models I spend a lot of time dialing in the stance. It sets the attitude of the car. The 34 is not as low as I normally go for, it felt weird not grinding the front spring or crossmember for once. I can’t go any lower in the rear without a Z or a C in the frame, and I’m not interested in doing that. I think the stance is authentic late 40’s which is what I’m going for. Mark Skipper’s car for reference. Front axle is from the Revell 30 Ford Sedan kit, wheels/tires are Caddy sombreros from the Revell 50 Merc kit.

You nailed the era! Nice!

I also have a build featured in that issue, did you see it? This car looks fast sitting still. The detail painting of the wheels is killer! I think I need to copy that on something.

Looks great. I built a bunch of these monogram 39 Chevys when I was a kid.. Please tell me where you got the Olds hubcaps!

Pro tip when building a Monogram based 34 kit, which includes the ZZ Top Eliminator… The rear fenders and gas tank cover have fitment issues to the body, so I detach the rear fenders from the running boards and front fender unit and fit them to the body prior to paint. That way you’re not trying to fit them up with fresh paint. I learned that one the hard way years ago. Even if you fix the fitment issues, gluing the rear fenders to the body after paint can get tricky. Kinda hard to explain but if you’ve built this kit you probably smell what I’m steppin’ in…

Chopped the windshield frame, shortened the wipers. Then, finish sanded the windshield posts, fitted the top

Little bit of work on the rear, smoothed the gas tank cover and cut a hole for the license plate.

It might end up being a flathead which is fine and period correct, but I’ve built a few lately and am bored with them so I might try for an early overhead like an Olds or Caddy.

I love the Wes Collins Roadster tribute a guy on the hamb is building. It was also featured in bare metal in the most recent Rodder’s Journal. This is a 34 cabriolet not a roadster, but it will be heavily inspired by the Collins car. I’ve already made the skirts, mildly chopped the top, installed 36 headlights, and rounded up 41 Lincoln bumpers. I also have Caddy sombreros for it. The kit is a 1962 issue of the Monogram 34 Ford 3 window/Cabriolet kit. It has killer box art. I’m not sure what I’m going to do about a power plant or color. It will be something period correct. It will have a full hood so I might just use the Pontiac mill and 6 deuces that came with the kit, but that engine is a little new I think. This car is a very early Kustom, Wes started showing it in 1950. Anyway, here’s more information on the Wes Collins car, and Mark Skipper’s recreation. https://kustomrama.com/wiki/Wes_Collins'_1934_Ford I have built this kit before, I have included a pic of a 3w version I built about 20 years ago.

Killer!

Looks like the factory made it. Nice!

Really nice build! I had a 56 Buick Super 4 Dr hardtop. Miss that car.

Really sharp. I know a guy who has a real 30 coupe that looks very similar!

I can imagine that car with a trunk full of 'shine!

Looks good! I'm currently working on the 1/12 scale version.

That looks good! Thanks for the tutorial.

Killer build! I'm in awe over that belly pan.

Really cool!

This is a great looking little A. Could you be more specific about your modifications to the wheel wells? One of the reasons I haven't built this kit was because of the wheel wells. Just curious on what you did to remedy it.

Man I need to build one of those!

Nice! Where did you get the BRM wheels? I have a 1:1 65 Beetle with BRMs I'd like to build a model of it.

At home in the display case with a 47 Chevy tow vehicle.