Pierre Rivard

A Nova salt flat racer? Perhaps it makes no sense but in the spirit of the Bonneville Speed Week, there is category for just about anything. So my crazy idea is to start with a Nova, put a blown Chevy 427 Rat engine, do a rat rod style paint to is and create a.... SALT RAT! Get the concept? I'm dating this to early 2000's, run it in the Altered Classic category (stock pre 1981 body, allowed non stock blown engine, front dam and rear spoilers etc) What I really want to do is the painting experiment, but first the basics of getting the blower location to set the hood opening dimensions, get the basics go chassis ride set up (with my chosen tires) and figure out the air dam and spoiler setup

The banged up patch panels look very real. Should be perfect when you add paint with scratches and all.

Took the jump on attempting a "rat rod style" paint process. Over a dark gray primer, I dabbed colors with a sponge starting from dark rust all the way to a very light blue. I avoided doing a complete coverage for each layer with the intent to create zones with more rust and zones with more residual color. I then gently wet sanded (1500, 2400 grit) again focusing on some areas more than others until I achieved this appearance. I need to touch up some areas and perhaps add some rust washes, but this first effort looks promising.

Lovely fabrication as always. Using materials in their natural state (no paint) is hard to beat. Nothing looks more like aluminium than aluminium right?

Looks like this one may end up being more work than initially planned. Well... if it was easy it would be boring right?

Catching up to this build and a lot of beautiful work to look at. Classic building techniques and modern tech (3D print) are blended together beautifully.

Thomas, welcome to the Accurate Miniature survivor's club. Not many of us have completed this kit. It's a finicky one but the car is a beautiful brute and worth the effort. A beautiful build for sure!

Beautiful build. What a gorgeous car!

When we look at the first picture of a build and think it's a reference picture of the real car, then no doubt we have something very special. This replica is most lifelike. Thanks John for sharing it wit us.

Many Corvettes out there with carbon fiber roofs and hoods so your solution really works for this car. Beautiful carbon fiber decals, very convincing.

Must be 1/43... ant that makes it even more fabulous!

Makes me want to be there... for the car of course! 😉 Can't comment on the Ben Hobby 936 as I have never seen that kit but this 935-78 is indeed very basic but the body had very good lines and proportions. If the 936 is also Tamiya based it should have similar attributes. Thanks Dave. A simple curbside build but it looks very good in the display cabinet, right next to the Batmobile BMW.

Oh boy Richard I am hooked. This is incredible in so many ways. the detailing and finishes are so realistic and the stacked flathead engines are outrageously beautiful. I see you have carefully thought through this to make all the components integrate in a coherent way. I'd love to see more pictures, especially around all the engine details.

Even better now with these beautiful engine photos. The amount of details built into the fuel pump & lines + throttle linkage blows my mind. So little space between the inlet tubes...

You really love your Alfas Helmut. I could not really feel it looking at this simple die cast but now I get it. #251 looks very cool, especially with the dust weathering you expertly applied, and taking the shine off the chrome. Taking good notes of your weathering method here for when I start on #20 in the same race. May I suggest adding a bit of panel line to the rear door cutout?

I love it. looks like a vintage salt flats racer.

Supper happy they opted to extend the C2 production run an extra year. It's the best looking Vette ever. Ok Mario, now that you have shown the real car can we see the model please? 😃

Paint still looks wet...

The AM kit left alone is certainly not for beginners but transforming it like you did, well that's next level for sure. I still have one of these kits and would love to do the Penske/Sunoco roadster but realistically I can't get remotely close to what you have achieved. Epic build no less!

Beautiful builds Rich. At first I thought these were 1/12. Even more impressive knowing they are 1/20. Your ability to produce beautiful replicas is always a joy to follow. A lot of your subjects fall into my interest pool so thank you for providing the inspiration. Williams had the faster car in 2002 but Ferrari was much kinder on it's tires and had by far the best driver of the field. Game over!

Thanks Jim. If you like the 935 this is the ultimate one. Thank you Larry Exact, this easy build refreshes and I really wanted this specific car on my shelf. Win-win! You called it exactly Bruce. I admire guys who do back to back high detail projects but I can't do it. I am now ready fo a challenge. Thank you Chris I'd call it a good... fit? Thanks Ken. A most simple curbside build but I really like the presence it has on the shelf. Thanks Rich. The resin pieces were not the best quality but the conversion went well nevertheless.

Just saw this for the first time. So much to take in and learn about. I have absolutely ZERO knowledge about these type of cars but your builds are just pulling me in like a BIG magnet. So many styles, chassis, engine configurations and so well built. Awesome stuff! May I ask what tires you are using for the salt car?

Message from the MCM board of directors. AI generated photos of a fake model build are not allowed, per rule 117.14. In response to multiple board members inquiries we have completed a full audit of Mr Laflamme's work and can certify that these are indeed genuine 1/25 scale fabricated components. This investigation is closed.

I tried to scratch build one for mine without success, so for now we are... topless

This build is definitely jinxed. Hang in there friend. I've been using Green Stuff World 2102 acrylic thinner with my Vallejo color coats with great success (but not good for the clear). Don't know if you still use Vallejo now that you have migrated to the airbrush but you might want to try it. Just a faint floor polish smell, no organic solvents in it.