papajohn97

What a treasure this model must be for you, the decal patina, the cigarette smell, the dusty interior, a link to your father and a love for cool cars that you both shared. I have a few hand tools that my father etched his name onto using an electric engraving pen. They are old and worn, nothing special to anyone else but very special to me. You should display this one Mike with all your beautiful SS builds, they belong together. Thanks for sharing.

More big decals Mike and you did a great job on this one too! Those long ones along the middle of each side profile must have been a challenge. At this rate you're going to have a 1/25 reproduction of every one of the '65 AWB Mopars.... impressive! Once you've completed everyone on your list, please line 'em all up and post a group pic of them. I would love to browse through your SS magazine collection, it would make for some fun mid-60's drag racing reminiscing!

Really nice trio of Cad's Kari. That grey roadster is my favorite. I've built a few of the classic 1/24 Monogram kits (Packard, RR) and loved them. Your builds are inspiring me to track down and try one of these 1/25 Jo-Han kits which still appear to be available on eBay and at reasonable prices.

Wow! Amazing difference in length between the AMT and Moebius '65 Dodges! I would think the factory Dodge and Plymouth sedans utilized the same chassis geometry and AMT probably undersized their Dodge kit? Thank you for posting these comparisons and for showing the mods required to make the AWB version of the Dodge sedan using the Fremont resin body with the Moebius chassis. I've built two AWB A/FX cars using standard WB kits (a Revell '65 Mustang FB and a Revell '65 Chevelle) by shifting wheel wells forward on both and neither effort was a picnic. I'd much rather slice & dice the chassis than the wheel openings on a body!

Interesting, didn't know that...wonder why they let Dick Landy keep his car? I got to see the original Landy car around 12 -15 yrs ago at a vintage drag event at Famoso and boy-oh-boy the back end of that body was really sagging down at a weird angle. Would love to see someone here try to reproduce that "bent body" look on one of the Moebius AWB '65 Plymouths/ Dodge kits. You did an amazing job on those big blue decals, other than the impossibly tight corners near the rear tail lights, I don't see a wrinkle or tear anywhere. Bravo!

Really nice kit-bash Mike. Did the Moebius chassis/ interior fit within the Fremont resin body or was a lot of surgery required? You need to line up all your mid-60's door slammers and post a few photos someday, I'm sure your collection way outnumbers mine and most others here. You are one prolific builder!

Another very nice one Mike of a very short-lived car that morphed into the Gary Dyer/ Mr. Norm's Grand-Spaulding match racer. We're all the blue areas on the body (including the roof?) decals or did you paint them to match the blue of the Color-Me-Gone door decals? Whether painted or decaled, I'm impressed with how neat this all came together, not an easy looking decal task even if just the red pinstripes. I have three of these AWB Dodge kits along with the last AWB Plymouth that was in my stash on my bench now proceeding as a very slow production line. A plumbing issue in our home (hot water line slab leak 😖😫) shut my line down for the last month but I'm just now cranking it up and hope to have some of these builds to post in the coming weeks.

Thanks Mike! The Nitro Revival is unfortunately no more, they shut down the 1/8 mile Irwindale drag strip last year (it was not the original legendary 1/4 mile strip that disappeared decades ago). The only drag strips left in S. Cal are Pomona (open only twice a year for NHRA events although NHRA museum is at the same complex) and Famoso (way the heck out in the central valley north of Bakersfield and hidden in amongst the farms off hwy 5). The only new vintage drag racing destination worth seeing is the Lions Automobilia Foundation Museum in the Carson-Wilmington area and it is EXCELLENT!!!! Check out their website here.

Nice job (as always!) Mike on this '65 C.F. You did a particularly excellent job on the large white Mobius decals, not an easy task to apply/ align/ smooth out and not tear. I'm a big Butch Leal fan and got to meet him a few years ago at a "Nitro Revival" event in Irwindale, CA, really nice guy. I'll have to look for that book. Also thanks for posting your massive car model collection/ man cave. I would love to spend an afternoon pulling each one off the shelf and examining each with my 3X readers.

Beautiful job Tom on this Moebius(?) kit. I love Evening Orchid and remember it being a very popular color choice on new '65 Impalas when I was a kid. We car modelers are very lucky to have paint vendors like Scale Finishes that can mix up and match original factory colors for us. Jameston Kroon is the MAN!

They sure don't show Eric, I think the chassis/engine looks fantastic and with the body in place, this build screams "wild/ experimental/ break-all-the-rules" mid-60's drag racing. Really loving what you've done here and looking forward to seeing it UG once the final details are installed.

Hey Eric, really enjoying watching all the scratch-building you're doing on this one. This build is making me fantasize about building a later body ('66 - '67) Doug Thorley/ Hayden Proffitt/ Randy Wells topless Corvair early funny. Wonder if the recent AMT Chezoom ('69?) Corvair body could be a suitable donor to cut the top off and use for a '66 -67 body? Mike (iBorg) - thanks for posting those two history links....the source of my scale modeling fantasies! What a brief but awesome period of drag racing history!

Initially, like many here I figured I'm safe because of my extensive stash of unbuilt kits (cars, planes, tanks, ships) that I've accumulated over the years. Then it occurred to me....Oh No! ....Paint! Supplies! Decals! AM stuff! Many of these items are foreign sourced (Tamiya, Gunze, Zero, Cartograph, AK, MiG, Eduards,....). I guess US dealers will still be ordering big orders (> $800) from any foreign manufacturers and selling to us domestically but I can also imagine a possible supply chain slow-down due to bureaucratic issues/ customs process chaos over the coming weeks (months?)..... We may all want to take inventory on our paint & building supplies and order a safety stock as required from US dealers soon???? God forbid we all run out of paint & glue!

Awesome build Mike & thanks for the tip on the Fremont resin bodies.

Beautiful model Elliot. Love the two-tone Larry Watson style paint work and that tuck&roll interior is outstanding! I don't generally model customs but your '55 is inspiring me!

Excellent job Eric on the roll bar re-sizing, this build is going to be awesome once it's all painted up & decaled. What are your plans for the markings? Home-printed decals? Unfortunately white is a real challenge unless you have an Alps printer.

Fantastic job David! Love these early 50's GM sedans (spent my younger years riding in the backseat of my parent's '52 Chevy). I wish Revell had issued Chevy and Pontiac versions of this kit, the AMT '51 Chevy Fleetline body is just plain weird.

David - Really liking this stock car version of this excellent Revell kit that you are doing justice to. Your paint and construction work is first class. Looking forward to seeing it in UG soon! I built and posted the "City of Roses" Pan-American road race version of this kit a few years back and was so impressed with this kit, I bought two more to eventually build a showroom stock and a gasser version. Your stock car is making me want a third kit now to copy you here and do all three!

Spectacular job on the paint work, spectacular job on the BMF trim, love the color, love the stance. I'm not a fan of large wheels with low profile tires on classic cars (I'm old....) but I have to be honest and admit that they look great on this build. Bravo!!!

Great pics guys! My favorite is Grumpy between the two blonds (Linda Vaughn & her understudy?) I've read that Mr. Jenkins was quite a lady's man when he wasn't tuning cars and winning championships. The good old days indeed!

Wow! That's quite a list Mike! Looking forward to seeing a photo of all these lined up (or even half of them!) later this year. I remember building the first release of the Jo-Han '64 Dodge Polara "Ramchargers" kit as a 10 yr old and wishing a year later that Jo-Han would issue an AWB version of a '65. The 60 year wait for these Moebius kits was worth it! Thankyouthankyouthankyou Moebius!!!!!

Nice progress Eric. I agree with you on the roll bar, it's way too thick! I've had good luck using .080" -.125" OD Evergreen styrene rod and heating it using a flame or boiling water to bend it around a suitably size mandrel (round bottle/ cap, drill bit, etc.) for the radiused portions. Love the side profile pic showing that awesome stance, this is going to be one bitch'in build when it's done and painted. Model on!