papajohn97

I decided to dissect out the radiator from the front bulkhead and bond the bulkhead to the body, making sure that the chromed headlight/ grill part fully seats and is positioned correctly relative to the front edge of the body: There was no radiator in the actual car and I’ve cleaned up the cut and removed radiator features from this part since the photo was taken. I moved the two engine mounts rear wards by .28” (7” at 1/25): The photo above also shows that I cut .28” off of the front of the chassis to clear the front bumper/ grill/ bulkhead. I also had to cut .28” off the notch that the interior tube bears against to allow the chassis to shift forward by the .28”: I bonded sheet styrene to the rear of the interior tub to replace the back seat. Once this is fully cured, I’ll cut the back and seat portion of the rear seat off from the tub so that the chassis can shift forwards .28” relative to the body + interior tub: And finally, I took a leap of faith and applied Tamiya putty to the four wheel opening repositioning seams: I’ve never been crazy about this Tamiya putty filler and have been using Vallejo acrylic gap/ seam filler on all my planes/ tanks/ ships lately which is easier to work with and excess can be whipped off with IPA. I decided not to use the acrylic putty here because it’s much softer and I was worried that it might react with lacquer based primer and paints. I’m going to give this Tamiya putty a few days to fully cure before attempting to sand this down, hoping I don’t regret this choice of putty….?? I hope to re-position and bond the two inner wheel wells to the body engine bay next and then get going on clean-up and dry-fitting of the chassis/ engine/ interior components. I’ve learned it’s best to solve all the assembly ,and fit issues before even priming any parts.

Hi Mike, I missed this build that you posted a few months back and just ran a-crossed it in searching how others have approached recreating this legendary Dick Harrell/ Bill Thomas injected Nova - very nice job! So how did you do this chassis? Did you cut the front end off of the Nova pro-street chassis and scratch-build the tubular front clip and straight axle/ leaf spring assembly? I’d like to copy your build here (highest form of compliment, right?) using the same ‘66 Nova pro street kit but am also wondering if it’s worth sacrificing a Moebius Gasser Nova kit for the tubular front clip + straight axle assembly? What would you do if you were to build a second one of these? Scratch build the front end or pull parts from the Moebius kit ( still a $25 kit)? BTW, I love all your builds that you so prolifically assemble and post here, you ‘da sixties door slam’in drag car MAN!!!!! John

I made progress today on re-installing the four wheel openings on the body for the 7” forward shift. I bonded strips of .015” thick Evergreen styrene inside the body along each square cut-out profile to give the remounted wheel cut-outs and filler styrene something to engage with for bonding other than butt joining everything together: I then bonded each wheel opening back onto the body checking a few distances between the pieces and the front door edges to try to get symmetrical between right and left sides: As tedious as this was to do (about 4 hours work), I’m hoping this method will minimize putty gap filling and sanding….we’ll see! I’m happy with the look of this shift, especially the front wheel wells. It always bugged me that AMT did not adjust the front wheels/ wheel wells on their AWB “funny car” kits such as the Mustang and Chevelle. If this build works out, I’ve got a ‘66 Nova kit which I’d love to try this on to build that cool red Dick Harrell/ Nickey Chevrolet Injected AWB car.

Thanks for the transmission feedback Len. Half the fun of doing these parts-bashing vintage drag car builds is the fun of researching and learning new things. I just noticed on some of the period photos of this car and my decal sheet a reference to “Hydro by Tom Nell” - which gave me an additional clue that I overlooked as to what type of automatic transmission was in this car. Unless there were two ‘Tom Nell’s’ involved in mid-60’s drag racing, I believe the Tom Nell painted on Seaton’s car was a Pontiac engineer who was deeply involved in modifying the first GM TH400’s for racing in 1964 - 65 (TH400’s were first available on Caddies and Pontiacs in ‘64 followed by Chevrolet in ‘65): https://www.motortrend.com/features/hppp-1209-pioneers-of-the-pontiac-v8/amp/ This article implies that Tom Nell was helping Arnie Beswick on tuning the TH400 for drag racing during the period of this ‘64-‘65 Seaton’s Shaker. Pete Seaton’s dad was a big shot at GM which may have given Seaton some inside access to back-door GM tech help during this GM race ban period (or Seaton/ Heinelt just connected with Nell at the drag strip?). I have a 1/25 resin B&M Hydro with a Chevy bell housing and could also order a resin 1/25 PowerGlide but based on the “Hydro by Tom Nell” decal, I think I might just stay with the TH400 for this build. I’m a ways from starting the engine/ trans subassembly and am happy to be corrected on this with a better reference or a photo showing what trans was used (maybe they started with a Powerglide in ‘64 and switched over to the TH400 in ‘65?). Much thanks for the feedback!

This is a project I’ve been procrastinating on starting for a few years. I had major surgery three weeks ago and am finally feeling good enough to take X-Acto knife in hand and build again (two weeks since the last Vicodin so my wife says I can play with sharp knives, drills, saws and airplane glue again). I am also very happy to be alive and the last thing I fear these days is botching up a model build in WIP public view. I’ve also been inspired by all the wonderful classic super stock drag builds being posted lately by M W Elky and others here and would like to join in on the fun. This is the car I want to recreate and my hope is to accurately shift the body 7” rearward (.28” scale) relative to the chassis while maintaining close to the stock wheelbase. I read this 7” shift while maintaining a stock WB description on the HAMB (it was on the internet so it must be true!) so short of a verifiable reference, I’m going to go with it. Car Craft magazine featured a two page article about this car in their Dec 1965 issue, if anyone has a copy, I would love to know if it supports this 7” body/ chassis shift as well as if there are any photos of the interior or under carriage in the article. I'm starting with this Revell 1/25 kit: I plunged into cutting out the four wheel openings from the body using a jeweler’s saw, X-Acto knife, .030” drill and Dymo tape for a cutting guide. I drilled out each of the two corners to act as a strain relief for bending after each vertical cut is sawed and the horizontal cut scored with the knife against the Dymo tape. I also had to cut each of the two wheel well shapes out of the engine to allow repositioning them forward to correspond with the new front wheel cut out positions. Then I tackled the front wheel well cut-outs: So here’s the final parts cut from the body (I haven't yet removed the .28" section from each of the front fender cut-outs): Here's an eyeball check of the wheel wells shifted forward, hoping it look's close enough to the B&W photo of the actual car above (may to adjust the rear cut-out some?): Here's a view below with the fender cut-outs taped forward and the chassis shifted forward to roughly match. I will have to trim .28" from the front of the chassis and add .28" to the rear. I also plan to shift the engine mounts on the chassis by .28" rearwards so that the engine remains in the stock position relative to the firewall. I purchased Yesteryear decals and a resin Hilborne injection manifold and velocity stacks from Speed City for the 396 BBC supplied in the Revell kit along with a resin automatic (the internet tells me they used a GM Turbo Hydramatic 400 on this car, the Revell kit engine block comes with a manual): I'm hoping to re-install the four wheel cut-outs and engine bay wheel wells onto this body using additional cut and shaped Evergreen sheet styrene as gap fillers and hopefully minimize use of putty. I only have acrylic-based Vallejo putty and Tamiya one-part tube putty at the moment and am wondering if I should resort too one of the two-part epoxy or polyester fillers - suggestions? Looking forward to making progress on this cool chassis-twisting wild ride in the coming days.... Cheers, John

I love the dark grey over red, very understated and the overall build quality is excellent, really clean neat workmanship. Your window frames on this one (painted or foiled?) are fabulous. Where did you get the Rudge wheels? They look great and give this gull-wing a racier look than the kit wheel covers. This Tamiya kit is one of the very best auto kits out there, I built one when they were first released and ordered a second to build again because it was such a fun stress-free modeling project. Bravo!

Great job recreating one of the more creative drag machines from my childhood. I recall AMT offered an 1/25 Allison among their boxed accessories when I was a kid (60’s), was it ever re-popped or did you have to pull your engine out of that Model King “Allison Wonderland” T-Bird kit for this build?

Sweet! A shiny red super stock Dodge! I’d love to see that little old lady from the famous song terrorize Colorado Blvd. (or Grand Ave in Chicago) in this beast. While I applaud their decal subjects and efforts, I’m not a big fan of SMP decal graphic quality (I believe they use course raster graphics vs crisp sharp vector graphics like Slixx) but I must say these decals look great on this old Lindberg kit (which I keep building too!). I have a set of Grand Spaulding decals for a ‘65 AWB A/FX Dodge (the lavender and blue one from Fremont Racing) that I’m looking forward to using on the upcoming Moebius kit when it’s released. Another beautiful classic SS’er Mike! Keep ‘em coming!

Oooh….a gaggle of Lotus 49’s…be still my beating heart! These Ebbro kits take some skill and finesse to pull off with all four wheels touching ground and aligned and body panels and nose fully installed, all of which you’ve mastered. Paint, decals, engine detail, velocity stack screens, everything really well done. Converting the 49(C) kit to a 49 is a brilliant way to avoid the current $$$ kit cost. Looking forward to more pics after you receive and apply the Team Lotus and Gold Leaf decals. Bravo!

Complex two-tone paint schemes like this are a lot of work (and tape!), yours came out great! Also really like the carbs, linkage, fuel lines + filters. Very nice!

Amazing engine detailing, paint and overall build quality. This genre of auto subjects is beyond my time and area of interest but I’m always amazed at the incredible builds and appreciate the talent that you FandF model builders are graced with, fine scale modeling at its best! Paul Walker was killed on the road just outside of my last place of employment. Driving in/ out of work everyday, I remember seeing hundreds (the Mon after the Sat he was killed maybe several thousand?) of young guys in cars like these who showed up and parked near the scene of the terrible accident. It was sad but also touching to see all these “young tough street racing dudes” grieving together. I’m sure PW and all his fans would love your tribute.

Nice job Michele and the TS-60 Pearl green is one of my favorites, particularly for 60’s American cars. I also really liked the Johnny Rivers soundtrack model on turntable video you included, it made me briefly fantasize driving a 1:1 version of your Pearl green Comet down Sunset Blvd on a Sat night in the Summer of ‘64 to see Johnny perform at the Whiskey A-Go-Go. Unfortunately I was only 11 at that time and had to settle for building car models in my bedroom and getting glue and paint on my little kid desk while Johnny sang “Memphis” on my AM transistor radio. Thanks for posting!

What a beautiful classy tastefully executed late 50’s/ early 60’s custom. None of the issues that you encountered appear visible to me in your photos. The stock lines and trim on these cars really supported two-tone paint schemes but I think the one color really compliments and differentiates the overall styling from a typical stock ‘56 Ford. The peak look-see view of a small portion of the custom interior makes me want to see more of it. Over-all very cool car, thank you for posting!

Michael, so nice to see you and a few other guys here building and posting all these cool classic super stockers lately! These two Z-11 kit bashed Platt Brother cars are really well done, very realistic recreations and you nailed the period correct lowered rear end/ raised front end stance on both cars. I tried modeling Dave Strickland’s “Old Dependable” Z-11 using this old AMT kit a few years ago and really struggled with it. Revell’s recently tooled ‘62 Impala SS 409 hardtop is so much better a kit, I had fun doing a yellow Dyno Don car I posted recently. I wish Revell would release a new-tooled ‘63 Z-11 Impala with decals for these historic drag cars (or even better yet, a Z-33 “mystery motor” 427 Biscayne).

This one is absolutely sweet! Amazing how well this came out from this ancient tooled (I assume) Revell Double Car Kit (Bantam Bomber and Scarlett Screamer?) the replacement tires and metallized wheels and other metallic parts look great against that red exterior/ black interior. This reflects my favorite vintage for altered’s before they went a little nuts with the hiked up front ends and towering superchargers (although I like those too ?). This one is my favorite model car of the day, thank you for sacrificing an $$$$ kit and building and posting it for us to enjoy. Did I read on here somewhere that Atlantis has the molds for these Revell double drag car kits and has plans to re-issue them???

Wow! Fabulous execution and black over red really suits this classic Ford bubble-top. Fantastic engine bay detailing. The gold name emblems on front fenders and rear deck came out particularly nice, were these done with gold foil or were they masked and dry-brushed?

Ohhhh. Really like this one. Perfect stance and super neat overall job on build/ paint/ decals. I built and posted a Dyno Don yellow version of this Impala recently and found this Revell kit to be really well engineered and a joy to build. I’ve been building more than a few early sixties stockers over the last few years and wish I could add this one to my collection. Bravo!

Ohh, very pretty GT. Great job kit bashing with the Fairlane kit to pump up the detail. I particularly love the look of that gorgeous blue with the chrome wheels and thin whitewalls. Looks like one sitting on the showroom floor in 1964-1/2!

Really nice box art build! Impeccable paint and workmanship. My first car was a high mileage but clean turquoise & white ‘56 210 two-door sedan (is every “210” a “Del Rey”?). Bought it in 1972, a time when you could buy a nice tri-five for < $500. I picked this kit up at Michael’s last year with the aim to build a tribute to my first ride, hope I can do half as well as you’ve done on your build.

Altered Ego/ Scott8950/ M W Elky: Really loving all these AWB builds you guys are posting! These were the most interesting years of drag racing history IMO. The technology was advancing from weekend to weekend between ‘64 -‘66, NHRA be damned! I need to get to work and build something and join this posting party! Thanks for the inspiration guys!

Thanks guys for reviving an old A/FX build of mine from two years ago. I’ve been immersed in building planes, ships and tanks over these wet winter months and am ready for sunshine and spraying shiny lacquer paint again. This Mustang is one of around +25 1960’s super stock/ A/FX builds I’ve completed and am ready to build a few more. I’m really looking forward to that Moebius ‘65 AWB Dodge kit to hit the shelves and have several decal sheets ready to go. Altered Ego Jeff - I’ve had the same thoughts about the Round2 ‘66 fastback with the retooled body and was thinking maybe the Moebius A/FX SOHC ‘65 Comet kit (either Dyno Don or Arnie Beswick car) might be a suitable donor chassis for replacing the one-piece kit chassis in the Round2 kit? Both body and chassis would require a bunch of mods to fit together and to alter the front and rear wheel base but the Comet kit comes with a front suspension/chassis similar to the A/FX Mustang and no protruding shock towers within the engine bay. Wonder if someone here in this forum is already doing this?????

Very nice job Rich on one of Ebbro’s more difficult 1/20 F1 kits. I built this one in Fall ‘21 (posted on that British modeling site) and encountered the exact same issues that you ran into 1) poor fit of body cowling and engine cover (I replaced the molded-in pins with brass rods, kinda helped), 2) difficulties getting a clean bond joint between windscreen and cowling due to adhesive wicking between close fitting areas between both parts on the sides of the windscreens 3) funky exhaust extension angles because I pre-bonded the exhaust headers to the block per instructions (don’t!!!). I love this car so much I bought a second kit to do a do-over some day. I suspect a lot of the issues are due to Ebbro using a number of parts from the old tool Tamiya Lotus 25 with Ebbro new tooled Lotus 33 parts. The machined aluminum velocity stacks and exhaust extensions are my favorite parts of this kit, I wish Ebbro would market these parts separately for use on other classic 1/20 F1 models. I agree with Pierre regarding Jim Clark’s driving talents. Jimmy was one of my two childhood racing heros. Clark once said that the only driver he was afraid of (getting passed by) was Dan Gurney, my other childhood hero. Thanks for posting your beautiful golden age of F1 model builds!

Fabulous job Jason on this very rarely built and posted kit. This is the best one I’ve seen. I first saw the Ebbro DS19 kit on a trip to France a number of years ago that was about $40USD at the time, been kicking myself ever since for not buying and bringing it home. Your build is making me re-consider paying the current +$100 going price for one of these, look’s like an awesome kit.

Love love love this one Mike. I envy you for keeping and restoring a model from your childhood, for sentimental reasons even more than for building a model car collection. I wish I still had some of the models that my older brothers helped me build back in the 60’s, glue finger-prints and all! Something about a ‘64 super-stocker with front white-walls and white fender well headers that just exudes shoe-string low-buck blue-collar good old boy drag racing before big $$$ spoiled it all. Would love to browse through your magazine collection, must be awesome. Thanks for another wonderful BTC post!

I’ve read that these Gunze kits are not easy to assemble well (lots of flashy & rubber parts?). Your TR2 came out so nice now I want to find one of these kits to try. Beautiful job! My brother had a beater TR3 back in the 70’s, it was an absolute blast to drive (on over-inflated worn tires!).