LUKE'57

Use some emery cloth, around 160 grit. The heavier cloth is stiff enough that when you can double it it will roll instead of having a sharp crease. Roll it tight for the sharp radius and looser for the more round ones. Takes material off slower than the other methods you mentioned and gives a lot more control.

To be perfectly honest, I was so focused on the workmanship and attention to detail, no, I really didn't.

Well, then it couldn't be a 312 then. Dog gone it, I thought us sandlappers were supposed to stick together better than that. You really skunked me on that one. I would have sworn it was a real rat rod. Don't know which is more impressive, the build or the photography. Great job on both.

Email me at luke57@gmail.com with the components for one and I'll take a whack at it.

Thank you so much for sharing that with me. That's why I love to do the shows. It is wonderful to see the kids reaction to the models. That's why I put the plexiglas covers on my show cases and wire the cars down. I love to see a kid's eyes light up and see him run over to the case and press his (or her) nose to the front and even beat on the glass a little (that's why I use plexiglas and wire'em down so they can do that) with such enthusiasm. I always try to have a good supply of "freebie" discs to give the kids (both young and old LOL) to help keep the flame alive for modeling and the old racers.

Now that takes wicked to an art form. What kind of heads are those with the perimeter valve cover hold down bolts?

Spyder, don't know how you thought that was directed at you. I got a little behind on something I was doing here and forgot to commment on your "rat". I competely missed the '57 quarter panels on the truck bed. That is some very creative work and I really like it. If I offended you then I appologize.

Sorry I didn't spell it out in triplicate for you. And since when is posting model car photos on here "turning it into something that it isn't"?

Well gee, that turned out really well. I tried to start a thread to see some of your work and it turned into a smack talk about another board. I know that there are smaller engines out there, especially the 223, but since I usually built the late model sportsman cars and my brother built the hobby division cars that ran them, I don't have any of them. Been thinking about building Soapy Castle's Nascar Grand National '51 Ford with the six but haven't got around to getting the resin '51 grill yet. Oh well, I guess I just don't have what it takes to set up a new thread here. BTW I just used the same picture so I didn't have to waste time doing a new just for here. Thought it would be alright but I know better now. FWIW I feel the same way about the SA no E board.

Something new here. How about a 3-12 posting day? On one of the other boards I'm a regular on they do an engine size posting day that corresponds to the date. It gets a lot of participation and we get to see a lot of the members' builds they might not ordinarily post. What do you think about doing it here? We all love to look at others models and it would be a good excuse to show off your stuff and maybe spur some building with a deadline type show date. Since today is pretty much the first day of the year it could apply, since that little 221 V-8 was mostly an Indy engine, how about some of those '57 Fords from the Nifty Fifties and maybe even a Bobby Allison #312 Sportsman you've got lurking in the shadows? Here's the pick I did for the other board as a kickoff to get things started......................

Thanks Ricky, lookin' forward to seeing yours when you get'er finished. I've been fighting those Chevelles in one form or another since the early seventies. Here's one from back then that I built from one of the "Time Machine" funny cars. All I had to do back then was bugger up a Grand National chassis and cage and fix about half the wheel well on the altered wheelbase quarter panels. Those Modified Stockers took almost four new fenders to get right for the local cars.

I fought those things back in the seventies when they first came out when I built models for the local racers. I think they just cut the rear openings from where the funny car with the altered wheelbase was and that's why the rears are so large. I filled them in with plastic and putty back in the day but the prettiest one I did was for an asphalt racer friend of mine. I cut the openings out square and then grafted the square cutouts from a '71 Cyclone body in the holes. The side creases matched and when I cut off the concave lips I had some pretty nice fender flares to boot. Put the MPC Grand National chassis under it for a better cage and wheels and tires. If you want to build a Chevelle these days then the Revell '65 Chevelle body is a better choice. Just combine it with one of the easily (and cheaply) availible Monogram Nascar racer's chassis and roll cage and you're in business. Here's one I did for my son, who's a big Tiny Lund fan, for his birthday. A lot less hassle and closer to scale.

February is short and I nearly forgot to post the March calendar page for next month. Just wondering if anyone would have missed it if I had? Here's the link to the full size printable page. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69/mitchum/febpost/MARCH.jpg

I, for one, really don't care. I'd like seeing pics of before, during and afterwards. I just love looking at pics of models! LOL

Don't remember the fire in '79 but the fuel cell came to Nascar in the mid to late '60's. I think it may have been the first flag to flag televised Daytona 500.

Cool, that year Ranchero is probably my favorite. Can't wait to see some pics

Without at least a station wagon model (which I don't remember being done, even in promo) to serve as a starting point it would be involved project. You'd have to lengthen and reshape the hardtop rear fenders before you could even start to add the inner bed detail. Not that it couldn't be done, but it would be a bigger project to do an accurate build than it seems at first glance. Kind of like doing a '57 Ford Skyliner without changing the body to reflect the four door style doors and extended rear fenders.

From one "foto fooler" to another, that is some fantastic work, both models and photography!

I'm afraid you guys are wrong about that '67 Falcon based Ranchero. The '66's did have Falcon front sheetmetal but the '67 had Fairlane front sheetmetal. They were both based on the Fairlane platform and there was even a '66 Ranchero in Hot Rod magazine with the Fairlane front end and a big block that showed how it would work and previewed the new look for '67. You learn an awful lot about swapping sheetmetal by hanging around the race car builders. The Falcon and Fairlane door skins were the same and the roof on the Fairlane post car was identical to the Falcon. I even built a two door post model of a Comet dirt track car for a friend of mine using a Falcon roof on a '67 Comet funny car model. Ford did a lot of sheetmetal "sharing" back then. I also built a '71 Mustang Grande short roof by using an AMT '71 Mach 1 with a '71 Cougar roof. Not to mention the '55 Chevy two door sedan race cars I built using the old "opening everything" '55 hardtop and '56 sedan bodies back in the seventies.

Hey Tony, wanna try for three? LOL Here's the one I did for the dirt track forum for the track I do some photography and announcing for, using a friend's ride from last year.

Thanks guys, glad you liked it. I've got the rest of the year already finished but I'm planning on replacing some of the original photos with the ones I shot for the Augusta Project because they turned out pretty good and the originals may have been seen before. The project shots are of my cars on a reproduction of both the dirt and paved oval and maybe one of Joe Weatherly leaving the road course rather unexpectedly. Here's the alternate shot for Feb.

Echoes of Thunder February Calendar Page As I sit here and watch the snow and ice pellets fall, it's good to be able to share with friends without having to get out on the road. Here's the new calendar page as promised but I think I may replace some pics later on in subsequent months. The pics I shot for the Augusta project came out pretty good so I may use a few of them later in the year to replace the ones in the announcement pic. I had to leave this one unchanged because I promised Genuine Jack to feature "his" Ford this month. Hope everyone enjoys the calendar. Here's the link to the full size printable file. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69/mitchum/janpost/FEB.jpg

Most of them are pretty much curbside builds. I try to indentify the ones built by my brother but with very few esceptions, mostly diecast street car parking lot fillers, they are all my builds. I trade off some of the "hidden" detail for durablility. With the phototography and traveling to a few real car shows, my stuff lives a pretty hard life compared to the average model.

Aw come on Mark, you know that we......err..that is...they used Fords for the delivery end of the business. You might want to source a red light and siren for that Stovebolt of yours for one of the opposition's rides.

Well Junkman, I've got to disagree with you. I seen and even built some nice '57 Chevy models over the years. They might not be perfect but, with the exception of the original Monogram with the too short roof and distorted body, they are extremely workable. And I take offense at your "covertibles without sun visors look stupid" remark. I, for one, think they look downright "race-y".