sflam123

I received my Green Elephant kit almost exactly 6 months ago. Building this kit has simultaneously been one of the most satisfying builds and one of the most frustrating. I put more effort in to getting as much as I could historically correct and adding that extra level of detail in to this one. The paint on the body is Tamiya TS52 Candy Lime Green over grey primer. The tins are painted with Tamiya TS 20 Metallic Green. Pro-Tech braided lines were used on the engine for fuel and oil lines, and Pro-Tech spark plugs wires were used in place of the plastic lines supplied with the kit. The engine injectors and injector hat are resin parts from LPH 1320 Model Parts, and are some of the most detailed parts I've ever found. Overall the kit built up pretty much like any Revell 1/16 kit. I know Atlantis made some modifications to adjust the stance, and I made additional modifications to lower the back end and get the nose down. The use of the LPH parts necessitated modifying the interior tin in the blower area, as I raised the blower cover 5mm (approx.). From what I can find, the real car always ran two parachutes, so I built up a new mount for the parachutes and "stole" a parachute pack from another 1/16 kit. A word of caution to anyone building this kit in the future. When I received the kit, the front windshield was in two pieces, although the box was pristine and sealed. I contacted Atlantis and they immediately sent out a new windshield. HOWEVER....the new windshield cracked when I glued it in place with Testors clear plastic glue. The curvature of the windshield does not match the curvature of the body and the windshield is very thin, so it fractures with very little stress. The decals were probably the most frustrating things I've ever dealt with. The completed model is actually a combination of two separate decal sheets, both from Atlantis. The first attempt at decaling the car was an unqualified failure! The hood and roof decals WOULD NOT lay flat (despite going through a half bottle of MicroScale MicroSol!) and bubbled up as they dried. Both the white side stripes also bubbled badly. After removing the bubbled decals, I again attempted to get the decals to lay down, (using the rest of the bottle of MicroSol) and a new technique. I heated the body up with a hair dryer as the decals soaked in water. I then slid the decal on the warm-up body and applied MicroSol and with a very wet cloth continued to smooth and apply pressure to get them to lay down. I still got a small wrinkle on the hood decal, but although I'm not happy, I'm not buying another set of decals! I have been building models for just over 60 years, and at almost 68 years of age, this is probably the best I can do on detailing and assembling a model. I hope you all like it. Questions and comments welcome!

You did an excellent job on that kit. You are correct....it is VERY finicky! I got frustrated and put mine up multiple times before I finished it.

This is just OUTSTANDING!! LOVE it!!

I am old enough and fortunate enough to have seen the real car run. You nailed it!! Great job!!

That is a VERY nice build!! It looks great!!

Great job on this one!! Beautiful!!

If you decide to build the Challenger 1, message me. The recently restored car was at the Museum of Speed at Daytona International Speedway when we were down there in October and I took a bunch of pictures. They may or may not help you, but I'll gladly send you the electronic files for your reference.

THAT is SWEET!! Beautiful job!!

BEAUTIFUL!! Nice work on this and an absolutely FANTASTIC paint job!!

Unless I am missing something, the Slixx decals for this version of the Green Elephant are only available in 1/25 scale. This model I am building is 1/16 scale. Thank you for the suggestion though!

Keeping this in the WIP for a few more days. This thing has fought me every step of the way recently. I am very disappointed in the decals. I am not perfect by any stretch, but no matter how much Micro Sol I used (and it was considerable!!) and how much heat from a hair dryer I used, I couldn't get the decals to lay flat on some of the curves. They either wrinkled or they bubbled up after I thought they had set. I have ordered new set of decals from Atlantis, but I don't anticipate them being a whole lot better. I am pretty happy with the stance of the body on the frame and how it sets when assembled. I did raise the rear axle and changed the doghouse on the interior tin (maybe a fraction too much!) both to clear the LPH 1320 Crower injection and hat, and to get the stance a little lower in the front of the car. I am very pleased with the LPH 1320 Crower parts! The detail was outstanding and they are much more representative of the car as it raced in its time. The wiring and plumbing is from ProTech Model Parts. Much thanks to them!! I had never used their parts before and contacted them and they certainly steered me in the correct direction! I have a few things yet to complete. I am in the process of building a different parachute mount so that I can mount two parachutes (every picture I can find of the car has it with two chutes, not a single) and mount the chute lines. I still need to install the headers, and of course finish the decals. It is certainly not perfect, but truth be told, it is about the best I can do at this point inmy life!! Thanks for looking and as always comments welcomed!

Mike, this project is just jaw dropping!! Your attention to detail, and fabrication skills are outstanding. I know you agonized over the motor, esp. those headers, but WOW!! The whole project is just amazing!! I can't wait to see what you have up your sleeve next.

Fan-freakin-tastic!! Great work!

Beautiful work on this model. It turned out well. I love the Ford GT 40 models!!

Very well done! Nice work.

Beautiful job and the weathering looks amazing! Great job!!

Outstanding job! That is COOOOOL!!

Thank you for sharing and filling in some of the gaps in the story!

This is just FYI...on my computer I can blow my picture up some and retain the "crispness" to read the placard associated with the Mooneyes dragster. The placard says that the car is on loan from the Moon Equipment Company. That would imply to me that the car is at least at some level original and not a recreation. It would also imply that even if it is a recreation the original colors were as closely as possible retained. So I guess what I am saying is that perhaps the car did have two different yellows used, one for the engine block and one for the rest of the car. I can tell you that in person, the engine block color is indeed a darker shade of yellow than the rest of the car..

Yeah, I noticed that too. I'm not sure if that was true of the original or not.

Since the Mooneyes dragster was recently rereleased by Atlantis, I thought some referenced pictures from a real one at the Don Garlics Museum in Ocala Florida might be useful. Now, I don't know if this car is the real one restored or a re-creation....I've heard both, but regardless, the pictures might prove useful to some.

While I know GMP440's post was intended to showcase the the Atlantis release of the Moneys dragster, which I just received, I thought you would like to see my "senior citizen" build. This one dates back to about 1965 and is the Revell release. Yes, it's dusty and it's certainly not perfect as I wasn't in my teens yet when I built it, but I am very proud of it! I hope my new build turns out as well!

Very soon...HOPEFULLY

Just amazing craftsmanship throughout on this build!! The attention to detail and the finishes are all superb. Congratulations!!

Beautiful work!! Great job!!