DJMar

I would love to share it, but it was a model I built for someone as a gift. I don't think I took any pictures that I still might have. It was a commission build, so I'm not even sure of where it ended up!

I'm digging that red! ?

Nice work! It's a little late for this tip now, but I'll share it anyway. I did a similar conversion around 2008 or so, for a friend who was a volunteer at a rural FD. Their battalion chief's truck was a Tahoe with barn doors. To get around the handle problem, I made a mold of the tailgate handle out of silicone and cast it in regular 5 minute epoxy. The mold was regular black Permatex, and I applied it directly to the bare plastic. I made two, just to be sure there weren't any air bubbles. After I cast a few pieces from the epoxy, I picked the best one. It was a bit tricky because of the handle "undercut", but I managed to get a nice piece to work on. The kit handle was simply sanded away and the new one glued into the proper position. I've seen folks make similar things by using tinfoil to press around the shape they want to duplicate, filling it with epoxy or sprue goo, and trimming/sanding the piece to shape after drying. It's not high tech at all, but good for one-off stuff when you can't find what you need in resin or photoetch from the aftermarket. As a visual, here are some molds that I made sometime in the late 1990s. They are instruments from the dash of the Monogram Owens Corning Corvette kit. Permatex silicone, and they've survived 20+ years. Definitely on the crude side, but they worked for me at the time.

Revell/Monogram's 1970 Buick GSX has a 455 mated to a TH400 in 1:24.

I've been using Tamiya clear acrylics for years. They're readily available, which is one thing keeps them on my workbench. I think a lot of complaints about these paints come from using jars that are not thoroughly mixed. When I buy a new bottle, I drop in one or two BBs (actually slingshot ammo) to act as an agitator. When I need to use them, I will shake them for a minute or so, let them settle for a few more minutes, and then gently stir the paint with a small stir stick. Yes, you do need to build up the color with multiple coats, especially if you want a deep red. But they're my first choice. I still have a few of the old Testor's clear red sprays laying about, and I have used that paint, decanted and sprayed through my airbrush. It works. It's also a lot of work to spray small parts like that. MCW does have a few enamel transparent paints in their line. Years ago, I used their transparent red as a topcoat over a silver base and I liked it a lot. I'm not sure how it would work on clear or chrome parts - I didn't use it that way - but the paint certainly had nice coverage and good depth when sprayed on a car body.

When I was in high school, I worked a part time job at $4/hr. Model kits at the time were around $4.25 at my LHS. I thought I was living large! Gas was also only .93/gal. ?

What are you looking for to trade, parts wise?

Federal minimum was $1.40/hr. That's around $13.20/hr in 2024 dollars (almost double the current federal minimum!) Plus, you could get deals like this...

Awesome project and an awesome story! It's a bittersweet reminder of a simpler time when even the shop gofer could afford a new car.

I don't think you can ever go wrong with black, but honestly, the Arden Green is a really cool color. I'm not sure you can put an Aston martin color on a Lotus without causing some sort of rip in the fabric of the car universe, though. ?

The paint looks great, laid down smooth indeed! I've found Tamiya's Dark Mica Blue to be a dark color, yes, but much more on the blue end of the spectrum than your Olds, which looks almost...gray or gunmetal? Maybe it's just my monitor settings with my old eyes. Either way, I dig it.

That blue with a white vinyl top looks awesome! ??

Love this! That's a great color. All that black trim is so clean, too. ?

I'm digging this! This was the very first Tamiya kit I ever built, around 1983. The red looks really, really good.

This is really cool. I couldn't get enough of the X180 Esprit in the early 90s, I think I collected every magazine article I could find about those cars. As already pointed out, the Monogram kit is a bear to assemble, but worth it. The 300 Sport is definitely a looker.

That's a cool build! Can't go wrong with orange and black. ? Where did you get the decals/lettering?

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I think you can make the case for either of these kits, as they are both well engineered and go together nicely. As already pointed out, there are some differences in body style, body accuracy, etc., so the choice between them really comes down to personal preference in what you want to build, and how you want to build it. Personally I like the "feel" of the AMT kit, and the opening trunk is a huge bonus for me. The rolling stock and the mini-tubs aren't going to be everyone's cup of tea, but for a street machine, this kit would be my first choice. If I wanted to build a stock (or close to stock) '57, I would start with the Revell kit. I think that is the only good answer! ?

She's a beauty! That paint job is smoooooth. ??

Wow, that looks amazing! ?

Absolutely no hate to HPI or the peeps who like that content, but one reason he's "constant and reliable" is that he has a monetized YouTube channel with over 100k followers, meaning he gets paid for videos and views. Whether it's his side hustle or more of a day job, he isn't doing it for free. Because he gets provided kits from Model Roundup, probably free of charge, before most of us get our hands on them at the LHS. Not to mention that Model Roundup also pushes his YouTube channel on their website, driving traffic to his videos. Anyone with a monetized social media account can tell you how beneficial this can be, in terms of generating $$$. He pushes their wares, they push his channel, win-win for them. Again, 100% no shade thrown. I'm sure it's a cool gig, getting paid to slam together free kits. But the truth is that it's just more marketing, supported by your clicks. Funny, it's just like any model building forum, anywhere on the Internet, since forever! Also, you don't like OTHER model car YouTubers "hocking their wares" but you have no problem with HPI using the platform to sell kits? That's the sole purpose of those videos.

Revell has nicely done flatties in their '37 Ford truck, '50 Ford truck, '48 Ford kits and '40 Fords, to name just a few. The flathead in the street rod version of the '50 pickup comes with Ardun heads. The '40 Ford convertible street rod kit has a nice dual carb setup. The '48 Ford convertible 2'n1 kit comes with triple carbs. The '37 pickup street rod has the stock flattie, with optional heads and dual carbs. All have manual transmissions. As already stated, the recently reissued '32 Tudor has a nice flathead with triple carbs and an auto transmission. With the flathead crossmember from the Tudor kit, the engine will drop right into the 5W frame.

Matchbox Collectibles had a 1:18 scale 2002 Liberty out years ago. You might be able to find one secondhand. There were a few 1:64 replicas too, but nothing to my knowledge in 1:24-25.

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