DJMar

Today (Tue., 07/23) I've been averaging 7 seconds from link click to the new page opening. Pages with pictures take much longer to load. It's been like this for me since Sunday.

That is super cool. I love the C-cab look!

Black with red is almost never a bad color combo.

That's a lot of resin! Can't wait to see what you do with this one.

LOVE that color! ??

I am not a fan of the movies, but I do love seeing an R34. It's such a cool machine. This is a great build, you really captured the look of the movie car. Also, I dig your photo background!

A little update on this one, as it's been languishing at the back of the workbench for far too long. Basically, all of the bodywork had to be redone. The front clip needed to be reattached, as it had come loose during the stripping procedure. There were seams to be filled, putty to be applied, and a whole lot of sanding. I've got most of the work covered in a coat of Mr. Surfacer 1000 to check my skills. Some areas need a little more finessing, especially along the fender/door area, which appear as shiny spots because I've got them coated in some liquid cement. Then it's back to a full coat of primer, and maybe one day, color. It ain't pretty, but we're getting there.

Lots of work on this one, and she's looking good. I really like the wheels and tires you printed up, versus the kit pieces. Also, I totally forgot this kit came with both the hard & soft tops.

Oh, that's tasty! As a BOP fan, it's always nice to see a finished Firebird. Did you use the kit hood and modify it yourself, or is that an aftermarket piece?

Talk about making a silk purse out of a sow's ear! You made this kit shine, and you nailed the look.

I'm a big Fiat fan, so admittedly I am a bit biased, but I really love this display idea. The snow, in particular, looks very realistic.

I love the color. She's a beauty! I can see you swapped out Revell's custom rear tail light panel for the stock piece.

That 4.6L under the hood is just wild. I'm digging it.

Nicely done! The inside of the bed looks especially convincing. Believe it or not, I actually remember that movie.

That 4x4 Buick sums up the "sad but true" chapter of the car scene in the late 70s-early 80s. Also, I wonder how much the owner wanted to sell the '37 for at the time!

Not going to lie...watching you move on this build makes me want to pull this kit out of the stash. Too many kits, not enough days in the week, eh?

Now THAT is an awesome color combo. What a tasty Mopar!

Once upon a time, I found some very small, very delicate jewelry chain that seemed perfect for tailgate chains. It was a bear to work with, even when I had younger eyes and more nimble fingers. You can find 1mm jewelry chain online, I'd bet Amazon has it. That's as close as you're going to get, I think, unless you want to find some .8mm stuff. I generally use coated telephone wire now, to replicate the rubber covers you can put on chains.

I see what you mean. Here are two possible ways to deal with that curve: 1) Use a piece of styrene that is wider then you need, and then cut and sand to match that curve, or 2) Use a dimensionally thinner piece of strip (.015 vs .020 for example) and liquid glue and bend the filler piece to match the curve. You may have to laminate thinner pieces to get the width you need to fill the hood/fender gap. But thin styrene bends pretty easily, even along its length. Option #1 is how I worked the El Camino hood. There is a dogleg at the front of the hood, and there was no way to bend a piece of styrene into that exact shape without a lot of hair pulling. I used a wider piece of plastic (the hood is 1.5mm thick, IIRC I used a 4mm strip), glued it in place, and then cut the excess and sanded it to shape. You can see it still needs some work, but the idea is the same. Bonus - since Evergreen styrene is softer than kit plastic, you can use the kit piece as a sanding guide, if you don't get carried away with an aggressive grit.

Jesse Valadez Sr. finished the 3rd (and final) version of the "Gypsy Rose" in 1974, and the "Love Machine" for Up In Smoke was slammed together by the movie's production crew in April/May of 1977. They are not the same car. Unless there is something I'm missing, those are two different vehicles.

I love any '47-'53 Chevy truck. I also love that AMT kit, even though it seems to require a LOT of cleanup and prep work. I've got one in the stash that probably has 3 oz of putty in the frame sinkholes! Following this with interest.

Ahhh, the "Up In Smoke" lowrider! ???? Also, I'm digging the "Longmire" pickup. BTW...is that a short bed, non-stepside 70's Dodge sitting in the background in the 2nd pic?

Agreed. I did this when adapting the stock, plain hood from the Revellogram '66 El Camino to their '66 Chevelle wagon. The ElCo hood was short in both length & width, so it was strip styrene to the rescue. The back edge was a shade over 1 mm, the 2 sides were about .5 mm. And as DW said, you have to do both sides equally in order to get the hood to sit centered. I left the pics large so you can see where the strips are glued. It's a little tough because it's white on white but you can see it. It still needs a bit of final tweaking, but it's mostly there after 15 or 20 minutes of work, spread out over a couple of days (had to wait for the glue to dry). Patience, a good liquid adhesive and a selection of sanding sticks are your best friends here. Go slowly & test fit often. I think the gap you showed on that hood would be a pretty easy fix. Hope this helps.

Great work on fitting new "glass", which is a much needed improvement. Also, I love the black & green color combo. Looking sharp!

I'm digging it!