OldNYJim

Intriguing !! Does anyone with better knowledge than me recognize what the test shots are?

“We’re working on some new items” said Atlantis in a vid they posted today - they had a couple of sets of test-shots plus some old kit boxes in the background…maybe some hints at stuff coming down the line soon? Excuse the blurry images, but it’s hard to get a still from a video…video link here, for anyone interested: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5ZHoPburHb/?igsh=MmlzcnBxcW9tY2Y4

I’ve been collecting all of the Atlantis bi-scale kits since they announced purchasing all that old Revell tooling, with the intention of building them in release order and, well, my Atlantis stack is getting pretty tall now….time to build some of them! First kit they issued was the old, multi-piece-bodied 57 Cadillac, and it took me a while to get figured out how I could build that to my satisfaction. I don’t wanna deviate MILES from the ‘spirit’ of the kit, but it’s way too inaccurate to put together a great stock build without some MAJOR work…and I don’t care enough to put in a bunch of effort to build a stock Cadillac. I DO care enough to wrestle this thing into an awesome 60s era mild custom though - maybe along the lines of what Larry Watson did with his? Eric Brockmeyer, former designer for Boyd Coddington has some cool ideas for old 50s Caddys too… And thanks to the factory air suspension, you can drop them right in the weeds with immunity without feeling bad about building something that would be impossible or impractical in real life…perfect for a kit with pretty rudimentary chassis and engine detail if you were able to peek under it… Here’s the kit, multi part body and all… Excuse the poorly cropped photo, but this thing is WAY bigger than the average build I put in my photo booth… My plan is to remove the molded-in floor… …to more easily facilitate assembling and cleaning up that body nicely and then fabricate something to get those wheels really tucked up in the arches but to where I can still use the kit interior without opening a whole extra can of worms. First up tho, I added a bunch of styrene strip to the body to give myself some additional gluing surfaces to attach the body halves (top and bottom) and close off any gaps so I can fill more easily after: I got the top and bottom halves snuggled together nicely, and used some two-part Bondo to get some of the more obvious marks and depressions fixed before progressing too much further… Cost of primer, and we’re off to the races! The bodywork is going to be 90% of the work on this build, but I’ve got a pretty good idea of where I want to take it…next job will be the big chrome trim panels that sit either side, and I think I’d like to fancy up the wheels with something more interesting than stock Cadillac hubcaps…more soon!

Really nice work Ian - I like the extra details you added, and it looks super cleanly put together from here! Nice work! A fine tribute!

Thank you Sir! You know I’m a fan of your work - hope you keep posting updates on your projects!! Thank you too, David! I always appreciate your thoughtful comments! Most of my finished builds end up in Dollar Tree plastic storage tubs - they made one that will hold two of three builds and they have a snap-on lid to keep dust out, plus they’re stackable. I haven’t figured out a good dust-proof solution to display 75-ish models (and growing) yet, but I did just pick up a cool little curio cabinet cheap at a local vintage store…started to populate it slowly with a few builds but it needs some more shelves or some risers to make best use of the space: Speaking of on-the-shelf, some finished pics of this one. Far from my most complicated or interesting build, but I really wanted one of these on my shelf…I feel like I ought to build some of these classic kits stock(ish) before I indulge in my REALLY out there ideas…thanks for following along everyone!

Good start David! I’ll be following along!

Thanks fellas! Hope everyone had a good weekend - pretty much wrapped this one up this last few days… I tried sanding the kit tires flat but I actually burned through the rubber trying to get it level…not sure if they’re just thin or I got a short-shot, but I ruined it…good thing I have a coupla three more of these kits on the shelf to steal parts from…I dullcoated them instead which worked well too…(un-coated tire out front) Got the wheels and tires mounted for good… Polished out the body… Got the glass glued in place…my windshield glass didn’t fit great and I tried to get it lined up nicely but REALLY didn’t want to ruin the chrome… Got the engine assembled - nothing super fancy, just a Small Block with a couple of upgrade parts… And then a few other little additions and it’s nearly a wrap on this one…not a very complicated or exciting build, but I really wanted one of these on my shelf pretty much out of the box…well besides the 15 changes and the motor swap and whatever else I did… I’ll snap some finished pics tomorrow once all the glue is dry and I’ve given it a once over…thanks for following along!

So, at a show last year I picked up forty or fifty Scale Autos and Model Cars magazines from a guy, and I’ve been just working through the pile. Finished the ‘latest’ one and this was next in the pile: Just a funny coincidence, with this thread popping up this week!

That’s crazy good ?

Ohhh, hellloooo

Ohh, I never saw this one before - nice work! I love the custom ‘bed’, and the proportions are just-right Way cool!

You’re doing an amazing job of scratchbuilding this - nice work!! Keep going!

I really appreciate that, thank you David! I made a decision on the intake setup tonight and figured out what to do…you’re right, that ‘stock’ carb DOES seem small - I need to research if the person who made the file got their dimensions right and tweak accordingly… My original idea was to see if such a thing as an adaptor existed to mate a Dominator to a stock manifold (even if it wouldn’t be a perfect solution in real life) to fit with the theme I had in my head…but I came up short on that. So, plan B was to just upgrade the manifold too… Stock Chevy part left, Edelbrock manifold center and the manifold and my already-painted carb right: I’m also playing with those little round things there…I’m trying to figure out a good way of simulating hose clamps without having to try bending those awkward little photo etched ones…I’m wondering if I can do a trick where the ‘clamp’ is solid (so I can print it) and the radiator hoses slot onto them to give the impression they’re actually held in place by the clamp. It has a bolt head, an actual thread (not that my phone camera could see it) and I think with a wash and some careful painting it might look fairly convincing… Oh, and the DMV sent my plates ?

I actually don’t mind this (or any hot rod kit, pretty much) coming with a stock height roof. It’s a LOT easier to chop one to your own taste than try and restore the roof to standard height. Plus, Revell didn’t exactly do a great job of figuring out a good looking roof chop for the (otherwise really nicely done) ‘49 Merc kit. Pretty sure Drag City does a chopped Tudor body, if I remember rightly

Man, the panel lines on that green Holden are off the charts…they look so deep and perfect, as though all the doors really open (but I’m pretty sure they don’t) Nice work!

Haha! Thanks David! I picked up a few new ones at the weekend…Dollar Tree has them for $1.25 right now ? Great question! I’ve been struggling on the exact intake setup a little…my original idea was to use the stock carb, keeping in with the theme of the build…not super hopped up, not too crazy, just something achievable and easy for a garage builder in the 60s to have built. Thing is, the stock carb looks so WEEDY, plus this thing does have a Quickchange and drag slicks out back… Stock carb left, 4 barrel center and stock Manifold right… I chromed the stock manifold just in case I decided to go with it, but I think one of these plus the 4-barrel is how I’ll end up going… Tiny update, as I’m replying anyway…painted some stuff blue for the interior… Plus some aluminum for the Quickchange center - I really like these Vallejo colors for dull metal tones lately: And made a start on polishing the frame…I LOVE a nice straight shiny frame but I really hate polishing them… More soon, soon as I’ve done more!

Ahh yeah, that Albion stuff is awesome, I like that too! Thank for the reply - keep the updates coming!!

That’s really nice work - realistic weathering, and some really nice additional details! What do you like for your plug boots? Syringe tubing? Cant wait to see the rest - enjoy seeing your work!

Spotted this online: I’ll be down for a case! This is the only one of the Deuce kits with the Flathead…I forget what else is unique about this one but I remember the Flattie being well done

All those extra details are really paying off…nice work!

I’m I’m on a real T-bucket kick lately but I don’t really want to keep buying kits to get the bodies when I’m scratchbuilding and kitbashing about everything BUT the body…so I just printed a batch… I know the door lines should go out, not in, but stock Ts don’t have V8s and crazy paintjobs either so I can live with it…

It’s Sunday night again folks, which means and weekend of progress(ish) in the bag…spent most of the past week in that endless cycle of sanding, priming, painting and clearcoating…but I got a nice stack of parts to show for it by week’s end… Engine is going mostly black, with some chrome…I debated silver but decided to keep most of the frame and suspension and running gear darker to help make that flaky body pop some more… Had a bunch of little chrome parts to spray, and I haven’t practiced my Alclad skills in a while so I shot them with enamel black, Testor’s enamel clear and then the chrome: Actually, a few of these parts got a satin enamel black base rather than gloss, to add a little variation in finish but without adding more colors into the mix…more on that when I get to assembly… Speaking of color mixing, I picked up some blue embossing powder for the interior carpet but it was too bright - added some black with a pinch of silver to get the tone close to what I had imagined: The steering column comes right up between the driver’s legs, and although lapbelts probably weren’t super common in 60s era T-buckets I still would rather not smash my groin into that column if I had to brake suddenly if this were real, so it got some simple lapbelts: Adds a little much-needed detail to the interior at least: Next project was making a wooden floor for the bed. Used some sheet styrene and styrene strip to make the floor: Shot the whole thing with Testor’s wood: Masked half, and added some woodgrain: Then removed the mask, sealed my work in with some lacquer clear, just a dusting, remasked the planks I hadn’t touched yet and gave them a coat of Crayola Peach to change the tone of the wood a little, then Crayola brown: Remove the masks, and voila! I’m still practicing woodgrain painting, but it looks ok I think: The pile of almost-ready-to-assemble parts is growing! Plenty more to do still, but it’s getting closer…thanks for looking - more soon!

Thanks fellas! I have the Digger Cuda here but not the Hippie Hemi, and was curious…appreciate the answer!

It’s so awesome to see you posting WIPs again John - I enjoy your work so much! Beautiful clean work on this one, as always - inspirational!

Nice start! That front axle is cool - who makes that file?