OldNYJim

Yeah, they're a bit high with the stock suspension I notice A couple of reviewers for this kit noted that it won't fit together properly without modifying the windshield, which is good to know about before I've got it in place for good - I'm going to have a careful look at the suspension pieces too, thanks buddy!

Thanks buddy! Got the body of this repainted and polished out today - I'm still struggling to learn a new painting routine since I lost my outdoor place to spray (unless I go in the street and paint in NYC traffic anyway), but I'm starting to get there anyway: And got some more work done on the engine - installed a dipstick and made a couple of bits that were missing from the kit (actually, short shots on the sprue: It's starting to look like a real engine bay! More soon!

I guess this counts as a light commercial, right? I've had this thing on my shelf for probably 10 years now... ...and while I've never much liked the box art for this issue, but I did enjoy the Li'l Hot Dogger that I just build so I pulled it off the shelf and started to think what I'd do differently to make it a little cooler. I definitely don't dig the gold chrome pieces, or those cheesy MPC front tires but the earlier issues of this kit had a cooler box art that inspired me to get going on it: First up, I did some digging thru my parts boxes and found some better front tires: Not sure what these are from, but they beat those kit tires anyway! They're about a scale inch bigger than the originals, but I have a plan for that anyway... Before starting on anything else I did the traditional first step of any build, gluing the engine halves together: This kit comes with a Ford SOHC, which I'm looking forward to putting together - more on that later when I've actually done some work on it. I needed to get the block together so I could mock it up in the frame for the next step, so I got it as far along as I needed anyway... Like all these big long kit frames there were some nasty sink marks along the outer edges, so I got them flat with my homemade popsicle-stick frame-side-sander: There were some prominent ejector pin marks in a couple of spots too, so I just cut a replacement piece to cover them up to save trying to sand in that awkward opening: Much better! The bed needed the same attention, so I did the same to that too: I wanted to drop the front of this thing in the weeds to give it a more aggressive look that how it comes out of the box: So I sliced off the spring perch and moved it up about 8 scale inches: Now we're talking! Before... And after: A quick mock-up of the chassis to make sure the rear suspension would still assemble and have all the wheels touch the ground: And once I knew that was going to work a quick mockup of the cab and tank to make sure that was all still going to fit ok too: More soon!

Site's working nice and fast for me - thanks for your efforts Dave! I lost the button in the editor to open the insert-image window, but I'm able to post pictures ok anyway

It was the Coney Island Mermaid Parade yesterday, and whilst it's mostly all about women dressing up as mermaids or putting bikinis on (or not putting bikinis on at all, in a load of cases) there's also a small convey of classic cars that open out the festivities: And I saw this on the way there:

Very cool! I'm interested to know, do you airbrush these paints, or it is all done with brushes?

Ohhh dude, you KNOW how I love your work anyway but this is AMAZING!!!! I LOVE it!!!!!

Oh wow, that gold is GORGEOUS!

That's what I suspected buddy, thanks! The molding on the kit wheels is a little shallow, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to pick that detail out cleanly but I'll give it a shot... I did try that in fact, but it was still a little shiny for my tastes...more like this: ...than this... I stripped the chrome and hit them with some Tamiya flat aluminum, which looks pretty close to me (a little darker in this photo than they really are, but looks good in real life...): Just a little update as I'm posting anyway - I used some mini o-rings and some Detail Master wire to wire the head on this thing - getting closer to getting the engine ready to assemble properly! More soon!

This was a great fun build! I built it basically box-stock (with a couple of little changes) - the frame and candy red parts are Tamiya Clear Red over Tamiya Chrome silver and the doghouse is painted with Createx colors. Thanks for looking!

Had some more time to work on this in the past week or so - got the suspension finished up and got it into a roller: Got the metal grills painted on the dog-house body panels: Used some BMF for the dash and flowed some thinned Createx paint in there for the gauges: And today I spent some time putting the body together: And by this point it was nearly time to assemble it for good! Got the Moon tank and the grill in there, with a watch-winder for a cap for the radiator (excuse the fingerprints): Got the body on the frame: Got the canopy mounted above the windshield, and added the steering rack (which I detailed up with some mini rubber o-rings that Eric Ritz put me onto): And it's almost done! Next pics will probably be of it finished, as long as I don't drop it or something! Oh, and what krazy kustom dog catcher would be komplete without a kustom-painted kandy fire-hydrant to go with it! More soon!

Interesting! I'm DEFINITELY going to end up doing a hybrid build with the two kits somewhere down the line. You're right, the lights aren't exactly a great representation of the 1:1's: They give you decals to represent the orange and white sections, but I don't image that would look too good. I'd MUCH prefer some clear ones like the Tamiya kit comes with so I can paint them how I'd like: I think what I'll end up doing here is polishing off the (incorrect) raised detail and painting these as best I can and detail paint them on the inside to get as close as possible. Guess we'll see how successfully that works out! It occurred to me, that soft roof in the previous post isn't meant to be the roof, its the tonneau cover...I had one for my 1:1 but never once put it on there I don't think! Looking at some pics of them online it seems like it's pretty accurate, so I shot it with some Createx flat black along with a few other bits and pieces ready for installation once it dries: More soon!

You're absolutely right Shay, it IS carpetted... ...but with the soft top roof piece that comes in the kit that area's covered so I left it. Not sure how accurate that soft roof is though, that said... Tiny update as I'm replying anyway...these wheels are nicely molded but that chrome finish has gotta go! Much better! Any of our Miata fans out there know what color the Mazda lettering is on these daisy wheels? I can't recall if its dark grey or a gunmetal color...

Beautiful work Steve! I’ve got a firewall to work on this weekend so this is timely inspiration. You do such clean accurate work!

Beautiful work, this is really coming together nicely! Love that interior!

Had family in town for the last couple of weeks so I didn't have much time to work on this, which was frustrating because I don't like sitting looking at something that I can't redo right away after I've screwed it up Got the body and related parts back in red, and clear-coated them this morning. I'm using Rustoleum clear, which can sometimes lay down a little orange-peely but seems to level out nicely after a few hours...these bits should polish up nicely hopefully anyway: I wasn't totally happy with the decal that Revell provides for the gauges, so I found a photo of one and reduced it down to print a little version that I can insert into the opening...and whilst I was doing that I did some licence plates and different instruments and some other stuff for future builds: 35 cents and one trip to the local Walgreens later...tada! This will be mostly hidden anyway, but I'm pretty pleased with the effect - I'll be trying this trick again on future builds: I need to dust this thing too, it's been sitting on my bench for 3 weeks More soon, thanks for looking!

I'd like to do a REALLY detailed build of one of these, and incorporate more of that stuff definitely (without it looking like a rat's-nest of out-of-scale wires in there) but you're right, I'm going pretty middle-of-the-road here to try and keep it FAIRLY simple...this build is almost an exercise in getting to know this kit and it's quirks thinking of future builds down the line. Thanks for the nice comments everybody!

Mine have done the same thing - I suspected I hadn't shaken them up enough but maybe they're just silver now rather than chrome

This is WILD, very very creative modifications - you have a great eye for this stuff! Really nicely done!

A few more sightings from in and around sunny Brooklyn this past week. This was at my local pizza shop: A nice looking Honda NSX and one of two of the local McLarens that I know about in for a service: I'm a sucker for a T-A, even if it is ratty... Also on the same block: I've always liked the front of these: I wouldn't paint a BMW this color if it was mine, but it caught my eye! And this would probably be a blast to ride (drive?): More next time!

Thanks fellas! Got a little sidetracked on this one - we had visitors the last few weeks, but I'm back at it now I've got some time again... Got the engine finished - used some watch parts to make some pulleys for the engine and used some dark grey Washi tape for a fanbelt, and made a distributor so I could wire it: Found some springs to replace these things... ...with these things: And same for the rear: The kit axles are both chromed, but the flash and mold lines were so nasty I decided to strip them, shoot them silver and hit them with candy red to match the chassis. I think they look pretty cool! Still some parts to paint (the suspension linkage arms had the same mold lines and imperfections as the axles so they'v been stripped so I can redo them too) but it's getting close to being a roller! More soon!

Awesome!!! Also, I must be hungry but I keep seeing “Lil’ Red BACON” whenever I see that new box art ??

Cool! Did you order direct from Atlantis? I want the free file ????

I agree totally Stef! That Rustoleum clear I used really made those lines look shallow. I gave them a good scribin' this morning... Before hitting the whole shebang with Createx sealer again ready for another crack at color coats that I'm satisfied with: Whilst that's drying I flocked the interior, using Elmers... ...and embossing powder. Worked great! More soon!

I had to talk to my wife ???