OldNYJim

The Tom Daniel Cherry Bomb has a nice chopper in it!

Thanks buddy! I like those ones Mark posted above too!

I'd love to see some photos! I have a Container Store near me, I had no idea they sold anything like this!

Thanks fellas Next job after cheat-channeling the body was to level out the grill shell. I wanted it to sit flush with the top of the front of the cowl, which sits at about 39 scale inches right now: Gonna need to do a decent chop, plus mount it a little lower to get it sitting right: A little cutting and relocating later, and I think it's about there: Those molded-in friction shocks on the AMT frame were bothering me, so I sliced them off and I'll replace them with some of these Replicas and Miniatures ones, which are MUCH better: Before I can mount the rear ones I wanted to get a floor made - this kit comes with a little interior tub but not a proper floor like the 1:1 would have...so I photocopied the body and used that as a template to scratch build one from some sheet: Still in progress here, but on it's way... And corrected those rear arches to make them outies rather than innies: More soon, soon as I've done more

Super helpful, thanks for the photos, links and advice guys! One of Ace's pics gave me a good idea of what I was meant to be doing...looks much better!

I'm building an AMT '29 Ford, and I picked up some Replicas and Miniatures resin friction shocks to replace the molded-in ones on the frame: Now, these ones make sense to me, I get how they'd work and that I've installed them right: These ones tho...I'm not so sure: Would these operate correctly, on a 1:1 car? I can't quite figure out how ELSE they would be mounted but I cant really figure out if they would actually function properly... Any pointers would be much appreciated!

Thanks Mark! Got some paint on this thing and started some assembly, so I figured it was time for an update...went with Createx pearl blue for the frame and engine (to kinda replicate the original box-art car): Looks pretty with some clear over it! I went with a mix of kit-chrome and various metal finishes for the engine parts - with an aluminum finish for the valve covers to match a 1:1 Ford Cammer engine like this kit has: I drilled out the kit's magneto so I could wire it with some Detail Master wire: And used some micro o-rings and some wire sleeve to make plug boots: I also added those photoetched Ford badges to add a little detail: Elsewhere, I removed the molded-in shocks from the front axle: And replaced them with some aluminum ones: The front headlamp lenses were missing from my kit, so I hit the local Chinese dollar store for some Googly eyes: Sliced the backs off to make dome-shaped lenses: And glued them in place with some Elmer's...the one on the right has been done, the one on the left hasn't yet. Adds a surprising amount of detail! Whilst the glue was drying on those, I primed the tank for the back and hit it with a little Squadron filler to fill the seams (it's such a big part that I wanted it to be as perfect as I could get it...): And gave the tires a good scrub with some 80-grit to get them round, and take that gloss off: And then got the wheels mounted in there: More soon, soon as I've done more!

My wife went to visit family out of state this weekend, and she surprised me with this Mod Rod kit the morning that she left (presumably to keep me busy, and out of trouble whilst she's not here ) For those who don't know, you get two complete kits in this box - the Mod Rod (front) and enough bits to build another variation too. I'm going to use that second kit to build a lakes-inspired traditional hot rod...not necessarily something old and crusty, but definitely traditional. Maybe like if Austin Speed Shop built you something like this? I'll be using the 4-banger engine, with all the race bits fitted - plus some extra detailing to really make it shine, hopefully. As is traditional, engine halves are the first step of any good build I like that Plastruct glue for most jobs, but there were some gaps between the two halves even after filing the edges as flat as I could manage, so I used the thicker Tamiya glue in this instance: A quick mock-up to get an idea of how this thing sits, out of the box: I KNOW it's the way things were done back in the 30s and 40s, but these things always look too high to me. I'm not going to mess with the frame or trying to get it much lower, I'd like to make it faithful to the era that I'm trying to represent - but also I didn't want to build something I didn't like either So, after some some deliberation I decided to give the body a cheat's-channel and drop the front of it to give it a little rake and attitude. Before: And after: I tried to get the body to meet the frame at the front corner, but have the base of the distributor level with the top of the cowl to make it look balanced - I think I'm happy with how it sits right now! Of course, I need to chop the grill shell now, and then take another look with that in place, but it's a start! More soon, soon as I've done more!

Thanks fellas

Thank you so much Bill! I was almost certain that you’d know! Appreciate the informative response - I learned a thing!

A follow up to my post above, for all you SOHC experts...is that combined magneto/fuel pump in the bottom picture in any way accurate for this engine? I couldn't find anything like it in my search of 1:1 parts...and whilst this is for a showrod build and doesn't NEED to be technically accurate, I'd like it to be anyway ? Ps: sorry for the thread hijack - but this post was the first place I looked for my research!

I'd been wanting to build a replica of an early Miata for a while, and I saw the original 1989 Miata showcar on the Mazda display at the New York auto show a couple of months back and took a bunch of pics to make a replica of the first of these cars that the world got to see. I used the Revell kit - from looking at pics online the Tamiya kit of the same model Miata looks a LOT better but is curbside, so I wanted to try one of these to get an idea of how it goes together and to see what I could learn about it for the next time I build one (or bash one from the Revell AND Tamiya kits). The kit goes together ok - you need to remove about 1/16th - 1/8th of an inch from the bottom of the windshield or it won't assemble properly, and I removed about a scale inch from the subframes to get it sitting more like the ride height of a stock Miata too. Even so, it looks a touch high, but then unlowered Miatas often do. The bumpers don't fit on there well...actually, they fit GREAT, they snap right into place but the gaps between them and the body are a little big for my liking, the rear lights would be better off being replaced with some vacuum formed ones in clear plastic (so you can paint them how Mazda intended a little easier) or the Tamiya ones would probably fit pretty well too. My kit also had a BUNCH of short-shotted parts - I had to make some engine parts from scratch, both of the windshield wipers were completely useless (so they're not on there, but that's not too obvious at least with the hood open, which is how I planned to display it anyway) and next time I do one I'd like to sand off those oversized doorhandles and get some more in-scale ones 3d printed. That said, this was a fun build, and I miss my 1:1 Miatas, so it was cool to get to put one on my shelf! I used Createx bright red paint for the body, replaced the Revell gauge decals with a photo-reduced copy from a real Miata, added some missing plumbing and wiring to the engine bay and used a couple of little photo etched pieces where a part was missing or looked a little clunky. I'll definitely be building another, even with the various shortcomings that I didn't enjoy with this kit, and it makes me want to go blast around some winding roads on a warm day with the roof down! Thanks for looking!

I once heard a guy at a tire place tell a woman that her car wasn't ready yet because "the air needed to settle"...never went back there

Thanks buddy! Yeah, the bumpers actually fit into the body nicely, they pretty much clip right in...they don't look the best though. Something else I'll rework on the next one of these I do (which was kinda the point of building this one - to see what needed work and what worked well already...plus to end up with a decent-ish shelf model at the end of the build!) Front bumper on for good... Rear bumper on for good too... Just a few small bits to add before giving it a polish and calling this one donezo

I've been messing with the ride height a lot this past week, especially knowing that these kits have a rep for sitting high when they're built out of the box. I shaved almost a 1/16th of an inch off the front and rear subframes to drop the ride height a touch - much more of that on the back and the axle wont line up to the driveshaft and the chassis brace. That DEFINITELY helped (as dropping about a scale inch should) and it's close to the proper stock ride height for a 1:1, I think: The front will snuggle down a little when I fit the front bumper - these side-by-side shots really show how oversized the door handles are compared to the 1:1

Well, you’re a long way away, they probably didn’t get all the way over the Atlantic yet ? Might be Fotki being slow, they’re not loading very fast for me either

I've been working on the chassis of this thing for a past week or so - it's not particularly interesting, lots of semigloss black as per the 1:1 car, but I completed a few more interesting bits whilst I was waiting for paint to dry... Got the side markers painted with first Molotow and then Tamiya clear red (and clear orange for the front ones) - worked better than the kit decals I think: Painted the three components of the radiator, added a little photo etch cap... ...and got it assembled ready to install: And once I'd got the chassis to the point where there was nothing to add (except the exhaust, which I'm going to add towards the end of the build so I don't damage it through repeated handling) I got the interior tub glued in place and got the body on there: Got a little touch up to do on the black paint in a couple of spots, but it's starting to look like a Miata! Next jobs are Molotowing the inside of those front turn signals, doing something with the rear lights (which aren't brilliant, on this kit) and assembling the mirrors and gluing the last few bits in place! More soon (soon as some of this paint dries)

I see ya, Joe! Shelby's looking COOL!

I did indeed! What’s your Instagram ID?

Sounds like you’re starting a chrome plating business ? Which is good, because I could use someone local who offers a while-you-wait service! Do you have coffee in the waiting area too? ?

Great tips, thanks bud! We’ve tried a few places locally but I’m sure we haven’t found all the best ones yet!

A buddy of mine knew that I was looking for a particular Hot Wheels - and while I'm not really a Hot Wheels kinda guy I'd been trying to get their 2019 issue of the 1991 Miata as I'd owned one in real life. None of the stores around here had them, although I'd gone in multiple times to check...and today I got a little care package of some hot rod art and TWO of the Miata I've been trying to find since April Car guys are the BEST! Plus, a couple of days ago I was complaining in the "What Irked You" thread about how hot and humid it's been here, given that we don't have an AC...and yesterday someone left a working AC outside our building! It's been a good weekend so far

We're in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn - a couple of stops from Coney Island. We were both in Manhattan until late last year, but we got twice as much apartment for half as much by moving out a little We're in a largely Italian neighborhood, it's cool - lots of nice bakeries and cafes and it's pretty quiet too. My mother in law is in Brooklyn Mississippi and she's been telling us how bad it is there. 100+ degrees and 95% humidity for weeks at a time...now THERE's a place where you need a good AC!

I know, right? I couldn’t believe it ?. Especially as we’d just talked about it on here the day before. My wife said “Look, a free AC!” and I looked at it and I said “I dunnno, it’s just sitting in the street, you think someone would be getting rid of one when it’s this hot if it actually worked properly?” So, I carried it home, we plugged it in and it started blasting cool air almost right away! Not gonna complain, even if it only works for a couple of months! That said, the street we live on has a lot of other rentals and our super is always asking if we need some item that someone has left there when they’ve moved - this week we’ve been offered a TV, a treadmill, a dining table and a few chairs. We’ve been slowly outfitting our new place with with decent stuff that other flaky tenants have left behind when they’ve split and not cleared all their stuff ?. Got a nice marble-topped table to use as a work surface in our kitchen which must’ve cost a decent amount when it was new, some like-new wooden chairs and a bookcase last week!

That’s really helpful, thank you Mike! Great tips, I’ll bookmark this for future brass-adventures!