OldNYJim

Same ‘shipper’ at my local store today:

Took a trip to the Lobby of Hobby this morning, to see if they’ve filled any of the gaps in their shelves…and actually, they have! A few anyway… Picked up this newbie…I THINK this is the same as the other 60 that they sell, but without the go-kart? Maybe shoulda got the one with the kart (but I didn’t compare yet) - plus some discounted acrylics: Needed this for my latest build: And I hadn’t seen this one before, and I’d like to build a lowrider so it followed me home: Nice to see some new stuff there anyway!

I actually started a project just like this last year, but then a slot-car guy offered me a STUPID price to buy the airbrushed body I had done…so here goes again. I got inspired by the super-short-track grass-roots racing at my local County Fair last year and already built a Crown Vic for their mostly-stock low-contact dirt oval class that they run once a year. The track is a tiny tiny oval, hard packed sun-baked dirt and the class is mostly-stock cars with a few minor tweaks for safety and race-ability. Of course, there were some definite ringers out there taking it more serious than others, and this is going to be that kind of build I think… First up, trip to Hobby Lobby to choose a Mustang: Went with this…probably still too nice of a car in 1:1 what I’m going to do with it, but about what I had in mind: Per my local event’s rules, the running gear is going to be mostly stock (ish), so the biggest change to the frame will be removal of the gas tank out back, to be replaced with a fuel cell in the cabin somewhere: Those tires are printed replicas of the smallest cheapest Hoosier dirt oval tire - one of the standard picks for most entry-level classes currently. They’re a little smaller than the stock tires, so I’ll need to tweak the suspension SLIGHTLY to stop this thing completely sitting in the dirt (literally) but this particular kit seems to always sit high in the front anyway so I’ll tweak accordingly as I go… Some assembly on the body so I can test fit to the frame and see how it’ll look: Incidentally, I’m trying this Ammo tinted styrene cement…I like the idea that it makes it super easy to see where you’re applying it, and the brush is awesome - super skinny and long like a pinstriping brush. One of my things that I’m trying to improve is getting my glue application really neat and clinical, and this stuff REALLY shows if I’m not doing well at that… Mock-up with the body and stock suspension: As expected, nose sits too high, rear too low (especially with these smaller but wider tires). A little tweaking later: Better…still a little high in the front but I can tweak a scale inch out of there by playing with the front spindles a little. Then, because I had a few minutes of benchtime left, scratchbuilt a couple of simple (and intentionally fairly subtle) bumper…the class at my local Fair is ALMOST non-contact, but some gentle nudging is allowed so a simple round-tube front and rear bumper that don’t ruin the look I have in mind would probably be sensible: And that’s my first afternoon’s progress…thanks for looking!

Picked up the new Ammo colored styrene cement: Premise is, you can see a little easier your glue joints to make sure you got ‘em as good as you’d like I guess. Pretty sure it’s a gimmick, but I wanted to try it anyway…

This is killer - really nice work on not-the-best kit

For a while, our local Hobby Lobby was, for some reason, putting one on the shelf every week it seemed like. I think I ended up going there every week for months, back when the 40% voucher worked every week 😂

Thank you both! Mostly this one up last night…few little details added, painted the plaque for the base (same shade as the brass rad) and it’s ready for the display case: And a few off the base: Thanks to all who followed along…onto the next one 😂

Thank you sir! Some more progress this weekend…most of which was assembly so not a tonne of interesting processes to share - just don’t screw it up 😂 Spent the morning plumbing brake lines, adding fuel lines and carb linkages and all that stuff: Now I don’t need access to the underside anymore I can fit the belly pan: The tires got a very light glaze of Vallejo dust, just to get a little in some of the cracks and crevices. Next up, wheels and tires attached… …and then nerf bars to the body and frame - plus that hand fuel pump and brake lever: And it’s ALMOST done! Quick mock-up with the body in place…some more little details to add and I need to paint the plaque and do some touch-ups and then I can get this thing on it’s wooden base and under glass: Thanks for looking - more soon!

That’s a beautiful (and well done) tribute!

Nice work so far - and you did a great job on those leaf springs!

Color is cool! What is that?

Thanks fellas! Pierre - I’m enjoying your Nova build! A little more progress this week…printed some plug boots…I have a technique to make these with wire, but I haven’t got it down to where they’re perfectly consistent like the printer can achieve… Some Vallejo tire-black is a really good finish for rubber parts like this: And while I had a couple of drops in the airbrush I did a little shading on the tires to add some interest to the Testor’s black enamel that I had shot previously: And then this evening, wired the engine: Still need to plumb the carbs and add linkages, but there’s relatively few bells and whistles that I need to add to this engine to have it where it’s relatively accurate and feasible. Meanwhile, speaking of fuel, finished work on the bare metal finish on my gas tank. This is the largest metal piece bar the engine, and I wanted to give it a fairly realistic look despite the fact it’s virtually impossible to see on the finished car from about any angle besides upside-down. Still, gave it my best effort anyway, and added a slightly-too-late-design Monogram logo, for my own amusement: Another couple of evenings work, another couple of parts closer to being done (but my to-do list is still plenty long - ha!) Thanks for looking - more soon!

Awesome, thank you! Great build so far!

…and in NW Indiana today!

This is awesome! Nice work! Did you print the Richard Carroll looking tires? Would love to know where you found the file for those!

White Createx is tough to airbrush - it’s not their most user friendly color. If you have a store near you that stocks Vallejo, what I would do in this situation is pick up some of THEIR white, or optionally the Tamiya acrylic white, mask the blue areas that need to stay blue, and reshoot the white Both of those white acrylics are super easy to spray, very opaque, and save a complete strip & redo

The realistic weathering on this one, coupled with the stance and super-rare blower are knocking this one out of the park. Nice work!

Thanks fellas! A LITTLE more today, although it was Easter so limited bench-time… Installed some brass ‘poppers’ to the leather cockpit surround…they’re actually tiny brass rivets that look like this: But I think they work for the look I was going for: Quick test-fit to see how this part looks in-place: I like it! A little more assembly on the frame… That banjo rear end has microscopic little photoetch bolts in all the places bolts should be, but they’re like flakes of glitter…I know they’re there though… One of the challenges of using only a couple of metalizer finishes for the whole build was to stop everything looking too toy-like…the Testor’s aluminum I used on the engine turned out really great, I thought - but it needed some washes to add some realism. Did a dark gray, really light, wash plus a darker one for the finned portions on the motor. It brought out the detail a LOT I think! Not quite done with that yet - I prefer to do a few layers in stages, but I'm happy with the first round. That motor looks so huge in this little bitty frame 😂 And finally a real quick drop-some-parts-together mock-up for my own amusement…it’s starting to look like a thing! Thanks for looking - happy Easter!

Great looking build! Thank you for sharing!

Happy Easter!

A little more (although I was down this week with the flu, so not as much as I’d like…) Body polished out…I’m not going for SUPER shiny, this is a vintage racecar after all, but I didn’t want paint flaws either… Shiny enough for a night at the dirt track anyway… Started some assembly…working front to back so got the spring, axle and hairpins in place, plus a test fit of the radiator: Added a FEW little photoetch bolts and details, but trying to only use them sparingly…not that you’ll see them when the tinwork is on there anyway: And whilst some glue was drying, researched Midget lapbelts…I wasn’t going to have one, thinking they weren’t too common in this era, but the kit’s driver figure had one around his waist so I guess THIS car will have one. Turns out a lot of them were more like the belt that stops your pants from falling down than the kind of harnesses we see today - one strap with holes, one strap with a buckle; replicated that with some artist’s tape that looked suitably leather-y, a printed ‘buckle’ and some photoetch: And, finally, I custom ordered a base for this thing from a guy named Bases by Bill…he does nice work - great price, looks cool, came fast (to the exact size I asked for): Just a small update, but I’m excited to be doing some assembly…more soon, soon as I’ve done more! Thanks for looking!

Wonder if this will get a ‘regular’ box release too? I don’t NEED the tin box, but I’d pick up the kit - love this era of drag car. How is this kit? Anyone built one?

Been gradually working on printing parts for a couple of Revell Midget replicas. Kinda replicas anyway, the body isn’t a perfect match to the original, and I had to do some good old fashioned sculpting with epoxy around the cockpit…these will be a fun little low-stress build though:

I’m envious - I have a replica of this box art on my to-build list! What color plastic is yours molded in?

Huh! Interesting! I’ve been building their ‘P-1’ Midget kit recently, but I didn’t realize they had made something before that in plastic. The ‘P-1’ was meant to represent, well, plastic kit number one…wasn’t aware of the ‘Maxwell’. Thanks for posting about that…fun rabbit hole of research for me to go down! EDIT: duh, my flu-addled NyQuil powered brain didn’t make the distinction between Revell and Monogram. MONOGRAM’s first plastic kit was the Midget, Revell was a different company then. As you were!