OldNYJim

This isn’t a complex enough project to justify it’s own thread, but I’ve been messing with a salt-flats Bug for a few weeks and got the urge to lay down some candy on it tonight…

As a Lewis fan, it’s tough to find a kit of any of his CARS, let alone a kart.

Great work! This is such a fun project to follow along with! Was it tough finding good research material on the 1:1 kart?

Thanks Steve - I enjoy your work too! Not going for a super complex paintjob on this one…very mild compared to some of the masking nightmares I put myself through ? So, this is where we had left things after the weekend: Next job I wanted to tackle was a real simple pinstripe to accentuate those long lines and the distinctive ‘rounded rectangle’ shape that originates on the front fender. Dipped a fine brush in some Vallejo and freehand-striped a line on both sides: Not really, I suck at pinstriping…I cheated and masked it ? Needs a couple of little touch ups to get it perfect, but cleanup is really easy with Vallejo acrylics: Now I’m almost ready to start laying clear down, I started work on the interior tub - removed the molded-in armrests, printed some window handles and made a more in-scale shifter: There’s a prominent piece of chrome trim that runs horizontally through the doors on these cars in 1:1, and I didn’t really want to try and foil it - the engraving is pretty soft on this interior tub. Decided to scribe a channel so I can drop some silver wire in there instead: Should work pretty well! Just a mini update - thanks for looking!

I bet this would be more useful for actual farm work...and it comes in Gulf colors!

The 1:1 is STUNNING - what a beautiful car! This will be worth watching… ?

Thanks for the comments everyone - and to @Keef for the info on the alternate frame for this thing. Stored that in the ol’ memory bank for future reference… Made a little progress this week…got the body assembled and the panel lines scored as deep as I dared… This kit had some depressions on the front fenders and trunk lid that needed a little putty, plus a little to get the fit on the roll-pans nice: A little sanding later and it’s pretty straight… Prime(r) time! A few little fixes needed, but nothing TOO major…next up, this morning’s project was laying down a nice coarse flake - Wicked Colors aluminum, in this case: Looks nice a nice starting point for some custom-mixed candy: Also messing with the interior some, this last couple of days. Drilled out the dash for switches and some photoetch, and did some research - discovered the kit seats are missing a little detail so took the opportunity to start on them… Kit seats: 1:1 seats: Added that missing chrome strip, seeing as this is a droptop and it’ll be noticeable, plus that seatbelt mechanism….the seatbelt spool won’t be super obvious when the car’s together but I had room to add it so here it is… I did some sanding on the seats themselves to soften up the sharp edges a little and I think they look better…plenty more to do on the interior though before paint. Couldn’t go too nuts though, I don’t want to ruin that nice engraved pattern and open a can of worms redoing that… Thanks for looking - hoping to get the paintjob finished up tonight on the body…more soon, soon as I’ve done more!

Welcome! Where in NY? Kris has a contact form on his site, if that helps? https://madmodeling.com/index.php?app=cms&ns=contact&sid=d1m781b3603hll38v823on1m2574ihba

Yep, that’s the stuff right there Man you did a nice job of cutting that hole! I would’ve measured that blower placement ten times and still ended up having the hole not align properly. Stance is great too!

I’m not much of a replica-stock kinda builder, although I DO have some of those in my to-build list…so I would likely have passed the AMT retooling of the 54 Cutlass by, if it weren’t for this intriguing mild-custom treatment they put on the box: That, and the fact I REALLY wanted the engine for a future hot rod project meant I ended up picking one up…and it’s been front and center in my brain ever since. There’s something I like about that 60s custom treatment to the front end, plus I’ve never built a curbside contest model so this now engineless kit seemed like it would be a fun quickie build… That said, I’m not sure if my conscience will allow me to build this thing without an engine so I might put SOMETHING under the hood but I’m not sure what just yet… Quick mockup of the kit, out of box, with the custom front end: And a rear view: The body is really well done, nice and crisp with only a couple of flaws that will need any attention. I like the custom wheels too (are they based on a real wheel, anyone?)… …but I’ve been enjoying learning about early lowriders lately and I think I’d like some Cragars on there. Found a file on Cults3d and printed those (plus some nice finned drum brakes, whilst I was at it… I wonder why Oldsmobile developed their own line of engines when the Small Block Chevy existed and they were (I think?) owned by GM at this point in history? Random thought…anyhoo… If this wasn’t going to be a curbside deal I’d be figuring out how to get that cool 60s lowrider dropped-to-the-ground look by maybe channeling it and adding aircraft hydraulics and doing a bunch of scratchbuilding…for a full detail build the all-in-one frame wouldn’t have made it too far without being majorly revised. Luckily, I can cheat a LITTLE here, but I still want this thing to be somewhat feasible in the real world… The frame in question: The front suspension, mufflers and rear axle would be the main hurdles in getting this thing sitting on its frame, plus those inner wheel arches. On a real build I could have the front and rear ends drop as low as suspension movement would allow, free up space inside the fenders to allow wheel clearance and mess with the exhaust to get that out of the way, and then reestablish usable ride-height with the surplus aircraft hydraulics that were popular in the mid-60s custom scene. Luckily for me tho, I can get away with some cutting and grinding for now to get this thing sitting how I want… Mock-up on the kit wheels whilst the Cragars are being cleaned and cured: And with the Cragars: I think I like them! Just getting started with this one this afternoon, but I’ve got some fun ideas I want to incorporate into this one…more soon, soon as I’ve done more!

Glad to see this one back on the bench - nice work with the design for those spindles!

Revell Olliegram

Salt-flats Bug that I’ve been very casually messing with for a few months…getting closer to being able to paint it, soon as I figure out a seat and steering wheel…

On a related note, my buddy Joey was playing with making a belly tank out of one of these: I picked one up to try it myself but didn’t mess with it yet. His mock-up looked cool enough for me to want to try it - and these kits aren’t super expensive as a starting point… Link to his Instagram (he has an awesome turtledeck T and a little tiny VW-based C cab truck that are worth the price of admission alone…): https://instagram.com/wagtag_rodshopandfab?igshid=YTQwZjQ0NmI0OA==

Great work so far - made me think of this build that I’ve been following on YouTube (only a Chevy instead of a Ford):

Nice tune-up Dave - thank you! I didn't specifically notice any, but did this update add any new features?

I picked up this file of a 150 gallon tank today to play with: https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/various/belly-tank-lakester-150-us-gallons-model-kit-custom-diecast Looks like this, straight off the printer: Measures at around a scale 12 feet at the size I printed it at (so a touch shorter than the ‘big’ tanks, but actually bigger than I imagined one of these would be, having never seen one in the flesh…) For anyone who’s ever interested in buying a 3d print of something that you find a FILE for, but not a vendor selling prints, Cults3d offers an option to have the items printed and shipped to you when you check out. I haven’t used it personally, but may be of interest to any of you who don’t want to invest in a printer… Another tank size from the same designer: https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/various/p38-bellytank-extended-20-streamliner-lakester-body

I think the preferred term now is “Dairy Product Delivery Specialists” ?

Stupid auto correct Apologies to any inebriated sailors out there tho - no negative inference was intended ?

I’m excited for the Fiat - always wanted to build one of those. Actually, I’d also like to modify one into a Barchetta 595, a 90s limited run production car designed and masterminded by McLaren F1 designer Peter Stevens:

Something I’ve been pondering on this kit, that I’m interested to see how you tackle, is the lack of a separate frame for the windshield. Great work on upgrading this old kit so far!

Atlantis is doing a free mystery kit with any $50 purchase; I KINDA wanna order something just to see what the kit is…but I’ve been spending like a drunken sailor lately. If anyone DOES take them up on this I’d be curious to see what you get!

Bonus half-day at the bench (happy thanksgiving!) - good chance for some more work on the body! Last night I shot some intercoat and then gave the body another light buff with an 8000 grit pad just to ensure it was nice and flat ready for the next steps: Next, some work on the tailgate…I designed a bootleg Ford logo a while back that I had never used and this seemed a good project for it. Cut a mask and laid down the same olive green I had already used on the drivetrain: That’s “York” as in “New”…not sure why my brain thought of that but some homecity-pride tends to show up in a lot of my projects somewhere… Next up, I needed to remove the mask and lay down another intercoat so that was a good opportunity to lay down some decals too. My backstory for this build is that it was maybe an old NYPD T that ended up getting rodded. Not totally impossible, although the ACTUAL NYPD Model Ts were black, and carried a subtler livery. They DID have some T pickups but basically as a historical recreation this thing is all wrong. The same brain of mine that made an Alternate-Universe Ford logo where Ford has a different name also thought this thing should be ivory, so…there it is. ?‍♂️ Decals applied: Another intercoat later, and back to the tailgate…cut a second (fractionally smaller) version of the same mask and laid it down marginally misaligned. Intentionally…but that sometimes happens unintentionally too… A light mist of white: Next up, a coat of dark green to match the decals: And after all the masks are removed: Not the most exciting masking / painting process (and that big photo really reveals the cleanup I need to do on it still before locking it under some clear) but it has a little more depth than just painting one pass of paint on there and looks pretty good held in my hands I think. Just a mini update, but more soon - thanks for looking!

I would be surprised if Atlantis didn’t have some kind of sale in the next few days - they have almost weekly 10% off coupons and less frequent 20-40% off deals. Round 2 has a few kits on Amazon marked down from the usual $35-40 to 33% off too right now (maybe with more to come when it actually IS Black Friday) I find general tools are a product more likely to get discounted to must-have levels…paint brushes, airbrushes, digital calipers - last year I got an ultrasonic cleaner (which is super useful for all kinds of modeling projects)…stuff like that.

I have one of these started and I immediately failed at overcoming said desire ? Turns out, for those so inclined, the Deuce chassis from the Revell 29/30 kits will very nearly drop right in there with very little grinding and cutting. Just mentioning it in case anyone reading this thread WAS curious about going down that path (although I haven’t fully explored it all myself just yet…) Good start ADL! Glad to see you back at it!!!