Andria H

Found this Spec-Cast bank on ebay for cheap. Took it apart and sanded/aged it, added Ed Roth decals and contingency logos, aged it all over/all around, added parts bin tires/wheels/axles, altered the ride height, removed the bumper, and added all kinds of stuff like an 8-track player, floor shift, Bell style race steering wheel, Sun tach on column, and a worn Oregon rear plate

Hi all, I'm planning to get one of these as my first full 3D print build. Have settled on a color scheme of Tamiya candy lime over Tamiya primer with carefully masked/painted black sweeps on the side and a black & tan interior. Any advice on these builds? Cannot afford Revell Chrome and dislike Molotow, so may try Baremetal Foil on the big brightwork parts since my local hobby store has it in the paint aisle and carefully paint/wash the rest. What kind of easily available engine can be doctored up into the stock AMC 327 from the 1/1? Thinking a 1/24 Mopar small block might be an ok start. And for the windows? Guessing to use pop/seltzer bottles or clear deli containers? Also how to get the tires looking right? Good news is I can hand letter the Nash script or just the capital N monogram in the wheel centers with a new ultrafine red Sharpie.

Thanks! In those days the Thunderbird was truly a Lincoln Mark series without the price tag and prestigious name.

thank you!

thanks

AMT/Stevens International '71 Ford Thunderbird. Built mostly out of the box except for underhood details, front wire axle delete and engine plumbing. Paint is Tamiya Light Gun Metal Gloss, with Tamiya Dull Red interior drybrushed with maroon craft acrylics & wood details. I have plans for more of these at other trim levels and color/top/wheel & tire designs as well as possibly a St Tropez convertible conversion at the least.

thank you!

thank you! definitely could. Or where I am from in the PNW with the volcanic soil

thank you!

definitely agreed. Probably would have been done to a 6cyl rust bucket/a flood or fatality car/etc just for consolation purposes

appreciate the comments!

thanks all! Espo, it's a red shop towel.

thank you!

thank you!

Last progress note before decals. 2-tone blue paint & front glass are marked up and muddy, wheels/tires dusty & muddy along with interior, Ford 351 Windsor V8 and 4-speed transmission are detailed, "duck tail" rear spoiler installed, and overall made to look like it's been used and raced on dirt oval or figure-eight tracks. Decals will include Hamm's Beer insignias and a few others plus numbers and contingencies.

This is the Atlantis Fireball Dragster with an AMT stovebolt six wearing a Henderson cross flow head and straight pipes and Hilborn injection, and a few other upgrades. Next one I do, I think will be an MPC '33 Chrysler straight eight with custom Hilborn injection system or log manifold running AMT '53 Ford truck custom carbs and air cleaners, and better front wheels, or maybe a Mobius Twin-H Hudson six with some modifications.

Got Found in a moldy/brittle original box as a decent bone build, albeit dusty and missing a few bits. Painted it Tamiya Mica Red over the polished stock plastic, added trim, detailed and repaired the interior, complete with the 3 on the floor shifter that signifies the hi-po package slant six. All glass/chrome/tires/etc original orsporting hand painted detailing. This was a grail kit since I was a kid. Finally have a nice buildup of a car unloved in America but loved in South America. Southern Africa and Oceania/the Antipodes.

Rusty "barn fresh" early attempt at a coupe utility, based on the good old Monogram kit with a junk small block under the hood and an all stock interior in ragged shape. This took me roughly a week to get done and required a '39 coupe gluebomb for a donor body and a few other greeblies & doodads.

This started out as a Jimmy Flintstone cab and a Tyrone Malone drag truck & a spare set of Daytons. Every single part has been reworked if not swapped or omitted altogether. I have 3 weeks or so into the build, which is a Stacey David, Randy Grubb & Richard Rawlings tribute, or perhaps even something Malone himself could have built as a retirement toy had he lived longer.

Old school Harry Miller speed equipment on a Model A And the car itself And for the Jeepers here, a Kaiser Jeepster Revival Phaeton from the mid 60s for any kind of Jeepster/Commander reference

California-made 1981 Aquila SS kit car 1938 Chevy ton & a half canopy express Old skool patina idea for an AMT or Revell 50s Ford. 19 1953 Fiat Millecento (1100) pickup truck Interior reference for the ebay kit of a 3D printed Kaiser Manhattan. This is a slightly different year but good to start with.

"As raced" finish and weathering over fresh paint on my thrift-store find rehab. Decals from Gofer Racing and my parts bin will be used, they will be scraped up/aged over if necessary, engine will be assembled from the 289 short block and 4-speed in the kit and the balance from a Bill Elliott NASCAR Thunderbird & made into a proper weekend warrior powertrain, and the pad printed AMT tires are aged/muddied to suit. Radiator and fan and chassis reinforcement are in, tail panel is stripped down & turned into a billboard panel, and the whole car has been aged/distressed all over but not too rusty, with simulated ceramic coating on the exhaust pipe.

Interior and chassis are enhanced with bits from AMT and Monogram 1990s NASCAR kits, doors are welded shut and sealed, fuel system, suspension and wheels/tires are on, interior hardware is all in, and body needs a bit more fine tuning and sanding/filling before it is ready for its paint scheme of cobalt blue engine block & wheel centers, with silver paint elsewhere, bright blue side cove & tail panel, muddy tires/undercarriage, and bright blue roll cage padding & Gofer Racing logos/numbers. I will get "body off" photos while the shell is detached for engine/gearbox/driveline installation and weathering of those areas etc.

Last progress note for the night. Fuel pipe in rear tail panel is removed/filled, interior painted in metallic charcoal with details yet to be determined, kit supplied suspension is used to keep things simple, but still modified so parts from some kind of 1/24 Monogram stocker will fit. Wheel wells are ragged & jagged and opened up wide to accommodate MPC Goodyear dirt tires, taillights made nonfunctional, and it has been primered/sanded all over with 3M glazing putty to fix the surface & fill the door gaps to simulate welded up doors. I will be cutting out the inner stock door/side paneling except where it holds up the dashboard and fills out the rear compartment, so as to accommodate the cage, using just a windshield with Plexi wind wing pieces to protect the driver, bracing the rear window opening with half round scrap plastic, and detailing the dash, pedals, seat, etc. before rattle canning it in Tamiya German Silver with cobalt blue hood and putting on either Hamm's or Pabst beer sponsorship with American flags on the quarter panels, from Slixx/Gofer type decals, and possibly Sinclair Oil and/or Hostess sponsorship from my parts bins and a red, white, and blue dorsal stripe, if those decals are viable. Engine in this will be a standard NASCAR Thunderbird Ford 351 Windsor based design turned into a typical short tracker setup. Gotta do more sanding on the body/hood before I even think of painting, but there is lots to do still before I get my donor kit on Monday to near-finish it before decals arrive.

Started on something I've been wanting to do for awhile now that the thrift stores yielded a $5 gluebomb of the donor kit I wanted, complete with moldy box/directions, missing decals and lots of parts gone or messed up. 1/24 scale Monogram '65 Ford Mustang 2+2, again, this is a rehabilitated gluebomb that is stripped out for the dirt oval track, and reinforced and prepared for an infusion of parts from a Monogram 1/24 scale NASCAR Thunderbird kit & my parts box, and will later get some Gofer or Slixx short tracker decals. Paint color is as of now undecided, but interior will be cobalt blue with matching cage, detailed instrument panel, and undecided color seat, engine will be from the donor kit as will wheels/tires/suspension, hood hinge holes will be filled with JB SteelStik putty and filed smooth, battery has been carved out of engine compartment with plans to relocate it, and it will have only a front windshield for glass, blocked off/filled fuel tank filler to simulate a trunk-fill setup to go with the fuel cell I added, and a small mesh front grille replacement between the two vertical posts in the engine-bay cage section.