Bernard Kron

Thanks guys! As I finish up this build here are some final details. One of the interesting things I learned while working on this car was something about the Buick Nailhead V-8. Apparently if you check out the parts numbers for the heads on this motor you will see the same number for both the left and right head. The two heads are identical. In fact they are symmetric front to rear and side to side. They have water intake/exit ports on both ends, too. So you simply attach either a plug or a connector to the appropriate hole. As is common practice on lakes cars I omitted a radiator. Radiators generate an enormous amount of drag with the air passing through them. Instead LSR style racers equip the cars with a large coolant tank loaded with cold water in a sufficient amount to keep the motor at acceptable temperature for the time the car will be running. As mentioned earlier, on my car I “imagineered” it to have the coolant tank in the rear of the car. So when it came time to rigging up the coolant lines I simply ran rearward facing pipes off the rear of the heads. Of course, with no radiator there is no need for a grill, allowing for a blank panel. In this case I used transparent red “plexiglas” (actually acetate sheet) as also used in the windows. Again, this was a common practice back in the day, and allows for a “peek-a-boo” look at the front of the motor. As I button this car up I have fabricated the steering system for this car from styrene rod and strip. In the composite photo below I’ve included a detail shot of the steering linkage, along with shots of the coolant pipes and the see-through grill panel. I will mount the moon discs to the wheels at the very end to protect the metalizer paint from too much handling. In the shot of the back side of the motor you can also see where I had to cut away the back of the bell housing to clear the firewall and kick panel. Modeling is a world of illusion and this project is no exception! Thanx for lookin’, B.

Thanks to everyone for the kind words! I’ve gotten the motor completed and installed and the interior and bellypan installed. The bellypan required some internal bracing to be fabbed to provide adequate glue points so it would sit properly in place. Left still to do prior to final assembly are fabricating and mounting the front suspension and steering details. Below are pictures of the bellypan and motor. Thanx for lookin’, B.

As I finish my Lakes Deuce 5-window I’ve started this little side project – an AMT ’51 Chevy Hardtop done as an early 60’s street rod. Nosed, decked and shaved, with frenched headlights and the stock grill bar, a Revell ’49 Merc rear bumper at the front, stock rear bumper, rear wheel wells cut open and kit rake (raised shackles at the rear and dropped spindles at the front). The tires are Modelhaus, pinners at the front and M&H whitewall slicks at the rear. The wheels are kit fronts and Modelhaus rears. They will get Modelhaus chrome spyders. The taillights will be stock units, power will be a Revell Parts Pac small block Chevy V8 with dual quads. Paint is Duplicolor Gunmetal metallic and Testors Revving Red metallic. Nothing very elaborate but a subject I don’t do all that often (it’s got fenders!). The style, too, is one I haven’t seen done that often among contemporary car modelers. Hopefully it’ll come out OK… Thanx for lookin’, B.

John, Any occasional lapse in accuracy or continuity doesn't diminish the inspiration your control over texture, color and contruction detail provides to me and, I'm sure, many others. Keep on keepin' on, B.

Great project. I always thought the injected Challenger, along with the Summers Bros. Goldenrod, were the very peak of the big car, wheel-driven LSR form, truly stunning automobiles with their slingshot driver's position. I''m looking forward to not seeing those scoops any longer and enjoying the full expanse of that endless blue hood.

From Bob Black's excellent DPMCC Model car Instructions site ( http://www.thedpmcc....tionsintro.html ) : See: http://public.fotki....l-sanitary-t-b/ See: http://public.fotki....l-scarlet-scre/ See: http://public.fotki....l-fumin-fiat-c/

Yes indeed! The motor, especially, is a knockout!

Big thumbzupz!!! I'll have to remember to try my hand at wrestling one of those AMT dropped axles into shape sometime. I always liked the I beam detail and the amount of drop but resisted using them because they were so thick looking with that enormous spring molded into place. Both you and a fine builder named Barry Fadden (not a habitue of this board) stand out as among those who can see these venerable kits through modern eyes. Much appreciated!

Thanx guys! The interior is completed and installed. In order to get that done the red Plexiglas windows had to be installed as well. There was a very specific sequence in order to get everything squeezed in. Once the floor is glued in place the interior will largely be invisible due to the mail slot windows and the fairly dark red Plexiglas. The steering wheel is from an AMT ’37 Chevy. Here’s a composite picture of the interior details during final assembly including the firewall which had to be glued in position in order to locate the kick panel. Next stop, final engine detailing and installation, then steering and suspension details. Shouldn’t be too long now… Thanx for lookin’, B. P.S. As I look at this I notice I’ve omitted the shift lever. I’ll install it now since I actually haven’t glued the floor assembly in place. Phew!...

A hugely gifted and committed member of the US road racing community, John Fitch always found ways to make significant contributions to the sport throughout his very long life. He was there with the Colliers brothers at the beginning, raced with Briggs Cunningham during the post war emergence of road racing (and again in the mid-60's as both ,finally retired from top-line road racing), and was tapped by Mercedes who wanted to take advantage of his prodigious talents as both a driver and an engineer. A race winning world-class sports car pilot he went on to develop and manage Lime Rock Park and become a fixture in vintage racing. A gifted and prolific inventor, Fitch held numerous patents in the fields of emission control, medical treatments and auto safety. I marveled at the fact that in his twilight years he remained spry, sharp and active, pioneering deformable crash barriers for race tracks.

The old highboy is getting increasingly difficult and expensive to obtain so this refresh and update will be welcome. The new motor and other details will be especially useful. Bring it on!

Wow! So tasteful and stylish. Very nicely done!

When this first came out in 2008 I wrote up a review of it. Unfortunately I can't locate it now so here it is again. My apologies to Bill for stepping all over his thread - and a big thanx to Bill for reminding us all of this terrific offering so worth adding to one's stash. Stevens International’s “New” AMT Competition Parts Pack – Old Skool Heaven Stevens International has brought us a wonderful recreation of an AMT Competition Parts Pack. To say it’s a re-issue is not wholly accurate because this particular combination has never existed before. It also features all new cover art with a very cool diorama. (Click on picture for larger image) This limited issue release consists of 5 engines and the basic body and interior parts to start an Altered Competition T roadster. Here’s the breakdown: 283 cu. In. Small Block Chevy V8 – Can be built either w/ Potvin Front Mount GMC Blower or 4 bbl. Carburetor. 392 cu. In Chrysler Firepower Hemi – Top Mount GMC Blower with either Fuel Injection or carburetor. 421 cu. In. Pontiac V8 - Can be built either w/ Top Mount GMC Blower with either Fuel Injection or carburetor or with dual 4 bbl. Carburetors. 145 cu. In. Corvair Air cooled flat-6 – Can be built with either stock dual single throat carburetors or “Spyder” turbocharger option. 1,710 Cu. In. (!) Allison V-1710 V-12 – Turbocharged aircraft engine with 3 carburetors. Competition “T” Body Kit – Does not include rolling chassis, wheels and tires, etc. (Click on picture for larger image) This offering is an incredible time capsule. All the tooling was created in 1963 and 1964 and is a highly accurate snapshot of the state of the art in drag racing circa 1960-62. If you use these parts in your builds it virtually guarantees authenticity of the first order. As someone who is recently returned to car modeling, having left the hobby about the time these parts were first released (!), I don’t know a lot about the history of reissue of these parts and will leave it to you car modeling historians out there to fill in the details. What I have been able to determine is that most of this Parts Pack has been only very rarely available, if at all. The T-Body Parts Pack was last seen in the mid 60’s and has never been offered in the modern era. The Allison was last offered in a parts pack in the middle 90’s as a rather odd assortment of “Drag Strip Accessories” with a TV camera, tripod mounted speakers, Christmas tree starting lights, etc. That giant V-12 would certainly make an impressive “accessory” at any drag strip! The V-12 has most recently shown up in the Model King re-issue of the Allison Thunderland ’69 T-Bird flopper funny car. The other four motors last appeared together in a mail order only Blueprinter parts box from AMT in the mid 90’s in black plastic with no chrome. Overview The first thing that jumps out at you when you inspect the parts in these kits is how crisp and detailed everything is. Clearly these were all always limited offerings because the tooling is like new. There was no flash on my parts, and almost no low spots and visible ejection pin marks. As a result the detail and depth of engraving on the parts is second to none. All five motors are fully chromed. Some may consider this an annoyance but the plating is of high quality on white plastic and, frankly, stripping chrome off of the parts I want to paint totally beats prepping and painting or plating unplated parts that I want to have a chrome finish. The box top builds of the motors show them with most of the parts left chromed to give a suggestion of a “show engine” type of build. In my estimation I consider offering the motors plated is a big plus, not a negative. The motors come on 3 trees, the Poncho and SBC on one, the Hemi and Corvair on another, and the V-12 in all its massive glory on its own tree! Interestingly, on the trees which pair the engines, the parts for the engine can be found spread across the tree, not necessarily grouped all together in one area as you might expect. The T-Body parts are all cast in white plastic and come all on one tree. Again, no flash was to be found anywhere and even the thinnest, most detailed parts were crisp and fully realized. (Click on picture for larger image) All the V-8’s are super detailed and include some parts that will never be seen after assembly, such as separate camshafts, crankshafts and flywheels. This is great for diorama work. The Corvair and Allison,, while having superb exterior detailing don’t include these finely made interior parts. With the exception of the Corvair, all the motors come with separate transmissions. The Allison obviously has its own unique transmission which will most likely not be useful anywhere else. The V-8’s come with iconic trannies from the period, the SBC with a CAE in-out box, the Hemi with Corvette 4 spd. (weird juxtaposition, huh?) and the Poncho with a B&M hydro. All are very well made and come with separate linkages for easy paint detailing. Strangely, all 3 are mounted to their respective engines in completely different ways so if you want to swap transmission among them you will have to engage in some minor cutting and fabricating. The instruction sheet is a 7 page affair with a single exploded view of each kit on a page. Suggested assembly is in numerical order and the parts numbers are molded into the trees next to the related part. There are no suggested paint colors and the box art builds, as mentioned before, really only provide a rough guide because it’s clear they wanted to leave as many parts plated as possible. If you are a detail builder you will land up stripping most of the plating off. Here’s a sample of a couple of pages: (Click on picture for larger image) The instructions are clearly reproductions of earlier sheets. They provide a piece of authentic “back-in-the-day” nostalgic fun because the parts list often calls out a part with a hot speed equipment brand from the period. For example the hemi’s clutch is no ordinary clutch but a Schiefer clutch. Young builders of the period I’m sure were very impressed! There is the occasional humorous typo as well, as for example a “Vortex” magneto is indicated on the Chevy instead of a Vertex magneto. 283 cu. In. Small Block Chevy V8 On the surface this kit looks very similar to the discontinued Revell Parts Paks 283 which can still be found on e-bay. In actuality it is quite different. To begin with the carburetted version has a single four barrel instead of the dual quads found on the Revell setup. And the name on the box, “Competition Parts Pack”, tells it all. The engine comes with a nice timing cover which serves double duty on both the blown and unblown versions, but there is no water pump and accessory drive and fan to make a street version as offered by Revell. On the other hand the AMT 283 comes with a very pretty finned “Cal Custom Oil Pan” rather than the fairly generic affair on the Revell version. The Potvin setup is completely different between the two, the AMT being a more beefy looking version with the earlier dual injectors instead of the four stack version on the Revell motor. The crisply sharp, finely detailed castings really stand out and capture the stout look of a Potvin front drive exceptionally well, giving this mill a real period uniqueness. The blower setup will look fabulous stripped of its chrome and finished out in accurate shades of aluminum. 392 cu. In Chrysler Firepower Hemi This is a unique AMT parts Pack offering but blown hemis are hardly rare. The special appeal about this hemi is its very early 60’s vintage with dual throat Hilborn injectors, a very nice cast aluminum Hilborn scoop, single fuel pump, early style “weedburner” exhaust manifolds and nicely engraved Chrysler Firepower valve covers. This is strictly a drag racing setup so including a single carburetor option on a blown hemi may seem odd to the modern eye, but looking through period journals will show this to be a common setup for those who couldn’t afford the Hilborn rout. 421 cu. In. Pontiac V8 Like the Chevy, the AMT Poncho is a strictly competition offering with no accessory drive, generator, etc. even in its carburetted form. The detailing and casting quality is very good indeed and the dual quad intake manifold, like the Chevy’s single quad equivalent, is especially nice. In addition this engine comes with a couple of hyper-obscure Old Skool variants on the fuel system of the blown version that will make a fabulous addition to any Traditional Rod builder’s parts box. First off, there’s a very cool side mount carburetor intake manifold that mounts on top of the blower and locates the carb to the left of the blower. But the most obscure and cool detail is an Algon four port injector with its signature stepped cast scoop (it’s so obscure that even AMT didn’t identify it as an Algon on the original parts list). A quick perusal of the major resin vendors on the web drew a total blank on this piece, so you parts box freaks out their consider this a heads up! (Click on picture for larger image) 145 cu. In. Corvair Air cooled flat-6 I’m no Corvair expert so I can’t speak to the accuracy and detail of this motor except in the most general way. I will say that it appears slightly more generic than the V-8’s, lacking some of the detailing of the more conventional engines. On the other hand the typical Corvair engine is pretty much buried in shrouding and sheet metal anyway so I may be wrong on this score. What detailing there is, however, is very well done, super crisp and very finely cast. The turbocharging option is especially nice this way. Applications for this mill are by no means as clear as for the competition V-8’s Unlike the V-8’s this is not a competition engine, coming with a full complement of streetable accessories. Uses that come immediately to mind would be rear engined show cars, dune buggies and VW Bug hop ups. As mentioned earlier, be aware that this motor does not come with a transmission. 1,710 Cu. In. Allison V-1710 V-12 If I’m no expert on Corvairs then what does that make me regarding Allison V-12’s? So I’m looking at this one strictly from a car modeler’s perspective. Any aircraft experts out there should probably take anything I write with a very large grain of salt! When first confronted with the tree for this engine, which, as mentioned earlier, is so massive it gets one all to itself, one is struck with the beautiful texture of detail that will result when this motor is built up. How accurate it is I have no idea but it begs to be made up as a display engine. As far as applications go it will always dominate any build unless its hidden under vast sheets of bodywork (can you say “Fantasy LSR”?). It’s hard to say if it should ever be built with any chrome on it at all, but I suspect there’s a show car version out there that will just sparkle with it. This motor may not appear to be “useful” the way the V-8’s so obviously are, but it has such a striking presence that it’s sure to stimulate some spectacular projects. Don’t sell this one short. Here are a couple of examples from this board that shows what can happen when you let this baby have its way with you: http://www.modelcars...8190&hl=Allison http://www.modelcars...907&hl=Allison# Competition “T” Body Kit This is the only non-engine part of the Parts Pack and highlights what a Parts Pack is all about, which is to provide key parts for building models that are not available entirely in kit form, acknowledging the kit bashing aspect that’s so crucial in the car modeling world. The Competition “T” Body kit consists of 1925 “T” Roadster bucket which has been relieved aft of the doors to accept a pair of big slicks, with a separate cockpit tarp which is shaped and textured to specifically be a cloth tarp and not a hard tonneau as would be common practice just a couple of years later. There is, of course a separate Roadster Turtle Deck so if you have a pickup box you would rather use you can. There is a roll bar and its attendant braces are designed to hold a very nice steering box and pedal assembly that would be useful in a large variety of drag racing and rat rod projects. There is a beautifully made, very finely cast tiny little butterfly steering wheel that is really exceptional. There’s a “deceleration chute” that will float nobody’s boat, the ubiquitous AMT T-bucket instrument panel, a separate tachometer, a nice chopped T radiator shell, a steering column, a racing bucket seat and that’s it. No frame, no suspension, no wheels, no tires. Scratch builders and kit bashers need only apply. The Competition “T” Body kit just screams 1960 in all its details. Consider the roll bar. It’s a square piece with low braces that wouldn’t pass tech inspection even 5 years later. The cutaway in the tarp is designed specifically for it. The rollbar itself is located entirely within the T-bucket, so, other than the tire cutaways the bucket is completely intact. Everything is cast in thin white styrene, and like everything else in this Parts Pack, the details are clear , crisp and visible. (Click on picture for larger image) Conclusion This Parts Pack is old skool heaven executed to a very high level of quality. There’s enough here that it should be part of everyone’s parts box. It sells for $20.00-$25.00 which will buy a tiny fraction of all this in the aftermarket and everything here requires virtually zero cleanup and detailing. So whether you’re a modeler who enjoys an occasional traditional build now and again or a committed Old Skool enthusiast, I would very seriously consider adding this fabulous Box O’ Parts to your arsenal. Two enthusiastic thumbs up to Stevens International for bringing us this great “kit”!

I've never seen any explicit discussion on this, but my theory is that since so many parts on these engines needed to be chromed, in the interest of keeping all the parts on a single tree they just chromed the whole thing. It's such a simple explanation it must be true...

During the initial "Golden Age" of car modeling in the early 60's the Parts Pack phenomenon was shared by most of the major model brands (Revell, AMT, Aurora and Ulrich). It was a reflection of the fact that modelers had rapidly discovered that they could build cars that differed radically from the basic models contained in a kit box by kit bashing. AMT had most likely triggerd the whole thing with all the parts leftover from its 3-in-1 kits. At that time this was what distinguished car modeling from most other forms of plastic kit modeling. Various attempts to revive the Parts Packs in subsequent years have largely been met with poor commercial success but great enthusiasm among modelers. Personally, I rely heavily on Revell engine Parts Packs because I do so much scratchg building and build primalrily in the era when these Parts packs were originally produced. Today the Parts Packs have been supplemented and augmented by the aftermarket resin suppliers. If you're interested in just how many of these Parts Packs have been produced you'll enjoy this web page which is a remarkable illustrated list of these things: http://robdebie.home.../partspacks.htm. You will notice that there a far many more engines and other parts selections than those that have been more recently reissued. The Parts Packs that were never reproduced have become incredibly rare and command ridiculous sums on e-bay.

Thanx! I got the decals and clear succesfully applied. After a few days to cure I'll start final assembly. I'm really looking forward to seeing the impact on the appearance of the red plexiglas windows and grill. Thanx for lookin', B.

Thanx Corey! Progress on this build is slow be steady. I got some Testors Modelmaster No. 2936 Clear Top Coat which is Testors’ only true enamel clear in a rattle can. It seems to have solved the crazing problem I had. I generally use lacquers so I’m unaccustomed to the slow cure time for enamels. I tried polishing an area of my test panel after 24 hours and the paint, while hard enough to stand up to a light polishing , seemed a bit soft so the result was somewhat milky. I’ll give the final coats a good 5 to 7 days before polishing. I created final decal art which required modification of the “Avalon Spcl.” logo to fit properly on the rear panel below the trunk. Otherwise the proof pieces laid out properly. I’ll probably print and apply the decals tomorrow, which means the final clear should go on Tuesday. Final polish and assembly should happen in about a week to 10 days. Meanwhile most of the sub-assemblies have been painted. I decided to give the belly pan a polished aluminum finish. I scored some panel lines into the pan to represent the three panels that would be removable on the 1:1. During final assembly I’ll apply some Dzus fasteners in appropriate places to “secure”” them. I also cut some relief holes along the sides of the bellypan for the exhaust pipes which exit in front of the rear wheels. I bought some transparent red acetate for the windows and decided to make a matching see-through grill panel as well. This was a popular thing to do in the late 50’s and early 60’s. Hopefully the front of the blown Nailhead will be visible through the panel on the finished model. (and yes, I will strip and re-finish the grill shell…) And lastly, most of the interior panels are painted in Metalizer Aluminum Plate with the roll bar done in black semi-gloss. I still have to apply p/e gauges to the dash and fabricate a steering system. Along with some engine wiring and plumbing, this is the only mechanical work left to do on the car. I hope to have this project wound up in about two weeks, barring any late-stage disasters… Thanx for lookin’, B.

This may be a somewhat useless comment, but I have found that many resin bodies diverge significantly enough from the dimensions of their original donor bodies that they actually don't fit the original chassis from the donor kit all that well. In these cases I have landed up making my own chassis from styrene stock instead. For reaonably authentic looking Deuce main frame rails I would go with the Revell kits and fabricate the appropriate crossmembers as needed. For a buggy spring rear suspension either the Revell 28-30 Ford Rat Rod kits or the AMT '29 Ford Model A Roadster kit providfe excellent parts for that sort of work.

I designed some decals for the car. The fictitious sponsor is Avalon Racing Services in Long Beach, California. Avalon is a small town on Catalina Island and Long Beach is the main industrial city facing Catalina on the California coast. The red in the Photoshop mockup below is brighter than the decals will be due to the transparency of the inkjet printing on the clear decal stock I’ll be using. I’ve run in to some incompatibility between the Krylon color coat and the Krylon gloss clear I’m using as a sealer. It causes crazing, much in the way a lacquer would when sprayed over an enamel. This was totally unexpected. Fortunately I had only sprayed the hood and grill shell when I ran into the problem. The hood has had to be stripped but the grill shell can be rubbed out to save it. I’ll try some Testors enamel clear in the hopes that it will solve my problem. Thanx for lookin’, B.

Welcome Cody. You really got the most out of this very simple kit. Great colors and execution. If this is the car I saw at the recent T.A.M.S. show it looks even better on the contest table!

Thanx everyone! What you see in the photographs is a light dust coat followed immediately by a first color coat, all over white primer. I 'll shoot a second thin color coat tomorrow after a light polish. Once I've applied the decals I'll probably seal the whole thing under clear, but it's a race car so I'm not going for a high show car gloss, just a uniform smoothness so the bodywork looks thin and crisp. For us rattlecan types, Krylon paints have a lot appeal because they are cheap, very widely available, and come in a large variety of basic solids and metallics. The trick with them is that Krylon advertises them as fast drying, which has a tendency to make one approach them as you would lacquers. But from the odor they give off as they air out I would hazard a guess that they are spme sort of acrylic enamel. In any case, even though they appear to dry to the point where they can be handled in 15 or 20 minutes, the paint remains fairly soft for another day or two before it can be properly sanded down or rubbed out. Also, as you can see from the pictures, if you apply it in thin coats it has a tendency to set up in a semi-gloss state. Once it hardens enough it polishes out nicely. It's also fairly drip resistant unless you're really excessive in loading up a coat. It's best to rely on a clear coat to get a high gloss.

Beautifully done! I'm assuming this a completely box stock build up executed at a very high level of fit and additional detail. The rear 3/4 view shows just what a fine kit this is when constructed to this standard, despite concerns some may have had about the decal white walls and trim bits. The wonderful period color choice shows it off to maximum advantage!

Thanks everyone! I’ve gotten the basic color down on all the body parts. Besides the overall design and stance of the car, color is one of the keystone elements that defines a project in my mind’s eye. It’s critical enough that I will almost always shoot a test of the actual sequence of primer and colors before proceeding with the build. This one is pretty simple since it consists only of Duplicolor white primer and Krylon Bauhaus Gold with no contrasting second color other than those that will be supplied by the decals (where my intention is to emphasize simple red lettering and trade decals). Once I’ve shot the basic colors I’ll usually photograph a color check, both because I generally post my builds on line, and because photographs have a tendency to objectify the model, kind of like stepping back and squinting at it to more clearly capture the overall look. In any case, this color turned out to be quite difficult to photograph successfully. My camera made it look too much like a bright yellow and it took some manipulating of the shade in Photoshop to get it right. The second of the three photos below captures the shade most successfully. My idea was to come up with a typical simple race car color of the sort seen at Bonneville in the late 50’s and early 60’s. I think this shade is fairly appropriate. Thanx for lookin’, B.

I love this! It breaks all the rules and will look oh so impressive when it's done. I especially appreciate that your working entirely in styrene and fabricating so many detail pieces. The motor, the first painted and finished assembly you've shown us so far, has come out very succesfully.

Very nice work! I'd love to know more about it. Like Roger, I'll ask resin or SnapTite? How about some shots of the chassis? The suspension details peaking through hint at some nice stuff under there, I'm thinking the Bantam Blast as the basis, judging from the decals and motor and the reference to the wing. Inquiring minds want to know...