Bernard Kron

Thanx! The fit looks quite good, did it require any adjustment work? I wonder if anyone casts these for sale in the aftermarket. Seems a natural for fat-dendered builds...

This was one of the first builds I ever saw when I first got back to car modeling in '08 after a looooonnnnngggg time away. It showed me what can be done with a great eye and great craftsmanship. Zed's site is full of high quality builds from Koolest Kruzers' talented membership: http://koolestkruzers.smileyforum.net/

This is a great thread. I recently got off a halfway decent high gloss paint job using rattle can Duplicolor and I have to agree, the 5 P's or nothing - you aren't even in the game... I have always wanted to get back to enamels for any number of reasons including gloss, depth, cost, color selection and VOC. I used to do hand brushed enamels as a kid, and I got to the point where I could do them so they were near flawless by using a combination of thinning them and rubbing them out with auto rubbing compound and then Simonizing them, so I know what a good enamel job can look like. IMHO, nothing really beats it in terms of final effect. But I've known it would involve using an airbrush if I was to take advantage of the near limitless variety of colors inherent in all those little (cheap) jars. I have the equipment in my possession but the road block has been finding a place to do it. I will start a separate thread about this issue. In the meantime a Big Thanx to you all, as Cranky said, for the enthusiasm. It will go a long way to getting me there.

One of my favorite AMT kits. It builds out in so many cool ways. This one came out pretty nice. Where does the visor come from? It's a real nice touch.

Yikes! It took me until Page 2 to notice this one... Came out waaaayyy coool!!! I love the wraparound checkers (source?) and all that dust. Got my V-12 from Early Years the other week. Nice mill... Time to get crackin'... C'ya in Feb....

Breathtaking! ...particularly the paint. For those of us who followed your w.i.p. I think the bodywork construction and finish and the creation and details of the seat had to rate as worthy of special mention (as well, no doubt, as the frame construction...). For those who missed it, go there now!!! http://www.modelcars...showtopic=49459 Regardless, the result is stunning, and, until the paint went on, even a little unexpected. As I said, simply Breathtaking!

Really wonderful stuff. I love how you are working from a single side view to a 3 dimensional object, letting the details of the the other surfaces (front, rear and top) influence the ultimate details of the surface development of the sides. If those details were more "known" in advance then it would be easier to allow for the side surface development in the original cutout phase, but, significantly, the lack of these details by no means prevents the builder from working on the side surface development after the fact. For those of us contemplating making whole bodies from scratch this is a critical concept to understand.

Loving every moment of this. A must-follow for us fabrication addicts. I have a general question. For small work like the cutouts in the door panels and the seat cushions, how do you cut so accurately? In the case of the seat cushions they had to have come out virtually intact in order to provide enough material to fit back in accurately. While round holes in the door panels can be created with a drill bit, how about the square ones? Inquiring minds want to know....

I think there are two aspects to this build that continue to give me enormous pleasure. The first is your absolute fearlessness in taking on new techniques and approaches in order to remain true to the look and feel of the 1:1. The discipline, commitment and enthusiasm this implies serves as a tremendous inspiration to us all. The second is how the project continues to "scale" so beautifully. It remains devoid of any sense of "fussiness" or senseless detail for its own sake. Everything seems to be done toward the end of achieving the best possible scale representation of the original. I can't wait for the next installment!

I'm finally getting around to saying THANX for all the generous comments. This build is not without its flaws, but overall it was pretty satisfying since it involved some important steps forward in technique and pretty much stayed on-target as far as achieving the overall look I was after. I'm very pleased you all enjoyed the result.

Very nice! Color, stance, paint, and trim are all spot on. And I have recently begun to think curbsides and slammers have their benefits since they offer a more direct approach between the builder and their vision of the final result. This is a great example. I think the darkened windows look cool and emphasize the excellent overall look of this ride.

Slick! Great color combo to complement the style and stance. There's much to be said for taking the more direct approach of curbsides and slammers.

Thanx everyone! It’s done! Thanks for following along. The completed build in full color can be seen Under Glass here: http://www.modelcars...showtopic=50302 . In the meantime here’s a couple of Old Skool sepia teasers…

60’s Style ’40 Ford Coupe Hot Rod (More pictures below) This project was inspired by the California style hot rods often seen in the early to mid 60’s at car shows – shiny, slickly turned out, but with their roots firmly in the style of the immediate postwar era. Based on the Revell ’40 Ford Standard with the following modifications. Thanx for lookin', B. Front axle: From kit dropped 3 ¾ scale inches. Motor: Blown Oldsmobile from the Revell Beatnik Bandit kit Wheels: Cragars from the AMT ‘40 Ford Tudor kit. Tires: Pinners from the Round2 re-Issue of the AMT Double Dragster kit. Interior: Sides and back of the kit bucket re-skinned with Plastruct O Scale Corrugated Roofing #91512 to create a tuck and roll style. Seats are from my parts box. The steering wheel is from the Beatnik Bandit kit. Paint: 2 coats each of Duplicolor Red Oxide Primer and Silver Metallic followed by three coats each of Duplicolor Bahama Blue Metallic and Krylon Crystal Clear, each stage wet sanded and polished.

60’s Style ’40 Ford Coupe Hot Rod (More pictures below) This project was inspired by the California style hot rods often seen in the early to mid 60’s at car shows – shiny, slickly turned out, but with their roots firmly in the style of the immediate postwar era. Based on the Revell ’40 Ford Standard with the following modifications. Thanx for lookin', B. Front axle: From kit dropped 3 ¾ scale inches. Motor: Blown Oldsmobile from the Revell Beatnik Bandit kit Wheels: Cragars from the AMT ‘40 Ford Tudor kit. Tires: Pinners from the Round2 re-Issue of the AMT Double Dragster kit. Interior: Sides and back of the kit bucket re-skinned with Plastruct O Scale Corrugated Roofing #91512 to create a tuck and roll style. Seats are from my parts box. The steering wheel is from the Beatnik Bandit kit. Paint: 2 coats each of Duplicolor Red Oxide Primer and Silver Metallic followed by three coats each of Duplicolor Bahama Blue Metallic and Krylon Crystal Clear, each stage wet sanded and polished.

I build mainly Old School drag cars, hot rods and customs so my favorites reflect this. Here goes: Revell “rat rod” kits (’29 Ford RPU & ’31 Ford Sedan): Steelie wheels, rings, caps and whitewalls, four-banger speed parts, lever shocks, front suspension and steering, rear crossmember and spring, chromed rear axle housings and trailing rods. Revell ’32 Ford kits: Front suspension parts, frame rails and crossmembers, floorpan, rear suspension parts, bodies, Torq Thrust wheels, optional engines (Flathead & Hemi), louvered body parts, headlights, basic bodies. Definitely not the small block Ford (I have way too many of them), the wide front tires or any of the optional wheels (good ideas badly done). Revell ’40 Ford kits (Standard and street rod): Flathead, chassis parts (front & rear suspension parts, crossmembers), lever shocks, wheels and tires, interior bits. Revell Tony Nancy Double Dragster kit: Nailhead, chassis rails, front suspension parts, quickchange rear ends, body parts, interior bits, wheels and tires. MPC Ramchargers Dragster kit: Chassis, front suspension, body parts, interior bits, Hemi, wheels and tires AMT Phantom Vicky kit: Chassis, front & rear suspensions, basic engine, taillights, headlights, DuVall style windshield and cowl, front wheels (as rear wheels), firewall, headers. AMT ’29 Ford Roadster kit: Most importantly the basic body and interior parts, front and rear crossmembers and rear spring, suspension parts, chrome reversed wheels, four banger speed parts, optional Ala Kart body parts. Don Garlits Wynn’s Jammer Dragster kit: Chassis, suspension, rear axle, Hemi engine, wheels and tires, body parts. AMT ’40 Ford Sedan Delivery: Main body, flipper caps, Cragar style wheels, DeSoto bumpers, nerf bar bumpers, stock steelies, rings and caps, Nailhead accessory drive, generator setup tri-power carburetion, and headers. AMT ‘39/’40 Ford Tudor Sedan: Main body, ’39 Ford headlights, ’39 Ford style grill setup, Cragar style wheels, nerf bar bumpers, stock steelies, rings and caps, injected Olds engine, interior bits. AMT Tommy Ivo/Too Much/Digger ‘Cuda front engined dragsters: Chassis, front suspension, rear axle, Hemi, wheels and tires. AMT Round2 Double Dragster “Tin Box” re-issue: Just about everything in it including basic engines, engine accessories, chassis, quick change rear ends and axles, wheels and tires.

Nice stuff, Alyn. Once the primer went on the visor looked great - no worries... I really dig the seat. It looks like most of the seat is the stock kit piece but with the blanket fabric edges neatly tucked away. How on earth did you do it? As always, looking forward to more, more, more...

Thanx! Things are progressing more smoothly now. I got the engine finished up last night and now I can look at getting this project wrapped up. Here's a picture of the motor. Thanx for lookin', B.

This is actually a very good question, the answer to which applies far beyond drag racing. As any endeavor evolves and becomes widely popular it becomes the way for people who are good at it to make a living. Others are willing to pay for a quality experience in engaging in it. It's true of just about everything, from politics to music to cooking to sports to.... You get the picture. So what starts out as an "amateur" activity defined by those who do it on a generally not-for-profit basis increasingly defines itself in terms of the "official" way of doing things, usually for a perfectly good reason based on increased quality and performance. In the case of drag racing, as dragsters became increasingly specialized and we dropped from 8 second quarters to 7, 6 and eventually 3's and trap times crossed 185, 200, 220, 230 and eventually far north of 300, the means to achieve this became increasingly specialized and the number of people who could provide racers with the knowledge, techniques and materials to achieve it became smaller relative to the number of people doing it. Demand increases while supply (the knowledge, techniques and investment in time, education and capital to aieve success) decreased. So prices go up. Today it's relatively easy to obtain a 1,000 HP motor (you can read about one every month in Hot Rod), all it takes is a check book and about $6,000.00 to $10,000 depending on how much of your own work you're willing to do - you can even do it for less if you have enough of the aforementioned knowledge, techniques and investment, but then you probably do it for a living. Then, if you spend enough on a delivery system for said HP (a "car") you can achieve truly staggering times at the strip and WIN with regularity. But the bottom line is that the cost to achieve success, relative to most people's income, has gone up substantially, including, significantly, what it costs you to enter and run every weekend. The same thing can be observed almost anywhere else, from your doctor's or dentist's office, to the supermarket and even when you go out to see a popular musical act. The professionalization of these activities have added huge costs in capital equipment and the knowledge and experience to use it successfully. These are "barriers to entry" and make it more likely that purveyors of these things can then charge more for them as supply fails to keep up with demand. One response to all this is to strip down the activity to a simpler, more basic version. In some areas, like medicine, it can be hard to do and still get the desired outcome. But in other areas like music and motorsports, it can be done with a fair amount of success. Thus in drag racing the huge revival of grassroots racing, the retro-musclecar (i.e. Pinks) phenomenon, and even the still-small retro-drag meet and LSR thing at old unused air strips, are all signs of this. (In music it's possible to travel with a small soundsystem and a laptop and reproduce what you did in the studio and keep your costs way down - the style of music you play just has to permit it.). So technology can be either a barrier or a facilitator. The relatively cheap high quality replacement parts that keeps all those old muscle cars running, not to mention the advent of the crate motor as a means to achieve significant HP at relatively low cost, are both examples of technology as facilitator. But at the highest levels (for those who really feel the need to see the far side of 300 MPH and experience running in the 3's) technology is relatively scarce and expensive and the number of Top Fuel teams is rapidly disappearing...

Thanx again! Progress really slowed on this build when I ran into problems getting the kit windows to fit with the modified interior. I landed up cutting most of my own glass from thinner acetate in order to improve clearances. But it’s finally up on its wheels and I thought I’d post a couple of shots to show the final stance and a bit of color and chrome. The motor position is mocked up and may change. The running boards will be white and I’ll be running some sort of small nerf bars front and rear. I keep thinking I’m just about done but this kit is a lot more finicky than I expected. Lots of clamps and rubber bands to get things to line up properly… Thanx for lookin’, B.

I concur completely. Highly recommended.

Without getting too complicated about it, this is a problem throughout motorsports, a result of the vast amounts of money and talent that has poured into it since the end of WWII, not just here in North America, but around the world. I agree that it's no fun to see things get so expensive and sophisticated that they lose their way and eventually lack the creative dynamism that may have drawn us to it in the first place. It happens throughout culture, whether it's popular music, the graphic arts, or even the hard sciences. The formula becomes sufficiently well defined that the checkbook rules and it becomes increasingly difficult to innovate. IMHO, there are two solutions. One has been referred to already, which is to return to the roots of the endeavor, whatever it is. To strip it down to its most basic elements and celebrate them in their simplicity. The other is to discover something about the endeavor, or discover a different endeavor, that is truly new and undeveloped, which is still primitive and ill-defined, where you have a greater chance of being an active part of the process of its evolution. I think the money and technology issues, while extremely important, are almost an excuse for guys like Bernstein, Prudhomme, et al, who have seen their sport evolve and specialize beyond recognition, and distill itself down to something that no longer has the potential to undergo the dramatic changes they were so fortunate to have experienced. Still, it's very, very sad...

For someone with very little knowledge about the history of model car companies this is a fascinating thread. I'm not a "collector" so perhaps my perspective might more closely resemble the general market. It seems to me fairly obvious that any "big fin" era car (especially Exner Mopars and Mitchell GM cars) have a better chance of selling well, especially the orphan brands such as De Soto, and now Pontiac and Mercury. Obviously subjects from the Little 2, AMC and Studebaker, get extra points in this regard. The point made about interchangeability of parts had me thinking that perhaps it would be possible to offer a small line of engines, chassis, firewalls, fender liners and under hood parts to complement pure curbside models. It would be relatively easy to cut open the hood to create a detailed engine compartment with these parts. But perhaps this is too risky, as it adds a slower selling inventory to the product mix. Another approach would be to include a non-curbside full detail "keystone" kit that had these items that might be purchased to be adapted to the other curbside models. In general I prefer styrene to resin for its stability and workability and I'm sure I'm far from the only one. The relative lack of the "big fin" subjects in styrene, when compared to the risks, complexity and expense associated with resin and resin suppliers, guarantees that I would be a steady consumer of these types of cars from the IMC line. Whatever the final outcome, the Rambler looks real sharp and it's exciting to see this effort being launched.

Thanx! I’ve gotten the interior done. It’s the kit interior with the inner surfaces skinned with Plastruct O Scale Corrugated Roofing (#91512 – the ribs are .20” apart) to create a tuck and roll style. The seats are from a box of 60’s model car interior bits I bought a while back. The steering wheel is from the Beatnik Bandit kit. Colors are Tamaya TS-51 Telefonica Blue over white primer with whole thing sprayed with Testors Dull Cote. The floor shift is from an AMT kit. Final assembly is coming right up. Shouldn’t be long now… Thanx for lookin’, B.

I have missed some of the postings on this project and have at last gone back to review them. I have deprived myself of so much that should inspire and inform any aspiring modeler. The chassis work, both the planning and execution, are exceptional. Particularly impressive is how nicely it scales to the eye. It appears to be styrene. Did you fabricate the Ford style crossmembers? What shapes and sizes of material did you use? It all looks so "right". And the payoff is when, in your last pictures, it mates up to that nice Ken Kitchen straight eight and the thin crispness of you bodywork. I'm certain I'm not the only one waiting with anticipation for more progress on this superb model. Thanx for sharing!