Bernard Kron

Thanx guys! The ride height is basicaly stock like in the old pic. I’m jumping around a lot on this build, tackling parts of various subassemblies but, as yet, not finishing any. I’ve got the Hilborn injected Olds motor from an AMT ’40 Ford Tudor largely completed, with just the wiring and plumbing and a set of custom headers left to do. The motor was set back in the chassis about 6.5 scale inches by fabricating new motor mounts and shortening the driveshaft. This also required cutting away the firewall so that now the last cylinder in each bank sits under the cowl. A new firewall was fabricated and attached to the interior bucket. An interior was fabricated using an AMT ’40 Ford Tudor bucket which was shortened and pinched at the rear. The inside surfaces were skinned using .010 styrene sheet to simulated a gutted bare metal interior. A plain, flat dashboard was made using sheet styrene. The entire interior has been painted in Duplicolor Crème. The aircraft style aluminum seat is from ThePartsBox.com. The body and fenders have been painted in Duplicolor Super Red. The rear fender openings have been relieved a bit to allow clearance for a set of Modelhaus Pie Crust Firestone slicks. I’ve begun applying decals. Additional graphics will be applied to the door area and perhaps underneath the rear quarter windows. Window glass will be yellow transparent plastic. The wheels are finished in Duplicolor Crème. The chassis is finished out in Testors Metalizer Gunmetal and Metalizer Exhaust. It’s largely stock with a stock height front axle. Just about everything mentioned above needs additional work but I’m really not that far from completing this project, with the lions share of fabrication and problem solving already completed. Thanx for lookin’, B.

This is a Jimmy Flintstone chopped 36 Ford "rat rod" sedan on AMT fenders, frame, etc. Inspiration is this very cool drawing which I have used as my avatar at times: The grille has been smoothed and sectioned slightly to align the hood with the section in the JF body. The motor will be the injected Olds from the various AMT '40 Fords. Wheels will be the kit wide 5's with Firestone pie crust slicks on the rear and Modelhaus T-110's on the front. No lights, bumpers or radiator and a healthy setback on the motor. So, before committing myself to decals, I've had to ask myself what class would this run in circa 1959? I'm thinking the early stages of the Mooneyham Sharp 554 coupe which gradually evolved from a streetable car, gaining a chop and a setback and losing lights and a cooling system, and eventually its fenders, on its journey to pure Altered bliss. So, since it's probably a bit on the porky side, maybe C or D Altered... Thanx for lookin', B.

Nice builds, everyone! The DD kit is a classic. Given its circa 1961 vintage, the detail and variety is impressive, just as it was when it was first released. I'm working on a twin side-by-side from that kit right now, and this kit always delivers some fun bench time.

Thanx Raul! I went away for a little vaca. and found on my return that I was building verrrrry sloooowwwllly. But I'm finally moving on this thing. The engine is built, plumbed and wired, glued in place and the chassis and suspension largely completed. In fact I'm pretty close to done. But, as the closeup shots of the wheels will reveal, the car has picked up some, how shall I say, "patina" along the way, so some cleanup and detailing will be in order. Either that or maybe I should add more "patina"? Thanx for lookin', B.

Oh well, a gap in my rod knowledge. But your comment got me off my rear end to find out more about the original. Now I'm all the more impressed by this very fine model!

Terry's pointers are right on the money in helping you get oriented. The link he gave you is to the same site I mentioned earler; Straightline Modelers is the ideal source for getting your bearings, IMHO. As regards the frame, the second frame is kinda funky to my eyes; stick with those nice, sexy tapered rails as in picture #1! ;) Terry's comment about how quickly thing were evolving back in the day reminds me of my first models, many, many moons ago... I can recall when the AMT Double Dragster kit came out it was already out of date, it's old-fashioned 4-point roll cage having been replaced by the slicker looking 3 point style in the time it took AMT to master and produce the kit. And when I bought my first Revell Tony Nancy Double Dragster kit I used both frames to stretch the wheelbase because chassis were getting longer literally by the month!

I have no idea what the original loooked like, but this is a beautifully executed model with superb detail. Bravo! Do you have a picture of the 1:1 you could share with us?

Wonderfully dramatic paint scheme and the usual stunningly real detail, textures and execution. Despite some of the comments on the w.i.p., I think the light weathering on the tube frame adds an extra dimension to an already exquisite build. Bravo!

In order of importance: 1) Sprue attachment points, especially on chromed parts. 2) Ejector pin mark placements, again especially on chrome parts where they can't be cleaned up. 3) Molded in exhaust systems and floor pans. 4) More frequent updates of tire/wheel tyles on re-issued kits. Those wide front tires and wheels on Old School rods are really a drag these days! So terribly out of date, don'tcha know...

Thanx to you all for the very generous comments and for reviving this from the archives. My technical chops have improved since this was built and I plan to revisit this style in the future with better fit and finish. I love this style of custom!

This may seem beside the point to many, but the real megatrend to watch here involves the issue of personal transportation and its inherent inefficiency on many levels. The revolution that the horseless carriage created was, above all, the emancipation of the individual to travel when and where they wished, at least relative to where they had been able to go before. Horses were very expensive to keep, requiring land, food and care on a constant and time demanding scale that was huge compared to what the horseless carriage had to offer, even in its earliest forms. Much of the public policies of the first half of the Twentieth Century, expansion of paved roads, fuel taxes to pay for them, the creation of gasoline serving infrastructure, etc., were spearheaded by businesses that sought to profit from this emancipation. Today, in China and many other fast-developing countries, where it is a matter of policy to develop a middle class along the lines of those seen in the developed world, we see an explosion of personal transportation, first the bicycle, then motor scooters and motorcycles, and now the rise of the personal automobile. These countries are rapidly building out roadways, fueling infrastructure, etc. They appear to be emulating what we did a generation or two ago. The discussions regarding sources of energy and the technologies to support them are very much to the point. Personal transportation, in a world whose population is exploding, is rapidly putting enormous demands on known technologies, perhaps for now at a rate that is out-pacing technological developments. The love affair with automobiles I have had since I was a child has always been with the car as a form of personal expression and independence. That's why I have always loved automobile racing, hot rods and sports cars. All of these are intense forms of self expression and personal independence. So, like all of us on this thread, now I am becoming aware of a time when the assumptions that underscore this enthusiasm may rapidly come into question. We already see the precursor of the loss of personal transportation as a societal norm in the emergence of technological design parameters as a matter of public policy. The earliest examples were the result of political influence by the insurance companies who created the 5 mph bumper law in the vain hope that this would reduce repair costs (it didn't, simply shifting costs from many small, cheap repairs, to fewer, far more expensive ones). The impact on automobile design was immediate, restrictive, and dramatic. The early energy crises brought about narrow speed limits and fuel mileage restrictions, followed by environmental concerns and their related emissions laws. All have had huge impacts on the novelty and variation available in automobile design, a well as adding tremendously to the initial cost. Recently, in Europe, the actual shape of the front of a car has been effectively legislated by laws seeking to protect pedestrians from being pulled under the car during low speed impacts at crosswalks. Combined with globalization, the result of all this has been the homogenization of automotive design. Today's cars are, more often than not, cookie cutter variations of each other, not so much because of the lack of human creativity, which I believe remains constant, but because of these policy initiatives. My point is that as long as the population of individual drivers continues to expand all these concerns will continue to intensify and serve to support the politicization of automobile design parameters. Whether the future lies in the rebirth of public transportation as an important public initiative, or the creation of hyper-efficient private modes of transport, I can't say. Probably it will be some combination of both, revealing private transport to be the relative luxury it has always been. Regardless, a reactionary response will not be acceptable. The genie has already escaped from the bottle. Things will be far different from how they appear today. I'm just grateful to have been alive during what I think will prove to have been a Golden Age of private transportation.

Geraghty/Crawford Grasshopper, Hot Rod Magazine October 1959. The box art is heavily based on the second photo.

Great idea to expand the content of the mag via the magazine website. Not sure about the numbering system.... But your photography is superb, fully up to the standard set by this exceptionally detailed and realistic model. No matter how close you got the details all scaled to the eye. And the images were all tack sharp with great depth of field. They didn't look like closeups of a miniature at all. What a treat!

Start by going to Straightline Modelers' reference section ( http://www.straightl...ler.org/res.htm ), particularly the Dragsters area. Then go to sites like Nitrogeezers ( http://nitrogeezers.smugmug.com/ ), for modern nostalgia drag recreations try FrontEngineDragsters.org ( http://frontenginedragsters.org/ ), and for a wealth of period pictrures and lore We Dit It For Love ( http://wediditforlov...temap-free.html ). This should get you started. But really you should just use your favorite search engine (Google, Bing, Yahoo Search, etc.) and go exploring. Hope this helps. Regarding an engine choice, it's entirely up to you. Perhaps the sites referenced above might help you decide what rings your bell...

This is still in the planning stages, and your comments are welcome. No release date or price has been established, but they would try to keep it under $10.00. The pack would contain 4 pairs of the retooled "pie crust" slicks, each with a different pad-print style as follows: 1. Racemaster Dragster lettering 2. Whitewall with Racemaster Dragster lettering 3. Wide whitewall 4. EXCLUSIVE TO THE PARTS PACK: Whitewall with red pinstripe Style 4 will never be found in a kit, it can only be obtained by buying the parts pack.

Howzit comin", RP? Can't wait to see the red interior and "gills" against that metallic gray...

Exactly!

Super idea to build a phantom (?) Little Deuce ... coupe. That's a 1/24 kit IIRC. What did you use as a donor body to create the coupe version? I have to respect the fact that you didn't wire the engine, so as to create the illusion of an OOB build of this incredibly "rare" and valuable kit. Very cool!

A frighteningly, depressingly and inspiringly brilliant concept with tremendous depth in its execution. The detail discoloration of the various parts are especially impressive and add a very important dimension to the build. Thanx so much for sharing all the how-to's as you progress on this wonderful model! I know I'll make time to "drill down" on this post and bookmark it for future reference.

Nicely done. :lol:

46 out 48 - swapped the Henry J & the Willys... Thanx, it was fun!

Actually, I think you totally nailed the look of a fiberglas homebuilt special from the era. Whatever reservations you may have about the final aesthetics, you would have felt the same way about an actual period 1:1. Super cool idea with a very succesful outcome! I dig it!

Wonderful on every level, as usual from you. Love the overall body design and concept, and of course, the execution. As the expression goes... keep it coming! BTW, is there an earlier thread somewhere which might show the body build up. I have a project planned for later this year where I plan to put fenders on the AMT Double Dragster streamliner and I'd love to see what you did to create the fender surfaces.

Thanx guys! Scott, the chassis paint is Tamiya TS-56 Brilliant Orange. I painted the bodywork and applied the trim and decals. Basic color is Tamiya TS-50 Mica Blue over Duplicolor Gold to create a sort of Candy Blue effect. The gold trim is Pactra trim tape with most of the decals coming from the AMT Double Dragster kit. I'll wait a couple of days and then cover the whole thing in Krylon clear, then finish out the interior surfaces in Testors Metalizer Aluminum Plate. I also received my parts from Altered States Models. I must say I was delighted with the quality and fast service I got. I'm using some small letterbox scoops on the motors and they are incredibly delicate and realistic looking. I'll finish them out in body color but I've included a mockup below. The resin is as thin, fine and clean as I've ever seen from any resin caster with literally no flash. Chuck Meier will be hearing from me again the next time I need some drag racing parts or bodies. Thanx for lookin', B.

Early 50's Drag Racer - Hilborn injected Chevy 6 with Wayne High Performance head