Bernard Kron

Here's a short list of small items that are currently not available in the aftermarket. Many of these you could sell in multiples. They are big labor saving details for Old School rod builders who land up having to fab them with each build: 1) 2, 3 & 4 carb cast aluminum fuel logs. 2) Nicely done steering parts for scratch building steering systems Simple worm gear style frame mount steering box: Pitman Arms: Ford style steering arms with or without tab for cross steering (to accept tie rod for fabricating steering linkage): Upper steering arms: 3) Combo front shocks and headlight bracket (so you don't have to steal them from your Revell Deuces) 4) U- joints for fabricating driveshafts (so you don't have to steal them from your Revell Deuces)

Beautifully turned out build with gorgeous detail. I especially like the seats and engine! Big thumbzup!

This is important stuff. Wire hinges are big, ugly and don't resemble anything in the 1:1 world... Can't wait fot the how-to!

Thanx Greg, Yeah, that's what I'll be doing for my two dragsters, but only tin the offers you a second front axle. There's still the need for a second rear axle IIRC (I'mm too lazy to go check my tin right now), and then there's always the issue of motors, since the dropped side rails for the twin dragster pretty much obligates you to go that root. Regardless of whether it's the tin or box they're pretty much engineered to build just two models. But it sure is fun to get more out of them by raiding the parts box and doing some scratch building! Regarding your other question, the number of kits it would take to build all the variations from the instruction sheet, that would take some doing to figure it out. But I think strictly speaking you can't get more than two builds out of the box, and maybe 5 max (2 Fiats, 1 streamliner & 1 twin engined dragster and 1 single engined dragster) out of each two tins, due to the limitations of the bodywork options, Interesting theoretical exercise, huh? In any case, it's an awesomely cool "way back machine" that plants you firmly in the very late 1958-1960 window of drag car evolution.

I'm aiming for 4 builds out of one tin box. It can't be done from just the parts in the tin, because in effect there are only three motors, three bodies and two chassis. The tin has an extra chrome tree which is very useful for motor bits and wheels. So far I've built two cars , a pair of altereds. The first build used the Fiat chassis mated to an AMT Competition Parts Pack T-bucket conversion and a Pontiac mills from the Competition Parts Pack. The second had a scratch built chassis with the body and roll cage and the blown Hemi from the Double Dragster. Next up will be twin Chevy from the DD, but with top mounted blowers. Last on the list will be a variation on the Streamliner, the plan being to add fenders and make a Bonneville car out of it. It will use a front mounted blower on a Parts Pack Chevy. Here are some pics of the two altereds.

What a wonderful document on so many levels. It is, after all, a film produced to explain the often difficult and controversial decisions made by the highway commissions of the time, often resulting in bypasses of whole towns, or relocation of commercial districts to less built up areas where construction of modern 4-lane highways and their frontage roads was easier. It's all in there in this film. Amazing! A few years back I read a book about the history of roads in the USA that was copyright 1954, a few years earlier than this film. This type of road building was brand new at the time. The "old" roads they are criticizing are barely more than 30 years old in most cases and were often the first paved roads put in, mainly during the boom times of the late 20's and during the Depression as part of the New Deal. It was all in the process of being rebuilt all over again as the Interstate Highway system we use today was being built and small town America was living its last days as the center of American culture. The cars and gas stations are way cool, too! Thanx for sharing this.

Very well done.

Thanx guys! Resin Tri-Carb Buick "Nailhead" V8 from ThePartsBox.com As part of the "PartsBox" theme of this build, the power for this car is from a Buick Nailhead V8 courtesy of ThePartsBox.com (Part No. 1193). The kit comes with an exploded view of the engine that serves as the assembly instructions. I'm no model car kit historian so I haven't been able to identify a single source for this engine. It's more like a "greatest hits" version with plenty of fine detail and some great parts from the ThePartsBox.com catalog. Overall, it's a terrific little hot rod mill with no equivalent from any styrene kit I know of. The kit comes with separate heads, valve covers, and spark wire covers, a tri-carb manifold with 3 Stromberg 97's (2051) with separate air scoops (2063), a fine pair of "limefire" style exhaust manifolds (1143) and a really nice Schieffer-Cirello "Frankenstein" style magneto. There are 23 parts in all. I stayed pretty close to the kit engine with just a few small changes. I shaved the fan belt pulleys to clear the radiator, unfortunately with some loss of nice bolt detail that comes in the kit version. The "Frankenstein" magneto is so nice that I decided to keep it for a future drag racing build and substituted a distributor from ProTech. Lastly, I modified the kit exhaust manifolds, adding curved exhaust tips from Replicas & Miniatures Co. of Maryland to make them look a bit more dramatic. Below are a few more pictures. Thanx for lookin', B.

Thanks for the kind words, guys! Just a brief update. I'll post finished engine and chassis pictures in the next day or two. But here's a quick color check. White primer, DupliColor Gold Base Coat followed by DupliColor Cayenne Red Metallic, cleared with DullCote. The DullCote was too flat looking so I gave it a light polishing to create a satin finish. Thanx for lookin', B.

Great back story - obviously a strong motivating force to do her up right - and you certainly did. It really is a very fine traditional rod from the Golden Age. Congrats on a super build!

I agree with many of the comments made so far. The stance on this is great and you really took the Revell kit to another level. It may look restrained and conservative, but the channel and chassis work have got to have been first rate to get these results (any chance of some detail pics?). I can see why it would pick up some show wins. Cato said it best:

Excellent tutorial. I personally swear by the "sandwich method" for rectangular frame rails. Nothing beats it for strength and appearance! Your explanations and illustrations are superb and should be of enormous help to many of us. In particular the "fit and measure" approach you illustrate so well, so that the results are customised for the actual bodywork and application your are doing, can't be stressed enough. Along those lines, here's a picture of the approach I use to create curved rails that fit exactly to the sides of the body shell. I clamp the side rails and then measure, fit and glue the main crossmembers in place with the clamps still in position. Thanx again for an excellent and important how-to!

I misread the meaning of the title of this thread and it got me thinking about an idea for a regular feature in MCM that might be popular. But first off, I see no harm at all in a how-to regarding printing your own decals, especially those on ink-jet printers on clear or white decal sheet and all the things to watch out for in that regard. Now regarding content, making copies for personal use of something you own does not violate a copyright and, as such, doesn't oblige the copyright holder to protect their copyright by going after you (if the don't they risk losing the protection of their copyright). I was involved in music licensing so I know the ins and outs of the underlying legal principal pretty well. If you purchase a copyrighted work from a party licensed by the copyright holder to sell it to you, you buy the right to use it as you see fit as long as it doesn't transfer the use of the work to another party (for example copying and sharing copyrighted recordings or printed material with others without the express permission of the copyright holder denies the copyright holder the benefit of economic gain from the potential sale of their work). Which brings me to my misreading. For some reason I thought this might refer to MCM doing a regular feature where an artist would design decal art that could be scanned and printed by MCM readers for use on their models. As long as it was original art produced for purposes of the article, or was clearly art in the public domain, there would be no risk. The need for such things is obvious (flames,scallops, business names, car names, pinstripes, fogged panels, nose art, etc.). It would be especially cool if it was part of an article featuring an artist's rendering of a suggested model. Just a thought...

Thanx for all the nice comments, guys! As is usually the way I do things when I'm first getting started on a project, I've been jumping all over the place, working on various sub assemblies, moving from one to the other as circumstances demand. As a result I have a lot done but little to show. The templates for the interior are done, the motor partially assembled (just enough to allow fitting and fabrication of chassis bits), the front and rear suspension partially assembled (again to allow chassis fab work and stance checking), the rear wheel wells relieve to clear the rear axle, wheels prepped and painted, etc., etc. The front spring was scratch built from .010 styrene strip and the rear suspension adapted from a Revell Deuce kit (the airbags have yet to be removed). The Revell '37 Ford Delivery Truck wheels were adapted to fit the ThePartsBox.com tires and finished out in Duplicolor Gold faces and Testors Metalizer Steel backs. The chassis has all the necessary mounts and brackets made and installed and is ready for final finishing and paint. An interior floor was fabricated from styrene sheet and a driveline cover is in the course of being completed. The Buick Nailhead from ThePartsBox.com is partially assembled with almost all the parts already painted. I'll do a separate post featuring this piece shortly, but I'll say right now that's it's very nice and if you're looking for a one-stop-shop source for a very well detailed hot rod Nailhead, this should be on your shortlist. The stance is dialed in. It's pretty radically slammed but that was the point. I've chosen the color which will be a red-bronze metallic from Duplicolor finished in Dullcoat. The chassis will be black with detail parts finished out in steel and aluminum with veruy little chrome. I've been resisting painting anything until all the parts are fabricated and fitted. Below are some pictures that show the stuff I've described. Thanx for lookin', B.

Wow! Thanx for the hedzup on this! It's light years better than Acme License Plate Maker. For the USA, at any rate, there are far fewer gaps in years and the representations are for more accurate. Additionally the saved image is much higher resolution. Also auto brand, oval ID and flag plates and other goodies! Big thumbzup!

ThePartsBox.com make a Cirello-Scheifer later series "Frankenstein" magneto that's pretty close (missing coil and the distributor cap could be a little more agressive):

All the extras and details shown in the WIP add up to a Very Nice Build indeed!

Fearless, absolutely fearless modeling! Great result, too! Bravo, Jean-Jacques. :lol:

I use different stuff depending on how much clean up I want to do and how quickly I'm working. I've used sticky water soluble glues like Microscale Liquid Tape. They work great but short of a real thoroughly clean up the sticky glue tends to hang around where you don't want it (like in nooks and crannies in crossmembers). Rubber cement works well for wide surfaces like wheels to tires, transmissions to engine blocks, etc. You just roll it off with your finger when you want to remove it. I also use white glues, my favorite being Elmer's Carpenter's Glue. The only trouble is that they take a while to set. However cleanup is simple and complete each time and it doesn't attack the surface of the plastic at all. For sticking large piece together like mounting a frame to a body I often just use masking tape. For small styrene parts I sometimes even use a tiny dab of liquid styrene cement, but you have to be careful because it can work too well!

Well done. One of the simplest and most elegant of the "Golden Age " FEDs and your build does it justice. :)

Thanx guys! I'll be diving into the suspension work next. I hope I can replicate the mockup stance. Wish me luck! Thanx George. I'm not an expert in the variations of AMT butchery during the modeling mid-period. I'd love to know what ThePartsBox mastered it from. The AMT Deuce have a completely different look due to the curved bottom edge of the shell. They have always looked tough channeled. For highboys it's Revell all the way IMHO.

This is the chopped AMT 5-window resin body from ThePartsBox.com. It's a pretty radical chop and to my eye there's really only one way to build this thing, and that's low-slung and channeled. I'm a self admitted aftermarket parts junky and generally when I place an order with a resin caster I'll include some stuff I have no immediate use for but which catches my eye. Over time this leads to a sizable stash. So I decided I would build a PartsBox Deuce 5-window using as many parts from my stash sourced from ThePartsBox.com as made sense. Besides the body I'll be using their Nailhead V8, the tires you see in the pictures below, their extreme drop I-Beam front axle and possibly some seats if they fit inside the tight confines of the body. The interior will have to be scratch built. The wheels will be the ones shown from the Revellogram '37 Ford Sedan Delivery kit. It will have a suicide front end and a rear axle from a Revell Deuce kit probably on the coils that come with it. I have some ideas for paint but haven't firmed it up until I get the car's stance dialed in and some details out of the way. Below are some very rough mockups and a picture of the basic scratch built frame I'll be using. Despite a fair amount of fabrication that will be required I'm trying to keep this build as simple and fun as possible. Nothing fancy, just a lo-boy coupe in the Contemporary Traditional style. Thanx for lookin', B.