Bernard Kron

And one more... Chopped & Channeled '30 Coupe

I remember that one. Real nice, Phil! OK, here are mine (I've got a thing about Model A rods...) 30's Era Dry Lakes Racer Late 40's Era Street Roadster Early 50's Era Drag Roadster

I don't build big trucks but models of this quality make me want to consider it very seriously. Absolutely stunning (at least to my untrained eye)!

As beautifully detailed as the Hudson Hornet and doubtless it will be just as satisfying to build. Thank you again for offering us models of this quality!

Thanx so much for the detailed pictures. The number of discreet parts is amazing and will help the builder to detail out a completed model that will be exceptionally satisfying. I suspect this will be a feature that will attract modelers who might otherwise pass over the subject matter and make this release very successful indeed. I'm sure we'll all agree that we owe you a vote of thanks for creating such a high quality model! Can't wait for its release!

Sometimes detailing is an end in itself and only makes a small difference to what is an already fine build, but rail dragsters, especially the more evolved ones where things like the engine ancillaries, decal and paint schemes, etc. become more of a "statement" than they first were, really are taken to another level by modelers with the skills and knowledge of subject to "go deep and get it right". This build is a perfect example. I know you've been posting right along as you worked your way through this and for much of the time most of us probably just stood around a bit slack jawed as we watched the proceedings. But believe me when I say: Thanx for sharing! It's been an inspiration as well as a pleasure to follow along, and I for one can't wait to see the finished version of this fine piece of modeling. P.S. And you're right, models are fun!

The more I look at this the more I realize what an ideal subject for a 1/25 scale model this is. The matte light gray finish on the undercarriage and interior contrasted with the glossy blue body paint and the simple but eye-catching details like the seat, roll bar, tank and the plywood panel in the floor will really pop in scale. Can't wait to see more.

Great craftmanship and gorgeous finish. The Phantom Vickie frame is a realy nice modern chassis with great detail. I'll have to check my stash to see how well it fits under the AMT '29 roadster body. Anything you can tell us about what it took to mate the two?The fit looks quite precise on yours. Thanx for sharing!

So lemme see now, your first post was at 9:33 PM, your first update at 9:52 and you've got a resin 4-carb manifold fabbed and cast, the top chopped and the engine half built. Allowing for paint drying time you should have this thing wrapped up sometime tomorrow evening, right?

Too cool!!! You just know I'll be watchin'...

What's especially attractive to me in these kits are the great Chassis Research and Dragmaster dragster frames. I'd love to see those re-issued in some form. They can be found on occasion on e-bay as Parts Packs but at $30.00+ including shipping I'd like to see some more parts with them. They may be more fiddly than the AMT aprroximations but they are far more accurate.

Thanx Joe! I cut away the fenders and running boards to preserve the floor section and the sheet metal that runs on top of the frame rails that fills the gaps along the bottom of the hood and also retained the front splash pan. I wanted to preserve the appearance of a car that had had it's fenders and running boards only temporarily removed for its run at the lakes.

Thanx for the kind words guys. I build these things to capture the mood of the period as much as to create a faithful replica. Here's another little Photoshop Phantasy of 'Ol #71 running 4 up at Muroc barely in control and crowding the line.

Thanx Shane, your props are appreciated!

The pre-war '29 Ford Roadster is done and dusted and running at the lakes. More pics here Under Glass: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=33575

30's Style Dry Lakes '29 Ford Model A Roadster (More pictures below) Built for the "Real Hot Rod" community build project on the TRaK board, the goal of which was to create a realistic rusted or worn looking rod that was not over the top as in the current "rat rod" idiom. I chose to build a pre-war, 30's style dry lakes Ford '29 A roadster all dusted from running at El Mirage. Based on the AMT kit with the 4-banger block, Winfield head and exhaust system from the Revell '29 "Rat Rod" Roadster Pickup kit, carbs and manifold from the "Classics" issue (2002) of the AMT '29 Ford Model A Roadster kit which includes a lot of the old hop up parts from the original release, and AMT '32 Ford Kelsey-Hayes style wire wheels. The front tires at AMT Firestones and the rears are Modelhaus T-150B Commander '78 blackwalls. Paint is Duplicolor Maroon over a black base. Other than the hot motor, updated wheels and tire, and removing the fenders, running boards and lights, the car is stock Model A just like back in the day. Thanx for lookin', B.

Thanx Skip. Yeah, I saw this one while I was scouring the web for customized '57s. Surprisingly few of them... This one really nails the modern resto-customized look and is a very sensitive updating of the original. It gave me the assurance that shaving the "louvers" and straightening the character line would work out. The back end with the body color pan and stock shaped bumper is especially successful.

Thanx for all the input, guys. Just what I was looking for. Skip, the pics are great. I'd never researched the real story behind the T-Bird and so didn't know about John Samsen. Looks like my theory about T-Birds and Ferraris is less a case of emulation and more a case of contemporary thinking at the time since it appears that the first sketches and concepts for the 'Bird were done in '52, but certainly the '57 facelift has got to have been influenced by the Italians. The Boano car is so typical of Boano's work, lots of neat details but always a bit off in terms of proportion and stance. I think that picture has me leading towards keeping the skirts! Bradley, I am looking at smoothing things out a bit but I like the detail of the fin terminating in that little scooped panel that contains the door handle. While I've removed the door handle I'm going to keep the scoop. As I said above, I'm as much motivated by trying to clean up and "perfect" this classic design as by a desire to create a radical custom, so in this sense I may actually be leaning more contemporary. ... ...But there are aspects of a full custom that intrigue me. Raul, I think I will be looking at cutting down the windshield since, after lowering the car and removing the visual weight from the ends by deleting the bumpers, the windshield looks a little bit goofy and too tall. This will probably include increasing the rake of the windshield a little bit. The headrests occurred to me. Obviously, this starts to take me down the custom car/dream car end of things. We'll see... Anyway, this is just the sort of input I was looking for. It's really helping me get focused on my intentions for the final result. Thanx again! B.

There are several iconic 50's American cars that I consider real high water marks and that I've wanted to customize from the perspective of "purifying" the design, focusing on the underlying vision and cleaning up and simplifying the elaborations that are necessary when adapting the design to production requirements and street-running realities. Here's the first of them, the '57 Thunderbird. It's obviously heavily influenced by the Pininfarina Ferraris: (click on picture for larger image) And of course the uniquely American style of the first T-Birds went on to influence the Italians in turn, especially the '57 'Bird. So I thought I'd do this one from that perspective. The question is just how much I emphasize the sportscar thing. I'm removing all the bumpers, fake vents, door handles and trim, and integrating the grill into the front end. In addition I'm adding a more aggressive and functional looking hood scoop. And finally the car has been lowered to create a more idealized presentation of its graceful lines. Tacking closer to a sportscar theme would involve leaving the rear wheels exposed rather than skirted, but the skirts show off the American "dream car" aspect of the design. On the "sportscar" side I'd go with blackwall tires and wires or mags, whereas with a more custom car aspect I'd go with some sort of whitewalls, maybe pinwalls, and perhaps chromed hubcaps. During the "golden age" of customizing both themes were popular among customizers when doing T-Birds or 'Vettes. What say you? Thanx for lookin' and any thoughts, B.

Beautiful model. It really captures the spirit and feeling of the 1:1.

Thanx guys! I'm glad you all dig it. This was certainly the biggest change in style for the least amount of kitbashing I've ever experienced. Just replace the engine and front wheels, strip all the chrome off and fabricate a brutally simple body and you've got instant 50's funk!

Here are some additional detail shots.

Late 50's Era Slingshot Dragster Based On The Chassis From Carl Casper's Undertaker This is the Carl Casper's Undertaker kit from Polar Lights, Show rods aren't something I do but I bought the kit for its very nice Chrysler Hemi Potvin Manifold I needed for another project I have going. (Click on picture for larger image) The kit is pretty rough, especially with respect to the engine block, heads and injectors which are pretty "vague" to put it kindly. However, it turns out that it has a really nice example of a late 50's era slingshot dragster chassis. It's got many of the somewhat primitive features of that period including a cool lever shock front suspension and a close-coupled rear 3-point roll hoop that puts the driver just barely behind the rear axle. So I decided I would build an example of a circa 1958-59 digger. Being a show rod the frame comes completely chromed so it had to go into the stripper before being painted black. Here's a picture of completed roller: The front wheels and tires are from my parts box. The rear tires are from the Revell Tony Nancy Double Dragster kit. The rear wheels are from the Undertaker, once again stripped of their chrome and finished with Testors Acryl Jet Exhaust. The body panels are also from the Tony Nancy kit, obviously cut down to the bare minimum. The finish on the bodywork is the bare metallic silver plastic from the Tony Kit wet sanded with 400 grit to create a surprisingly realistic bare metal finish. The seat is a cut down AMT '25 T item with the upholstery sanded off and the whole thing finished in Testors Aluminum Plate Metalizer. The engine I installed is a Revell Parts Pack 354 Caddy with scratch built headers and "dog house" over the carbs. The front accessory drive is from an AMT'40 Ford Tudor kit. The rest of the drive train is from the Undertaker kit. Everything else is from the Undertaker kit. Just these few simple changes creates a radically different model. Thanx for lookin, B.

Gorgeous. Shows you don't need a intricately detailed build to achieve maximum impact, just impeccably chosen colors and visual elements and flawless execution. I agree about the metallic paint, it scales beautifully. And the photography is stunning. Did you use a shiny gray backdrop and then smooth it out digitally?

Here's the end of a busy Saturday juggling two builds at once... Time to clean up.