Bernard Kron

The DBR1 is about as pretty as it gets for that period. The main objection to going down to 1/24th using rapid prototyping , as I understand it, is the resolution of the printer, so I'll be interested to see your progress on cleaning up the body. I guess for larger objects like bodies it's something that can be overcome but it pretty much eliminates component parts in the smaller scale. Too bad, since the TDR stuff is outstanding as well as imaginative and unique. I guess we'll have to wait for the technology to progress some more...

I'm nearing assembly time! I got the floorboards made, front steering finalized and decided that the motor sat too nose high, so I raised the motor mounts slightly while I was cleaning them up. I also came up with a decal scheme. The sponsor/owner is "North State Tire Sales" running out of northern Ohio at Dragway 42 and Kil-Kare Speedway, fictitious but typical of this kind of runner. Here's a photo mockup showing the slightly lowered nose of the motor and the signage layout including the art for the sponsor name. Thanx for lookin', B.

Thanx for the kind words. I'm glad you all are diggin' this build. Finally got some bench time in today after yesterday's most excellent Pacific Northwest NNL. And I landed up spending waaayyyy too much time making some front motor mounts to get the blown Poncho's nose up. The paint on the brackets is just some acrylic I threw on there for mockup purposes – I promise to clean it up before I finish the build. I also landed up lowering the front radius rods a bit – I never have liked the way they mount on the original AMT frame set. Not shown in the pictures is some additional fab work on a lengthened tie rod for the steering (the T bucket sits further back on the frame than the Fiat does), some decisions on the final placement for the Moon tank and grill shell, and some additional detail painting , drilling, cutting, etc. All in all a pretty productive day. Maybe it was the inspiration I got from all the cool models I saw at the PNW NNL… Pretty much everything is ready for final assembly. But I still can't decide what to do about decals and signage, if any. I kinda like the bare amateur racer look. I tried some white number decals this afternoon but they get lost in the yellow paint. Maybe some red numbers? Perhaps just a few trade decals on the sides of the cowl and along the bottom edge of the body? I can't visualize it quite yet… All I know is I'm going for a fairly authentic look of a midwest/east coast style low/mid buck altered circa 60-61 (what money there is goes into the motor first and foremost). As you can see, the new motor position really radicalizes the look. It's period correct for the transitional era I'm targeting but it's hardly subtle. So, along with the signage issue, I'm still kicking it around in my mind's eye. What do you guys think about all this? Thanx for lookin' B.

Many moons ago mrknowetall (Don Banes) gave me an AMT Competition Parts Pack (Thanx Don!) and I'm finally getting around to building the T Altered that's in it. The catalyst for starting this was the Round2 Double Dragster re-release. The Parts Pack instructions for the T Altered show a "typical competition frame – not included" which is the Fiat frame from the Double Dragster kit. The Fiat frame is fairly primitive and inspired me to try and capture the look and feel of the early altereds of the '59-'61 era before things started getting more sophisticated. The body and roll bar structure are from the Parts Pack and most of the frame and suspension are from the double dragster. Wheels are AMT '40 Ford with Modelhaus tires, The lovely seat was made by Dave Nelson (racer 13) who gave me a pair last year. Gorgeous isn't it? The paint is Duplicolor Yellow and Torch Red. I plan to leave it unpolished just as it would have been in a competition car from the period. I haven't decided about numbers and decals, yet. I may leave it plain… The Pontiac motor is also from the AMT Competition Parts pack with the Hilborn 2-hole injector and scoop from the Chrysler Hemi in the Parts Pack. The scatter shield is from the Tommy Ivo Showboat with the in-out box from the Double Dragster Fiat. Here are some quick and dirty snaps from the workbench. Still lots to do but already pretty far along for about a week's work at the most. These cars were brutally simple! Thanx for lookin', B.

The Tube Rat (Tube framed '29 A Pickup)

Thanx for the props everyopne! Frankly, I wasn't sure how lavender suede would go down! Harry, Tryin' to earn my 5! Cut the decals and changed out the pics with new ones :

Yeah, I thought the decal solvent would do the job but it did only sorta... I guess I could still cut the decals and hit em one more time with solvent. Hmmmm....

Revell '49 Merc done hot rod style with tail dragger stance, flames and lavender suede paint (More pictures below) To many eyes the Revell chopped '49 Mercury appears a little bland. But as a kit it's truly fine, with tons of options and many fine details. And it goes together like a dream. So decided to see what I could do to create a more aggressive look with a minimum of modifications so I could enjoy the kits great engineering First off was giving the car a more radical rake: I lowered the rear end an additional 1 ½ scale inches. For a real period vibe I chose Modelhaus T-160 A, Commander 78 series tires. These are big early 50's style wide whites with massive 4 3/4 scale inch sidewalls. The hubcaps are Modelhaus modified 51/52 Olds six bar flippers. The hood is the kit's louvered option along with the DeSoto style bumpers, DeSoto grill and bubble skirts. Under the hood, for a more purposeful hot-rodded look, I went with resin stock Cadillac script valve covers courtesy of Replicas & Miniatures Co. of Maryland with the engine finished out in GM engine blue. The air cleaner is from an AMT '49 Ford kit. The paint is Krylon Indoor/Outdoor Acrylic Gloss, the color being Gum Drop, a real hard-to-miss medium pale laveder. I shot it over white Duplicolor primer, applied the kit flames and pin stripes and then sealed the whole thing under Testors DullCote. The interior is finished in Duplicolor Ivory White and Tamiya "lavender" (really more of a plum purple). One of the oddities of this kit is despite a real effort to include many tiny and finely modeled details Revell left out any interior door handles, window cranks or armrests. So I added Replicas & Miniatures' gorgeous interior detail set created for this kit to solve this omission. Otherwise the rest of the build is straight out of the box. Thanx for lookin', B.

Oustanding!!!! And they are Wild!

Thanx guys! The wheels are the standard AMT steelies found in kits like the '40 Ford Coupe and Tudor. All Modelhaus tires and huibcaps are scaled to those wheels. I used the backs from the Revell kit and the AMT wheels. I had to remove a small amount of material from the inside of the Modelhaus tires to take the kit backs. On the AMT wheels I removed the axle boss from the inside so that the wheel would sit down into the tire properly. As regards the Modelhaus hubcaps, they're always a bit thick and stand too far out from the rim. You have a choice of either thinning down the back of the hubcap or hogging out the face of the wheel. Each has its dangers. If you're using a Dremel on the wheel face you risk gouging the rim edge (which can be seen) so you have to be very careful. Thinning the backs of the hubcaps is perhaps less riskiy but the plating is fragile so care is need there as well.

The Revell '49 Mercury often gets berated for a certain blandness, a feeling I agree with. But it's a really well engineered kit with lots of excellent details. So I decided to build it largely out of the box but with some changes in details to give it a more aggressive hot rodded look, I started it about 2 weeks ago. First off, after staring at it for a while I decided that as much as the chop may be bland, the stance is the real problem, and indeed may sell the chop short. It sits flat front and rear and as such is probably not low enough. So I lowered the back end 1 ½ scale inches. Next up, I changed out the tires to Modelhaus T -160 C, Commander 78 series tires. These are really wide whites (4 ¾ scale inch whitewalls) and a bit oversized. I thought they would fill out the wheel wells better than the somewhat conservative kit whitewalls. Hubcaps will be Modelhaus 51/52 Olds six bar flippers. Next up I went with the louvered hood, bubble skirts, and a tinted primer paint scheme based on a really striking Krylon Gum Drop lavender acrylic I found at the local hardware store. Love it or hate it, it's hard to miss. I added the kit flames for contrast. I gave the engine a more purposeful look by painting it in GM blue with stock Cadillac script valve covers courtesy of Replicas & Miniatures and an air cleaner from an AMT '49 Ford kit. The interior is finished in Oxford White and Tamiya TS-37 which they call "lavender" but is really a plum purple color. I haven't decided on the grill yet, but I will be running the ribbed bumpers and probably lakes pipes. I plan to finish it up in the next couple of days. Special thanks go out to Raul Perez who gave me the model in the first place and kept encouraging me to build it OTB because it's such a great "Shake & Bake" kit. For those of you who aren't familiar with the term, "Shake & Bake" is what Raul calls kits that virtually build themselves - put glue and paint in the box, replace the lid, shake and out comes a completed model! This is pretty close to stock Revell and I must admit it's a blast to build! Thanx for lookin', B.

Great news. Definitely worth a try!

Makes a big improvement to the flow, really freshens up the look! It's the little touches on this already heavily stylized car that can make a huge differemce. I couldn't resist a little Phun with Photoshop. I assume something like this is what you meant by your comment above (Are you going to extend the hood side down to the new molding and make a new cut line?): as compared to the original

It's baaaaack!!! And the stance is 2 tuff! (It ain't too shabby on the inspiration 1:1 either - thanx for showing us the pic). Lookin' forward to more whenever the muse strikes you...

Hmmm... Now that's intriguing! Melted bits of styrene in a bottle of Extra Thin? Inquiring minds want to know - and must drive down to Portland on the 27th!

The chassis layout works great! It's lookin' real tough. The front kickups peek out from body just the right amount. And the posable steering is sharp. Lookin' forward to seeing this on the tables at the PNW NNL! (I also dig the large supply of Tamiya Extra Thin in the background... In for the duration, eh Fletch?)

Super build. The air cleaner mod is a nice touch and the color is great! It's amazing how, regardless of what you choose to do to this model it will always look like the Old Skool 60's kustom kit that it is - which isn't a bad thing at all!

Bummer, 'though not surprising. My usual F1 sources (Pitpass and Autosport websites) have so far not made mention of this development. Where'd you hear of it? Crawling around the web a bit revealed the latest rumor, that USF1 has offered to pay a "7 figure" fee for the right to miss 2010 entirely and keep their slot for 2011! Stefan GP, of course, will be at Bahrain with at least one (but perhaps not two, apparently) of its 2010 spec Toyotas, a bravado move, but of little help to anyone unless they can get the second car built and running. Even then, if the FIA knuckled under and allowed them to race it would still prove tremendously embarrassing to the FIA and only underscore the questionable selection process that resulted in the four teams, two of which have as yet been unable to run a car. Stefan GP's drivers are purported to be Kazuki Nakashima and that old warhorse Jacques Villeneuve, neither of which could have turned a wheel since Bridgestone wouldn't supply Stefan GP with 2010 F1 spec tires. My opinion is that, in order to maintain any credibility, the only choice the FIA has is to deny USF1's request, slam the door on Stefan GP and put up the final slot for selection to run in 2011. If USF1 thinks they can compete they can go through the selection process all over again along with anyone else interested in the slot. Running 24 cars this year is still many more than they have run in recent years. Hopefully Nick Wirth and Virgin Racing will solve their chronic reliability (hydraulics) problems and the Malaysian "Lotus" Racing team will develop pace. At least they were able to show up for testing! As for Campos, I guess they've paid their bill to Dallara and will be in Bahrain with two cars, even if they have never run before. It's all terribly sordid and hopefully will have proven to be the last hurrah of the corruption and madness of the Mosley era. If Mosley's replacement, Jean Todt, had any ideas of continuing the policies and politics of Max Mosley this should put an end to it.

It strikes me that personalizing an already heavily customized car is always a big challenge. But I do agree that moving the headlights up is a huge improvement. It'll be interesting to see where this takes you.

You should post stuff showing scratchbuilding here at MCM. And you shouldn't be shy about promoting Straightliners for the more "hardcore" and for lots of others as well. Interest in scratchbuilding runs a very wide gamut, There are those who enjoy watching the work of others for its obvious aesthetic appeal. Then there are those of us that indulge in it from time to time either because what we need simply isn't readily available, isn't good enough, or outright doesn't exist, and/or for the shear pleasure of having done it. And finally there are those who simply would not be happy doing it any other way. I think you'll find that the number of "hardcore" scratchbuilders is quite small but the number of scratchbuilding enthusiasts is far larger. Don't sell it short! As was just said, Bring It On! BTW I recommend SLM (http://www.straightlinemodeler.org/ ) to everyone into car modeling. The information, modeling and techniques on there are absolutely first rate and demand to be seen. And for those of you into building accurate representations of traditional drag cars it is mandatory. Keep the flame burning, Dan.

Immaculate build of a car that demands to be modeled at this level. Great color choices.

Don't be. The "edgier" and more original ideas for builds usually pull an underwhelming number of responses. Your assessment of your build is spot on! Take a breather and then go for the next one when inspiration comes knocking. In the meantime know that, whether we replied or not, there are plenty of us who admire and are inspired by this build!

Thanx! I've always been surprised it's not done more often since it really sets off the gorgeous shape of the 39/40 Ford fenders. It's especially effective on a lowered car. Removing the running boards was a very common modification on customs in the 30's and 40's but seems to have died off during the 50's. In plastic it requires adding a bottom strip undeneath the doors and extending the bottom of the fenders. Really not all that difficult to do, but certainly not a straight out-of-the-box proposition. One of the best known and most beautiful examples of this approach is the Jimmy Summers 40 Mercury convertible. It's gotten the full treatment, chopped, sectioned, and channeled and it is loooowwwww!

That frame is very cool, Dave. Love the idea of the outriggers for the floor. I assume you'll be doing a shallow channel. Is the front z'd section hidden inside the cowl? I'm thinking of coming down again this year for the PNW NNL. I look forward to seeing it there. It should look awesome! B.

Following along with the W.I.P. was a great pleasure and now seeing the payoff is even better. Awesome scratchin' on what has to have been a difficult challenge. Achieving this level of detail and realism with what I imagine was a minimum of information and documentation is no mean feat and reflects the ingenuity and skill we saw during the buildup. Thumbs up big time on this one! You thank the Hollish Brothers. Were you able to contact them and discuss the details of the car?