Bernard Kron

Sits perfectly and is a testimony to the 'basher's art (no kit left unmolested). You fixed most of what needed fixing with the AMT kit (especially replacing the grill shell with the Revell piece and replacing the front suspension). Despite it's simplicity, the SBC looks real sharp. Love the steelies and the shiny paint and the dashboard/steering wheel combo.

Actually this has no stance as yet. There's no suspension and the center of the chassis is sitting on a faucet aerator. I agree, the tail is too low. I'm anticipating a battle getting the stance right since the RMCM chassis requires the Revell '29 Ford suspension bits and they look awfully fiddly and thin to modify ... we'll see. Thanx for the compliment, 'though. Perhaps the "Stance-mesiter" has met his match! BTW, good to be hearing from you again. I hope you're properly recovered from your recent contretemps - with a bicycle, if I recall correctly.

This is sort of bass ackwards for me since I usually do the motor and chassis before I do paint and body work. This is based on the Replicas & Miniatures of Maryland (RMCM) traditional ’32 Ford chassis by Rik Hoving which uses the Revell ’29 Ford suspension bits. The car will have a full hood with the standard louvers, p/e grill and post ’49 Flatty with three carb setup. It’s the sister car to the ’29 Roadster I’m building which I place at about three years earlier. I’m trying to build both as period correct as possible. Details so far include RMCM stock ’32 firewall, p/e Auburn dash from RMCM, and the nice tuck and rolled interior from RMCM that Lyle Willits mastered. Thanx for lookin’ (Click on picture for larger image)

Looking at my post of November 14th I can only laugh. I had such plans for a quick finish to this build! Right after I wrote that I clear coated everything and then popped it all in the dehydrator I has been given for my birthday. Well, those beautifully cast thin resin frame rails that I got from RMCM promptly warped. And I noticed a flaw in the paint on the hood as well. I must say that Norm Veber at RMCM gives awesome customer service. I told him of my plight and he rushed out a replacement frame with an order I had pending. In the meantime I started on a ’32 Highboy which I’m putting up on another post. So here I am a month later with the motor to still do (twin carb pre-’49 flatty), AllClad to shoot on the scratch built wishbones, exhaust system to build, and all the exterior details to complete. Well, maybe in another week or so.... Thanx for lookin’ (Click on picture for larger image)

Phew!

Nice comtemporary take on this sleek design. I like the airdam and flaps/scoops and the choice of wheels. Looks great.

Great idea. Overall it looks good. But I'm with George, the back of the window frame in the doors is gonna be a challenge. Can't wait to see more...

No, no, no! That's no ordinary straight 8. That's a hgh performance tirbocharged Chevy straight 8 with the full rust option !

Chopper is a great stylist - that's why his moels stand out, they're great designs. This one's no exception...

Wow! That build just screams FUN!!! Very cool.

In speaking with Norm Veber, Mr. Replicas & Miniatures, I mentioned the no-website problem. He said he's so busy with the work he has to get done, just on the basis of his ads in SA and MCM that he's already chronically 4-5 weeks behind. He fears that adding a web presence would bury him! But his stuff is as good as it gets, especially if you build in the more traditional or old school race car and rodding areas. Here are some thoughts on how best to use RepMin. First of all, get Norm's most recent product listings. You're nowhere without them. There are literally hundreds of items and the listings warrant careful reading. You'll be amazed what you find! Secondly, RepMin is awesome on the customer service front. They are available by telephone Monday through Friday 9AM to 6 PM EST, but I find it clearer and more convenient to communicate via e-mail. Norm Veber is first rate when it comes to answering his e-mails, usually by the next day, often sooner. I can include pics of my needs if necessary. Thirdly, once you've checked the catalog be sure to ask Norm if he has other items you may need. Norm has many more items than are listed in his catalog. He's constantly creating new things and also has "back-catalog" items that he did as a one-off for himself or someone else or that weren't popular but may now be important. For example Lyle Willits has created two very nice transkits for RepMMin in the past 6 months, a '32 Ford Pickup for the Revell '32 kits, and a '49 Merc Convertible with fadeaway fenders for the Revell '49 Merc kit. They are gorgeous but they aren't listed as yet. Fourth, and related to the last item, keep your eye out for RepMin items used by various builders, particularly those in the mid-Atlantic USA area. This will give you visuals and concrete applications of various parts. Importantly, Norm often shows new stuff at the monthly Maryland Automotive Modelers' Association (MAMA) meetings and at model shows in the East. He also brings unlisted "back catalog" items to solve MAMA clubmembers problems that have come up in discussions. An example of the latter was a w.i.p. on another board showing an add-on kit to convert the gorgeous Nailhead Buick V8 included in the old Revell showboat kit to a street engine - it included a front accessory drive, transmission and linkage, and oil pan. It was based on an an old Revell Nailhead Parts Pack. I had just bought a Barnstormer kit on e-bay to get the four Nailheads it uses so this kit was perfect. It was unlisted in the catalog and Norm hadn't cast any in quite a while. The w.i.p. showing it was by a MAMA member. Lastly, keep track of the various sites showing some of the RepMin items (this is true of Modelhaus as well, BTW) as suggested above. While it's only the tip of the iceberg it will give you an idea of what the descriptions in the catalog are referring to. I hope this helps. His stuff is great and it's worth the effort keeping track of it! Here in one iplace s all the RepMin contact info. Replicas & Miniatures Company of Maryland 317 Roosevelt Ave., S.W Glen Burnie, MD 21061 Norman F. Veber, Prop. replmincomd@aol.com (410) 768-3648 9AM to 6PM EST Monday through Friday

Beautiful weathering and detailing. Ultra-realistic. Looks like the kit gives you a lot to work with. Can't wait to see more.

Very impressive. How were the textures and details on the canvas, barrel, cargo bed, etc. achieved? Did you do that yourself or are they provided for in some way in the kit?

Very nice. Cool satin finish. Could we see some interior shots of that tuck 'n roll?

FloridaBoy: Awesome story!

Oh mygawd Dave, what have you started! But it’s Great Stuff! Here are two from my childhood. Hot Rod memory: Wingdale, N.Y., in Dutchess County, about 70 miles up the Hudson from N.Y.C., population 300, dairy country. I went to an elementary school with one room and one teacher for each grade, K through 6th. If you didn’t do well you got left back, so there were several girls in the 6th grade who were easily 13-14 and didn’t look like the other girls (!). The older boys from the high school in nearby Dover Plains used to come down at the end of the day in their cars to pick them up. I specifically remember a ‘49/’50 Ford two door business coupe in black that was a real tail dragger. It had a loud exhaust note that rumbled. I remember asking them how they got the car to rake like that and they showed me the bricks in the trunk! I’d be willing to bet the exhaust note was achieved by punching a hole in pipe before the muffler. This was a real no-budget job. But at 8 years old I was really impressed. (I guess I was into cars big time even then...) All the boys were “hoods†with elaborate pompadours and cuffed jeans and leather jackets. They played the radio real loud when they rolled up – it was the local station playing a sort of proto-rock ‘n’ roll, a mixture of country music and r&b. I distinctly remember hearing Hank Williams, Etta James’ “Roll With Me Henryâ€, and “Shake Rattle and Roll†(Bill Haley and the Comets), so it had to be’54 or ’55. (I have been a stone music freak since I was 4 years old and tend to remember this sort of stuff.) They were never in the school yard very long – just long enough to sweep up the girls and take them away in a cloud of rock ‘n’ roll and cigarette smoke. Sports Car Memory: 1958, I was 10 years old. All the males in my family were car nuts and when I told my father that there was a sports car race in Montgomery, N.Y. about 100 miles north of N.Y.C. he talked my mother into a weekend junket up there. We took a room in the local hotel/tavern for the weekend. I remember there were bed bugs and my mother was less than pleased. We hardly slept, me because of my excitement, and my parents because they hung out in the bar until closing time (probably to avoid the bed bugs). Montgomery was an old WWII air force base, the track a flat triangle with a couple of chicanes. The teams all had their cars in the local garages and drove them to and from the track, unmuffled and gloriously loud. We arrived late Saturday afternoon and the cars were coming back from the track. I new them all because I read all the car mags – hot rod, custom, sports car – I didn’t care. Everybody from the east coast scene seemed to be there, the Cunningham Listers (Jags if I remember right) with Walt Hansgen and Ed Crawford, Bill Sadler with his Chevy engined special, the usual C & D-Type Jag hand-me-downs, and a big black Lister Chevy. They all came through town and I was over the moon – except there was something critical missing, the team I had come to see, the Scarabs*. It turns out they arrived later that evening so they were given a brief practice in the morning before the afternoon’s 100 miler. I remember wondering all night if I would actually get to see them. Come Sunday and the three of us (my brother was away at college) were camped out on the chicane built at the corner of the triangle leading on to the main straight. This, my father assured me, would be where we would see the action. We were not disappointed. In those days we were behind some hay bales and a wire fence maybe 20 feet from the edge of the track. The cars drifted spectacularly through the chicane (thanks Dad!). I don’t remember all the details of the race. It was fast, loud, action packed and you could almost touch the cars. I do remember Hansgen lead for much of the race but had to pit to change a tire (he flatted right in front of us) and chased Daigh to the end but failed to catch him. A Scarab victory (I was thrilled)! But the best moment was a few laps into the race when Lance Reventlow in one of his Scarabs, running fourth or so, was in a dice with Sadler and another car and lost it in the chicane and slid straight into the hay bales right in front of us. He took out his left front corner and his day was done. I remember him getting out, throwing his helmet on the ground and swearing a blue streak. All three of us (even my mother) thought it was just grand! After I wrote this I looked Montgomery up on the web and, amazingly, here’s a picture of Lance losing it. We would have been over to the right. It turns out that’s Hansgen in the white Lister so Crawford must have led for a while. Their two cars were identical. Here’s a link to some pages about this race meet: http://www.barcboys.com/Montgomery1958.htm *For those of you who don’t know them, the Scarabs were Hilborn injected Chevy specials built in Venice, California for rich “playboy†(and darn fast driver) Lance Reventlow. The cars were the epitome of SoCal car culture, the chassis designed by sports car legend (even then) Ken Miles and built by Championship car veterans Troutman and Barnes, the motor by ex-hot rodders Travers and Coons, glorious aluminum bodywork fabricated by Emil Deidt, painted in a spectacular candy blue with white scallops and striped by Von Dutch. Lance’s co-driver was ex-Dry Lakes racer Chuck Daigh, hired on to do chassis development. Chuck won most of the time. Here’s a link: http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/3771/Sc...-Chevrolet.html

No I haven't. My reaction to CA is scary enough that I haven't considered variants. I'm recovering nicely from my last bout but it's taken several weeks so I don't want to repeat that again! I'm not sure I know what you're referring to. I think I may have seen something like that in my local RR modeling shop but I'm not sure. Please keep us posted on your results!

Yeah, as a big city Right Coast kid I missed out on that, although I saw a fair amount of 50's-60's road racing which had its rewards. Search for Bill Hines on YouTube to see his awesome leading technique, even as he cruises well into his 80's. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmmWz5nmg-o

I like the stripe. K.I.S.S.

Hey Dave. Patience - both the Hauler and the Trailer will get the white and orange accent stripes that the Raptor has. That should go a long way towards eliminating the blob-o-green effect!

When I first saw the front 3/4 view I actually thought you had gone "all the way" until I saw the rear view. I think you've really got the best of both goin' on here. Now that's one I didn't catch. It just looked completely natural, sorta factory stock if you will. The extra bulbousness in that area that's created contributes to the Art Deco "heaviness" you refer to. Not for nothing they were called lead sleds. As for no door lines, let's consider it a very successful exercise in pure design.

Thanx everybody. I've been experimenting with various adhesives and am currently building the Replica's & Miniatures '29 A kit which is primarily resin so it's a good test bed. The Walther's Goo contact cement I mentioned above is the currently top choice as a substitute. It's stringy but it's very strong so you don't need large amounts of it, or even to cover large areas. Spotting along a glue run works pretty well. Also it sets up very quickly and adheres firmly with only slight springy motion within a couple of minutes or less. If you let the Goo set up on both mating surfaces for a couple of minutes and then glue them together, the bond is almost instantaneous. In that sense it may even be superior to CA without a zip-kicker. I'm getting pretty decent at using it so it will have turned out to be a life saver. Mike, when it comes to the water based adhesives, your right, the problem is the time they take to create a firm bond. I have been surprised at how strong a bond some of them can provide, especially Craft Pickers "The Ultimate". BTW, your picture looks like my workbench these days! I think Ive tried virtually all the stuff you've got up there. The bottom line so far is that I'm back up and running. Styrene is a done deal and most resin or multimedia stuff of any size can be handled. I think multimedia scratch building will still be a problem when it comes to very small parts with limited contact area. I have tried using the CA with a respirator on and it works so I can use it in a pinch - it just takes some planning in advance.

The insignias are particularly successful - they really add to the Art Deco theme. The trunk lid area looks great. You could be starting a Kustomizing Kountertrend! Also the shape of the side window openings is gorgeous, particularly around the "A" post. Often a "hardtop" chop without a "B" pillar will look like a lazy cop-out because attention hasn't been paid to the overall form of the car. The rearward curve at the bottom of the "A" pillar helps balance the large expanse of window area. It also looks like you might have added a little material to the rear of the window opening to reduce the overall size, but I'm not sure about that. Details, details, details... It all adds up. Finally, on one last look-see of the new pics, I gotta say the bumperettes, front and rear, really do the trick, providing an upward lift against the cars low, low stance.

Scott: Such a beautiful car. I went to your Fotki of the build and it was real inspiration - a testament to the scratchbuilder's art. I'll be following this one avidly and learning all the way.

Craig: Nice to see this build over here. It's always been one of my faves. I'm sure the folks here will enjoy it, too!