Bernard Kron

The MCM forum is a constant source of information, wonder and inspiration throughout the year. Thanks to you all for the generous comments and interest.

It may be only one, but it's a really fine model full of enticing details. And I always enjoy your posts about your homesteading adventures! All the best to you and yours for a happy, healthy and fulfilling 2021.

Few work in metal die cast, as you do so much of time. I'm glad you include build details in your completion posts since I'm sure they're of great interest to many of us. Looking forward to more of your fine work in 2021. All the best.

The AMT full-fendered channeled Deuce roadster and the chopped '29 coupe are great examples of your style. And of course the Falcon fastback must have its 1:1 equivalent somewhere in Ford Styling's archives. Here's wishing you a healthy, happy and productive 2021.

The '62 Chrysler was an epic build in every way, but the result was more than worth it. All the best for a healthy, happy and productive 2021.

As you probably have figured out by now, if you didn' know it already, when it comes to hot rods stance is everything. And it looks like you've got that firmly ensconced in bag of tricks.

Your WIP threads are always a treat to follow. They show the care, skill and expertise that yields such fine results. They are at once instructive and inspirational for many of us. Hoping to see more from your bench in 2021. All the best!

Superb build quality shown to advantage by some equally fine closeup photography. The Pennzoil car, obiosuly, is the pick of the litter, but the trailer, photogrpahed this well, is real stunner, too. All the best for a healthy, happy and fulfilling 2021.

These are all really good models. And the photography, tack sharp and with wonderfully neutral lighting, is a treat to the eyes. It works especially well on the weathered Bug, which is my fave. All the best for a healthy, happy and productive 2021.

Every year at this time I get to look back at the, usually, pair of superb showroom stock models that are your trademark. It's everything that's right about this style of building and it gives me the opportunity to comment on how much I enjoy them. Regardless of what style we build in, this level of care and detail in execution should be an inspiration to us all. The the best for a healthy, happy and productive 2021.

Nicely done, especially under the merciless eye of your tack sharp closeup photography. The human-level front 3/4 view is my preferred shot but it can be cruel and unforgiving. Your fine models hold up well indeed. All the best for a happy, healthy and fulfilling 2021.

I dug the 3-window when you posted it earlier. It's especially well proportioned with the little hemi and choice of rolling stock give it a tough, close coupled look. The stance in particular just nails it. I hope you stick with it in 2021. All the best for a happy, healthy and productive New Year.

An impressively prolific year with many fine, quality builds completed. You have a real flare for traditional hot rods. The 39R roadster succeeds in being true to period, and not looking like every other AMT 25T roadster; an effect achieved through judicious changes in stance, color and detail. And the early T runabout is totally unique and very nicely turned out. Looking forward to more from your bench in 2021. All the best for a healthy, happy and fulfilling New Year.

Nice stuff! I agree that the Torino is especially attractive, the color and trim, choice of rolling stock, and the Torino's own lines, are ideal for a modern Resto-Rod. All the best for a productive, healthy and happy 2021.

As Phil pointed out, you have a style all your own, and with the technical mastery that has emerged in recent years your work has become very special indeed. The '48 pickup was such a tour de force, but many of these projects were ones I'd missed. It's interesting to see you take your approach and apply it to the modern Resto-Rod look. The results are quite alluring. Congrats on an impressive 2020. All the best for a creative, healthy and fulfilling 2021.

18 impeccably turned out showroom stock models. Impressive in both quality and consistency. Bravo! All the best in 2021!

2020… what year! And yet, despite all the social distancing and resultant available bench time I managed only to complete a half-dozen projects. That’s on the low end of my range – I usually finish about 8-9 of the ones I start in any 12 month period. The trend has been towards fewer but of higher consistency and quality, which ultimately is a good thing. Maybe I’m spending more time being careful, maybe some of the projects are getting more complex. I’m not entirely sure. One thing is clear: I’m broadening my range of subjects, although still in that post-war pocket. In the past couple of years I’ve added sports-racing cars to my usual hot rod/custom car/drag racing fare. As a result some of the kits I work from are getting more detailed and complex – this year for example, I started my first Japanese kits (a Tamiya and a Fujimi), with significantly greater complexity and parts counts than the AMT/Revellogram/MPC stuff I most often use. I say use because apparently I can’t shake the kit-bashing thing, even if some projects are basically replica builds. In any case here are my 6 for 2020 in order of completion. Thanx for lookin’ and all my best wishes to you all for a happy, healthy holiday season and 2021, B. Revell ’32 Ford HiBoy Roadster Revell ’29 Ford HiBoy Roadster in Vintage As-Found Patina Revellogram ’37 Ford Tudor Slantback Sedan Tamiya Lotus Seven Series 2 Academy Ferrari 250LM Revellogram ’30 Ford Phaeton Show Rod

Thank you all, your kind words and interest are appreciated. I'm definitely pleased with how it came out. I'm also surprised that this kit, purchased really as a parts kit, turned out to yield a virtually empty box with only the Guide headlights to add to my parts stash. I never would have thought it! Thanks Misha. I didn't used the Evergreen tile pattern sheet you referred to. Instead I used Plastruct #91544 15/64"-6.0 mm. square tile styrene sheet. Evergreen tends to engrave the patterns in their sheet, or at least mold it into a thicker sheet with smooth back. Plastruct uses thinner sheet and embosses the pattern, which give it a softer, rounded edge. I have a sheet I started many moons ago with a 45 degree angle cut which gives me the diamond quilt pattern I'm after. It's also important to feather or bevel the edge of the piece by sanding it to give it the appearance of having been sewn in place. I've used this stuff quite o0ften for my custom interiors, It tends to look best when set against a contrasting plain or patterned surface. Here are some other examples: Revell '32 Ford 3-window coupe Revell '41 Willys Coupe

More Photos Below 1930 Ford Phaeton Early 60’s Style Show Car The project was based on the most recent, 2009, Revell re-issue of the venerable Monogram 1/24th scale 1930 Ford Touring phaeton, a kit first released in its original 3-in-1 form all the way back in 1961. I have always admired the early Monogram hot rod kits for their outstanding ability to accurately portray the sprit and detail of hot rods at the time they were issued. They are remarkable documents of the era. Surprisingly, despite this, I don’t build them often, probably because they’re 1/24th scale, and I’m kind of a 1/25th purist, even though, like everyone else, I know that there’s enough scale inaccuracy among 1/24th and 1/25th scale models that parts can be readily swapped among them and it’s often (‘though not always) hard to spot the difference between them when displayed together. The 2009 Revell release, the “Custom Car Show” version, featured some new parts that were significant enough to change the character of the kit, notably a new set of wire wheels and an optional set of Guide style headlights. Both parts caught my eye so I bought the kit mainly as a parts car. The Guide headlights were just what I had hoped they would be, but the stylized radial-spoked wire wheels, while perfect “Car Show” items, were too idiosyncratic to be of much use except for early 60’s style show hot rods. The kit sat in my stash for a few years until one day I thought I’d look it over again to see if I could build it into something inspirational, setting the Guide lights aside for a future project. I decided that I’d use the wire wheels as my inspiration and try them out on various Old School white walls (the kit comes with modern wide black wall radials). It turns out that the white wall Big ‘n’ Littles that come in the various Revell ‘29/’31 RPU/Sedan “Rat Rod” kits are a near perfect fit and really look the business as early 60’s show car rolling stock. Now I had the inspiration I needed! The various Tamiya rattle can pearl colors have always seemed a bit odd to me, certainly not the sort of general purpose shades you’d use on most more contemporary racing, sports and street machines. The pearl blue, green and “light red” (can you say pink?) are all pale, almost pastel, shades. To my eyes, weird… But then it occurred to me that the Tamiya TS-59 Light Red Pearlescent would serve very well as an early 60’s show car color. And so now the course was set for this project. Like so many of my recent builds, this one is mainly out of the box except for key part swaps and details. Below I’ve listed the changes I made to capture that early 60’s car show vibe. Thanx for lookin’. B. Basic kit: 2009 Revell “Custom Car Show” Release 1930 Ford Touring Street Rod Grill Shell from Revell 1930 Ford Woody Street Rod kit Revell 1931 Ford Sedan “Rat Rod” kit supplied the following parts: Chrome firewall beading, Big ‘n’ Little whitewall tires, split rear bumperettes mounted to front, headlights (headlight lenses made by floating 5-minute epoxy over engraved headlight lenses, lamp buckets stripped of chrome and painted body color). AMT 1939 Ford sedan taillights Fabricated parts: Diamond quilt pattern Spare Tire Cover center, running board and steering wheel covers made from patterned styrene sheet; Fuel block made from styrene rod. Aftermarket parts: Morgan Automotive Detail pre-wired distributor. Paints: Duplicolor white primer undercoat, Duplicolor Universal White firewall, interior and undercarriage surfaces, Tamiya TS59 Light Red Pearl lacquer body color. Up top finished in Duplicolor white primer.

Thank you, Carl. I'm glad you're diggin' it. The final details have all been applied, with only license plate graphics to make and exhaust tips to add. I’ll do that tomorrow and then shoot presentation pics of the completed model. The composite photo below summarizes all the final fiddly bits that went. In particular I wanted to point out the headlights. I’ve always preferred my hot rod headlights to have body colored buckets but very few kits come with separate headlight buckets and lens trim rings. Until the advent of Molotow Chrome pens picking out chrome trim rings was nearly impossible and, unless I had the right parts kit I had to settle for chrome. For years I kept the AMT Phantom Vicky kits in my stash for this purpose, but these kits are getting increasingly hard to find and going up in price. Earlier this year I was working on a black Deuce roadster and about to dig in to my last set of Phantom Vicky headlights. Looking through my stash I dug into my picked-over Revellogram ’29 Ford RPU/’30 Ford Sedan “Rat Rod” kits. Those kits are a mainstay for my hot rod builds because of the excellent front suspension, buggy spring rear suspension and frame parts, the “friction shocks”, excellent hopped up 4-bangers, etc. Really ideal for my Old School rod work. Looking at the chrome trees one more time it occurred to me that I could float epoxy over the engraved lenses, which up to now I had avoided using because these ancient Monogram kits don’t come with clear lenses. Stripping the chrome off the separate chrome buckets and I had what I was looking for. This current project is the second time I’ve used this trick. Yet another part to use from these venerable parts kits. Other details in the photos include a dropped headlight bar from the Revell ’32 Ford 3-window coupe kit, AMT ’39 Ford tail lights, the kit-supplied wind wings and side lamps, and the split front bumpers which are rear bumpers from the afore-mentioned :30 Ford Sedan kit. They are virtually identical in dimension and shape to the split rear bumpers in the Phaeton kit, belying their shared Monogram roots. As I said, this should do it for work-in-progress updates. Next up will be the final “beauty pics” of the completed model. Thanx to all who followed along, B.

Thanks Greg! Details, details; when it comes to show rods it’s all in the details. And this Revell update of this classic old Monogram kit is rich in detail all by itself, and the style of the Ford ’30 Tub begs to add more. I decided, given the show car vibe I would add some diamond quilt upholstery detail, in the form of padded accents to the spare tire, the running boards and a steering wheel cover. The rest of the interior is finished as well, essentially stock out of the kit. The engine compartment, too, is completed with ignition coil, fuel log and grill braces added. I also added some chrome firewall trim from a Revellogram ’30 Ford Sedan kit. I’m down to the lighting, bumpers and windshield and I can call her done. Thanx for lookin’, B.

Thanks guys! Glad you dig it! It may not look like it but there’s actually a lot of progress that’s been made with this project. The paint work has been cleared and polished. The chassis is complete and firewall completed and installed. The interior parts are all painted and the interior sides are glued in place. The photos below are still in mockup mode. The fenders are glued to the chassis but the rest of the body parts aren’t. The windshield is held in place with white glue along with the top. The motor needs to have the fuel lines and coil wire glued in place. But basically I’m down to final assembly. There are lots of small, fiddly parts to put in place, especially chrome bits attached to the body. All this brightwork, along with the bumpers, lights and spare tire should change the character of the car pretty dramatically. Thanx for lookin’, B.

This project represents my first experience building a full-detail, high parts count Japanese kit. It’s the Fujimi Porsche 356A 1500 GS Carrera Speedster kit. It’s not my first Japanese kit project; I recently finished a Tamiya Lotus Seven S2 build, but that was more in line regarding detail, construction and parts count with the Revell, Monogram and AMT kits I usually work with. Nor is this my first Porsche. I built a 904 from the ex-Aurora, then Monogram, kit from the early 60’s. It’s actually very detailed and builds out pretty well. I also have done a 356 Speedster, but that was the ancient Revell multi-piece body kit. Again, the detail was surprisingly good, but neither of those kits have the precision and almost literal detail of this Fujimi kit. It is truly spectacular and, for this confirmed hot rod kit basher it’s requiring some careful planning and many, many trips back to the instruction sheet. With this level of complexity and with so many sub-assemblies to deal with deciding what to start with was half the battle. The Revell 356 Speedster had been built as a 50’s Cal Club style race car so I decided this speedster would be more in the vein of a modern Outlaw. Outlaw Porsches seem to come in three general styles, especially when it concerns 356s. First there’s the boy-racer fake Carrera Panamericana look, with stripes, numbers and requisite red Flying Pegasus decals. My .50’s Cal Club car was built in that style, even if it was fairly authentic period build. The second type is the totally re-engineered hop up, often with modern motors, suspension and brakes, and sometimes with modern aerodynamic updates to the bodywork. The third type is the retro-customized look, with non-standard paint jobs, often shaved and lowered, and non-standard rolling stock. That’s what I’m doing here. That’s why I started with the bodywork and paint, to see if that was a look worth pursuing. I had seen a reproduction Speedster from Germany done with whitewalls and a simple smoothed “bathtub” look that appealed to me so that’s what I’m after here. Below is a composite photo of progress so far. The upper two pictures are of the body with the paint work completed. The base color is Tamiya AS-29 Grey Green over white primer. It’s a military color and frankly looked a bit too military if left as-is, particularly since it’s a fairly matte paint. I tested it with a clear coat and that added some depth and richness but still didn’t get me that non-standard Outlaw look I was after. So I tested it with Tamiya TS-65 Pearl Clear. This made a big difference, adding considerable depth and complexity and an iridescent sheen. The upper two panels in the photo below are an accurate representation of the final color and effect. The paint job consists 3 coats of AS-29 over white primer, followed by three coats of TS-65 Pearl Clear and then 2 coats of Tamiya clear gloss. The paint was polished out to a high gloss after the TS-65 was applied. I should note that you really need 3 coats of the pearl clear to get the color to shift and start to pop. The final clear coats then, as you would expect, adds a lot of richness and depth. I haven’t polished the clear coats and my not if it sets up right. The two lower panels show the body work with a single coat of pearl clear over the AS-29. Those shots were quick jpeg grabs so the color representation is npt perfect, but you can see that it was more olive green than with the additional pearl clear coats, polish and final clear coats. The bodywork modifications consist of shaving all the trim off and filling the bumper mount holes. It will be bumperless with stock lights and front vent trim. I also landed up smoothing some slightly angular surfaces that had resulted from the mold casting process. The wheels you see are from the old Monogram slot-car body curbside 904 kit. The whitewalls are of unknown origin from my parts box, but I suspect they are Monogram 1/24th pieces, perhaps from the ’58 Thunderbird kit. Those bottom 2 pictures are real Blue-tape Specials, just two wheels taped to the inside of the body to check the concept. Given the rich complexity of this kit the project will take a while. I’ve painted the interior parts and am now moving on to the chassis and suspension. I’d like to lower the car a couple of scale inches, and figuring how to do that with the highly detailed and accurate suspension should be quite a challenge. The DOHC Carrera motor is a whole separate model in its own right. But from here on out most everything other than the lowering job and the wheel swap should be pretty much Out Of The Box - but what a box-o-parts it is! Thanx for lookin’, B.

Thanks. Here's a thread from 2018 I started about this technique: There's additional discussion on the more recent Bare Metal '32 Ford Roadster I posted but the technique is the same. One detail I omitted is that if you want some dark stained discoloration you can add a very light, random application of of a wash. I use Tamiya Black Panel Line Wash. The trick is to apply it sparingly and len very lightly brush it with a tissue to absorb any loose "puddles" or accumulations. The key is to get a good idea in your mind's eye in advance of where you want to land up.

Overhead valve conversions for Ford and Chevy motors go back at least to the early 1920's so no problem being T.R.O.G.-worthy.