Bernard Kron

This is the 1/24th scale Tamiya kit. Believe it or not, it's my first Tamiya and I'm enjoying the detail. crispness and precision. My plan is to build the club racer version with the ero screens. I'm in the "proof of concept" phase right now, where I tackle the changes and difficult bits to make sure the idea I have will work. I'm going to try to duplicate the polished aluminum that was a popular treatment among owners of these early lotuses. I'm using Spaz Stix Ultimate Mirror Chrome shot to bare polished styrene. I did the bonnet, cowl and transmission and they came out really nicely so now it's time to tackle the masking job to accomodate the painted fenders and nose. Dave Bantoft (Dave B here on MCM) in Australia had let me now a while back that he had resin copies of the classic Lotus "Wobbly" cast aluminum wheels that Colin Chapman first introduced with the front engine Lotus 12 Formula 2 car in late 1956. "Wobblies" are another popular early-lotus appearance item, usually finished in their characteristic yellow color. Dave was kind enough to send me a set. Dave's resin castings included tires molded to the rims and solid backs. The wheels are just the right size but the tires were a little small. With the fact that they had full wheel backs with no room for the kit brakes it was simplest, if a little risky, to remove the tires and then sand the faces down to fit the kit tires. Here's a post-thrash bench photo of the result. I'm using AMT inner wheel rims. Once they're in the prerequisite yellow they should look mighty fine. You can also see the beginnings of masking job. This is a brave new world for this confirmed rod and custom modeler, although this particular car has much in common with a hot rod. Wish me luck! Thanx for lookin', B.

50’s style ’37 Ford Slantback Street Rod The ’37 Ford truly is the quintessential Billet Era street rod. Even today, if you go to local rod shows there’s a good chance you’ll see ’37 Ford Slantback Tudor that’s a throwback to the height of the Billet Rod craze of the 80’s and 90’s. Oh, the owner may have changed out the rolling to more traditional steelies and wide whites. If the owner is serious about “updating” it to today’s traditional style it might have been repainted in red or black. And maybe the small block mill has even been converted to triple Strombergs. But a peak at the interior will give away its roots because all that milled aluminum and tweed is just too costly to replace. In 1987 Monogram celebrated this period icon with its 1/4th scale ’37 Ford Sedan Street Rod kit. It’s Billet Era through and through with Boyd style billet wheels, Mustang IFS clip, Corvette IRS, and a 4-barrel SBC with an automatic tranny and billet accessories. It’s a well-engineered kit with finely detailed parts, and a nicely rendered body. It goes together well and rewards the builder with a classic 90’s street rod. I was looking through my stash for a slump buster and realized that I had avoided this kit for more than a decade. You see, Billet is just not my thing. Period correct 50’s is more what gloats my boat. Looking at it yet again, I realized that with just some detail changes it could be made to represent the typical mild street hot rod that used to grace the Little Pages back in the day. It’s a solid kit that would provide just the sort of simple project I was looking for if I stuck closely to the concept of back-dating it. So what you see here is a pretty simple project. The suspension and rolling stock were lifted directly from a 10 year old stillborn AMT/Revell ’40 Ford Tudor hybrid I never finished. The front and rear axles and rear suspension have been swapped out for bits from a Revell ’40 Ford Coupe street rod, the wide white tires are Modelhaus 120A’s mounted on AMT steelies and covered with Moon Discs from Parts by Parks. The only non-kit parts are the ,’58 ‘Vette style dual 4-barrel intake on the kit small block. They’re from a Revell Chevy 283 Parts Pak, and despite the scale mismatch they fit perfectly. Oh yeah, and the taillights are AMT ’36 Ford bits. Otherwise it’s straight out of the box. I ditched the kit headrests on the seats, deleted the stereo speakers on the package shelf and just made sure the colors were right for the 50’s machine I was modeling. The paint is Tamiya AS-5 Light Blue Luftwaffe, a matte military color that is meant to represent the tinted primer paint jobs that graced many a budget-conscious street machine in the 50’s I neglected to photograph the assembled interior, at least partially because of the way it goes together in this kit, so I’ve include a summary picture of the motor and the interior parts along with a side view showing the slightly raked stance that the deep-drop Revell beam axle gives the car. I added a ’40 Ford steering wheel and column during final assembly. The project had the desired effect. A simple build with a minimum of fabrication and parts swapping that takes advantage of a well-conceived classic kit, even if it isn’t one that would normally appeal to me. Thanks for lookin’, B.

Ambitious and effective! I dig it!

Thanks guys! This the final update. The project is essentially done although I still have to glue the chassis to the body. Below is a final summary showing the stance, the Moon discs from Parts By Parks, and all the detail that was added, either by foiling from the kit parts. The engine bay is complete and trimmed in white to contrast with the exterior paint. The tail lights are from an AMT ’36 Ford kit. Pretty much your classic late 50’s hop-up from just after the Chevy small block swept the Ford flathead from the scene. I’ll take final “beauty shots” and post the complete model tomorrow. Thanx to all who followed along, B.

Thanks everyone. I'm glad you all are enjoying this. This is really a minor update since the basic de-Billet-ing of the chassis was done on my previous post. This is the assembly of the motor and chassis. The motor is the kit Small Block Chevy with a simple back-dating of the carburetion to the Corvette 283 dual 4-barrel, a dealership parts counter hop up popular in the early years of the SBC. Manifold, carbs and air cleaners are all from a Revell Parts Pack 283. The pre-wired distributor is from Morgan Automotive Detail. The kit exhaust system was re-routed slightly to fit the reworked rear suspension. The rear suspension locating arms are from the Revell ’40 Ford street rod kit that contributed the rear suspension and axle. I’m actually further along than the picture below would indicate. I’m ready for final assembly with the window and hood side trim foiled, the interior done, etc. I’ve always liked how these pre-Revell Monogram kits are designed. They’re engineered for straightforward no-dramas assembly with lots of nice detail. This one is no exception. My next update will be final one before I post the completed project. Thanks for lookin’, B.

Thanks Elvin. Glad you dig it. There's nothing more classic than a '29 A-Roadster on Deuce rails!

Thanks Randy. In my experience the channeled frame is the more difficult of the two to get dialed in to a decent stance. I swear it sits even higher than the Deuce railed highboy piece. At the very least it's the same height but with the narrower A-bone rails it only emphasizes the mile-high stance even more. When I did the channeled version I landed up increasing the drop on the rear "z" as well as doing the both the front and rear end mods you see on this one.

Thanks Gary and Mark! I'm glad you both like it. I must admit it's one of the more personally satisfying of my completions of late.

I've always been a fan of your miles-deep paint work and impeccable execution. This is without a doubt the best interpretation of the Foose Caddy I've yet to see. It gives it a richness and elegance missing from most versions out there. Bravo!

Thanks! Looks like a good source for hot rod and American car stuff. I notice he pressure casts, usually a good sign of quality.

Builder’s block. I’m sure it happens to all of us; some, of course, more severe than others. In my case I like to be working on a model car project pretty much throughout the year with little interruption. Some projects take longer than others but I generally have something going. But since May 21st I’ve been pretty much dead in the water. This is not unknown to me, but it’s quite rare. I started a couple of things which turned out to be more like paint experiments than actual modeling projects. Then about five days ago I finally got past it. I decided I would do a simple build to get things moving and then tackle something more adventurous next. This is the simple one, a Monogram ’37 Ford Sedan street rod. First released in 1987 it’s a real period piece – a classic billet rod with independent suspension front and rear and Boyd-style billet wheels and billet details under the hood and all over the interior. With the Traditional Rod revival of the past several years building this slantback out-of-the-box would be a real throwback – and frankly not to my taste. For this reason this kit sat in my stash for many years. A strange choice to cure a case of builder’s block… Regardless, I started in on it less than a week ago. One thing about this early release version is that it’s molded in genuine Monogram Bleed-Through Orange Plastic. So the first order of business was to get that stuff sealed off. I thought some Duplicolor Primer Sealer would do the trick (it usually does) but this plastic dye is so strong it went right through it. After a session in the Purple Pond I used my old reliable combo: generic Duplicolor Metallic Silver Acrylic Lacquer over the aforementioned primer sealer (the cheap stuff in the tall can – but it sets up and lays down beautifully). Mission accomplished. I’m going for a real late 50’s street machine kind of look. So the color I’ve chosen is actually Tamiya AS-5 Light Blue Luftwaffe, a military color of all things. But it gives the car a tough, utilitarian performance look, particularly with the Modelhaus T-120 wide whites I’m using. The sub-text of this project is to use as many surplus bits from my stash as are appropriate to the final result. The kit itself fits that description, as it’s unlikely I’ll build another one. The red-painted steelie wheels and T-120 tires are .from a still-born Revell/AMT ’40 Ford Sedan hybrid I started at least 10 years ago. The rolling stock was glued to Revell ’40 Ford Street Rod front and rear axles and it’s doubtful I could ever remove them without destroying the axles. So the whole wheel/axle set was adapted to the Monogram chassis. This has gotten rid of the billet-era independent suspension, as well as lowering the stance a bit. The interior is kit stock except for deleting the headrests and the stereo speakers on the package shelf. I’ll replace the billet era steering wheel with something 50’s-appropriate. In keeping with the WWII German paint theme (unconscious, I assure you) the main interior color is Testors Acryl Panzer Interior Beige with Folk Art craft paint Teddy Bear Tan accents, The trim details will get picked out in Molotow Chrome, Other than the suspension and wheels and tires, most of the build will come from the Monogram kit, modified as needed to de-billet-ate it. Below are some pictures of the work so far, showing the original Bleed-Through Orange styrene, the suspension work, the interior bits, wheels and tires (the wheels will get Moon caps) and chassis and the overall look in the light blue. The dull semi-gloss patina of the military paint makes it look like it’s in tinted primer, a popular look in the 50’s. It’s likely I’ll keep it but I might go with a clear gloss. I might even give it a pearlescent finish. I’m doing some paint trials to determine what I choose. But other than the lowered stance, the rolled pans and deleted bumpers, and the Moon caps, it will be pretty stock. As I said – a simple project. It shouldn’t take long to do, and hopefully get the juices flowing again. Thanx for lookin’, B.

The A110 is one of my dream cars, in scale or 1:1. Really nicely executed build. This looks like a fine kit. That blue may be "incorrect" but it's a stunner in the daylight. A super nice model.

Superbly executed. Lovely model. You wouldn't happen to remember the source for the resin continental kit, would you?

Great to see you at the bench on a new project. Looks surrealistically real - colors and proportions all scale. Wonderful!

Gorgeous fabrication work - I dig the "devil horns" and the modern bagged setup. A couple of months back I finished a Deuce highboy roadster where I, too, deleted the gas tank, so I'm glad to see the quick-change since this mod always puts the entire rear end on full display. I'm tempted to suggest a mild chop on the top to be more in proportion to the sectioned/smaller grill shell. But regardless, it's lookin' great. Build on!

Thank you, Alan. I'm not a big fan of the rusty and crusty look myself, but a realistically done worn finish has always impressed me. Over the years I've seen plenty of worn paint jobs that somehow look right on the car in question, and that was what I was reaching for here.

Fabulous! Imaginative, original, well executed and... desirable as a 1:1. Couldn't ask for more.

Thanks Larry!

Thanks so much David! Unfortunately (I guess...) the patina thing is more intuition than anything else. It's simply a matter of having the right "picture in your head" and intuiting the techniques you can use to get there, LOL! I swear I remove more weathering powder and polish more paint that I apply or sand to achieve it. It's really an exercise in knowing when to stop. Judging from your models I bet you wouldn't have a problem doing it since your cars always look "right" for what your aiming at. But if you lack the inclination to do it, then that, indeed, is a recipe for disaster. It's like me doing a showroom stock model. I wouldn't know where to begin - and yet I'm a huge fan of that discipline.

Thank you, Carl!

Beautiful showroom stock motors, Steve. I'm a huge fan of that modeling discipline, something I fear I will never have the self control and skill to attempt. I build hot rod and drag racing subjects and I tend to use metalizer paints a lot. I frequently strip kit chrome and substitute metallic paints for what I hope is a more realistic effect. Here are a few examples. The Revell Slingster from a few years with an upgraded version of the kit hemi. The stock valve covers were foiled and the scoop is kit chrome from a Revell Pontiac V8 Parts Pack. But the rest is entirely various shades of Testors Metalizer paints except for the headers which are polished aluminum tubing. Another Chrysler Hemi, this time injected from a Willys Resto-Mod. Black block and all metalizer finishes excepting the aluminum injector stacks. A big block Chevy in a dirt track modified. I don’t have a closeup of the motor but I always liked this one because it looked realistic nestled in the chassis. Chevy orange block and metalizers throughout. This is an example of “full dress” V8 Ford Flathead from a Deuce roadster I recently finished. This is unusual for me because there’s a lot of kit chrome, although I also used various washes to highlight detail and knock back the shine a little. And lastly a fairly unusual combination, a Revell Parts Pack Pontiac V8 with a Revell Parts Pack Chevy Potvin blower setup adapted to it. This motor has never been installed in the car, a what-if salt flats version of the Club De Mer, but is displayed with it as a set. It’s another “showboat” full-dress motor so there’s some kit chrome but also a lot of metalizer work.

Oops! I just checked my e-mails and it seems nothing went out to Firebird. I just sent him a new message. (I just checked - it really did go out this time!) Thanks for the replies.

I never heard back from Firebird Designs... ?

Thank you Larry! I’ve had a request for some outdoor shots in natural light, so here they are.

Thanks everyone. I'm really pleased you all dig it. This "new" '29 kit (it was, after all, introduced in 2015 but then "disappeared" for a while) is the ultimate Parts Kit, but built straight out of the box, IMHO, it needs some work. The individual sub-assemblies (the motor, suspensions, chassis, interior, body, etc.) are beautifully detailed and finely executed. And well chosen, too. The I-Beam front end is as nice as ever has been done in 1/25th scale, for example. And both the Small Block Chevy (now in the roadster) and the Nailhead Buick (swapped over to the '30 coupe in the re-issues) are among the best I've seen. But the stock OOB build stands too high off the ground, the slim little '29 body shell separated from the ground by a vast amount of air. It needs to Come Down!!! Now that I've done both versions, channeled and highboy, I must say that the Highboy on its '32 Ford chassis rails is much easier to get looking right. I'll probably have another swing at the channeled version to see if 3rd time's the charm. Perhaps I'm being a bit harsh, since if you look at all the builds of this kit on the MCM board there's no lack of impressively done out-of-box builds. Suffice it to say I'm so glad it's back and am certain it will become a mainstay of my hot rod inventory. And yes, your comments and interest are greatly appreciated!