Bernard Kron

The Devin D, while never kitted, could be done as a resin body only and then converted from a VW bug platform chassis, just like the 1:1. A lovely idea. Ane just as cool, perhaps more so, would be the original big brother to the D, the Devin SS. I would settle for just the body and then scratch the rest, but the 1:1 could be had as a complete car with a very nice bespoke chassis and Corvette power. The chassis, oddly enough, was built for Devin in Ireland, and early example of using cheap but skillful offshore labor. The Devin SS complete factory car: Bill Devin with the Devin SS factory chassis and tri-power Corvette motor: And the most famous Devin of all Shouldn't Revell have kitted this one back in the day?:

Thanks everyone. Dann, you made me laugh! As I'm sure you know, that was unintentional. A last-minute attempt at using Tamiya "Finish" polishing compound to clean up the glass. Never again! I should have stuck with Windex and a soft cloth. But this points out how sensitive these "moderns" are to the Clean Build I've written about. These are the sorts of details that "upstage" the overall look and distract from the somewhat clinical precision that's inherent in modern car design. It's certainly different than how one might treat a sports-racer, for example, even as late as into the 1980's or 90's. There, weathering is appropriate. But today the pit crew wipes down the bodywork of a race car moments before it leaves the pits. That idealized look extends to how all modern cars are photographed and presented and it prejudices how we expect to see them. For me, taking on modern subjects is at least partially about pursuing the elusive Clean Build.

Acura RSX JDM Tuner Style This project represented a radical departure from my usual modeling fare. Since my return to auto modeling nearly 10 years ago I’ve dedicated myself virtually exclusively to hot rod, custom car and straight line racing (drag and LSR) subjects. And Old School, at that. Indeed the only exception was a Ferrari 250 GT SWB I built last year, so that means that not only is this non-hot rod, but my first post 1960’s build as well! The motive for doing this car was to gain experience building contemporary cars. I’m gradually building up an inventory of contemporary sports cars to build. These kits sometimes involve techniques and construction approaches that are new to me when compared to the older kits (AMT, Revell and Monogram) that I usually tackle. Examples of this are the windows mounted to the outer surfaces of the bodywork, and the blackout trim around the edges of the window glass. This was a low-risk project because this was a kit I won as a door prize a few years back at the one and only IPMA show I ever attended. But my personal build style was still in evidence, for example in the fill panels I added to the kit tuner nose piece which originally had the characteristic Acura “V” indentation. I did it to give the car a more purposeful race car look. I also made my own carbon fiber decals for the rear wing and the hood. The trade “decals” on the both pieces are part of the art for the carbon fiber panel, laid over a base of metallic silver. The rest of the decals are from an aftermarket Hobby Design JDM sheet. I’ve never experienced decals of this quality before. What a pleasure! Other than that the build is largely out-of-the-box. The body color is Duplicolor Toreador Red. The wing brackets and wheels are finished in Testors Metalizer Brass for a gold-anodized look. All in all a well-conceived, well-engineered kit with excellent parts fit and nice clean, crisp casting. A good introduction to modern auto modeling. Thanx for lookin’, B.

This project is now completed! Lots of new things to watch out for, like cleanly gluing surface mounted windows and trimming them out with their black surrounds – basic stuff for modern cars but a brave new world for this modeler whose subjects have never seen the far side of the 1960’s! This kit was well ,engineered and the parts fit excellent so there were no technical challenges that weren’t inherent in the way contemporary cars go together. I had thought about modifying the stance but the way the suspension was constructed in this kit gave me pause – it was unfamiliar territory and I thought I’d wait for another swing at a contemporary car before I start fooling around with stance. Overall an uneventful and interesting build working in a subject area that, when it comes to doing things in scale, was a brave new world for me. Below is a summary photo showing the final details as they appear on the completed model. I’ll post the final beauty pics Under Glass in the next day or so. As always, thanks to all who followed along… Thanx for lookin’, B.

Thanks everyone! Now I'm playing in your field. It really is different for me...

Thanks Steve!

Thanks Anders!

Whoa! This is just the sort of project that keeps getting passed over on my to-do list, ever since I fell in love with the AMT Phantom Vicky as the Ultimate Parts Kit. Smart move on swithchinh to the roadster nody over the 5 window. Much more straightforward and appropriate. I've always liked the detail and authenticity of that modern AMT chassis. The changes your making to the suspension are just what's needed. Can't wait to see more, more, more!

Thanks to you all for the generous appreciations. I've always considered the '35-'37 Ford two-door bodies (especially the 3-window and the roadster with their longer doors) the pinnacle of 30's "Deco" streamline body design in a mass produced car. E.T. "Bob" Gregorie, head of Ford body design, and close ally of Edsel Ford in the inside battle to modernize the company as it competed with GM, doesn't often get the credit he deserves for the unbroken line of superb designs he created across all the Ford brands until his premature retirement at the age of 38 in 1946. He was a master of the style and the model 40 and its successors were among the finest popularly priced automobiles of the pre-WWII era. The beauty of the design motivated me to stick with the original and focus on my personal "holy grail" in modeling, the Clean Build. I've been chasing it ever since I returned to modeling almost ten years ago. Really fine technique gives you the freedom to stay focused on the overall look with the confidence that you won't detract from it by drawing the viewer's eye to flaws and shortfalls. I'm not there yet, and truly immaculate builds still leave me stunned and envious, but sticking close to the basic design and the resources an excellent kit like the AMT '36 Ford offers, is an opportunity to take another swing at my goal. Thanks again for all the kind words. As always, I'm grateful when a model makes the connection...

’36 Ford 3-Window Coupe Late-50’s Style Resto-Rod The Resto-Rod style of street rod was born of the realization among hot rodders in the late 50’s that the popular pre-war hot rod body styles, especially Fords, were starting to get scarce and that these classic bodies were at risk of disappearing under the welder’s torch. So rodders began preserving the original bodies and trim, while hopping up, restoring, re-upholstering and repainting the old cars in the hot rod style. This AMT ’36 Ford 3-window coupe is done in the early form of the Resto Rod style as it would have been seen in the late 50’s, particularly in Southern California. Finished in Duplicolor Bright Red, the body and trim is completely stock except for the deleted rumble seat handle. The roof height is stock, too. But the stance is lowered 4 scale inches all around and the rolling stock is classic 50’s Firestone DeLuxe white walls (courtesy of Scenes Unlimited) with flipper hubcaps taken from an AMT ’40 Ford Sedan Delivery kit. The interior was redone in scratch-built tuck and roll and a ’40 Ford steering wheel. The motor, a tri-carb Pontiac V8 from the AMT kit, is classic late 50’s vintage. Given that this AMT kit was first introduced in 1961 I would think this sort of car was certainly one option the kit’s creators would have had in mind. Thanx for lookin’, B.

Thanks everyone! All finished up, now. Below is a summary photo of the final details. With the exception of the deleted rumble seat handle the bodywork details are all stock. I used the Lucas lenses in the headlights from the kit. I’ll post the final “beauty shots” Under Glass later today or tomorrow. Thanx to all who followed along. Thanx for lookin’, B.

I’ve decided to stick closely to a stock-body look, in keeping with the un-chopped top. I’m also appreciating what a fine job the AMT designers did with this 1961 vintage Trophy kit. I’m not building this car from any one kit, but from a box of leftover parts, and yet everything seems to fit together properly and the logic of the way the parts fit is spot on. Of course the 1936 Ford Coupe is also a tribute to E.T. "Bob" Gregorie, head of Ford body design, and close ally of Edsel Ford in the inside battle to modernize the company as it competed with GM, despite the resistance put up by Edsel’s father Henry. Gregorie was only in his mid-20s when he penned an unbroken line of classics throughout the Depression years concluding with what would be the 1949 Mercury before retiring at the age of 36 in 1946 after Edsel’s death. As I made my design decisions I decided to stick close to Gregorie’s masterpiece, only adding conservative 50’s style customizing touches, in this case the Appleton spots from the kit, and a padded spare tire cover adapted from a Monogram ’59 Chevy kit. It’s currently only in mockup form, but with the stock bumpers in their stock positions it was needed. Below are two photos showing where I’m at for now. The rear view is mocked up with the tire held in place with masking tape and the bumper tacked in place. The stock hood sides and trim will all be retained. Thanx for lookin’, B.

I left my pictures on their servers just to contribute to their general overhead of operations. While I consider their actions in the past couple of years disruptive at the minimum, and short-sighted and damaging to the communities they served, it is good to see that not only are they offering the possibility of more reasonable pricing, but that they undid the damage of breaking all those links. Those who have posted on this thread thinking they must subscribe to get their pictures back, this is not the case. They are serving your pictures up whether you ever do business with them or not. If they break the limks a second time this will destroy them once and for all. But no need to tell them "all is forgiven" by re-subscrbing...

Well that's disappointing, to say the least. Unfortunately the next test is the promptness of the refund...

My "speculation" as you call it is merely a summary of where stand as of now. Model Round Up has a business to run and is updating their customers on how they see their relationship with Revell in the next few months. In that sense they are "people with actual knowledge", which they are sharing with us. Their update is useful in gaining a perspective on where we stand on what until recently was an important supplier to our hobby on the North American side of things (Revell USA and New Revell going forward). As to whether any of us as individuals can effect events, in the final analysis we are the market and what the New Revell's dealers and distributors tell Revell will ultimately reflect their realities as businesses and how they serve us. What Model Roundup has told its customers reflects what they are telling their distributors and suppliers - ultimately New Revell. It's this that New Revell must digest and use to determine their way forward. The decisions are theirs, not ours, but at the end of the day we are their customers.

My own impression is that the new owners and their management (who are the old Revell Germany management team) are proceeding slowly through the process of forming their new business. If I had to speculate it would be that they are only now beginning to get an impression of what the USA-based operation (which they shut down) involved. They are hearing from dealers and distributors and doubtless interpreting the input they are receiving in terms of past sales performance. The default position seems to be to run the business at the higher German price points and see the impact on sales and profitability. For the moment the USA catalog is entirely MIA. A visit to the Revell Germany website shows a drastically smaller, far less auto-centric, catalog than the USA operation. For now this appears to be the only stable representation of New Revell offerings. Thus they will have to decide whether to ramp up a USA-style product line, and, if so, to what degree and based on what input. At the very least they have warehouse inventory and product contracted for and in transit that must be sold. The USA side was very active in recent years issuing new subjects and key re-issues, so the USA-based market will have developed some expectations in this regard, and can be expected to make these expectations known. But it would appear that dealers and distributors have not been told to expect a rapid or even seamless transition. In the meantime, for Round 2, this provides an important competitive advantage as they will, for a time, dominate dealer and distributor shelves. A visit to Hobby Lobby, for example, shows that automobile subjects are easily 3/4s of the plastic model and die cast shelf space, dominated by US-style subjects. In North America, at least, this is the reality that the New Revell has to deal with. At this point New Revell is beginning to appear as an unreliable supplier, which, in business terms, can be deadly. So the New Revell has some decisions to make as they head into the fall buying season. I'm guessing they will rapidly realize that, tactically, these decisions need to be made sooner rather than later.

Nice model! I've got a feeling that there may be a rediscovery of the Resto-Rod style merging. I'm beginning to see it pop up here and there... This was the merging style when these kits were first designed. This model "goes with the flow" and doesn't fight it - and does it well!

Thank you, everyone. I'm glad you all are diggin' it. I’ve always considered that the old model car kits from the earliest days function as a kind of time machine, an accurate representation of the point-of-view of the creators of these kits at the time they were made. This is particularly useful when these kits are contemporary with what they are representing. Monogram hot rod kits from the early 60’s particularly excel in capturing the flavor of the era, but AMT were no slouches either and issued several classic kits that have withstood the test of time for their ability to document the era it was created in. One of these is the AMT ’36 Ford Coupe kit, first released in 1961, and this project is all about trying to “go with the flow” and limit any changes I make to ones which will enhance what AMT has already given us, a straight-up late 50’s street rod. This update is about that approach. Essentially there’s nothing major going on, just some basic kit assembly work, and finishing out the interior I started last time. Colors and details are what I focused on. The hopped-up Pontiac V8 motor, for example, is a classic late 50’s/early 60’s piece, with the showy chrome bits one saw at the kustom kar shows. So basically, with the exception of the air cleaners, which are the bottoms of the flathead air cleaner flipped upside down and finished in Molotow Chrome, everything is straight out of the box. The block is finished in gold, a common treatment for show cars of the period, and in keeping with the white undercarriage engine compartment finishes. The interior is down in Duplicolor Oxford White and Duplicolor Crème. I added red piping to introduce some contrast once the interior is put away inside the body. The steering wheel is an AMT ’40 Ford unit. Otherwise, again, out of the box. Next up is foil work and then final assembly. All very basic… Thanx for lookin’, B.

It’s been a while since I’ve done a truly classic traditional hot rod project. Most recently I’ve been completing a ’57 ‘Vette tha’s from the late 50’s period and includes a custom paint scheme and a Bonnecille variant. But in the final analysis it’s a sporty car. The other week, though, Nico Lindström (Mr.409) and Eric Stone (EchoBravoSierra) posted some photos of some knockout stock roof ’36 Fords done in a classic mild custom style on the ’36 Ford inspiration thread over on the TRaK board (see: http://trakinscale.proboards.com/thread/12533/1936-ford?page=2). That got my juices flowing for sure. The result is a back-to-basics project, an AMT ’36 Ford with stock roof height, stock hood sides and trim, but severely lowered, with flipper ‘caps (via an AMT ’40 Ford Sedan Delivery) and Firestone Deluxe Champion Whitewalls (these last some really nice resin items courtesy of Scenes Unlimited – fully labeled even). The interior is based on the kit bucket but the seat was completely worked over, removing the seat surfaces and fabricating a classic tuck and roll out of styrene half round for the bolsters and styrene corrugated stock for the rolls. The interior sides also got the same treatment. The interior will be finished in white to complement the body undersides. The basic paint is Duplicolor Bright Red over white primer. I haven’t decided on the bumper treatment (stock bumpers, ’40 Ford bumpers or nerf bars…???), but I opened up the holes for the kit Appleton spots so I’m committed to them. The headlights and taillights will be stock. Here’s the work so far. The first pics show the interior fabrication work and then the basic color and stance. Thanx for lookin’, B.

Terrific idea, sure to be a non-stop treat from beginning to end. And so nice to see you and Chris alongside John for this one! Bring it on!!!!

After a couple of seasons of hard road racing the Triple Threat 'Vette would have been ready for a freshening up prior to being campaigned on the Salt Flats. So in the winter of '59 it received it's injected mill in anticipation of its LSR work and some fancy Halibrand Torq-Thrust rims. Somewhere at the beginning of it's 2nd road racing season it had gotten a nice 3-point roll bar. The whole thing looked so purposeful that the owner went ahead and gave the car a nifty expanded metal grill and a pair of fog-lights, Ferrari style. Add it all up and it was just too nice not to show it off on the SoCal rod and custom show car circuit. Below are the summary pictures of Version 2, the Show Car variant of the Triple Threat 'Vette. Next up, the final high speed Bonneville version. Thanx for lookin', B.

They are very responsive once you contact them. Check your PM.

Thanks everyone. It's appreciated! If this wasn’t the “Triple Threat “Vette” I could probably say that this project is done, now. But that’s not the case because where I’m at now is the completion of Phase 1, the late 50’s style Cal Club road race version. The paint is completed now, with 4 coats of Duplicolor Clear over the decals. Running in B Production the road racer is equipped with the Dual-Quad 275 HP motor. Although the ’57 offered the famous Rochester Fuel Injection option rated with an extra 10 BHP, the Dual Quad was more familiar to shade-tree mechanics and easier to tune, with the likelihood of actually getting the same of more real horsepower. Other than the molded front and rear pans and the kustom candy blue paint job this version is stock and would pass inspection as such. The wheels are steelies and I even included the wimpy, but period correct, roll over bar from the Monogram kit, which was the style most commonly seen on these cars at the time. The 3-point roll hoop shown earlier will make its appearance on the show and salt lakes versions. The cut down windshield was made from the kit glass and will be shared by all the three versions. The stock grill will only appear on this version. The show car will get a custom grill and fog lamps, Ferrari style, and the salt lakes car will get a solid blank filler aero panel. The stock headlights have protective covers on the road racer. They will be removed for the show car and may reappear on the Bonneville car, although I’m working on a possible set of streamlining conical headlight covers for that version. The interior, which is essentially stock, will be shared by all three version. Next up is the show car with its custom grill, Torq-Thrust mags, 3 point roll hoop, and Hilborn fuel injection. Then finally the salt lakes car with additional aero details, a tonneau cover, and Moon discs. Once all three are done I’ll do a full set of formal photos. In the meantime below are two summary sets showing the work done since the last update. Thanx for lookin’, B.

I'm highly allergic to super-glue and can't use it at all. Like Nick (High Octane), I use 5-minute epoxy for any non-styrene parts. In fact I also use it for styrene when I want a non-solvent joint or where I want to avoid marring the surface (like for windows or on painted surfaces). When it comes to final assembly I mainly use epopxy, in fact. But I have a question for you epoxy users. The one thing I miss about superglue is the fast, near--instant bond using a tiny amount of adhesive. What techniques have you epoxy users developed to substitute for this?

The paint malfunction is a heartbreaker, but judging by what preceded it I'm sure your assurance that the re-do will be "even better" is doubtless no idle promise. In the meantime everything so far is so very nice. I'm just getting into this style of build and following each one I encounter, just soaking it all in...