Bernard Kron

Nice ones, Roger! Thanks for reviving this thread. The last time I posted was nearly 3 years ago. Good grief! Here are some of drag strip builds since then: The Silver Slipper A-Fuel Dragster: The Terrible Topolino Fuel Competition Coupe: '41 Plymouth Barn Find F/Gasser: The Wild 'Stang Funny Car: Little Feather Junior Fuel Dragster:

Model Car Garage has the heads, but they are 1/24th scale and stand a bit tall if you use the 1/25th scale Revell Flathead. The fix is to lay a strip of .020 styrene in the space between the heads. It will raise the intake manifold the proper amount. I haven't tried them on the Monogram 1/24th scale flatheads, but I suspect they are a proper fit. Far and away the best and best detailed Stromberg Carbs are also from Model Car Garage. For exquisitely detailed and period correct speed parts, such at the exhaust manifolds, also consider Replicas and Miniatures of Maryland. This is a beautiful post war hot rod, the very essence of the period in which it was created. It would be thrilling to see it done to the level of detail and accuracy it deserves.

Big improvement over the kit version! The colors, fenders, and details work so well together and give it a true-to-type retro flavor that Revell failed completely to capture. Subtle and tasteful, not corny or ratty or over-polished and chromed. Big thumbs up. I must admit to having been frustrated by the too-high grill in this otherwise top-notch rendition. Count me among those that are glad to went the extra step and made the change!

In addition to looking like a truly fine lakes machine, the technical challenges embodied in this model are epic. This is not trivial stuff to pull off properly (bellypan, louvers, etc.) I especially dig the tonneau cover.

A giant in his field, even more significant in many ways than his dad, which is saying something! He always looked younger than his years so I was surprised to learn he was 80 when he passed away. The company is till closely held and family owned which is a testament to the vision and business acumen that both Edelbrocks, Vic Senior. and Vic Jr., demonstrated over the years. R.I.P.

In my experience nothing in hot rod modeling is more challenging than a proper belly tanker. And this one is shaping up to be "proper". Tankers demands the full monty of modeling skills. There are no kits, no rule books, and very few completed examples in scale for reference Even in 1:1 there aren't that many to go by. The "look" and proportions are critical, and the details will make or break you. I've had at least two swings at the apple on tankers and have yet to finish one - and I'm not one to leave very many projects unbuilt. RRR is the one to get 'er done, and done right. Looking forward to more, more, more...

Thanx Alan. Yup, the nose is comin' down! Slow but steady on this project. I got the interior panels and seat (upper 2 images, below), with the exception of the instrument panel, cut, fabbed and finished, along with the bellypan underside panels (lower 2 images, below). The seat is a resin piece from Crazy Scale Auto Parts (http://crazyscaleautoparts.cybrarygoddess.com/). They’re all finished in Testors Buffable Metalizer Aluminum Plate which will be a thematic element of the car. The grill will have a solid aluminum panel as well. In keeping with the “enhanced curbside” approach to the build the dashboard will be fabricated to attach to the underside of the tonneau cover with only those portions that are visible in the completed model getting any detail. Along with making the instrument panel, I have still to determine the powerplant, build it, and fabricate the mounting bits for it. I’m thinking in terms of a top-mounted blown motor, if it’ll fit, either a SBC or an Oldsmobile. It’s really a secondary element in this car so I’m struggling as whether to “sacrifice” an Olds for this project. Once the powerplant issue is settled it will at last be time for finishing up and detailing the body structure, then paint, decals and final assembly. Thanx for lookin’, B.

Just got my order of resin parts from Jim Stepanek at Crazy Scale Auto Parts (http://crazyscaleautoparts.cybrarygoddess.com/ ). Wanna give a big thumbs up for flawless communication, lightning fast service and high quality resin castings. Just what I needed. I placed my order Sunday and received it today (Wednesday) via USPS. Jim says he tries to maintain an inventory so he can minimize any waits. Everything I ordered was in stock so.... Thanks Jim! B.

Making home made decals is an essential element of my build style. I'd say well over half of the models I've evr built have them. I use an inkjet printer and learning how to get the most out of them was a critical part of developing my skills. ALPS printers are increasingly rare, having been out of production for many years, and expensive to own and operate. Good decal work can be done with inexpensive home inkjet printers but you have to understand the limitations of the medium. First off, understand that your inkjet printer "assumes" that the surface it's printing on is white. All modern inkjet printers come with a variety of paper settings. When it comes to decal stock make sure that you've set it for glossy photo paper. This will ensure that it prints as much pigment as it is designed to do. Also print to as high a resolution as the printer is capable of. I have a cheap Canon printer and it will print at 600 dpi so I make sure my art is 600 dpi. Whatever the maximum resolution of your art can be, use it. This will help eliminate rough edges and also assure, along with the photo pap[er setting, that you're laying down the maximum amount of ink. BUT... as I said, the printer assumes a white background, so you need to "pick your battles". For example, I've done quite a few race cars where the background color is light. Then I adjust my colors to deal with the fact that if I'm using clear decal paper, the rsulting dolor of my decal will be a combination of the underlying color with the shade if used in my artwork. This is an example of a bright yellow car with red and green decals. The red, especially, was affected by the underlying yellow shade: Of course, the simplest thing to do when using clear decal paper is to paint the body white! Fortunately, for race cars, this is a common scheme, like this: Because the clear stock is transparent and the inkjet ink is translucent, you can also achieve candy and metalflake effects by laying your clear stock printed decal over a metallic base, like this: As Brian pointed out, another solution is to print on white decal stock. The downside of white stock is that it's thicker than clear, less flexible, and doesn't lay down as well. Also, the white edges show due to the thickness of the stock. But if you trim carefully you can get excellent results. The big advantage is that ensures true color every time. Also, it permits white lettering. Here's amodel currently on my bench where all the decals were printed on white decal stock: Making your own decals is a powerful creative tool Excellent rsults can be had using an inexpensive home inkjet printer and basic quality decal stock. Like everything else in our wonderful hobby, experimentation and experience are the key.

Thanks everyone. Glad ,you all are diggin' it. Doing a bellypan hot rod sits somewhere between a scratch build and kit bashing. No kits or instructions for this one! Got some more fabrication done and the tires and wheels came from IndyCals. I fabbed the basic interior bits from styrene sheet and strips and added extensions to the roll bar to represent the interior portion visible from the driver’s opening using styrene tube. The tires are painted flat black and the wheels are in white primer for now. I made inner wheel discs from styrene sheet which will be finished in polished aluminum metalizer. The outer wheel surfaces will be painted to match the secondary accent color once I put down body paint. They’ll most likely be white. The tires will get their decals, which come with the wheel set, at that time. I also fabricated the front axle in order to get the nose down more like the blue roadster shown above. Next up choosing and making up a motor. Thanx for lookin’, B.

When I got back in to modeling some 10 years ago I started using super glue (Cyanoacrylate) which, of course, was a wonderful improvement over just about any other adhesive. Quick, clean, and, done properly, strong. Unfortunately, gradually, over about 18 months my eyes began to itch and eventually I development a violent aversion to the stuff. Even a few minutes of exposure now causes me weeks of runny eyes and nose. It took a while to identify the problem. It turns out it's not talked about much but happens to modelers with some frequency. Stopping the use of it has gotten rid of any eye and respiratory problems. I've become proficient at using small amounts of epoxy for non-styrene work (resin, multi-media, etc.) and, where a styrene solvent is concerned I use MEK (methyl ethyl ketone), the active ingredient in most liquid cement, or good old red tube Testors. Anyway, if the problem persists, and, as it did for me, becomes more serious, try laying off the CA if you use it.

About every two or three years I have a swing at building a full bellypan 32 Ford hot rod. The first one was a gold roadster based on the old Monogram 1/24 scale kit which doesn’t have a separate chassis. Since putting a bellypan under a Deuce completely hides the frame when modeling one you may as well use the bellypan structure to s\erve as the chassis. This was the technique I developed for this initial build back in 2010. Unfortunately I wasn’t aggressive enough in showing the bellypan and the car landed up looking like a mildly channeled highboy rather than a bellypan car. Then in 2012 I tried my hand again and this time I wasn’t shy about showing the pan and the result, this time on a Revell Deuce roadster came out better, with a pretty nicely visible deep pan, although the rear section rose toward the rear of the body shell a bit too much for my taste. Then in 2014 I built a chopped Revell 5-window into a lakes car and pretty much got the visible bellypan look I was after. Here’s a composite photo of all three: Now it’s time for another one. I started out intending to build street roadster but then got sidetracked thinking about using some Old School Indy Firestone tires and Halibrands like the ones found in the ex-Monogram Revell Kurtis Kraft 500 Indianapolis roadster kit. As fate one have it Indycals Decals has issued some super-sweet detailed aftermarket resin versions which are far more finely detailed and properly scaled which sealed the deal for me. The result was that I’m going for a lakes roadster look with a tonneau cover and roll hoop. The Indycals wheels and tires should be here tomorrow but in the meantime I’ve gotten to work on the very extensive fabrication and body work bellypan builds require. Part of the key to getting an aggressive enough looking pan, I’ve learned, is to make sure the curvature of the pan is fairly pronounced. It also helps to build up the real roll pan deep enough so that the bellypan doesn’t kick up too much past the rear axle. Here’s where I’m at so far. The basic “.chassis” cum bellypan has been constructed, built up from various shapes of styrene strip and rod, the rear roll pan fabricated and installed, the tonneau cover made and the roll bar fabricated from aluminum tubing. The lower surface of the bellypan will be fabricated once I’ve finished fitting the interior bits and motor. My plan is to do a yellow car with white side panels and bare aluminum tonneau cover and bellypan bottom surface. These are the wheels and tires I’m getting from Indycals: Below is my work so far on the model. Thanx for lookin’, B.

When it comes to shear period vibe of the Golden Age of sports car racing nothing beats the Carrera Panamericana. I have a small collection of motorbooks that are contemporary with the subjects they cover, and among my most treasured is a first edition of the Floyd Clymer soft cover Book Of The Mexican Road Race: Carrera Panamericana Mexico by Ronald Goodman. Issued just months after the event as a souvenir of the inaugural race in 1950, created as a celebration of the opening of the Mexican portion of the Panamerican Highway, this book just drips with postwar road racing atmosphere. Some of the biggest names in Grand Prix, sports car, stock car and hot rodding showed up for this and all subsequent editions (there were 5 in all - until sanity prevailed and the bloody mayhem ended in 1954). 1950's entrants included Bill France, Piero Taruffi, Jack McAfee, Felice Bonnetto, Johnny Mantz and Bill Stroppe.. The first race was won by Hershel McGriff in the City of Roses Olds 88 which is one of Curt's models shown above. This book had been reissued several times over the years and so it can be bought fairly inexpensively, even now, in facsimile form. Highly recommended if you're into this sort of thing! Hot rodder and sports car ace extraordiniare Jack McAfee n his 1949 Cadillac Sedanette: One of the two factory entered Alfa Romeo 6C coupes at full chat coming out of the mountains north of the Guatemala border: Bonetto's factory Alfa with full advertising regalia, unusual in Europe but typical for the western hemisphere: Herschel McGriff shows his racing winning pace in the City of Roses Oldsmobile 88,

This build shows total respect for the original AMT kit - in other words a kit build done at its best. Bravo!

A huge improvement over the Revell box build and a true hot rod. Chop, channel and stance, rolling stock, and aftermarket detail parts all contribute to a model that's first rate in every way. Bravo! It's the first time I've seen the Model Car Garage spider web p/e set actually used. On this one it makes total sense and contributes to the aggressive vibe.

Glad to see this thread has been revived. I'd forgotten about all the cool photos of cool models. Here are some photos I made since I last posted on here that might be worth a look Cutaway ghost shot: A/Fuel Dragster processed in Photoshop to look like a sketch: Revell's channeled '29 Ford Roadster TRJ style: Rat Rod for NNL West 2016:

Thanx! With all the decals applied and the color coats well cured I applied three coats of Duplicolor Clear. Once the clear was cured I foiled the basic trim and then fabricated a stinger exhaust from styrene rod and a paint brush ferrule. And lastly I glued the wheels and tires in place. Here are two photos of where I’m at. Next up is the interior and then final assembly. Thanx for lookin’, B.

Once again, thanks so much. Ron, you are especially kind! Getting this thing to have the proper proportions, details and finish to look anything like reality was the whole point of the struggle.

Thanx to you all. Speaking of simplicity, Gerald your avatar is of one of my all-time favorite pieces of automotive design, the 1964 Alfa Romeo TZ1 Canguro by Bertone, which pushes all my buttons for its purity of lines and its graceful simplicity!

Thanks again guys. Much appreciated.

Hi Alan, Thanks for the further analysis. I'll have a look in the next while. This is a project I have long wanted to restart.

After a brief break to finish up a Revell ’29 Ford Roadster, I finally got all the decals applied. There are 20 separate decals on this car. Some are very large like the two side panels between the fenders. Others, like the star-shaped scallops at the corners and the Raus Haus text strips, are very small and thin. The white decal stock is thicker than clear decal stock and far more rigid. It also doesn’t adhere as well. And, because of the white color you have to cut them very precisely if you want to avoid white edges on everything. The bottom line is they are a real PITA to apply, big or small. I actually had to print out additional copies of several of them in order to get them down right. Phew! But it’s done now. Below are a couple of photos of the final decal applied. Next steps are to clear coat everything and then move on to (hopefully) fabricate a stinger exhaust and then final assembly. Thanx for lookin’, B.

Thanks for the detailed follow up, Alan. It's just what I need to figure out how to do Version 2 of the project I started many years ago, now. I still have the chassis but the body and fenders are unusuable. My challenge is slightly different in that I still want to remove the running boards so the fender assembly will still be very weak before everything is glued together. I think, though, that the floow boards aren't attached so I have some options.

Very nice result. Interestingly, to my eyes it's a toss-up between the chrome reversed rims and whitewalls and the Torq-Thrusts with blackwalls.. Both yield a strong, compelling look, but create a very different overall effect. I wanted to ask you about how you did the chassis conversion. Presumably you're using the AMT fender assembly. When I started one several years ago I found I had to remove the much of the inner fender wells and cross-wise structure. Because my build also was to be one without running boards the resulting piece was very fragile. Can you share your experiences with us. The Rveelll street rod '40 Ford chassis is such a niece piece that successfully adapting it to AMT bodies would be great! BTW, your Fordor conversion looks super-nice!

Thanks to all of you for the kind words. I'm glad you all dig it! It's got to be one of the simplest looking models I've ever built, which stands in contrast to the work required to convert the Revell kit into a proper Old Skool ride like this. Given my tastes in hot rods this must be the kit I wished Revell would have released. Nevertheless, despite the builder's block, it was great fun getting there. Below are three additional photos of the model done in the black background style made popular by The Rodder's Journal. Many thanx once again for your appreciation. B.