Bernard Kron

Thanks Mike, I think... I've been around graphics and publishing software since the earliest days of Aldus Pagemaker running under Windows 2, but always on a "need to know" basis, learning just enough to get the job done in various situations I found myself in. But about 5 years ago I took up car modeling again after a long hiatus and discovered the world of cheap digital photography and on line-posting. That's when I got into P-shop with a little more depth. I still can't lay in a picture the way you did but I do know what it involves. That's reall classy stuff when you can take a table top front 3/4 view and match perspective, lighting, color values and even whatever the digital equivalent of "photo grain" is... At this point photography is such an integral part of the hobby for me that a modeling project isn't really done until I've finished up the photo work. And I'm a fan of Bill's too, ever since he published a w.i.p. and final shots of a lovely little Offy powered track roadster a few years back. Welcome to MCM. I hope you'll grace us with more modeling work.

Like vintage hot rods, it was a golden age of creativity and individual initiative unencumbered by the capital demands and abstract complexity of high technology. The goals to be achieved and the means to reach them were crystal clear. This makes the period accessible to the humble skills and modest insights of an amateur modeler such as myself... and makes them hard to resist.

Yeah, "wobblies", not waffles... Guess I was hungry...

Unfortunately the Little Deuce in particular is quite different from it's Big Brother, lacking a separate chassis and the fenderless option, the especially well done steelies with separate baby moons, or the superbly detailed SBC and Flathead motors. It's still around today in modified form as the Monogram 1/24 '32 Ford Street Rod. The Little 'T', over the years, has suffered greatly with various "updates" which has cost it much of its original "soul", beginning pretty early on with changes to the exhaust and intake systems, and to the wheels and tires. Currently out of production, the last time I recall it being released was in the early 2000's as the delightfully named "Boomer Bucket" with wire wheels and trailer... Of the two, the Little Deuce is the one we need the most today in a shrunken version of the Big Deuce, since there is no really well done traditional Deuce Hot Rod in small scale, one reason these projects are a kit basher's delight and a target for the aftermarket. The Little Drag project sounds like a very cool idea. Hmmmm.... I have a Revell Parts Pack T Bucket, the frame isn't so difficult, a Parts Pack SBC and front axle from a Revell Model A Rat Rod kit, and.... A very cool idea indeed!

Very tasty and real looking. These kits are so true-to-period in their details. I always wish they would shrink-ray them to 1/25th! They are so superior to the smaller scale offerings but oh-so-hard to allow to accumulate on your shelves! The uptop really makes this particular build, IMHO. The special effects photography is superb. I kept checking to make sure I could either find details that said the car was in fact a 1:1 (which would in itself have been remarkable) or for edges or color inconsistencies in the composite picture than gave it away. I came up dry. I would point out the shadow across the roof and the de-saturated red on the brake drums, upholstery, frame, etc. as evidence of the care with which it was put together. Bravo! And Bravo! on a very cool model, too!

Well Dave, now you've got me going. I'm finalizing negotiations for a Merit Eleven as we speak. Meanwhile, more internet searching unearthed this gem: http://slotblog.net/topic/43102-lotus-eleven-with-merit-body-and-midori-chassis/ . Apparently the waffle wheels once could be had as a slot car accesory...

Cool! You wouldn't remember who might have offered it? Crawling around the web I have found a curbside open cockpit version with Le Mans windscreen circa 1957 from Profil 24: http://www.profil24-models.com/model-kits-modeles-reduits/en/gamme-au-1-24e/62-lotus-xi-le-mans-1957-n41-42-62.html - expensive but quite handsome in the photos of it I have seen.

You don't need to be able to read cyrillic script to understand outstanding modeling when you see it. Excellent Work-In-Progress (W.I.P.) thread and a superb result. Welcome to the forum and thanks for sharing your work with us. For future reference automobile W.I.P. threads can be posted in the On The Workbench section. I'm looking to seeing other projects from you.

I'm a long time user of their louver 3D transfers on my 1/25th scale projects (I use their 1/48th scale louvers). A single decal sheet goes a long way and these are excellent, convincing looking products. Highly recommended!

Lookin' good. Earlier this last year I cut up a Ramchargers body and managed to make the cowl removable. Looks like you're well on your way. In my case, however, it was mounted to the Ramchargers FED frame so I had no fit issues I'll be interested to see what you determine as you move forward. If adapting the Ramchargers body turns into a PITA consider the various really nice bodies from Altered States Models, all of which are designed for the Ivo/Too Much frame. I have used their minimalist "Shorty" bodies on multiple Too Much frames. They're a perfect fit, look great, and have a removable cowl so you can show off your cockpit detail. Here's a link to the FED page at Altered States: http://www.alteredstatesmodels.com/front_engine_dragsters.htm (Click on the little pictures in the listings to see a larger image). Below are some pics of a couple of my applications so you can see the fit. (Again, click on the little pictures to see a larger image).

That's nice but I can't imagine needing 3 kits right off the bat for the drivers...

Yeah, I noticed that, too. Figures aren't my thing so I passed over it, but it's way better than most and another beneficiary of modern tooling. Bill, I'm looking forward to what you do with it since I know you'll take full advantage of what they've given us. Do you have anything particular in mind already?

The Merit XI is one of my holy grails. It would actually get me to build a curbside. Yours are beautiful. And to have 2 so you could open one up! Where did you get the waffle wheels? The Merit came with their trademark wires. It seems so obvious to me that someone should take a Merit and make a resin master of it, nicely cast in that magical thin resin that Norm Veber does so well... The thinner resin would allow the more masochistically inclined to contemplate a full detail build... Ditto the Scarab Mk. 1 and (I can dream, can't I) the Devin SS. All in 1/24th or 1/25th of course! (Oh yeah and my B list would include the Sadler Mk. 1, the Lister Jaguar in both the original and streamline versions, and.... - it was such a beautiful era for sportscar design.)

By Modern standards Jairus Watson's #01 Maser wins: accurate shape and proportions, best paint finish, best driver, best detailing, best integration of the chassis to the body. My runner up is the #22 Connaught by Régis Baron which succesfully captures the shape and proportions of 1:1, has the cool leaning-forward driver figure and an equally well integrated chassis. And of course for shear 60's soul the Scarab deserves an Honorable Mention!

Thanks for the excellent and comprehensive review, Tim. This must be one of the most hotly anticipated releases in recent years. Frankly, I am surprised. If the Sizzler was first released in 1961 it would have been a model of a state-of-the-art dragster from the 1959-1960 period, and even in 1961 the model was already becoming rapidly out-dated. By 1962 it was all but over, the radical California style chassis design with the 3-point roll hoop closely fit around the driver's head, the minimalist torsion bar front suspension and the new-style streamlined bodywork, the handiwork of pioneers like Kent Fuller and Tom Hanna, was taking root and these cars looked like ancient throwbacks. For older modelers, the subject matter will be familiar, perhaps contemporary with their earliest days in the hobby. But for even slightly younger modelers the Sizzler/Slingster has to be from a somewhat obscure and primitive age in the evolution of drag sport. Concerns about the narrow slicks in the Slingster kit point to this. The photos in your review are the clearest and best published thus far and, along with the several excellent initial quick builds already posted, confirm what I had hoped and suspected. The molding and engraving in this kit is very crisp and fine, fully up to contemporary standards. I think we will find that it responds exceptionally well to paint detailing and will require far less upgrading of parts than many have feared. As an example, your pictures show just how nicely turned out the I-beam front axle is, and explains the two mysterious tabs in the center, which turn out to be friction shocks. They have only to be picked out in the proper colors to come to life. I would also point out how nicely thin the chassis tubing is, contributing to a realism which will prove quite useful and is already evident in some of these earliest build ups. I predict the modern technical qualities of this kit will lead to a whole new generation of superbly detailed representations of the earliest cars from the dawn of the Front Engine Dragster Era. The decision by Revell to do it in 1/25th is critical in this regard. But I also predict it will lead to an even greater number of wonderfully creative, bizarre and original variants by those with less interest in the historic aspects of this kit. I confess to being as excited about that prospect as the fact that we have been given a powerful tool for modeling accurate replicas of early icons of drag racing. So maybe I shouldn't be surprised at how well received the Slingster may turn out to be. It may well land up having a little something special about it for many different flavors of model car builders... P.S. For those concerned about the lack of a fuel pump, an excellent source for early HIlborn pumps is Altered States Models ( http://www.alteredstatesmodels.com/ ). I always keep a small bag of them in my stash for my drag subjects.

Thanx Neal!

One of the first models I ever built, as a Merit kit. I remember it because it was the first time I ever did paint detailing, with the steering wheel rim and upholstery finished in tan and silver paint on the steering wheel spokes and wheels. It may not seem like much, but it's a big deal when you're just starting out. Under the skilled hands of a contemporary modeler these kits respond beautifully to some upgrading. I may not be up to doing the wheels as yet but I definitely will remember the tires. Looking forward to seeing it on Feb. Ist... She's a beauty!

The George Jetson style one comes in the AMT '49 Ford Coupe kit IIRC and the simpler utility stand is in a whole lot of the early AMT 3-in-1's, Mine all come from AMT '39-'40 Fords of various flavors. I love 'em for these detail photographs...

Great color. It'll look fine once you get through the "issues" ... Looking forward to more, more, more...

I use Revell Parts Pak motors all the time. The blocks in particular have excellent detail. The speed parts are a bit oddball at times, they are definitely from the early 60's, But they build up beautifully and free me from the tyranny of kit engines. I buy them cheaply in multiples on eBay. I always strip them of chrome except the parts that would be chromed in a show car application. The one I've used least is the 427 Ford, but the other 3 commonly available varieties, the 283 Chevy small block, the Cadillac 354 V8 and the 421 Pontiac, are in constant rotation among my builds. There are other motors that Revell issued originally which are now extremely rare, among them a Buick Nailhead, a 392 Chrysler Hemi and an injected '63 Corvette V8. Here's a link to web site that has a nice look back at old Parts Packs from various manufacturers: http://robdebie.home.xs4all.nl/models/partspacks.htm A note in passing: I think the header mismatch in the post above using the Pontiac engines involved using the Parts Pack 427 Ford headers on them. The Parts Pack headers for the Pontiac are shown (although stripped of chrome) in the picture below Here are a few examples of motors I've built. Most are modified to some degree from the Parts Pack version: 421 Pontiac: 283 Chevy: 454 Caddy: 427 Ford:

Wow Ron, that's a beautifully done model. And your excellent photography helps in appreciating all the fine detail. A text book example of the benefits of properly used aftermarket p/e. The banjo steering wheel, for example, is pefectly picked out in white against the fine wires of the spokes. It's hard to believe you even detailed out the little chrome retaining ring on the steering column bracket. Is that a fuse box hiding beneath the dashboard on the firewall? The modifications to the details of the base kit are all very successful, too. I especially like the branded Firestone whitewalls and the reversed rim steelies with the shallow baby moons (Parts by Parks?), and the cleaned up dashboard. The disc brakes are even plumbed... The more you look the better it gets. Thanks for sharing!

Very ambitious build, even though the matter of fact way in which your presenting it, and the sanitary, no-drama execution might make people think otherwise. I wanna see lots more so I'm commenting so I can follow this automatically. It's gonna look very sharp when you're done. If I was a drag strip operator I would book this car!

Of course! (Cool stuff, BTW)

It sure has, Brian! I found your Under Glass thread - December, 2012 I forgot that the Revell midgets come with 2 noses. Since I bought one for the V860 it's likely I will never build the actual car, so... 2 noses it is!!!! Both will find uses elsewhere... Not much info there but I found your thread on Oz Auto Builders which gives me the scoop. I read your note about the wire in the PartsBox axles which is the first time I have seen axle confirmation that they did it. I trust the axle hasn't sagged yet. And the dashboard is also very cool, and in keeping with the sort of post-Boyd, radical-traditional/high-tech fusion thing goin' on, if you know what I mean... So, yeah, it's definitely got me thinkin'...