Bernard Kron

Thanx again everyone. I'm glad you all appreciate it! I finally have gotten myself one of those mini-tripods for my camera. I've been experimenting with some black background shots. Camera shake has always been a problem shooting in such a light absorbent environment. Now, using my camera's timer, the blurries are gone forever. Framing is a little tougher and, of course, my modeling skills are even more under the microscope, but overall it is a big positive. Here's a couple of pics of this car I took:

Sits beautifully and has the classic resto-rod look which suits the decals perfectly. Very tasty indeed!

This is the latest project taking shape on my bench, a Revell 1950 Ford F1 pickup done in a big block conservative traditional street rod style. I’m sticking pretty close to the basic kit but with a chopped main cab courtesy of Jimmy Flintstone, and a Revell Parts Pack 427 Ford motor, combining the Parts Pack blower with the Pack’s carburetors for a street-friendly setup. The overall stance will be based on the kit-supplied dropped front axle and lowered rear suspension. The deep dish steelies and slicks at the rear are from my parts box. The paint scheme is Duplicolor Universal Black flattened with Testors Dullcote contrasted with a high gloss treatment on the fenders in Duplicolor Super Red II shot over white primer. I’ve wanted to do this treatment on a fat fendered ride of some sort for quite a while, and they don’t come any fatter than the fenders on a Ford F1! This build features several firsts for me, among them my first real pickup project (T-buckets don’t count…) since I built model cars as a kid. This is also my first faux-wood paint job, done in various shades of yellow, cream, red and brown acrylics. Here are some quick shots from the war zone which is the permanent condition of my workbench. Thanx for lookin’, B.

Stunning! Building in such a large scale and with this level of precision, skill and detail, must come close to "modeling" the experience of building the 1:1. Can't wait for more, more, more...

Like so many others, I prefer the original front wheels. One thing to consider would be whitewall slicks at the rear... Maybe? But I dig the overall look and the rear 3/4 view is killer.

Thanx for reviving this old thread and for the appreciation... Here's another A I did since. The Challenger from the movie "Deuce of Spades":

Yum, yum! Tastee!

Havens had one of the great voices of popular music. Not only was he a superb interpreter of a broad variety of pop songs, but that iconic voice could be heard for decades on radio and television in countless ads. Musical tastes finally turned the corner with the changing of the century and Haven's ubiquity faded with the rise of 80's and 90's music in ad jingles. But his unique baritone growl will no doubt be rediscovered by coming generations of vocalists.

LOL!!!!

And let's not forget the Summers Brothers!

Lovely! So what exactly are you doing here, building up the surfaces with filler then re-contouring them? I was also thinking... it's so bitterly frustrating that M/T and his wife were murdered. He could have achieved so much more (and doubtless would have since at the time of his death in 1988 he was as creative, productive and committed as ever). And, as an old man who would have just turned 85 last week, with a lifetime of great work behind him, he would have deeply appreciated your approach to replicating one of his intuitive masterpieces.

Slick! Love the polished modern look and all that chrome!

Thanx! The wheels and tires are from the Don Edmunds Super Modifed in the old Circle Racing Classics Combo kit. Even though the box illustration below shows black walls the kit comes with the same white wall tires that can be found in the Monogram Li'l Coffin kit, but with those cool Halibrands instead of the Torq Thrusts in the Coffin kit.

It turned out nicely. I did one of these SnapTite '34s last year, also fenderless, and also in white, taking the same approach I found it very relaxing and satisfying as a release from all the kitbashing and technical flurry that usual dominates my projects. Sometimes rotating in a simple build makes a lot of sense!

Here’s a race rig I did in January. The trailer is scratch built from various styrene sheet, strip, rod and channel. The fenders are AMT ‘25T double kit rear cycle fenders and the springs are from an AMT ’37 Chevy kit, the modern rear axle. The trailer wheels and tires are also from the ’37 Chevy kit. Trailers are simple and fun to scratch together and race sets look cool on my shelf.

Thanx guys! Here is a link to the Under Glass post where there are Lots of pictures of the complete car: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=73674&hl=

Thanx to all of you for the kind words. As always it's great when the "look & feel" of a model makes a connection! Special thanx to Richard Gelens (crazyrichard) whose recent low, low, low, super-low Deuces reminded me it was time to do another one and to Bill Engwer (Ace-Garageguy) whose superb how-to on The Z got the ball rolling and whose un-erring professional eye for line and form is a constant inspiration. Now for some build notes I hope you all may find of interest. First off, the tough, close-coupled stance is at least partially due to mixing 1/24th and 1/25th scale parts. The basic car is 1/25th but both the wheels/tires and the motor are 1/24th which serves to fill those key areas a bit more and to slightly shrink the look of the chassis and body. I had those wheels and tires in my stash for years waiting for just this sort of build. And the Li'l Coffin motor both in 1:1 and in model form has always struck me as the ideal show motor for this sort of car. Secondly, a general thought about building Old School and keeping it real. In a sense my "insurance policy" was the vintage of the kits I used for parts. IMHO nobody did Old School Hot Rods better than Monogram in the early 60's. AMT hot rod kits of the period have plenty of soul but can be crude and are riddled with flaws. Customizing was more their thing. Revell did drag cars superbly but during the era was largely missing from the rod and custom scene. It's only later that they really get going in this area. And Aurora? What can I say? Their cover art is an inspiration but the scale and execution of the actual models? Well... Monogram, on the other hand, produced classic kits full of crisp detail that were impeccable documents of a golden period. So using parts from these kits is a virtual guarantee of authenticity and the appropriate vibe. I'm somewhat of a 1/25th purist but I can be tempted into 1/24th when the parts look this good! Thanx again for the good vibes and interest, B.

’32 Ford Roadster Lo-Boy (More pictures below) This is based on the old Revell Highboy ’32 Ford Roadster. Obviously, it’s been radically lowered in the style of the late 50’s and early 60’s hot rod show cars. The inspiration was the stance on the ’60 AMBR winner, the Barris Emperor. However, I kept the details conservative rather than going whole hog as Barris did fabricating molded nose and tailpieces. Below are the details. (Unless otherwise noted everything is from the Revell kit.): Thanx for lookin’, B. Chassis: Z’d 3” in the rear, rails wedge cut just forward of the firewall to raise the front cross member about 1½”. Front cross member and front spring shaved. Rails notched at front cross member to allow axle clearance. Motor: Chrysler Hemi from the Monogram Li’l Coffin mated to Revell Deuce kit transmission to assure proper chassis fit. “Limefire” style headers from AMT Phantom Vicky kit. Bodywork: Stock Deuce roadster body channeled the depth of the frame rails. Rolled pan added at rear. Taillights from new Revell Stacey David Rat Roaster kit. Resin 2” chopped grill shell with photo-etch grill courtesy of Replicas & Miniatures Co. of Maryland. Interior: Sectioned kit side panels. Rear panel fabricated from kit seat. Bucket seats from Revell ’30 Ford “Rat Rod” sedan kit. AMT ’58 Chevrolet Impala steering wheel. Wheels and tires: From Monogram Super Modified Dirt Track Racer kit. Paints and finishes: Duplicolor Maroon Metallic over Duplicolor Platinum base coat. Interior finished in Testors Pearl White lacquer.

Thanx Del! It's gratifying to make a connection. I just got 'er done. Here's a teaser shot while I photograph and edit the final pictures. Next stop, Under Glass... Thanx to all who followed along, B.

Back to this one after finishing my Revell Rat Roaster. Making good progress. At this point I'm into suspension details and final assembly. Here are a couple of shots showing the overall look. Thanx for lookin', B.

Michael, it's nice to see someone with a work area as loaded up as mine. Here's the result of the day's thrash - more progress on my lo-boy Deuce roadster. My technical advisor and creative director, Jake, sez Hi! to y'all!

The Ignatjew Deuce is as good as it gets!!! Exquisite in every detail!

Here's my latest in a seemingly never-ending series of Deuces, my take on the new Stacey David's Rat Roaster kit:

Thanx again guys. I gotta admit I'm diggin' the way it looks on my shelf. Someone on another forum said the following abut this build and my tendency to go hardcore traditional in my models: "Nice old-new feel. Something this modern is darn near Sci-Fi for you...". It made me laugh!

Thanx everyone for all the kind words! Once I made a few changes (surprisingly few as it turned out), this build really came into focus. The toughest part was coming up with a change to the motor that satisfied me. I was forced to use the kit exhausts because of the indentations in the frame rails and that, in a weird way, was the breakthrough. My intention had been to make Limefire exhausts but that had to be dropped because I had already painted and assembled the chassis. That's when I hit on the sprint car injectors and it all fell into place. Despite my gripes this is an excellent kit with very good fit and finish and, as always with Revell Deuces, a pleasure to to work with. Highly recommeneded.