roadhawg

I grew up in an automotive family. My dad ran a service station/automotive repair shop, and always had a hand in race cars, so I guess it was only natural that I was interested in it too. I was working for him changing engines at 13, at 14 I rebuilt my first small block Chevy, and at 15 I bought my first race car, an old beat up '56 Chevy from local racer Ray Matthews, that we painted in white latex house paint....with brushes, of course. Hey, it looked great from the stands! I ran in the A-cadet division at Athens (Georgia) Speedway. That was in 1970, and that ol' car lasted 'till the end of the '71 season without me killing myself. We built a car from the ground up for '72, sticking with a '56 body. My dad's favorite late model driver had a black and orange car, so we decided to paint mine the same colors. We reskinned the car for '73 but stuck with the same color scheme. I've always wanted to build a model of my old race car, and finally talked myself into doing it. I started with the Revell '56 Delray kit, but the separate chassis/interior floor configuration doesn't lend itself well to building a race car. I ended up keeping the body, but using a chassis from the old Revell tri-five series...the ones with the opening doors. Most all the other parts came from the parts box, and I had to make up my own Volkswagen gas tank. The stock grill just didn't look right, so I used an MCG photoetch grill. The paint is Model Master Hugger Orange and gloss black....and yes, we tried to keep my car very clean, at least the side you were supposed to see (my dad was funny about that, lol), so not much weathering. I'm very happy with the way it turned out, and although it took awhile to finish (I've been working on it off and on for a couple of years now), it was an absolute ball to build. Best of all though, it takes me back to the best time of my life. Man....I miss the 70s!

Thanks again, and Sam, the paint was really a pain, but not just the taping....my first effort had the blue wrinkle up over the white, so I had to strip it, retape it, and shoot it all over again. Lets just say that I'm glad it's finished, lol!

Thanks again, guys! Got a couple more All Pro cars in the works...I really miss these days of racing.

Thanks, everyone!

Awesome job on that one, Ron! Love the paint scheme!

This is the 1984 All Pro Camaro of Glencoe, Alabama's Micky Gibbs. I've always liked black race cars, and Gibbs' cars always looked more like show cars than race cars. He didn't run that great in '84 but would get much better, winning 7 races in '87 and even going all the way to the Nascar Sprint Cup series (Called Winston Cup back then). Built from the Revell ASA kit. Paint is plain ol' Model Master black.

Very well done! Reminds me of the old Hall County (Georgia) Speedway!

What a great build, and a very worthy subject too! I always liked ol' Harry, all the way back to the LMS days.

Thanks, guys!

Chuck Aaron is the only pilot in the United States that is licensed to do areobatic stunts in a helicopter. He flies a modified MBB BO-105 CBS, and if you've never seen him you can go to YouTube and watch him do things that a helicopter isn't supposed to do....back flips, barrel rolls, etc....just search "Red Bull Helicopter".... I've been wanting to build a model of this for some time now, but there is no kit of the CBS version of the 105....the CBS is the "lifeflight" version and has a slightly longer fuselage. I finally decided to use two 1/32 Italeri BO 105s "spliced" together to create my own 105 CBS. I added collectives and masking tape seat belts to the interior, and added steps to the runners. I also designed my own decals. Everthing else is from the kit. The hardest part was masking for paint, but I'm pleased with the way it came out.

I've always used solid core solder, but it can be a little hard to find. Do not use acid core, the stuff will leak out and affect any painted or chrome parts. Trust me, I know. I've heard others that have used "armature wire" from a craft store like Hobby Lobby or Michaels, it's in the floral dept. I think. The easiest solution is to just use a set of headers from another kit.

Looks great!

Don't know how I missed this, but awesome job! I'm another that has always liked Pintos.

Very nice. I'm planning building a '72 too.....I think you've convinced me to use the AMT kit.

That is totally awesome! Very realistic. You know what you should do? Build 2 or 3 more in different stages of restoration, and have a display of "junker to show car".

That looks great!

As far as actual plastic kits, there was the AMT/Model King modified stocker kits, which represent 60's type late models. Revell had the 80's ASA Camaro/Thunderbird short track kits, which are pretty nice. As far as modern late models....nope, you're on your own. In addition to the already mentioned suppliers, check out http://earlyyearsresin.webs.com/ and http://www.bigdonkeyresin.com/ for parts.

It's on their website.......for $250. Wow.

No, it's right. A 340 is at the rear.

Thank you. I used a Detail Master hood pin kit, which uses sewing needles for the pins and has photoetch plates.

Almost....the spray adhesive will never dry by itself, so after it gets tacky spray on a coat of Duplicolor primer, THEN semi-gloss black. I've never been able to pull off the right look with that misting technique, but then again it might be the guy holding the spray can. Here's two I did, the Nova uses the masking tape method and the Camaro uses the "Cruz" spray adhesive method.......... I will be using the spray glue method from now on, it's waaaay easier and to me actually looks better. Just remember to tape up all the window moldings before spraying the glue.

That looks awesome! Love the detailing on the tires and wheels.

You can usually get some pretty good reference photos by searching site that specialize in race car restoration and sales, and also auction houses that sell race cars: http://www.genefelto...b_citgo_21.html http://www.race-cars...121452916pp.htm http://www.barrett-j...n=744.1&aid=304 http://www.barrett-j...?ln=621&aid=283 As far as wiring and plumbing, you'll probably need a basic understanding of dry sump oil systems...... Keep in mind that most of these hoses and lines disappear behind body panels, so if you get the entry and exit points close, nobody will actually know where they're going. Hope this gets you started.

I think it looks fantastic!

Thanks , Y'all. I've been watching some of the W.I.P.s here and it almost has my interest up to build a few more.