Dennis Lacy

UPDATE: I had hoped to get a lot more done on this project over the past week but that all changed when I decided to bury a brand new #11 blade into the tip of my thumb. It was pretty deep and I *probably* should have gone to get stitches (like my GF wanted me to do) but I’m really stubborn. Anyways, it’s closing slowly but surely with no signs of infection. I don’t have lock-jaw either! On to the model. The ARDUN heads from Revell’s ‘50 Pickup come with the valve covers molded to them. I wanted to be able to paint the head portion and valve cover portion different colors and was turned off to a bunch of tedious masking so using the backside of a new #11 blade (yes, that blade!) I cut along the edges until the heads and covers were separate pieces. In the upper portion of the picture below the chrome heads / valve covers can be seen as they come out of the box. I used the over-the-frame headers from AMT’s “Phantom Vicky†street rod kit as a starting point. They were de-chromed and I added alignment pins and flanges. The headers themselves still need a little cleanup. Heads are permanently installed on the engine block and headers mocked in place with frame / body. Rolling mockup to check “the lookâ€. Looks good to me!

When I was in my mid-teens I was building on a near daily basis. At the time my skills were average and the most customizing I had done was kit bashing and a little cutting & splicing here and there. It was during these years that I became aware of magazines and contest annuals dedicated to model cars and started trying to emulate the radically customized and detailed models I saw in them. Trying to go from 0 to 100 overnite resulted in a lot of ruined kits and endless frustration. Being a kid, my patience was also pretty low. With a failure to success ratio of about 15:1 I was completely burnt out by 19/20. I packed up all my kits and tools and stashed them for many years. The point, It isn't necessary to try and go from building out of the box to heavy customizing all in one shot. Rather, try one new thing on each model you build and 20 builds down the line you've learned 20 new things. At that point, customizing and detailing won't feel frustrating anymore, instead it will feel natural. NO ONE becomes a pro overnite and the ones you see doing increadible customizing / scratch building / detailing started at zero like everyone else and over years and years have built their skills and styles to what you see today. They do all have one thing in common: They tried! And, I would be willing to bet there were times where THEY felt frustrated and inferior too. Today, at 30, I have been back into building for about 3 years and have taken a much less stressful approach to building using what I learned from personal experience above and that has resulted in almost nothing but fun (lets face it, there's always gonna be a build here and there that makes us want to throw it at the wall.)

Thank you for all the comments, guys, they're always appreciated after lots of hard work on a project. MikeMC: I agree that red cars are everywhere and I don't get too excited about it either, but I wanted a brighter color that wouldn't hide all the work I did on the chop and I didn't have a red hot rod yet. I originally planned to age it a bit with some sanding through to the primer and dull top coat but the red layed down so smooth with no trace of the chop lines I couldn't bring myself to mess it up. So 3 coats of gloss clear went on instead!

It's really refreshing to see a Revell Model A kit built factory stock! You did a nice, clean job of it and I really dig the fire-car theme. For some reason I picture it being part of a mountain community fire department.

Your 'Bird turned out really neat, Bernard! I wasn't sure what to think when I saw the initial bodywork photos but now with the paint, grill and lights it all came together nicely. Thinking more about the tires, I think the white ones were the best choice especially with the paint color. The red and white interior offsets the paint really well too. Good work, B!

This '40 Convertible has to be one of the cleanest and pretiest I've ever seen. The detail work on the engine and chassis is increadible! My favorite part is the handbrake cables for the rear brakes. I don't recall ever seeing that done before, atleast not in the original '40 style. Congratulations on a beautiful build!

Thanks for the comments, guys! That's what it's all about, right? I've lost count of how many sweet ideas I've picked up from other peoples work!

UPDATE: Had a good day and night at the bench. Decided that with the chassis coming along it was time to make the floor panels. Took a couple tries after design changes but here is the final product made from .040 Evergreen sheet and a narrowed driveshaft tunnel cut from the floor pan of a Revell 37 Sedan. The floor panel installed in the frame. I also made a filler panel for the rear frame area. Rear axle assembly installed. V-shaped relief is needed to clear axle to torque tube support rods. Engine installed with floor in place. The bell housing and transmission will remain exposed on the finished car. Seems odd but is somewhat common in the vintage hot rod world. Proposed seat is from Revell 32 Roadster. Has been narrowed by cutting off both ends. Had to put a relief in the center for the tunnel. If I keep this seat I will use plastic sheet to fill in the ends. Made a molded-in firewall from .040 Evergreen sheet.

Thanks for nice comments guys! I'm really having a great time with this project. Haha, no worries on the pun. The latest version of the '50 PU has a yellow truck on the box with big billet-style wheels and red graphics on the door. The updated engine has the propper intake and exhaust manifolds now. Also, I've never held the heads from the incorrect version in my hand but have seen pictures and it looks like Revell changed the engraving to make the valve covers look better. It's definately worth getting now.

UPDATE: Got some more stuff done on the T. Modified a pair of hairpin radius rods from AMT’s ‘41 Woody street rod. The ends have been drilled and have .040†plastic rod installed which fits into corresponding holes in the frame rails. I also cut another 1/8†out of the radiator shell for a total of 5/16â€. With the first chop it was still just a tick higher than the cowl and I can’t stand that on real cars. Now the top of the shell is noticeably lower and also in much better proportion size-wise with the small T body. I made cutouts in the sides of the trunk for the lever shocks. In the picture the cutout looks like it’s not centered… and it isn’t! I didn’t catch it until I loaded the photos but the body slid forward a little when I was moving it around. And another full mock-up with all the latest stuff.

Awesome start on your NSX! I really like the discoloration on the exhaust headers. I'm also really impressed that the car sits "wheels tucked" just like the box art - something many kits fall short on. I don't care much for cars from Asian countries, but I think the NSX is one of the best looking modern-day high performance cars ever made and at one point was going through the motions to try and purchase a first-gen.

The final color is really nice and a great compliment to the T-Bird body. Stance and wheels look really good too. I'm having a lot of trouble deciding between the white and red tires. Since you and Curt are leaning towards white, I'm going to say red! Can't wait to see it with lights and a grill!

Thanks Mike! UPDATE: I love being on vacation! Got the rear axle / suspension pretty much sorted today. Only thing left to do is connect the torque tube to the transmission. I made new support rods that run from the axle tubes to the torque tube using the front wishbones from a Revell ‘40 Coupe. Cut the spring off and squeezed them together slightly to clear the kick-up on the frame then installed .040†plastic pins at all 3 points which fit into corresponding holes in the axle. Also added rear lever shocks using front shocks, again from the ‘40 Coupe. The molded-on links turned out to be just the right length and connect to the rear spring hangers as original Fords are. Rear axle with new support rods mocked up in frame. Note that the support rods match the angle of the rear “legs†of the X-member. Mocked up with the lever shocks in place. (The sides of the trunk will need to be relieved around the shocks for it to fit back on.) I also trimmed the forward corners of the kick-up at the same angle as the rear edge. You can also see what the frame filler pieces look like without the body on.

Hey Dave, you don't have to worry about the rear wheels going anywhere. The situation you describe with the 25 T kit is exactly how I feel. Looking at this thing some more, I'm thinking of trimming out some small triangle-shaped pieces and inserting them at the end of the cove making the end of it follow the same line as the body right there where it transitions from the cab area to the trunk. I think at that point with all the angles jiving it will be right-on.

I learned a valuable lesson with this car. I will NEVER, EVER stress myself out and rush a car project for the sake of taking it to a show or contest NEVER, EVER again. It’s NOT worth it! Anyhow, this is Revell’s ‘32 Sedan and it’s been chopped 3/16†with the rear window only chopped 1/8â€. This was accomplished by cutting out the rear window area, chopping it separate then re-installing it in the body. I also accomplished all this without having to stretch the roof, leaving the soft top insert undisturbed. Used the Moon tank up front from the Revell ‘32 5-Window. The stock ‘32 taillights and stands were used although instead of being mounted at the very end of the frame I moved them up next to the body. The front and rear axle were lowered further and a pair of “hairpin†radius rods were build from several pieces to replace the modern 4-link. Out back, I ditched the modern coil-over shocks and installed a transverse leaf spring modified from a Lindberg ‘34 Pickup rear axle. Tube shocks were added and the kit trailing arms had full-length gussets installed to beef them up. The Sedan’s American Mags were de-chromed and treated to Testors Metallizer “Magnesium†paint with the center caps done in Aluminum. The front tires are some eBay specials and AMT Goodyear slicks out back. The engine is the Buick Nailhead from the AMT ‘40 Coupe. A lot of the excess molded on garbage on the block was removed and the headers were tuned up by removing the chrome, cleaning up the tubes and adding flanges to make them better to look at. The optional supercharged was used and the enclosed blower drive and regular street pulleys were combined along with a parts bin alternator to make the motor more street friendly. The nuclear reactor looking fuel injectors were removed and replaced by a pair of Rochester 4-barrels. The molded on 3-speed trans was cut off and a B&M Hydro Stick trans from a Revell Parts Pack 331 Cadillac engine kit put in it’s place along with a custom length driveshaft. The exhausts were made from several sections of parts bin pipes. The interior, with the exception of the steering wheel, is box-stock. Key colors: Tamiya “Italian Red†over dark grey primer which made the red many shades darker, Tamiya “Semi-Gloss Black†and various shades of Testors “Metallizer†paints. One of these days I still need to make an upper radiator hose and some kind of scoop for the carburetors but for now we need some time apart.

UPDATE: Got a late start at the bench tonight but it was still worthwhile. Finding a way to finish the ends of the frame rails has been on my brain for the last few days. Dave suggested that cutting the ends at an angle to match the cab would help things flow. Then, a guy on a different message board suggested moving the rear wheels forward so they would help cover the void in the side view. Truth be told I like where the rear wheels are because the axle centerline is in the center of the trunk section and to my eye this keeps everything back there balanced (you could accuse me of building too mathematically sometimes…) What started bugging me more than anything was the big nothing at the end of the frame rails. So I stared at this thing for an hour thinking then I remembered an idea I had for my 1:1 ‘27 Roadster on ‘32 rails which has a similar, but less abrupt situation because the frame is Z’ed and disappears into the turtle deck. So I whipped out some .080 x .250†Evergreen and made some faux filler panels that at first glance make it appear as though the frame continues rearward with a nice curve and angle up into the body. Close up of the filler panel (both sides are done): Standing back 50 feet, the frame appears continuous when in reality it’s BS:

Thanks! It seems like almost every build I've seen of the '34 PU in recent times has been either a ratrod or had proportions inspired by ratrods. I wanted to do a traditional Hot Rod, yet in a non run-of-the-mill color scheme.

Having just driven my '27 Roadster to work this morning, I can verify that T's do NOT have a lot of room to spare! I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up cutting the front corner off at the same angle as the gusset - like you suggested. I mostly left it like it is (for now) because the frame is nice and strong and will hold up better to being man-handled while I'm setting up the suspension and stuff. Once I get the chassis dialed-in and start building the floor and bulkhead it's gonna get sawed off. I think I'm going to add a cross brace at the top/front of the kick up once it's trimmed for added strength (if it were a real car it should have something there.) I've noticed the end of the side rails need something too and was waiting to see if anyone else would say anything. I think your idea of cutting the edge at the same angle as the body is good and I'm probably going to do that. Thanks for the input!

Wow, you did an awesome job of capturing the beauty of this car in scale. That flathead looks serious with 4-2's lined up across it! I think most impressive (for me anyhow) is the interior details. From the perforated door panels, to the roll bar and that perfectly replicated seat. I've been able to stand next to the real car and it is truely one of the coolest Deuce 3-Windows I've seen. Rudy's restoration is probably 10x cleaner than the car ever was back in "the day".

Thanks for the nice comments everyone! I'M SICK!

Mike, thanks for the input. I will probably end up cutting the front corner at the same angle as the back edge of the kick-up. For now the chassis is still in the early stages so a clean up effort has yet to be made. UPDATE: Got the chassis up on all 4 wheels tonight - always a pivotal moment! Did some preliminary clean up on the rear axle seams and mold lines, fit some super cool resin early Ford brake plates (thanks Florian!) and made some wheel mounting hubs for the Revell ‘40 Ford wheels and tires to fit on. Up front I installed a flat plate the extends from the top side of the front of the frame for the Revell ‘32 kit axle to mount to. The spring was ground down until it was just 2 leafs thick to help get the front low. Some Revell ‘40 Ford brake plates were fit and I found that the spare wheel in the Revell ‘50 Ford Pickup comes with the center hole open and that the end of the axle snaps into it! Lucky for me, I had two ‘50 PU kits on-hand to rob the spares from. And a couple pictures with the body mounted. Also shown is the modified Revell ‘32 radiator shell. The mounting area had 1/8†cut out of it allowing the shell to drop down farther on the frame. Then, I chopped it by 3/16†to get the top of it down even with the cowl on the body. Now that the basics are in place it’s time to start filling in all the blanks!

If you guys think this build is stunning in these pictures, it is absolutely, insanely increadible in person! I was fortunate to see it up close and personal at the San Diego NNL show yesterday. Absolutely mind blowing how detailed and realistic this model is.

Hey everyone! Haven't shared any projects in a long time, here is my newest: The chopped ‘25 T Coupe body from the recent AMT Double T release sitting proudly atop a pair of extensively modified Revell ‘32 frame rails. And to make it even cooler, I’m shoving a big motor in a small car: The corrected Ardun flathead from the most recent Revell ‘50 Ford Pickup. Mounted high in the chassis to keep the pan off the ground, filling every inch of available space between the radiator and firewall, valve covers and carburetors spilling out of the top and sides. To construct the frame I started by cutting away everything that wasn’t the side rails of a Revell 32 frame. The insides of the ‘rails were cleaned up then they were carefully cold-bent to conform to the shape of the body, namely the inward sloping cowl sides. Once past the cowl the ‘rails were then bent back outward while still having a bit of taper towards the front. Once I was satisfied with the shape, the ‘rails were then taped securely to the bottom of the body with the front edge of the cowl lined up with the start of the cove in the side of them. Two temporary cross bars of Evergreen rectangular stock were super glued to bottoms of the ‘rails to hold them in position when they were un-taped from the body. From there I constructed a strong center X member using a piece of Evergreen for the main cross piece and sections of the X members found in any of Revell’s ‘40 Ford frames. The front of the rails were removed and a cross piece made from Evergreen was installed. The rear, kicked-up frame section was built entirely from a couple different sizes of Evergreen. The front engine mount risers were also made out of Evergreen pieces. I have yet to construct any front suspension mounts at this time but have a few ideas. The rear axle / spring is going to be based around this piece from a first issue Lindberg ‘34 Pickup. Mocked up with the rear axle / spring and wheels and tires. This is the final rear ride height and the front will only be a tick higher, so this is essentially how the car is going to lay. The rear wheels and tires are from the stock version of Revell’s ‘40 Standard Coupe. The whitewalls will be painted black in the end because I think real hot rods have black walls. The front tires are some super small old bias-ply types from the old tool of the Stone, Woods and Cook Willys. The front wheels are from Revell’s ‘50 Pickup.

Haven’t posted any builds on this forum in quite some time so I thought I’d share some stuff. This started as an ‘80s issue of the Monogram “Early Iron†series 1930 Ford Touring, or Phaeton as they’re also know. Starting with a Revell ‘32 Ford frame, a custom center cross member, or K-member was created using pieces from the frame in a Revell ‘37 Ford Sedan. The gas tank and rear frame rails on either side of it were removed and a Model A cross member put in place. The front suspension is standard Revell ‘32 Ford with the new hairpin arms from the 5-Window Coupe variation and drum brake plates from a Monogram ‘32 Roadster. The rear axle, spring and brake plates are from Monogram’s ‘32 Roadster with drilled trailing arms and driveshaft made from several kit pieces and Revell ‘40 Ford lever shocks. The front wheels and tires are from the Orange Crate ‘32 Sedan show/race car. The rear wheels are from a Revell ‘26 T Sedan Delivery wrapped in ‘60s Vintage Amt Firestone slicks. The wheels were de-chromed and painted with Testors “Jet Exhaust†with a semi-gloss clear coat to simulate the Dow-7 coating used on vintage magnesium wheels. The small block Chevy engine and trans from a Revell ‘37 Sedan was topped with the finned valve covers and 6x2 intake / carburetor / magneto setup from a Revell ‘30 Ford Woody. The rams-horn exhaust manifolds and front pipes are from a Monogram ‘32 Roadster and mate up to exhaust pipes from a Revell ‘32 kit that were moved towards the center of the chassis 3/16†each. The Touring body was converted from a 4-door to the much rarer 2-door “Sport Phaeton†(Ford offered both in ‘30-’31), wheel wheels from a Revell ‘32 Sedan were installed and the stock Model A firewall was made flat to clear the Chevy. A Revell ‘32 grill shell was used and the insert painted to match the wheels. The stock headlights from a Lindberg ‘34 Pickup were mounted on short stands off of the front of the frame and ‘39 Ford “teardrop†taillights were used out back. The windshield and door handles from a Revell '32 Roadster finish the body. The entire interior unit and dashboard from a Revell ‘32 Sedan was fit with no difficulty and a steering column made from Evergreen 3/16†tube is topped with the Bell sprint-car steering wheel from the Touring kit. Key Colors: Tamiya “Blueâ€, “Light Gunmetalâ€, Duplicolor “Gray Sandable Primer and Testors “Jet Exhaust.â€

Haven’t posted any builds on this forum in quite some time so I thought I’d share some stuff. This is an AMT ‘34 Ford Coupe. The body was channeled over the frame and a custom rear roll pan was created to bridge the gap from the rear edge of the body to the rear edge of the frame, which had everything behind the cross member cut off. The front edge of the stock hood was cut vertical and a Revell ‘32 Ford grill shell with the custom insert from a Lindberg ‘34 Pickup put in place of the stock ‘34 piece. The louvers from a stock AMT ‘36 Ford hood were grafted into the ‘34 hood sides and the hood top had its center hinge detail removed to simulate a one-piece top. The long, chrome headlights are the custom pieces found in the newest Revell ‘37 Pickup. The unusual front suspension from AMT’s modern tool of the Ala Kart show truck was fit to the front, while the rear axle from a Revell ‘32 kit was used with the stock ‘34 leaf spring, tube shocks and ladder bars made from several kit pieces. The wheels and tires are also from the Ala Kart. The small block Chevy with 4-speed trans and tubular headers come in the ‘34 Coupe kit while the valve covers, intake manifold and dual 4-barrel carburetors come from a Revell “Parts Pack†283 Chevy engine kit. The kit exhausts were also used but carefully bent to fit around the long ladder bars. The interior is all from the ‘34 Coupe with the sides and seat shortened to work with the channeled body. The stock dash and steering wheel were brightened up with bare metal foil on the instrument cluster, ash tray door, glove box door and horn button. Key Colors: Testors One-Shot “Root Beerâ€, Tamiya “Maroonâ€, “Pearl White†and “Semi-Gloss Black.â€