Fletch

Here we go with installment #2 of the '49 Merc project. All the splices in the body have now been filled with Evergreen and now are in the curing process. I'll most likely leave the body alone for the rest of the week to allow the Tamiya Extra Thin Cement to finish it's work before doing the basis shaping work. Any filling that needs to be accomplished after that will be with Milliput White Superfine putty. Hosted on Fotki The grille opening has the basic shape but will require ends to still be slightly rounded. Other things yet to be accomplished are shaving and replacing the side trim, shaving the door handles, remove the trim and rib from the hood. The upper rear corners of the doors need to be rounded after the drip rail is removed. The hood and trunk corners will get rounded as well. I may go back and peak the hood before all is said and done. The kit rear skirts are taped on strictly to get an idea of how the car will look without the wheel openings, there is ZERO chance of them being used on the final build. It will have skirts but not those provided in the kit. Engine compartment wise, I'm leaning toward a Nailhead Buick with the Caddy Air Cleaner from RMoM. Not sure of where I'm headed with the exhaust. Guess it's time for a Photoshop session. Bumper wise I'm looking at robbing the more stock set from the Revell Merc but, we'll have to see how the DeSoto set would look as well. That's it for this installment, comments, suggestions as always are welcomed. Peace

Lyle, makes a very valid point about the differences between monitors. It's one of the things those of us who work in the digital printing industry deal with on a daily basis. The differences between what is seen on the monitor vs what a digital printer/copier is capable of producing. Enough with the digital printing lesson. Lyle, I have to echo Georges words I don't know if the body sitting on the shelf will ever look this good but at least I know what it's potential. Excellent build, love the hinged hood. It all goes together to produce a very nice addition to the finished shelf.

It's been a while since I've added a new project to the rotation on the bench. I was digging about in the garage last week and came across an opened but untouched AMT '49 Merc. Last evening I took the saw to the roof and took a bit off the top. Hosted on Fotki There was a yellow Merc in one of the Magazines 10-12 years ago that I have always thought was pretty cool. It' wasn't overly radical just a clean well executed car. I need to dig through the parts box and find a second Merc body for a upper grille surround which will become the lower part of the grille opening then float the grille between the two. The planned color is Tamiya TS-16 Yellow: http://www.tamiyausa.com/product/item.php?product-id=85016 With tires and wheels from a Monogram '59 Cadillac or the MCG replacements. Comments, suggestions are welcome as always.

Dave, I am so very sorry that the Gold Coast NNL is going to come to an end. I know over the years many of the builders from the Pacific Northwest have attended and enjoyed the event. I hope at some point as the economy turns around that you would reconsider this decision. We have lost 5 major shows in the Pacific NW since 2001, the time and effort to put an event together is a massive undertaking. Without support and interest I can understand the reasons behind your decision. Let's hope those in your area will feel the lose of the event and show enough renewed interest to warrant it's return.

Abe, it is MV Products. They work beautifully as replacement lens for headlights, taillights etc. I know if you google them it doesn't come up with them specifically, but there are several retailers that are listed. I buy them a the local Model RailRoad shop. I have a few set of their small blue lens around to use as blue dots in taillights, they are about .030 in dia. and work perfectly.

Come on Neal, I was so looking forward to shooting you a bunch of info on Flatties!!!! I like the direction you're headed with this build, should be pretty cool. Hang 10 Brother!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Got back from Billetproof a couple of hours ago. It was a fantastic event, over 575 rides on the fairgrounds, great music, beautiful weather. This was the first year for the Model Car Contest. It didn't truly come together until the last minute so, I was a bit concerned about the turn-out. There was no time for fliers or posters at the LHS here in Portland or Seattle, all the advertising was word of mouth and on the internet. When all was said and done we had 110 models on the tables, 97 that were actually entered in the contest. All I really had a chance to get was table shots between wondering about the fairgrounds and judging the contest. Hosted on Fotki The photos are before we had a chance to break the models into classes so the shot have a bit of everything in them. Links to the Model Contest Gallery: http://public.fotki.com/dcfletcher/model-c...tproof-northwe/ To the Billerproof Show: http://public.fotki.com/dcfletcher/automot...oof-northwest-/ Enjoy

Got back from the Billetproof event a couple of hours ago. It was an outstanding event. By 10am there were 500+ rides through the gates. Final count was over 575. Incredible stuff. For Me this was the highlight of the show the Cherry Bomb was back on the road after 18 months in the shop being rebuilt after a near fatal accident. Joyce Johnson took delivery of the lil pickup yesterday afternoon, still needs the graphics, but in on the road none the less. Hosted on Fotki Lots more on Fotki: http://public.fotki.com/dcfletcher/automot...oof-northwest-/

Replicas & Miniatures Company of Maryland 317 Roosevelt Ave SW Glen Burnie, MD 21061 Email: replmincomd@aol.com Phone: 410-768-3648 9am-6pm EST Mon-Sat Norm is easy to deal with and returns call within a matter of an hour if not minutes, the same when it comes to email.

I will tell you guys from the time the package arrived at my door I knew I had to find a build worthy of that blower. It had been mocked up in several different builds over the past 6 months but none were found worthy, Until the '32 Sedan! If there is a draw back to the RMoM parts it's finding a project worthy of them. When you're working with masterpieces you just don't throw them at any and every build. The other thing you quickly find working with a piece like the S.C.o.T.s Blower is that it makes you want to dig a little deeper into your modeling ability, and that's not a bad thing at all. Buy from RMoM, you won't regret it. In the words of the old Cajun Cook Justin Wilson, "I guarontee!"

That looks great, love the way the parts and pieces are coming together. The Henry J has always been one of my favorites. Looking forward to watching this build progress.

Very nice build of the MPC kit I like everything about it. The chop the stance all very cool. Abe you ask if the Revell '32 Sedan is any better then the MPC version and the answer is yes, and the biggest reason is the Revell version is more correctly scaled. The MPC Switchers body fits solidly between the AMT and the Revell offerings. The side profile of the AMT kit is seriously wrong with the bottom body line sweeping up toward the frame behind the front doors, where it should make the sweep between the front doors and the firewall. The biggest issue with the Switchers body is it is to narrow. If I didn't have the Revell, I would take the MPC version any day of the week over the AMT offering. It all comes down to prototypicaly correct you want to be.

Thank you all for your kind words. The build was made a lot easier thanks to a great platform to begin with. The only limitation there is to the Revell '32 Sedan is your own imagination. This kit lends itself to just about every genre there is from circle track star to taking home the big iron as a custom rod. I will however for warn you about one thing that Revell does not tell you during assembly. DO NOT glue the firewall in place until you have the fully assembled interior in the body. If you glue the firewall in place as part of the normal assembly process you you will most likely get to build the interior again. But, this time through the windows. The other option is to tack the firewall at the top so you can spread the body to get the assembled interior into place. There aren't many things worse then having the dashboard fly across the room due to the pressure applied to the sides of the interior as you attempt to get it in place with the firewall solidly glued down. I look forward to seeing other builds pop up of this great kit (can't wait for the 5 window coupe). The other 2 sedans are coming along nicely, I am scratch building a Hilborn injector set up for the Sedan delivery and the chopped/channeled version is moving ahead now with a 427 Ford and 6 carbs. They should be over here soon.

Seriously Cool John, anything involving the Dry Lakes and Bonneville is always interesting. You look at some of the cars they ran and wonder how they even lived to race another day. No Guts, No Glory!

Fabrizio, seeing how this is the first year for the Model Contest at the Billetproof event , we chose not pre-determine the classes as we have no idea who may attend or what may be entered. It would be safe to assume that there will be a fair number of rods and customs entered, but beyond that your guess is as good as mine. The awards at this have no classes assigned to them. We will add the classes using a Labeling System. That way they won't be totally generic. For those of you planning on attending Gates open at 9am this Saturday June 27th. The event is at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds in Chehalis, WA. The model contest is free to enter but a $10 gate fee is required for the Billetproof Washington Event. Any questions PM me here or email at saba.northwest@gmail.com Blessings Fletch

There are at least 5 members of Scale Auto Builders Ass'n that belong to the MCM Forum. There are 3 or 4 Car specific clubs on the west side of the Cascades but, I am unaware of any in Central Oregon. We always have several modelers from the Bend area attend the Pacific NW NNL each year, so we know there is modeling interest there. I don't know if there is Hobby shop still open in the area, if there is you might check with them to see if there is an organized group there. The 2 largest car specific groups are SABA and a club in Eugene, Lane Auto Modelers Ass'n (LAMA). There are 3 IPMS chapters in the Willamette valley but none listed for Central Oregon. LAMA Website: http://laneautomodelers.org/index.html SABA Website: http://www.sabanw.org/ IPMS/Oregon: http://www.ipmsusa.org/ChapterDirectory/st...elect.asp?ST=OR You are certainly welcome to cross over the mountains to come and join us any 2nd Sunday you'd like. The only draw back to coming to a SABA meeting is Sept-May we meet in a hobby shop. Best of luck in your search.

Chuck I'm not 100% sure that's totally right, if I'd had all the good ideas to start with this build wouldn't keep changing. At least it's moving forward and hopefully with all the changes the quality of the finished build will be worth the effort. The motor mounts need to be moved forward about an 1/8", they will get moved tonight along with the addition of the upper and lower pieces to unbox the frame horns. Also, need to add a couple of .040X.060 pieces to the frame to allow the 4-link to be hung. More fun yet to come, stay tuned.

Very Cool Charlie, I have no doubt that his dad will be very pleased with your efforts. Blessings Fletch

The last of the 3 Sedans is moving forward slowly, yesterday when I was doing some research for a future '32 3 Window Coupe project, I discovered that the 1:1 that the last Sedan is being loosely modeled from actually has a 390 Ford FE engine with 6 carbs. I did a quick inventory and found nothing in the garage or parts box the was a "390". However, a 427 is the same block with a different bore and stroke, and there just happened to be a Thunderbolt that gave up a lot of it's other parts for misc builds. So, we're gooing to change horses in mid stream so to speak and get a little closer to the 1:1 even thought it is a '30 Sedan. This is where the real fun could begin, it would sure through a lot of people off that's for certain, that is except you Aussies. Hosted on Fotki A tire and wheel change may still be in order, we shall see. All this change and it needs to be ready for a show on the 27th. Nothing like a bit of pressure to get the blood pumping!

I have a few, Bob was part of the team that developed the Angelia and Thames kits as well as several others during his time with Revell. The most sought after Paeth design is the Revolution funny car. His daughter has one build by one of our club members here in Portland. Bob and 3 or 4 other modelers were responsible for the formation of our local club, Scale Auto Builders Ass'n (SABA). Bob, was a good man and a great friend and we all miss him terribly.

As a relative new comer to F1 it is distressing to see and hear the ciaos going on in F1. But, when listening to the cost of a single seat to watch the Monaco Grand Prix you had to wonder how much longer can it continue before the Manufactures throw up their hands and say enough. I agree Bernard the last thing we need is another spec car series. They are now talking about cubic inch and how much the blower can be over driven for the fuel cars in NHRA, stating that it will make the motors more reliable and the cars safer. How do you make a car that produces 8000 HP at the hit of the throttle safe? For FOTA to bring their proposed series to Indy would require a great deal of mending fences. Unfortunately, they will be stuck with the legacy of the debacle of the US GP for many years to come. But, then again if race fans in the US will flock by the thousands to watch someone race a lawn mower the FOTA series just may flourish. Let's hope so.

The late Bob Paeth designed that kit for Revell when he worked for them. The Sunday evening before he passed away I was to meet up with him to have him autograph the box of the one that I have. It was one of the kits he was always proud of, he often talked of the days at Revell and the pranks they use to play on each other. I agree that this is a fun and inspiring build and that Revell need to reissue this kit.

All very real possibilities. I have thought of checking to see how much work it would take to convert an AMT Willys or Revell Anglia to fit up under this body. It might be the easiest way to make it into a Gasser, of course both of those could lend itself to a Pro-Street conversion as well. I am doing my best to avoid temptation by leaving the Willys and Anglia kits in the garage so I can get the project ahead of it completed.

The more I research this body I'm starting to come to the conclusion that there are 2 different bodies. One used bu Saico for their die-cast and one used by OK toys for the original plastic body they made into the mid '60s. The thing that is very noticeable is the difference in wheel bases between the 2. The resin body from R&R and the plastic one from OK Toys have the rear wheel opening aprox .250 closer to the cab then the die-cast from Saico. After looking trough the Morris Oxford brochure the Saico die-cast is closer to the actual length and wheel base of the 1:1. When sat next to a Revell '37 Ford Coupe it does appear to be around 1/26th as indicated by different MFG. As it sits now there are 7 other builds that have specific dates they need to be completed by. So, this most likely, will only get worked on during the down time of the other builds. It will resurface every now and then. It looks like a BB Chevy with injector stacks is in it's future along with a flip front end. Got to do the Gasser thing justice.

Dude, That is seriously outrageous. Did that start as one of the Morris Pickups or as the delivery? It looks to have the correct wheel base where the ones cast from the OK Toys body do not. Either way it is way to cool. Thank you for sharing it with us.