Fletch

Dennis, the work on your roadster is incredible. The attention to the small details it what makes the difference between a good and a GREAT build. I have scanned through the build several times to see where you are in the progress. Today I read through the build instead of scanning through it. Having built several of the AMT '29, never even thought about why they had you change the cross member. Good thing I read through your explanation as I have a '29 Roadster Pickup build that I am about 3/4 of the way through. The hold up on the build was the rear engine cross member, but no longer. Thank you for your attention to detail. I look forward to seeing this under glass. Dave

Here's part of the fun of doing a kitbash. You find things once you have gone to paint. The point where the Revell sides meet the AMT upper body section at the rear quarter windows doesn't match very well. The down side to this is that it's not that noticeable until paint. So, here's the solution: By adding a piece of .015 X .156 styrene to the area builds it up to the level of the rest of the joint between the sides and the upper body. Allow the glue to dry, sanding the filler piece to shape. Hosted on Fotki As Helipilot16 noted roadster side has a dip above the wheel arch that is why this issue came about. The use of the sides from the 3 window coupe my eliminate this little problem. Now back to the paint shop.

Looks to be a fun build Dennis. Ya, got to love when the only limitation to a build is your imagination. Looking forward to seeing this one completed.

At tonight's SABA meeting we were informed that The NW Antique Car Collectors Show had bit the dust due to current economic conditions. That due to lack of major sponsorship that the event would not happen in 2009 and the 2010 event is in jeopardy as well. We have produced a Model Car Contest at the event for the past 15 years. With the loss of the NW Antique Car Collectors, Portland Rod and Custom and Seattle Roadster Show we have lost 5 major shows/contests in the Pacific NW since 2000. We have been kicking around the idea of resurrecting a show similar to the Seattle National. The Seattle National in 2000 drew over 500 models to a single day event. Unfortunately, the Seattle event had the dubious honor of being the first national event following September 11th. Our event date was October 6th. We drew aprox 200 models. We actually had people call us from airports to let us know that they couldn't get on their flights due to the imposed travel restrictions. That unless they were willing to put their models in "Checked" baggage they would not be allowed on their flights. Let me give you some background on the event: The Seattle Nationals was the combined effort of Jeff Dykes of Nitro Models, Steve Koenig, Dennis Pierce, Floyd Blakely and myself. The Seattle Nationals was as it sounds was a big draw for drag racers. We had two Themes one for the straight line guys and one for us rodders. The first year we were over whelmed by the response to the show. Judging took to long due to the high number of quality builds that were entered. Our solution the second year was to make the event a 2 day show. The judging was done after the event closed for the day. The Awards Ceremony was the following morning at a hosted breakfast. The loss of the Seattle Nationals and the November PSAMA show/contest in the Seattle area has dramatically impacted the number of events to show or display what our blood, sweat and tears have produced. Since, travel restrictions have been eased since 2001 it just may be time to produce this type of show again. This time in Portland. Chime in Guys I'd love your feedback before we commit to such a venture. Thanks Dave

Go ahead and post it Erik. There undoubtedly are members here that have never seen ANY coverage of the Portland Roadster show or know how instrumental Bob was in making this hobby what it is today.

Ooops My bad, guess I should READ through the post and not just skim over them.

PStreet man you've got to get back to your build man that is flat out KEWL. Plum, it just keeps looking better and better. I wasn't sure if I was going to like it as much after the chop but, it works. The next big question is where did you come up with the dice shifter?

Finally got the flier with the correct dates. This is the 39th year for the Portland Classic. This year it has been renamed to honor our good friend Bob Paeth, who passed away last year from cancer. The event is March 6,7 , 8, 2009 at the Oregon Convention Center. Thursday March 5th is move-in, any one bringing models to enter on Thursday will be able to do so at no charge. Those bringing entries during the event will be required to pay the admission to the show. Everyone will receive a ticket to get back in on Sunday for the Awards Ceremony. Also, the reintroduction of "The Best of The Best" contest will happen at this years Classic. If your build has won a class first place or any "Best of" category (Paint, Detail, Engine, Show, etc) you can enter to put your model head-to-head with other top winners. The Bob Paeth Portland Classic and The Best of The Best are judged contests. If you wish your entry judged, it will be handled by the judging panel. Any questions please email bppcmcc@gmail.com Hope to see you there.

Are you talking about the PVC cement that is used for sprinkler systems? I would have never considered it because my experience with it is installing sprinkler systems and you have to use an etching primer in order to get it to work. But, I guess if you're not applying water pressure to the model it might work. After all Styrene is a lot different than PVC.

Wesley's Bleach White works well. The other thing that I use is 91% Isopropyl Alcohol, it works well and is inexpensive. Once I'm to the primer stage I use Dupli-Color's Self-Etching Primer. It looks a lot like zinc chromite and it does indeed etch the surface of the resin. Beats sanding and running the risk of sanding through the smooth surface layer.

Here is a pic of the '41 from R&R built by a fellow SABA member Stan Ulrich: Ray, has somethings at a good and others that are pure junk. I bought a '37 Sedan and Coupe at the same time Stan bought the '41 Fodor Sedan. The Sedan is fine but the coupe was a waste of money . You're better off to buy only when you can put your hands on the product. Fletch

Mike, I agree with you to a point. For AMT to get the idea that all they had to do was add 24s" and add Coddington's name to the box, we'd run to the store and clear the shelves I find somewhat insulting. The body is about the only part of the kit that is usable and it leaves a great deal to be desired. By usable I mean that it can be corrected to make it into a reasonable hot rod. The kit was sub par when it was MPCs Graffiti Coupe the addition of the "Boyd Coddington" wheels didn't correct that. If the answer to getting people to buy model kits was to add 24s" hell even Tamiya would be in on that.

Hey Dave, good to hear from you Brother. This has been a fun interesting adventure. Scratch building is something that I have done off and on over the years. It would have been just as easy to have ordered the Firewall from Norm and RMoM but that would have meant waiting for a few additional days before going to paint. I do have one on order for the chopped version, as I needed the S.C.o. T.s blower and the one in the AMT '57 Chevy isn't close enough. Especially when you put the work in to correct the inherent flaws from the mfg. I should be at the meeting Sunday, God willing and the Vicki will be there as well. Just finished shooting the first coat of primer. Now if it will actually get to 50 today it would help. See you Sunday. God Bless Fletch

John, it's as accurate as eyeball engineering can be. Thats why the statement of "it's not perfect but a close representation." Besides once you put the flatty in with all it's finery no one will even notice the firewall anyway. A lot of this build has been to get me out of my building slump. And if the building skills get stretched in the process all the better. The under side rear edge of the hood has been shaved to fit over the more accurate firewall. Have a couple of places to do some touch up on seams. Then as soon as the temps comes up it's out to the garage and the first coat of primer.

Got the firewall built today. Started with a base of 2 layers of .020 Evergreen Sheet. The disks in the upper corners are made from .020x.250 Evergreen strip. The vertical rib is .060 half-round topped by a piece of .080 half-round. All the angled pieces are .040 half-round. The top of the firewall is capped by a piece of .010x.100 strip. I cheated and used a the "foot wells" from a scrap AMT firewall. Perfect it is not, but a reasonable representation. Attached to the body: Need to do a little adjustment to the inside of the hood and it should be good to go. Given the choice between using the Firewall/Hood set from RMoM or scratch building another, I'd have to go with buying from Norm. But, it was a lot of fun to build. So that's the fun for the day, your comments are appreciated as always.

Thanks Guys, it has turned is to a fun project actually. For the interior, there are several ways to go about it. Either using the AMT interior insert as it's not to far off and once it's inside the body no one would know the difference anyway. The other option which is the way that I will most likely go is to use the interior pieces from the Phantom Vickie. With a little rework of the floor pan and straightening of the sides and it fits pretty well. Another option that I have not fully explored is to use the interior from the Revell Tudor Sedan. Or a combination of the AMT rear seat with the Sedan floor pan and rework the Sedan side panels. The one thing about the Vicki that is noticeable only in plans or you have ever been in the back seat is that the floor pan is recessed. On either side of where the torque tube runs down the center of the car there are wells as the rear head room is reduced compared to the Sedan. This is of course something not normally ever modeled. So, just one more thing to do make the project more correct. The rear floor wells was one thing that AMT did get right, at least on the frame. If you compare the AMT Vicki frame to the AMT Sedan floor you will see the wells. So, AMT didn't totally screw up the entire '32 Ford line, just 99.9% of it. As for the "Incorrect" parts they are in the jar of MEK becoming plastic putty for some future project. In the process of finishing the scratch build of the firewall, then on to paint.

Yeah, the AMT line of '32 always had problems. Most either looked the other way or didn't build them. With the release of the Revell series it became even more noticeable what the problems were. As for the stance the front spring mount has been modified to drop it arounf 4mm the rear has yet to have anythigg done to it, so it may drop a little but not a lot. I'm finishing the putty work on the body today, and getting readt ti scratch build the new firewall as the Revell firewall has the big offset because of the 5.0 Litre V8 which isn't needed with the flat head. Then it's off to primer and final color, planning on going two-tone something similar to the colors of the bare plastic. GB Fletch

Considering the AMT body is 20+ years old it's about par for that time. AMTs '32 5 Window is the worst of the bunch a sit has a 3" section to the main body. The issue as I have always understood it was that the car that AMT used to pattern the kit from was a custom that had been sectioned. Unfortunately for us that section body became the '32 5 window that we got for years. If you wanted it to be correct you had to rebuild the side by adding 3" back into the body. Once Revell, introduced their '32 line it was much easier (at least in theory), as all you now had to do was replace the entire side. The problem with the AMT lower body line is that it starts to angle up to soon. The angle shouldn't start until the front edge of the door. Again, the by product of mastering a body off of a custom. The wheels and tires are the Kelsey-Hayes wires that are in the Revell '32 Tudor Sedan. They are without a doubt the nicest set of wires made in plastic. The only way you can get wires that look better is using photo-etched. And there are some great P/E wires out there.

Actually, Lyle Willits has mastered one for Replicas and Miniatures of Maryland. It is in their current catalog. If you have never seen or worked with products from PMoM, you're in for a treat. Their product are some of if not the nicest resin pieces that I have even had the pleasure of working with. So, currently, I don't have any plans to have it used as a master but as we all know plans change. The nice thing about doing this on the Revell platform is you can use the Revell hood which allows you to use the flavor of hood sides that please you.

From the pics posted yesterday when it was still on parts and pieces, It looks great. If you hadn't told us you had fitting issues I'd be surprised if any of us would have even known. Sweet Little 510, GREAT build

Guess I'm dating myself but I remember when those were all the rage on the streets here in Portland. If you were anybody wanting to be seen as a car guy you had a Datsun 510. Then they left the streets and ended up at Portland International Raceway running in SCCA. Great looking build, nice and clean. Without a doubt one of my favorite cars of all time but for what ever reason I have never bought the kit.

Some place along the way I'd bet most of us have that kit laying around in various stages of being built. Looks like you have a great start on this one Kyle. No matter the motor you put in it, it'll be cool.

Use the styling that Chip would use then make it your own. I had the privilege of touring his shop in Huntington Beach in 2005. If you looked at his shop you'd wonder how he even turned out a single car. Very small place, room for just a couple of cars. In those days all his interior and paint work were done somewhere else. The shop you see in Overhaul'n isn't his everyday shop. To say that Chip Foose is a genius at auto styling would be like saying the Empire State Building is tall. Kinda like DUH!!!!!

This is a project that I started out of total necessity in order to come up with a more accurate '32 Vicki. If you've been around the hobby for any amount of time you've undoubtedly heard of the inaccuracies of the AMT '32 Ford line. The '32 Vicki is no different. It's major problems are the lower body line at the firewall and the shape of the cowl. Revell's line of '32 Fords comes to the rescue. They have the correct body lines and the correct profile for the cowl. Here is where the fun begins: AMT's '32 Vicki on it's own fender assembly. With the sides removed and the sides and cowl from a Revell '32 Roadster. After about 90 minutes per side the Revell sides now are part of the "Improved" Vicki body. The red line to the left is the old Roadster door line and the line to the right is of course the Vicki door line. Of course we can't have door lines that don't match. Using a piece of scrap brass as a guide scribe new door lines, The cowl is the last major thing that needs reworked. Mark the cut lines where you want to remove the cowl from the AMT body. The top of the cowl is the real issue here as it's to flat. The marks I used for cutting are just at the point where the cowl starts to change radius. Keep the piece of the cowl that you remove as it will be your pattern on the Revell cowl. Do not totally remove the firewall section of the AMT cowl as this will keep the body from collapsing on itself. This is trial and error fitting of the Revell cowl piece into the AMT body. Take your time as patience here will save you lots of fill work later. Here the ol' girl sits today in her new glory, with correct lower body lines and a correctly shaped cowl. I used the Roadster sides as the front door line of the AMT Vicki and the Roadster match up perfectly, meaning you only have to scribe a single new door line. This is one of 2 Vicki's I currently have in the works. The second is not as far along as this and I used the sides from the Tudor Sedan. Not the best choice as neither front or rear door lines match up. It is going to be chopped (4") and fenderless. The one shown here will have the flathead from the Sedan kit. This is the nice Sunday cruiser. The other one not so NICE. It'll have the flathead from the Revell '50 Pickup with the Ardun heads (yes, the correct ones) and a S.C.o.T.s Blower assembly from RMoM and an attitude meant to leave small children clinging to their mothers leg!

Guys, I use a 50/50 mix of Tenax 7R and Testors Liquid. Applied with either an A-West AW116 Needlepoint Bottle or a Touch-n-Flow Applicator. The one thing with Tenax is how fast it evaporates. By mixing the Testors with the Tenax, you slow down the evaporation time and end up wit a pretty strong bond. I have tried Micro-Weld and I'm not overly thrilled with it, seems to have very little surface penetration and not a great deal of holding power. It's fine for tacking parts together but not for final assembly. I have gone the route of sprue in the cement and it does indeed work and works very well. The problem I had was that when it dried it was like trying to sand a rock. The stuff was so hard that 320 wet/dry would hardly even touch it I went the MEK route years ago and found that the headaches were not worth the bonding capability of the product. Besides the fumes are heavier then air so if you have a pilot light somewhere near you had better have good to great ventilation. Just my 2 cents worth.