Art Anderson

Good call Richard! There are all manner of styrene blends, from pure styrene, to the various blends of polystyrene, to those that have a bit of synthetic rubber added to them. Those old, hard styrene model car kits of the late 50's-early 60's can be very problematic to paint with lacquers, while I have very little problem using automotive acrylic lacquers on most modern kits (although I've learned to be careful with some Japanese kits). One thing that sprues from any model kit are great for--testing the paint compatibility, even minute reactions to whatever paint one envisions using on a particular model. Art

It's simply one man's interpretation, probably based on the relatively few images of Salt Flats cars that exist, showing their inner workings. Sometimes, at contests, almost any contest, there shows up a model that is just so amazing, that the workmanship far outweighs any imperfections in practicality, We who have staffed this contest since 2004 (3 years at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Clermont IN (home of NHRA's US National Drags), then a couple of years hiatus due to no indoor facility anymore at the dragstrip, three years (2011- 2013) an exposition building at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, finally moving to the Indiana State Fairgrounds last year, and agreed that this model is probably the most innovative any of us had ever seen. That's what intrigued everyone who walked in, viewed the models, spectators and contest entrants as well. Art

While I could not get a good shot of the body yesterday, you can see the "side pod", which was made from a section of a lightweight aluminum alloy bicycle rim! Hopefully, one of my close friends, who shot pics of the car today, can get me a side view picture of the car, taken after Charlie mounted the body shell back up on it.;

This was a total surprise entry at the Goodguys Indianapolis show this weekend, by a heretofore unknown model builder, Charlie Farmer, from Beloit WI, who along with his wife, drove a fantastic '34 Ford 5-window hi-boy to the show (I'll post some pics of it in the appropriate topic area later tonight). This model is completely scratchbuilt, from almost all metal parts--not a single piece was purchased, nor was any hobby raw material used at all, save for paint! Rather, Charlie slowly gathered up bits and pieces of this and that, from ordinary household stuff, bits of junk parts from real cars, even a 4-leg stamped steel base of an office desk chair!. He told me that he had never before entered a model in a contest--but look what he came up with! We had a couple of GG's classes that had no entries, so it was our choice what to award those to: In this case, in addition to this model being our "Best Of Show" award winner, was also awarded what we decided to call it, "The Most Innovative Model", and it sure is that. For example, the wheels and tires are actual office furniture casters, reshaped on a lathe to create LSR units, the "radius rods" down the sides are bits of windshield wiper arms, also reshaped. The Moon fuel tank was made from a hair spray can--the list goes on!

The location of the taillights may well have been due to lighting regulations in one or more state. Bear in mind, back in 1949, automakers wishing to sell their cars nationwide had to deal with 48 different sets of regulations, as such rules were considered the province of the individual states. Art

Considering that in just these United States alone, there have been more than 1,500 individual makes of cars produced since 1895--probably the majority of those makes have not a single example left, anywhere (that anyone knows about, that is). Art

Amen, Dave!

Back when minimum wage was just over a dollar an hour, too. Art

Pretty much the only difference between the '53 and '54 kits, besides the body & hood will be the chrome tree (pretty self-explanatory there), instrument panel and perhaps a few other very visible parts. The underpinnings, and assembly sequences will be the same as for the earlier Moebius Hudson kits. That said, a note to Moebius should get you a replacement instruction sheet. Art

Thinking back to my days of working in our largest LHS, when Uncertain T was on our shelves--frankly it didn't exactly set the cash register on fire. My guess as to why the thing never was reissued? Poor sales history the first time around. Art

Micro Balloons and 30 minute epoxy can also be used to make hollow body shells as well! An old friend of mine from up in NW Indiana used to make incredible 1/25 scale race car body shells this way! He'd simply carve out the basic shape (slightly undersized) in blue insulation styrofoam, mix the micro balloons with 5 minute epoxy to make a fairly stiff paste, spread that over the styrofoam. Several layers, or applications later, once the epoxy was hardened, he'd simply use files and sandpaper to carve those body shells to the desired shape, and once satisfied, he'd use his Dremel to open up such as the grille (or air intake) opening, and the cockpit area. To truly hollow out the body shell, he'd go outside, and pour some acetone into say,the cockpit opening, and within seconds, pour the liquified styrofoam out through the air intake in the nose! After this, Bob would cut the body shell apart along where it's panel seams would be, clean up the inside surfaces, then do any smoothing out that still remained with spot & glaze putty. He was so practiced at this technique, he was making model race car body shells with a material thickness of no more than .030", which resulted in some really cool model car bodies. I've tried that a few times years ago, in my Indy/USAC race car modeling period--it does work, and work very well. Art

Unfortunately space is at a premium in my apartment. Art

Doing a Woodie body in birch plywood with basswood framing has been on my bucket list for a number of years--however, it has to be in my preferred scale, 1/25. Art

Hunting Brakes were vehicles specifically made for supporting fox hunting. A Hunting Brake may look very much like any other woodie, but instead of being set up to transport fishing gear, or shotguns, hunting brakes were constructed with kennels, for hauling foxhounds to the hunt. Art

I did, but like a bad dinner, it keeps coming back up! Art

I submit that the reason Monogram Models went with 1/24 scale was pretty simple: They were started by modelers, in the Chicago area, who were not primarily industrial machinists, nor engineers. So, such fractions of an inch made great sense to them, from their beginnings in 1945-46 clear through to 1992, when Revell-Monogram released the 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz convertible kit, the first 1/25 scale model car kit developed at Morton Grove IL. But, in answer to the original question in this thread, yes, 1/24 scale was a bit of a downer, where model car builders were concerned, here in the US, where model car building as a hobby really did reach serious heights, simply because AMT (along with MPC and JoHan) were, by the early 1960's, a literal juggernaut. Most model car builders probably ignore that until the late 1980's, Monogram and Revell-Monogram were not the major players in model car kits in the US, not even that heavily devoted to model cars. Rather, from their earliest days clear through the mid-late 1980's, Monogram was focused as much (if not more) on military aircraft, with a few sashays into armor and ships--they were very much the kings of military plane kits made in the USA by perhaps 1965 or so. By contrast, the Detroit "Little Three" (in rank order: AMT/SMP, MPC and JoHan) were living in an Engineers' World, where decimals of inches (and later metric measures) ruled, and still do. As such, they all adopted the scale, 1:25, which is a common engineer's and architect's scale--easily divisible by a calculator at 40-thousandths on an inch to the inch--and with loosening the tolerances a bit, 1 millimeter to the inch, to create 1/25 scale models. Was it the slight scale difference though? Probably not. More, I think, it was the sheer proximity and close relationship developed by the Detroit Little Three model companies to the Detroit Big Three (plus one) automakers that made them collectively own the bulk of the plastic model car kit trade, as regards the US. After all, perhaps a majority of us who read this forum, go to the various model car contests and NNL's, even populate our country's model car clubs, were kids back in the 1950's and 60's, and we were impressionable. As we grew up, our tastes in model cars did change, and with the decline of the Detroit Little Three, Monogram caught our attention, bit by bit, fractional inch by fractional inch, model car subject by model car subject, to the point that they are the dominant plastic model car kit company in the US today. And guess what? While Revell-Monogram still honors 1/24 scale where it comes to race cars, exotic sports cars (those enthusiasts are just as scale focused as we who built factory stock and street rods are!), that company has done only 1/25 scale kits of production American cars, along with street rods, even custom cars, since that '59 Eldorado kit. Art

Harry, I've been watching this build with great interest, not because I would build in 1/12 scale, but because I'd really like to try my hand at doing a 1/25 scale woodie body in real wood. Believe it or not, a miniature vertical mill, such as a Sherline, can also mill small wood parts! I learned that by experimentation on my '13 T Runabout, the wooden dashboard having its edges milled to accept half-round styrene, and recessed locating slots cut into the wood for mounting such as the hood former and cowl lamps. Believe me, I will be playing around with my mill on other projects where wood is to be a part of the model project. BTW, your Rolls Royce Shooting Brake is looking very grand! Now, you need to think of a Hunting Brake as well! After all, you have to transport your retrievers to the hunt, you know, and perhaps foxhounds to the next fox hunt! Art

Got mine from the mailman today, just as I was going out the door to work. Can't wait to crack open the shrink wrap! Art

No, the Aurora XKE's were first produced in late 1961 (the coupe), with the roadster coming about a year or so later. Revell's XKE roadster kit came out in, I believe, early 1965, totally different kit. Art

The headlights are now installed, which completes the Prest-O-Lite acetylene gas lighting system. For those just starting on one of these kits, the headlight brackets are an absolute bear to install--so take your time there! They do go on. I added the red rubber hoses which supply the acetylene produced in the Prest-O-Lite generator, which run from the base of the radiator on each side (on the real car, there would be a copper tube down the inside of each frame rail, to the headlights). This was done, as with the plug leads and the rubber hose lines at the generator and it's moisture trap to the underside of the left frame rail. All the "hoses" are painted with Modelmaster Flat British Crimson, which is a pretty good dead ringer for fresh red rubber from those days. I extended the sterling silver wire into each headlight, with the ends flattened slightly with some jeweler's pliers, to replicate the "spreader" shape of the top of each burner. It's getting closer! Art

That would have been either SMP, or perhaps Product Miniatures Company (out of Milwaukee WI). JoHan didn't do any Chevrolets. Art

JoHan's 1959 Oldsmobile was a 98 flat roof 4dr hardtop--scarce as hen's teeth today, but they did produce it, in both promotional and 3in1 kit form. That's where Modelhaus got the roof unit they have cast in resin for years. Art