Ramcharger

Chris, where did you get the decals for the Schartman car? I'm wanting to build that car, I have the body and chassis, but no decals.

Thanks, Matthijs! Here's some more. I have the chassis almost done and the motor is just sitting in the engine bay. I've been working on the wheel and tire fit, I had to grind down the mounting pins on the wheels to move them closer under the wheel wells. I have to fill a few gaps in the engine bay and build the lower suspension links for the rear, the plastic ones look cheesy so I'm going to build them out of metal. I took a couple of photos of it up in wheels, this is how the final stance will be. The chassis is drooping a little because the wheels are just sitting there, it fits a little better then that. Once I get the chassis done I'll start on the interior. Here's the latest pictures:

More, I didn't like the front struts in the GT 500 kit, mostly the springs that never seem to lose the mold ream and always look molded in. So I fixed 'em. I made some springs out of wire and sanded the nasty springs down, then I cut them down to lower the front end. Here's some photos of the parts:

I added some more posts to the blog and I opened the comments to everyone. http://modelfink.blogspot.com/

Nice 'Stangs, the vintage T/A look is really cool. I've thought about attempting this very same build, but yours is so well done I may just pass. You did a fantastic job.

I'm diggin' it! Great stance, I think you nailed it!

Pretty cool! I like the AWB cars no matter what the flavor! Clean build, nicely done, love the paint, and the decals set it off! I'd say it's a home run!

Local Hobby Shop, Hobby Lobby, Swap Meets at shows, Ebay, Trades with Friends, in that order.

I'm diggin' it!

I used a length of wire for the stick and then cut a small slice of wire insulation from a thicker wire for the loop and glued it on the top. Winner!! I actually cut the sides off and widened the body by an 1/8 inch on each side. You have an excellent eye for detail! I got the idea from the Ring Brothers, the did the same thing to a real 1965 Mustang called the "Producer".

Here's the photos from the chassis progress today, it's not complete, the exhaust needs some work. I also included photos of the body, it's not stock. See if you can guess what I did to it. Comments welcome!

Ok, more to report on the 57 BattleFord! The bodywork is almost done, the giant gaping hole is filled, the door locks filled and handles shaved, headrest and aero tunnel created, and the chassis is built. I'm working on the wheels and tires for it, I have several choices on hand. I have some Moon discs, some chrome steelies, and some Halibrands. I'll make a final decision later. Here's some photos of the progress, and as always, comments are welcome:

Thanks, Guys! I've got a little painting to do on the chassis today, if all goes well I'll post some photos later.

I like the topless Challenger. Really Cool!

Here's another project I've been toiling away on, a Revell 1968 Mustang With some Revell 2007 Shelby GT 500 parts on it. I did some stuff to the body of the 68, which I'm still working on, and I've built the motor from the 07 Shelby and have done some suspension stuff. It's for a club build so I won't completely let the cat out of the bag, but I thought I'd show off the motor. I added all of the visible wiring I could find from internet sources like the injector wiring and stuff. The block is painted aluminum and the blower and cam covers are Model Master Titanium, there's a theme for this build that's why I didn't use stock colors for the motor. I think it came out pretty good. Comments are welcome!

Try Red Pegasus Decals, he does mostly aircraft but he has done car stuff for me. Here's a link Red Pegasus.

I'll play, I have about 200 kits between cars and figures. Not as many as some guys, but still more than I need. I enjoy looking at other people's collections for some reason, I think it reminds me that I don't have as many as I thought. I also like seeing how other people store their kits and organized or disorganized they are. I also really enjoy the workbench threads too. I guess I'm kinda weird. Here's a photo of my stash:

I just got back from the Big "D" and I had a ball! No wait, I didn't have any fun at all... I, uh, hated it. Yeah, that's it I hated it! The vendors didn't have anything good at all, I didn't spend all of my money and I didn't meet or talk to any really cool model car guys. I didn't see any exceptionally well built models and I didn't get any really great building ideas. Yeah, that's it. Of course, I could be lying about what a wonderful time I had and how many cool kits and resin stuff I found and bought because I told the wife I wouldn't spend any money and I couldn't possibly have a good time in Detroit without her. There is also no way she is standing right behind me watching me type what a really bad time I had. I'm definitely not going to post any pictures of the models that were there because I wouldn't take pictures of models, ever, and there is no link to more photos: Detroit 2013

Cool New Stuff: Injection Set up:

More, more more! I spent yesterday working on this and then went to the weekly Staff Officer's Meeting at the local Hobby Shop and spent some money. I bought the plastic to fill in the roof hole and build the "fin", I also bought an aluminum magneto and found some aluminum "Moon" discs for it. I assembled the motor and got to work on the seat and dash. I also had to fill the ENORMOUS gap between the floor pan and the firewall! I can't believe on a new tool how bad the fit is in this area, but, that's why we're called modelers not putter-togehterers. I filled it with epoxy and then smoothed it with superglue and baking soda. The dash was sectioned so I could use it in front of the single driver area, I want to use as many stock like parts as I can so it will look like a factory built ride. I also want the seat to look stock so I cut an inch out of the middle (so I could have the "hump" cutout for the drive shaft tunnel) and cut 0.10 off each end of the seat and glued it all back together to make a "factory" single seat. I mocked up how the seat will sit in the car. Today I'm going to build the cover for the cockpit and the "fin". Wish me luck! I also plan to build a fuel injection set up for the motor. The cool thing about the old Ford 312 "Y" blocks is that the intake ports are stacked vertically, one on top of the other in sets of twos. This makes for a really cool looking set up. I also have to build some fender well headers, just to be cool! Here's some photos of what I have been rambling about: The Dash: The Seat: In the Car: Fire Wall Gap: From the Bottom:

That's the cool thing about doing a 50's project, aerodynamics don't really matter. The rest of the car is a brick, I'm sure the driver's head sticking up is not the biggest aero problem this car faces. Now I have to find a good set of wheels and tires. I'm thinking Moon discs unless I could find some 15" skinny Halibrands, those would be cool.

I've started on my 1957 Ford Custom 300 build for the Ohio Challenge at the Buckeye Classic Model Car Contest. For those who don't know we came up with the idea of having a contest within the contest involving any member of any model car club in Ohio. We (the Buckeye Scale Auto Club) pick a kit and challenge the other clubs to a build off at our show. Last year we did the AMT Gremlin kit and had a really good turn out. Rob Smorey won and he chose the Revell 57 Ford kit. The rules are that you can build it any way you want, use as many or as few of the kit parts as you want, as long as we can tell it's a 57 Ford. We have a really cool, trophy we give you to display for a year, then you have to defend your title to keep it. So I thought I'd share my build this year since I'm starting a little early on it. The plan is to build it like the 1957 Mercury Mermaid or the 1957 Thunderbird "Battlebird". For those who are unfamiliar with these two cars here's a couple of photos of them. The Mermaid: The Battlebird: I'll do a couple of things different, but I'm thinking an injected 312, put the cockpit in the center, and Moon discs on the wheels. Here's the start:

Thanks, Bill, for all of the fantastic info on the scale MEL motors

One of the T-Bucket kits has a M-E-L Ford type motor in it. Anyone know which one?

I plan on making the trek up north for this one.