Dr. Cranky

Next up I got the firewall and fender wells assembled and cleaned . . . You don't know how many of these kits I ruined by putting these elements glued to the body from the beginning and then the interior tub would not fit . . . ah, I don't even want to think about it . . . I recommend assembling and glueing after a few mock ups fitting the parts where they go . . .

Thanks, Riz, plus we can always claim the model to be simply a curbside! Stay tuned in for more . . .

After working on the rolling chassis, I turned my attention to the cab and body . . . I sanded and removed all the unwanted imperfections . . . there are a few mold lines on this kit . . . but it's not a big deal . . . and I sanded everything smooth with 600 grade paper . . . I realized the hood didn't fit just quite right, so I had to thin down the plastic around the edges and also pull open on the sides so it'd fit and sit right . . . With my Dremel I wanted to add some damage to the driver's side door. Again poetic liscense . . . the original picture shows a fairly smooth and good body, but I wanted to give this one my own style and character . . . The Dremel made just the right dents for the impending bullet holes to come . . . It's not really a lot of work to get the body looking good in a short time . . . .

I am not trying to copy the picture exaclty, but it's all about the STANCE, STANCE, STANCE with this build . . . you can tell that in real life it is as low as the owner could take it . . . and so it is in my build . . . . Here's a clear view now of the modification done to the suspension in the back. In a purist's handbook, this would be blasphemy, in Cranky's book it's called POETIC LISCENSE!!! As long as you like the final results . . .

One of the main factors that has made me fail with the 3100 kit before has been the chassis, getting the right stance has been a chore, and there's really no way to bring down this puppy to the weeds without modifying the frame. Even if you are using the STREETMACHINE kit version, you still have modify the frame and do a little bit of cutting . . . then again most of the work trucks I've built before have not required this kind of radical suspension . . . but again, this is the major part of the appeal of the above picture . . . So a couple of days later of intense work on the chassis, this the result . . . Now, those of you who are familiar with the way I paint will know that I tend to glue all my components before painting them. This always insures a clean, well put together compent . . . it also--as it is always a case with rolling chassis--it give me a chance to square up everything on a jig so that all the wheels touch . . . something I learned a few years ago from Pat Covert . . . As its clear on this next picture, I cut a little bit of the frame up front and glued the suspension bar straight to the frame . . . and in the back, I brought the wheel all the way to the side of the frame . . . you need to remember there's got to be enough room for the tires to fit into the wheel wells of the bed . . . Sometimes you have to take a little builder's poetic liscense . . . if you look closely at this next picture, you will see the rear axle and the wheels don't line up . . . and the reason for this, after I mulled it over, was that I did not want to change too much of the look, or rather I took the easy way out . . . Here's another angle, and this one fools the eye pretty well, and so I figured if you looked at the finished and painted model and turned it over this is what you would see of the chassis . . . hard to tell that much has changed . . . or at least I think so . . .

One of the things that first appealed to me about the above picture was the level of natural rust, paint fading, and the fact that you could still some of the original colors around the edges of the panels . . . the other thing that got to me right away were the clean rim and wheels and the stance . . . While I took a break from another project during a recent weekend, I looked around and found the right wheels and the right wide whites . . . . Often, it's easy to think that you are going to get into a project head over heels because you find the right components right away . . . so how could you not think the Styrene Muses will be with you on this one?

Sometimes you sit there for a couple of years building the same kit, trying to capture something unique and special about it. For all these years, the AMT 50 CHEVY 3100 has been such a kit for me. I've built several work trucks . . . and a couple of shiny ones . . . and the testament to my failures is the fact that I don't really have anything to show for it. I mean, I have a couple of them in the display case, but they are certainly not amongst the first kits I would turn to to say I am proud of the results . . . It's a great kit, and every once in a while it calls out to me from the shelves . . . but with kits you are familiar with you know it's a matter of time, except this next time the inspiration came via a picture a buddy on another forum posted, a picture he said was inspiring him to build this kit, which of course triggered an immiade reaction on my part, and once I saw the picture I knew I too would have to try one . . . such is the beauty of the influence and inspiration that goes from builder to builder here on this forum and elsewhere . . . . Now here's the picture . . .

Man, great job on that engine compartment. It is clean and well detailed. Keep it going.

Welcome back!!! I hope you keep working on this build . . . it just delights the heck out of me!

Welcome back!!! I hope you keep working on this build . . . it just delights the heck out of me!

Thanks for the kind words, buddy. Here's my set up . . . it took me a few years of trying different things out to finally settle on this one, which gives me consitently good pictures . . .

Oh, man, I forgot to put the chrome trim on . . . darn it, just when I thought I was finished! It must be my old age!

Thanks, everyone. The interior is made using printouts from GOOGLE IMAGE, my handy printer, and some thinned white glue . . .

It's a great kit. On my Top 5 for sure!!!

Thanks for all the wonderful comments, chaps . . . I appreciate them.

Excellent job, Mr. Cruz. Another winner in your collection! Congrats.

Here are just a couple of more pics of the finished vehicle . . .

Cranky finally got "shiney" in his eyes!!!! I finally finished this build from last year . . . hope you enjoy it . . . The chassis . . . . I did a count recently and between the different metalizer paints from TESTORS, TAMIYA, and other, there must be well over 50 different metalizer colors and shades . . . plenty of choices for chassis and engines . . . The interior on this Revell kit is one of the easiest and most friendly to assemble and work with . . . The paintjob on this is House of Kolor and about five coats of clear . . . and lots of buffing . . .

You got the muses on your side with this one. What an amazing idea . . . and I really can't wait to see some paint on this sucker. Keep it going, chap.

For a minute I thought we were doing a CB of Beatles cars . . . I was getting ready to put a fresh body on the turntable and splatter paint on it . . . tie-dyed models?

I just got one and I am anxious to do something with it . . .

Mine was my father's 1965 Dodge Dart, and then I moved on to a 1980 Mustang hatchback . . . afterall these years, I wish I still had the Dart!

I agree with Geezerma. This rat rod is going to be SPECIAL. That's a genius move on that bed choice. Can't wait to see more.

Thanks, y'all!

All right, maties, this one is officially done . . . again, thanks for all your comments . . .