Dr. Cranky

Thanks, Raul--I appreciate it. You read my post about where you can get the dry transfer lettering right? Woodland Scenics sells them . . . and they have a whole bunch of neat stuff. Well, for now I am not going to try to top this thing, but I have a few ideas . . .

As a happy owner of a Jairus Watson build, I have to confess I miss not having you, Jarius Watson, slaving away on new work at the bench!!! Perhaps I should send some of my biker friends over to Oregon to properly motivate ya! Also, look who just came over for a visit to ###### Cranky's Auto no less!!!

That's a great idea, but I'm afraid they might get carried away to carry it away and then get bitten!!! And this thing, I think, has rabies!!!

Happy TGIF to everyone!!! Here's ###### Cranky whit his daily progress report . . . now that the engine and the chassis and wheels are done, I can concentrate on getting the painting to look just right on the wings and body. Now, everyday I worked at a little airbrushing practicing, trying to keep in mind that this BEAST is going to be up on a 9"-10" base, tilted at a angle trying to indicate a swoop-to-kill stance . . . the base, which I hesitate to talk about this early on, is going to feature molten lava and cracked earth that will indicate that his sucker has indeed escaped from the bowels of Hades . . . Which is why I have decided to paint the wings underneath fire colors . . . red, orange, yellow, and some white for highlights . . . Like this: I also painted the interior flat black to make sure the red light inside the interior will shine as bright as possible out of those holes . . . but that too is yet another story . . . The body is painted in a varieties of greens, from dark to yellow green . . . and I used some mesh fabric to really create a stronger sense of skin on the beast with my airbrush . . . it is the easiest thing in the world to do. Any mesh type of material goes well with airbrushing and you can create all sorts of neat results . . . TRY IT!!! Here's a better angle on the paintjob so far . . . I really like the continuity and transition between wings and tail and the 32 Coupe. There still more subtle tones and hightlights to add, and some washes to emphasize the texture too to come, so stay tuned in for more.

Thanks for the comments, chaps. I really appreciate them . . . the lettering is Woodland Scenics dry transfers which you find in the RR section of your LHS, or you can get them on line . . . one sheet will last you a few projects . . .

That looks fabulous, and ultra super cool. Excellent model. Congratulations!

I love it, the shine and the color are perfect, not to mention the roof work. This one is gonna be a beauty!

Look, here's another idea of what can be done with this engine. Jairus Watson did this a while back and it just captured my imagination . . . and these kinds of possibilities with the Allison are totally endless . . . you can even use it too to build a boat or a swamp critter . . . anything. Thanks, Jairus for the great illustration eye candy!

Here are some beauty shots of the pretty little Allison engine . . . the engine that could, could fly if it wanted to!!! This engine has so many possibilities for future builds . . . unfortunately it comes as parts of a parts pack that costs 24.95, but all the goodies in that AMT kit are definitely worth it. Of course I could not resist adding a few touches to personalize it like those organ pipes for air intake . . . And of course it's proper name on the headers . . . . I still have to add caps to the exhaust . . .

All right, maties, here's a little more progress on this second Thursday of the month . . . Here's the rolling chassis with big (the rear tires and rims come from the Dodge L-700!) shoes in the rear regular ones in the front just to give it the right forward inclination . . . the right stance. This shot above truly gives you an idea how long the chassis is . . . . Stay tuned in for lots more today . . . Time is flying fast and next thing you know you'll be opening the door to trick or treaters and this sucker better be done by Holloween or I'll have to set it free . . .

You'll have a blast. It's a great monster of an engine, and really very easy to build . . . since the block is hollow you might put pettets in there to weight it down like I did, it gives the model a great feel and heft as if the thing is truly a heavy mother . . . which in real life it must be . . . I lost a part in the process of washing and primering, so I had to recast a part, and that slowed me down a bit, but it's a great engine to build . . . As a matter of fact, stay tuned I am about to post some pictures of it in a little bit . . ..

ABSOLUTELY FREAKING GORGEOUS!!! Congrats. That Merc grill is a crowning touch. Love the color too.

Thanks, stay tuned in for some more chassis and engine progress . . . This Allison engine is turning out to be an extremely fun build, and something tells me it will not be the last one I build . . . As a matter of fact (and maybe Jairus W. can jump in and help me out), I remember seeing one of JW's illustrations (I think it was a 58 Chrysler, a big boat of a car with an Allison engine and prop over the trunk of the car) and I knew that I wanted to build that sucker. Maybe J has a copy of his print somewhere . . .

Ha!!! I like that. Though I said: EXORCISE it!!! That's why I get kicked out of every gym/fitness center. I walk in and tell them I want to EXORCISE!!! Exorcise my right to be fat and happy!!!

Thanks for the compliment . . . yes, I like to exorcise my sick imagination . . . and it's best I do it with plastic models!!!!

Here's a bit more progress, the chassis mocked up with the wheels and the Allision also in progress . . . I'm trying to get all the colors right . . . and also the balance . . .

Hump daze's progress report . . . RATOUTOFHELL keeps coming along . . . while I keep practicing the paint scheme, I also been working on the chassis . . . The white thin rods coming out of each end of the chassis are there to help me thread the light wires when the time comes . . . I had to really beef up the frame here to handle all that weight from the Allison . . .

Thanks for the comments, folks . . . This RATOUTOFHELL will be able to be displayed in two ways . . . tabletop sitting on its wheels (more on that soon!) and also on its base . . . up in the air . . . The base is going to depict some. . . ooh, wait I better not give so much away so darn early. Stay tuned in for more progress.

While the primer on the body dries I've taken a little time to work on the interior bucket and the angle of the turbing that's going to hold up this beast up in the air . . . Again, this thing is going to be posed SWOOPING downward . . . it's also set up like this so that the lights will be more easily seen . . . They are going to be bright red LEDs in here so I painted everything black . . . The wiring will run through the tube down to the base . . . .

Thanks, chaps . . . your feedback keeps me fueled . . . I really appreciate you tuning in to check out the new progress . . . I've been practicing some of the paint possibilities with my Iwata airbrush . . . and some material (fabric) I have bought which I hope gives me the patterns I am looking for . . . . It's going to be tough because the main colors I have chosen for the body are black, brown, and different shades of green . . . . We'll see what happens . . . .

WOW, some fantastic, sick builds going on . . . beautiful. You guys have been having a great deal of fun!!!

Thanks, everyone. I keep reminding myself that this one is going to be displayed flying . . . it's going to be sitting on a base, so I have to get the right look to the SWOOP and angle . . . But I have in fact finished the sculpting and now I am moving on to getting some paint on this sucker to see how it is going to look . . . Here are a couple of primer shots . . . The weird stuff you see on the inside of the Allison is some led pellets I put in it to weight it down some . . . give the hole model some heft . . . so it doesn't just hang there flimpsy . . . I raised the wings a little bit and it seems to allow for better pics of the body . . . I'm not going to worry too much about the tail because it is rather poseable so until this beast is sitting on the base, I won't fiddle with it too much. This things does feel and look like a rat with wings . . .

Thanks, J . . . I hope to take some stuff up to Utah for the next GSL, which seems to be so far away but really isn't. I mean, in terms of dates . . . Thank you, John, for the kind words. I am definitely having fun with this one, though it might just get the best of me and I'll never be able to push the envelope ever again!!!

Here's an over-the-wing view which shows how the texture has grown all over the body, but NOT everywhere on the body. Just enough to give it the right beastial look . . . Since it is the first time I do anything like this, I was holding my breath all the way, and when I exhaled I realized I had dragon breath!!!

Thanks for the tip, Raul . . . I think this Green Stuff does the trick . . . like I said earlier the idea behind the texture is to capture enough of it . . . later on when I get to paint this sucker, the paint will help create the final blending . . . or at least I hope so . . . we'll see.