jlucky

Well I'm currently blushing and flattered....at your compliments, Tim. Big encouragement to keep on, keeping on. By the way I refer to your book on Collecting Drag Racing Model Kits constantly. Wonderful reference thanks for putting it together. Jerry

It came from the 90's reissue. That's safe to build.

Good eyes....yeah it's still on the shelf waiting it's turn.

With the release of the Ramchargers which included an expanded decal sheet, I thought it would be a good opportunity to do a cleaner rebuild. I wanted the build to be closer to the 1965 version of the car as that is closer to the wheelbase of the kit. So I got rid of the old glue-bomb version and started this Ramchargers project. All was going well until I realized that the rear body panels were wrong. Even Round 2 was unaware that they had packed the John Milner tail section in this kit rather than the original rear section. By the time I noticed the problem the body had been glued to the chassis so it required some delicate de-gluing to remove the wrong panels and replace them with the original I had in another version of the kit. The motor consists of a few resin parts, nothing dramatic, a bit of fundamental wiring nothing overly fancy. I actually got tired of problem solving and chose not to add fuel lines. Finally all the chrome was touched up with my Molotow pen and some weathering was added to the headers. So there we go. The Ramchargers now takes its place in my “History of Dragsters” display…see last photo.

FINAL UPDATE! Got an email from Round 2 regarding this issue and while they were unable to provide an answer as to WHY the bodies were switched for this most recent reissue, I was told they would ensure going back to the original body in any future reissue. That's something I guess.

By way of update...I contacted Round 2 yesterday and explained the situation. They seemed unaware of the change or the different body styles and asked for some photos. I'll let you know what they say. Cheers

I appreciate the offer...I actually have two of the older kits in the collection...I just need to decide if I want to build a whole new proper body/chassis assembly or to try and remove the rear body panels that I've already glued together without wrecking the chassis. Delicate work.

Hey guys...thanks for your observations and comments. YES it does appear that when they took out the molds for the reissue they used the American Graffiti kit. Strange since I'm sure they have the original sitting somewhere...it was last reissued in 1998...I guess someone at the plant wasn't looking closely to notice the difference. Now I have to decide what to do...take the build apart and use the original body from the older kit or leave it the way that it is and be inaccurate? Hey, as for those Moroso head covers...boy I wish I could help you out...they were just sitting in my parts box for years and I have no idea where they came from...sorry.

I can't see the old short version but the reissued kit has that same Milner styled tail section when it should have the original stubby version. I've uploaded some photos of my original Ramchargers car with the "proper" body as opposed to the revised Milner body that's in the new reissue.

Not sure if this is the right category...but this is my current WIP. I recently purchased the newly reissued Ramchargers Dragster to replace my old glue-bomb version and also because this new kit has the expanded decals. So I'm getting to the final stages of assembly and decals and lo-and-behold I discover the body is wrong. I dug out one of the older Ramcharger kits and sure enough they seem to have replaced the dragsters original rear body section with something that looks more like the John Milner dragster kit body. I can't be the only one to notice this? What happened? why did they do this?

Hey guys....thanks for all the kind feedback...it's always encouraging. Perry asks the question about the "gold flake in the name" - actually I can't take any credit on that score. I simply located a useable logo from some photos I had...manipulated it proportionally and then printed it. It came out just that way. I was lucky because it does hold a bit of the gold flake colour. Thanks for noticing. Stay tuned, more dragster are on the way.

Smirnoff Dragster – 1967 Driven by Larry Dixon Sr. This was a “holy grail” build for me. I was familiar with this car from various magazines of the era and had even photographed the beautifully restored version back in 2013 at the California Hot Rod Reunion. It’s one of the most beautiful dragsters of the sixties. Years ago I had ordered the resin body but no one had made the decals. I decided to throw caution to the wind and make my own decals. This would be a first, but I wasn’t getting any younger. Initial Assembly: The resin dragster body was from Altered States and done very well with little flanges for joining the body together ensuring minimal gaps. The tail section was one-piece which meant the rear axle had to be completely refigured into the chassis and then into the body section with extensions to mount the wheels. I also had to create a new front axle assembly out of aluminum to more closely resemble that of the real car. The pre-painted chassis and pre-assembled interior were fitted into the resin body. In the meantime the motor was assembled and ignition wires, fuel lines and fittings attached. The kit’s original hemi was discarded and a period correct 392 Chrysler was used instead. Decal Creation: This was going to be a first. I had software that allowed for simple manipulation of images, creating patterns and drawing the blue stripes. Using images of the restoration I was able to secure the elements I needed including the Smirnoff logo, the blue/white swirl pattern and the little bottle for the cowl. Test pages were printed to get the sizing correct and then the “official” sheet was printed and covered by brush with Microscale decal film. Applying the decals went surprisingly well, other than having to struggle with limited decal movement. Once they went down they just didn’t want to move regardless of how much solution I used. It had to go on right the first time or else. The last hurdle was realizing that the color white is not printed. So when I went to apply the light blue swirl pattern on the tails dark blue sections – they just disappeared. In the end I had to lay down a white decal in the right spot and shape and then reapply the light blue swirl pattern for the tail. All in all, I’m reasonably “happy” with the look even though there’s PLENTY of room for improvement. Final Assembly: Once the decals were set and the rest of the body was together, I proceeded to install the motor, let that dry overnight and then mounted the tires. Voila! The Smirnoff Dragster is complete.

Hey Guys...thanks! I did see those photos but didn't look closely. And you are correct...they ran the car without a bumper. I may build it just like that. Again thanks for everyone's contribution.

Greetings, I've started building the Beebe Bros. Dodge Fever Challenger. I'm using the Johann Challenger kit and today I was working on the body and realized the kit I have doesn't have the front chrome bumper! Help. Anyone out there have a chrome front bumper the this build they can spare. Let me know.

Hey Ian...Great work on replicating those funny cars. I was one of the announcers at the Saskatoon International Raceway drag strip and these cars made a number of visits there. Your nicely detailed and period correct work brings back many memories.

Sweet build! Love those photo-etched front wheels.

I'm with you...I have about twenty FED...built so far...that along with the 15 RED form my history of TFD from 1954 to the present day.

Thanks man...I did have to modify the front of the chassis and the body. Both had to be shortened up ahead of the front wheels without affecting the wheelbase. So the chassis and body were both snipped a bit and then rebuilt. The Chassis needed a bit of bracing and the front wing mounting rod and the body had to be shorted up about 1/4-1/2 inch and new front axel slots carved out. There is a resin Top Fuel canopy body that I've seen on Ebay. It comes from Australia...not sure what they've done for the front wing though. I'll have to check.

Hey everyone...thanks for the kind words....yeah it's 1/25 scale...tough as it may be for "aging" modelers like me...I'm still addicted to the popular model building scale. Head's up I'm working on a 1941 Willys pick up drag car...

Well it has been a while...but I'm still building stuff. Is it just me or the older I get the longer it takes? Those detail wires seem to be getting smaller and smaller all the time. And I'm not even going to start on the photo-etched stuff! In any case - six months later here is Kenny Bernstein's Forever Red Final Tour dragster. Has the basic fuel lines and stuff...and...includes a resin front wing and oil puke tank from The Model Parts Box in Australia and plenty of other bits and pieces. Also I decided to use the Pegasus front and real wheels and tires to get the right scale and size. Had to make serious modifications to the chassis and body to get that front wing in place but I think it all turned out not bad.

So contrary to what you might think I have been busy…completed a few cars since the last posting…but this is an important one for me…and a challenging one too. It’s the Assassin AA/FD! I attended my first drag race in September of 1968 in Saskatoon and at that race there were five AA/Fuel Dragsters and one funny car. This was a really big deal. One of the dragsters was Jim Crooke’s Assassin from Seattle. It was a beautiful full-bodied car designed by master builder Tom Hanna and it’s always been my ambition to recreate the car in 1/25th scale. There were plenty of road-bumps in the way such as not having the right body style, not having the decals, not having reference photos and perhaps the scariest of all not having the adequate model building skills. Over the years each of these “road-bumps” disappeared. The re-released Tommy Ivo kit allowed for a pretty close proper body, Slixx released their gasser decal sets and two of them by chance had the right decals, they restored the original car so I had lots reference material including dozens of my own photos. The weakest link continued to be my building skills but we soldiered on. I used most of the Ivo kit as far as chassis and back half of the body. The front nose piece comes from the Altered States resin high-back body and the motor is a Ford 427 SOHC from my parts box. One of the big challenges for me was painting. It took me quite some time to figure out the easiest and safest way for me to replicate The Assassin’s colour scheme. I laid down the gold base, masked it off and shot it with transparent candy-apple red and then used white decal film to put in the white accents. It’s not perfect by any stretch but it turned out not bad. From a distance it actually looks pretty good. The engine was plumbed with fuel lines and ignition wires, using Detail Master fittings and MAD prewired ignition. All in all I’m really happy with the way it turned out. It will find a celebrated spot in my dragster history shelf. Jerry Lucky

Hey guys...thanks so much for your encouraging responses. Much appreciated. As for the skeleton...well that's a diet program gone wrong.

Hmmm...that's a good question....as I said I've been holding on to stuff for years...so I'm not exactly sure. I want to say they came from the AMT Engine packs. I KNOW that's where the cam shafts and crackshafts came from...so I'm just taking a stab at it because they were already in my loose parts drawer and painted...so that's the best I can do. Sorry.

Greetings Once Again, Just thought I'd show off one of my most recent projects...a drag racing garage diorama. As the announcer at the local drag strip (MIssion Raceway) it's always been on my list to build this thing. I've hung on to parts, pieces, kits and so forth for decades just waiting to get this done. Well it's done now...I'm no pro-builder but I sure had a lot of fun putting it together. All comments are welcome. Take care, Jerry

Greetings, Everyone here has been so helpful with my other posts I hope you can shed a little light on my building dilemma. I was about to build the Tom 'The Mongoose' McEwen Rail Dragster but noticed it's 1/24...while all my other cars are 1/25. When I compare the unbuilt parts the chassis looks thicker, the tires are certainly too large...and even the wing seems larger. Am I just imagining this...or will a 1/24 scale car be noticeably larger sitting next to a 1?25 scale car? Input please. Thanks in advance.