LO51 MERC

I'm totally in agreement with the comments above. What a clever change. The proportions work great! I'll bet you'll have more trouble with a front windshield than you will making the body and roof look like they belong together. And to see the Torino roof on a 62 T-Bird......AHHHhhhh, what geniuses we have in our midst! Please don't let this one sit on your back shelf. Gary

Yeah, you saw this on another forum last summer. For the framerails, I sandwiched 3 pieces of .040 Evergreen sheet together in a slab about 1" wide by 6" long. I made a full size copy of my new frame drawing, cut it out, laid it over the slab, and traced it onto the slab (in both directions-for both rails!). Then it was just use whatever I had to use to rough cut out each rail. I used spring clamps and spring clothespins etc. to hold the pieces together in a machinists vise while I cut them out. Still using the vise, I filed the rails side by side until they matched the drawing. I had also drawn an upper view using the inside width of the cab and box as the outside width at the rear and the stock width at the front. I carefully bent each rail as required, to match my drawing. The crossmembers were made using the Evergreen too. This particular transmission hump was cut out of the floor of the AMT 55 Nomad for no particular reason other than that I've been cannibalizing this kit anyway. Gary

And here are a couple more of the WIP's, and a near finished pic of the underside. Gary

Hey thanks for all the positive comments. That's what gives us all the push we need to keep going and build more and better models. Right now I'll throw in several more pictures from when I was just starting the frame, and a first mockup for proportions. Im also showing the sketch I did before I cut any plastic. I kept the stock wheelbase but the cab has been moved a bit to the rear to give the 348 some room at the firewall. I axed the ladderbars in favor of the quarter elliptic springs. Gary

Geez Bob, I thought you didn't like it. Thanks a BIG bunch!!! Gary

This is the only car model I managed to finish in 2008 due to other priorities around the house, and a few other model projects. This one is a restarted model I originally built in the early 1960's. It's a real mongrel with parts from a lot of different kits, and a couple of items from the KITCHEN (but NO sink!). Starting the re-build on it last year, I scratch built the frame, firewall, floor, and the headers. The track nose is in fact, the grille shell from the original issue of the AlaKart, which I've modified quite a bit and flipped upside down from the original position. The engine is out of the AMT 58 Chevy, the front axle and wheels are from the AMT 40 Ford, as is the dash. The shifter and hand brake lever are from the 34 pickup kit, as are the cab (which I angle chopped in those olden days of the early 60's) and the pickup box and tailgate. Underneath, the rear suspension is an early Ford style with a quickchange center, and quarter elliptic springs. The taillights were spotlights from my parts bin, and the headlights were made from parts bin frames and the headlight buckets are modified corn holders out of the kitchen drawer. The gas tank was cut out of an AMT 49 Ford frame, and lastly, the seat is a modified bench from the AMT 55 Nomad. I also have a lot of WIP pictures for anyone interested in some "before" pictures. Gary

I got to thinkin that since my first post, you guys might be wondering if I've built anything in the last, say, 20 years or so. The pictures shown below are of a project that occupied a lot of my time last year. I live in Connecticut, and don't have a very long season for painting models outside, and my garage isn't heated! But I will get this one finished this year. I still have a bit of minor bodywork to do before I give it a shot of primer. I have a lot of WIP's on this if anyone might like to see more. Here's a couple for now. Gary

Hey thanks for the good comments. Yup, I can still remember how I built up those 51 rear fenders. Er, what was that question again? Oh, yes those rear fenders......do ya have a lot of sheet styrene? All I did was make a filecard shape that looked to me like the 51 fender line, looked at a lot of 51 rear fender pictures, and just started to layer on the styrene 'till it was a bit bigger than it needed to be. Then it was just file away the plastic that didn't look like the 51. A little putty here and there and, well you know the rest. BTW the taillights are sections from the custom lenses in the originally tooled AMT 57 Chevy. I'm sorry but I didn't take any pictures of the interior. It's just the stock interior, two toned with light gray inserts on a medium gray. The only real modification to the interior is that I seperated the front seatbacks from the lower seat, seperated the backs, and then hinged each to tilt forward. Today I would do this a lot better. No pix of the engine either. It's the Caddy out of the AMT 49 Ford, and it's wired. Gary

Hi Guys, I'm a new kid here, 64 years old. If you noticed my screen name, the model below is the reason for it. I built this a bit over 20 years ago (not sure 'cause the brain's getting weak) from the AMT 49 kit. I did all the work on it, it's not a resin body! Rather than trying to list the work I did do, I'll let the pictures hopefully do it! Gary