VW Dave

Great project(s), Rodney! I like the half-cab one as the lowered one, and the stock-bodied one jacked up. This reminds me of the Samurais I built in the late 80's......couldn't decide how to build one, so I did three: one lowered, one sky-high, and one tubbed.

As always, James....great weathering and photography to boot.

It is indeed in the original gelcoat, Craig; it still shines up nicely when asked: I'm 'plasticman1432' on TheSamba, and I long ago forgot my ID on the DBA site.

Freaky and cool....I'm looking forward to updates on this one.

Welcome aboard, Craig; it's cool to find another builder with similar interests(I'm also into ACVW's and Mopars, and I have a real Manx as well). I'm looking forward to seeing your work....and of course, more pics of the Manx. Do you frequent any of the 1:1 VW boards?

I still can't believe that body was brush painted...looks great!! The '69-72 taillight reflectors are a neat touch as well(my 1:1 '68 doesn't have them, but my '69 did).

The 'pursuit special on methane' that The Night Rider stole was a Holden Monaro; the three MFP cars were all Ford Falcon XB sedans, and the 'Black on Black' was a Falcon XB coupe.

I got the same set, but the coupon from my Sunday paper cut the price in half. A dollar store makeup brush set is my 'weapon of choice' when it comes to applying pastels; there are a few different brush styles to choose from(foam and bristle). I rub the brush right on the chalk sticks, most likely because I'm too lazy to add the sandpaper step. To seal them I use misty coats of Testors DullCote. My 'Joe Dirt' Charger was heavily dusted with pastels:

As far as I remember, the coupe and convertible used the same trunk lid and rear quarters; the hardtop('fastback') was a different animal. The '70-72 4-4-2 was only offered in the hardtop and convertible, never the coupe.

Me thinks I hear straight-cut gears....and in a sequential box too? Regardless of make, that has to be one of the best sounding race cars ever.

Aaron - All three of the XB sedans were based on the same basic model, but Max's car was a little more dressed up(chrome wheels, rear spoiler, different bonnet, etc). Here's a neat little bit of trivia: when Sarse and Scuttle(car's call sign was 'March Hare') are chasing The Night Rider, the right exhaust pipe was spewing smoke....bad head gasket on that side? Nope. It was a six-cylinder car with a dummy pipe on the left side. I'm pretty sure the quality of the Planet X kit is far from great, but the subject matter helps make up for it. If it was half as much, I'd love one.

I'm a huge Mad Max fan(read: 'nerd'), so I had to chime in here. The 'Black on Black' car gets all the glory, but Max's yellow car was no slouch for sure: Federation Models(www.federationmodels.com) carries the resin XB 4-door kit by Planet X, but it's kinda spendy.......are you sitting down?....$120.

You took the words right outta my mouse, Tom. Matt T. introduced me to Bill about 3 or 4 years ago at the NNL East, and he is now on my list of 'must see' folks at that event....and the stuff he brings to the tables is also a thrill. Kinda funny story: I actually spoke with Bill briefly about 6 years ago at the same event, after he was done 'parking' one of his models on the table; I casually asked him how he did a few things, and he graciously took the time to show-and-tell with me. I thanked him for sharing, complimented his work, and appreciated the kindness he showed to a total stranger - I'm admittedly still kinda strange, but no stranger any more.

I just read about that one a few days back, and I must admit I'm pretty jazzed too. My oldest brother has a '70 4-4-2 ragtop that he's owned since 1981, and that sure is one handsome Fisher body for sure.....I've always wanted a styrene kit of a '70-72 Olds vert.

Two Daves agree, it's good stuff for making rust:

Did you say '07 GT500 reference pics'??? I may be able to help. In the summer of '07 I shot a few pics of my neighbors' brandy-new 'stripe delete' droptop GT. There's lots more at my Fotki: 2007 SHELBY GT500

Another good use! The Micron pens are already a favorite of many folks here, myself included: PANEL LINES TIP Michael's usually sells the Micron pens for about $2.99 each here, and those semi-weekly 40-50% off coupons are another good reason to shop there IMO.

Testors' Model Master 'metallic turquoise' might be a close match (the photo came out a bit dark, but you get the idea) I also used it on the 'swamp cooler' on my ratty '56 Beetle:

Cool!! I really like the taped-in rear 'window;' I've seen more than my share of those add-ons in 1:1.

Can't say why exactly, but I'm feeling 'model.' Pretty sure it's a larger scale than 1/24-1/25, but a model nonetheless.

First of all, Darryl - I'm liking the Kübel more each time you show us updates. It makes me wanna unwrap and get into the Dragon kit I have stashed away. The Gunze ones aren't bad, but they lack a little drum detail in the center. The lugs are present, which is a plus. The Tamiya Beetle and Ghia wheels have slightly better detail, but they are the later-style 'open' wheels(with holes); the spare in the Beetle kit has an open center and lug bolt holes. The Hasegawa Kübel wheels are really nice IMO, but they are a little big and narrow; they represent the pre-1950 16"x 4" wheels. If you have a set of the Kübel wheels that you might not use, I'd swap you any of the others for them....I still need one more set for my 'barndoor' Bus projects.

Thanks for the info, Jim; with the low-slung body and the huge rear seating area, I thought for sure it was a longer buggy than that. The Manx is 14 1/2" shorter than stock, and rear legroom is harder to find than a unicorn.

If you ask anybody from NJ/NYC, they'll tell you that Newburgh is "upstate." Newburgh is well worth the trip, even though the Monday evening monthly meetings make it a little hard on us "further-northerners." There's lots of talent, enthusiasm and sharing within the group. It's been several months since I made my last meeting due to the cost of travel, but the TNMCC doesn't base member status on attendance.

I wonder if that was an original ManxVair chassis under there; as they're über-rare nowadays, it's neat to see one in person. My 'OG' Manx is powered by two less cylinders, but at 1300lbs. it still scoots along pretty good: Neat little bit of buggy nonsense to share: I've known Darrell Vittone personally for a decade or so; his dad Joe started EMPI, and Darrell was the first driver of the EMPI 'Inch Pincher' Beetle drag car. Darrell autographed two of my dune buggy books, and he added a personal note in one of them: "Dave - The Manx is cool, but the Imp is pimp."

It's a Charger Daytona, actually. Nice job rusting up that Camaro, by the way. You may find that the SF rust paint is like crack....you'll be jonesing to rust more stuff up before too long