Modlbldr

I have also been working on the interior. I used the seats from the Chevy Citation kit because they closely resembled the ones from the magazine article of the 1:1. I painted the interior Fabric Tan and body color and started the detailing of the dash. I also detail painted the taillight panel and the front grille. The body also got a few coats of the Testors Mopar Bronze. Still quite a ways to go but I just wanted to update this after such a long time away. Hope you all enjoy this and comments or criticisms always welcomed. Later-

More photos: More to come. Later-

Well, it's been quite a while since I updated this but I've been working at it here and there between other projects. Tonight I sat for a while and restarted the design of the rear suspension. The original that I had put together sat a hair too far forward and the axle was too wide causing the wheels to sit out too far AND.... the suspension wasn't tall enough, causing the rear tires to touch the wheel wells. All completely wrong. I had torn it all apart earlier this week. I angled the rear shackles toward the rear a bit more, which gave me the move back I needed. Then I narrowed the rear axle about 3/16 inch causing the leaf springs to line up directly above the rear frame instead of outside of it and then glued crude blocks onto the frame for the front of the leaf springs to connect to. I still need to reattach all of the PE shackles. Here is how it sits now. I still think that I need to lower the front a bit. This is just an extra GTX body I have for mock up. I already have some paint on the other one. The pictures are terrible, but it was a last minute photo shoot. More to come. Later-

Alyn- That's some beautiful work so far. Nice to see that you're getting this far along without the putty. Shows some quality building skills. I'll be watching. Later-

That is a cool build. What an idea. Where can I find more of Nate's work?? Later-

Wow! Nice build.That's one I've never seen before. What a great idea. Later-

I figured it must be extra parts from another version. Thanks for the responses, and yes, I meant supercharged, not turbocharged. My mistake. Either way, I think the engine will look great in my custom '65/'94 Mustang. Thanks again. Later-

Rommell- I have the honor of calling Mike Flynn a friend. He is alive and well in Spokane, WA and I talk to him and visit his home on a weekly basis. He has inspired me also to be a better builder (when I can find the time). He is an extremely talented and generous person when it comes to modeling. Every time I visit him he asks me if there is anything I need or want from his collection. Currently he is working on a series of 32-34 Fords and has a beautiful 70's era 55 Chevy that he is building. When he gets it finished, I'll post some photos. I'm going to go call him now and share this thread with him, since he doesn't have a computer. It's nice to know that he is appreciated by more people than just me. Later-

A while ago I bought a partially built kit of the Lightning from a thrift store. The engine was mostly built and has the turbo set-up on it. However, on a tree in the kit is a second set of valve covers with, what looks to be, ignition modules, a second intake manifold and something that looks like a third intake manifold. My question(s) is, what set-up is this for? There are no mention of these parts on the instructions. Is this for a non turbo set-up? These trees seem to go with the kit because other parts on the trees correlate to part #'s on the instruction sheet. Later-

I'm liking it so far. There ain't nothing wrong with low riders. They have some of the most elaborate custom paint jobs. I hope to do a few myself someday. Later-

Nice work David. Personally, I'd go with the other hood instead of the cowl hood. It goes more with the custom image than just your standard old cowl hood. Besides, I think the cowl hood looks better on the drop top. Later-

Dolla Bill, Dolla Bill, Dolla Bill. It's all 'bout the Dolla Bill. I can hear Johnny "Guitar" Watson" coming through the Hi-Fi loud and clear. Nice job on the re-do of this one. Much improved. Later-

After sanding the windshield to get out most of the scratches you can also dip it in a bowl of Future and hang it to dry. It will loo crystal clear after that. Later-

Very nicely done. Sometimes the parts that take this long are well worth the effort. Later-

Nice work turning the picture into reality. I've got an OLD (20 plus years)Brad Leisure drawing that I started doing the same a long time ago. I need to get it finished some day. I agree on the higher ride height for the front end. Later-

You did a fine job in recreating the 1:1. The advice the others gave about taping off the chrome before painting is excellent advice and is not too harsh. One of the reasons we post on these sites should be to get opinions and critiques of where we can make improvements. Bare metal foil is a great leap ahead from painting the chrome (in my opinion--for what IT is worth). However, I never liked the store bought type. It never worked well for me for various reasons. I went to making my own with ultra thin foil and foil glue. It took most of the work out of the chore and the adhesive worked better. Give it a try. It's a couple of dollars for the foil and 3-4 dollars for the glue. I only make up as much as I need at the time and each time it is fresh and new, not old and weak sticking. Nice job on the build, and like has been mentioned by one other person here, at least you've finished one, unlike me. Later-

I like it just the way it is, with the exception of changing the door. It needs to have the rear upper door line puttied in and a new door line scribed at the a pillar to make it pillarless. And I would round the leading bottom door edge to match the rear bottom. What does the front and rear views look like? AND, where can I get one (or that one), Gregg? Later-

WOW! I like how this one turned out. I especially like the custom, yet simple grille change. Great work! Later-

Years ago in a 1:1 scale car mag there was a rendering of a 60's (63-65) Jeep Wagoneer that was black with flames down the belt line, had a 32 Ford grille and a canvas slide back top. Anyone remember this? Do you know what issue mag it was or remember the artist? I'd like to find a copy of that drawing. Later-

QUOTE: heres a parts list of what i used i promised to my uncle for safety issues i wouldnt show how it would be assembled and im sticking to it but it was pretty straight forward. Guess I'll have to Google how to wire a rheostat. I could go for a tool like this. I'm sure that you'd have to go easy as not to burn through the paint. I see why you'd practice on an old orange peeled build first. BTW- those hand done pinstripes look good. Later-

Thanks for the nice comments guys. I'm enjoying the work on this one, but as always, life keeps getting in the way. LOL. I got the engine block repainted the other night. Still trying to find the time to get out to the hobby room for an extended sit at the bench. Working nights with split days off (Tue/ Sat), working on the garden (gotta eat somehow), dentist office visits and many other chores. Doesn't leave much play time. Later-

Bruce- The work looks good on this one. The bed shortening went well and the grille detail is sharp. Nice looking truck. Later-

Thanks for the great comments guys. It's keeping me going, although at a snails pace. Started a new job this last week so I'm still trying to figure out the schedule. I'm working nights. Anywho- I got a chance Friday to do some work. I couldn't find a tunnel ram that looked anything like the one on the car, The closest I could find was the 1/24 scale one from the 70 Coronet. The one I had was already assembled from an older build. I tore it apart and cut about two blade widths out of the center between the two stacks. Then I glued it back together and shaved off the inlets because they were directed wrong. Next I filled the V section in the center so I could reshape it flat and began adding the inlets using sanded down rod. Eight inlets later and this is what I had. I also added some triangular bits on the ends as molding fins (Love the technical terms?) and began shaping them and the bottom flange. I also worked on cutting the hole in the hood. I think that it is where I need it. Check out the old X-Acto packs a friend of mine gave me. I've never seen packs like these. Not sure how old they are. They are 5 packs. My next session will be cleaning up the tunnel ram, painting the engine block the proper Orange color and painting the hood. Thanks for following along. Later-

I have a bottle of Testors lacquer Chrysler Engine red and painted it on my 383 but it looks, as the bottle says, red instead of the orange like I see on the 1:1 photos of the 383's. Is this the right color for the engine? I can't find any paints at the LHS that are listed as Chrysler engine ORANGE, so I would think this is the color. But it doesn't look right. I didn't want to buy a spray can of Hemi Orange for $6.99, but it looked like a closer color. What do you think? Later-