Chuck Most

Oh, yeah- that'll definitely work!

Danno... go to your room. Your hobby room. And begin working on that stretched Avanti race car you KNOW you want to build as a companion to that Super Starliner. Latest update- Cadillac grille and ribbed bumper are in place, and I robbed some parking lamps from a '49 Merc. Still thinking of foiling the headlamp bezels (which are the custom pieces from an AMT '51 Chevy by the way). I also sprayed over the base of Malibu Mist with a pearl clearcoat.

Not yet... but a well-known caster is working on a stock curbside '49 9EL. Not sure when it will be out, but I have every intention of gettin one once they're available.

Nice! Blow it up to 1:1 and I'd love to have it in my garage.

Tan with a black vinyl interior! Green or brown would also be acceptable.

Or... instead of the Offy, maybe an Olds turbo Quad 4 from the Monogram Aerotech?

Passenger vans are considered wagons, but a car-based station wagon wouldn't be moved to the truck section, would it? Sure, some might argue that because a van is truck-based it belongs in the trucks category, but what about something like a sedan delivery? It is based on a car platform, but it is a commercial vehicle. Should it go in the general 'Under Glass' section with the cars or in with the trucks? The forum categories are specific- but vehicle designations aren't always.

Yeah- frame details are what hamstrung mine and I wasn't even planning on running ladder bars. Mine sits quite a bit lower (top of the rear tire is above the beltline), but I've grown so fond of how it looks really slammed that I don't want to mount it up higher. I'm almost leaning toward parallel leaves out back for it.

Love it. It's amazing how natural those Magnum 500 wheels look on it.

I'll most certainly be keeping an eye on this one- I've had a similar project in mind, I was planning to make it a 2 door by lengthening the stock fronts. Otherwise the rear tires would block the rear doors from opening!

Already liking it- I've seen a track nose on Roadsters and coupes, but never on a Tudor. The Sidewinder rolling stock also looks great. I'd definitely vote no on the SBC- this thing needs an Offy with that track nose, or even a turbocharged Ford 2.3.

I use the two-part Bondo putty- the one that comes with the tube of putty and the catalyst. Way better than any single-part putty, strong but sands easily, and lasts a long time- it's one of the few putties I've used that I can actually use up before it goes bad.

Same goes for 'dipped in glass' glossy paint, perfect, consistent panel fit and panel gap tolerances, and neatly-arranged wiring harnesses. None of them came from the factory that way, but not having any of those things on your restored car will cause the judges to dock you serious points in a show.

No, no... not the 'good' one from a few years back. This is the original 1990 version. HIGH POINTS: It's a Trabant Not many parts, so no chance of getting bogged down trying to superdetail it. Cool box art. (Nothing to do with the kit itself but worth mentioning). Won't see 60 of these at the next show you attend. Decent molding quality overall. LOW POINTS: It's a Trabant. Not many parts, so no chance of having fun trying to superdetail it. Chassis has roughly the same amount of engraved detail as a typical Hot Wheels release. Tires have sidewall lettering, but NO TREAD. Wheels are also molded into them. Extremely shallow panel lines, nonexistant upper door (window frame) cut lines. Frail roof pillars almost guaranteed to be broken or warped if you order it by mail... and that's before you cut out the Y-shaped support. Same deal for the optional roof rack. OVERALL: If you want a Trabant model and don't want to expend a ton of effort, go with this one. It's almost laughably crude in some areas, but I've seen a couple of these nicely painted and detailed, and they're pretty good shelf models. And it has most of the basic visible elements right, and just enough detail to not look too toylike. If you want something a bit more involved, go with the newer Revell Trabant kit, the 601 'Limousine' (?). A simple Google image search will bring up all kinds of potential Trabant projects- everything from art cars to tuners, to one that's been cut in half and turned into a horse-drawn buggy.

First few coats of Duplicolor Malibu Mist. I found a few blemishes and pinholes (in the filler putty) I missed during the endless series of bodywork sessions on this thing. Like the golden oldie says 'too late to turn back now'. Fortunately most of the rough stuff will be covered up- the rest I'll just not worry about. Humidity must be down in my area, too- no blushing of the paint. Hopefully no clear will be needed in the end, but that remains to be seen.

Might put a handlebar on it now. Just a couple more wet-sand sessions away from the paint booth now.

I have one of those grilles in my stash- plan to use it on the '76 reissue. Anyway- that looks awesome! Try not to bang it up too much racing it.

Already looks great in that color combination.

Indeed they do- forgot about the aftermarket side cover. Forgot about the Woody variant, too. Being a Model A guy you'd think I'd be up on all of this.

Might skip the bumperettes after all and try the bumper from a Revell '48 Ford- it needs a bit of reshaping to fit better but I think it looks pretty decent. Starting to kind of resemble a Checker Marathon up front.

Bill mentioned the hop up parts and shared tooling for the this and the '31 A, but just to clarify- the '29 A comes with a Winfield head, while the '31 2-door has a Riley (going by memory here) F-head conversion. The balance of the engine parts are the same though- two carb manifold with separate Stromberg carbs (with the air cleaners molded in place) and a very nice sweept-back header. The stock engine parts are included as well.

The bubble top still stands a fighting chance at this point- the trouble is I just have to find one that won't make the car look like a Homer Simpson design.

Most of the required butchery on the body would be covered up by the top boot. If I recall the '55 Hardtop comes with some spare convertible parts (windshiled frame and wing vents, and probably a few others), combine those with a '57 kit and a little light scratchbuilding and that should do the trick.

Love this kit- this is the first convertible conversion I've seen of it. Very nice!

I'll repeat Liam... being as there are two Avantis in the running, I'll try to do something really out there with mine.