Chuck Most

I do have a few other BH based builds (besides my WWII fighter-inspired rat rod I showed off a month or two ago), now that I think of it.... This one was done as a beater track roadster, with a Paxton-blown Stovebolt six and plenty of Dirt Modified parts thrown in. I built this one three or four years ago, and it's the first ever model to which I added brake and fuel lines. This was my first or second go-around with this kit. This is a cobbled up 'junkyard dog' wrecker. The chassis and engine are stock, but broken/rusty/ worn out parts have been replaced through the years with whatever was on hand- '30 Model A Cowl, '29 Ford Seat, '55 Chevy Radiator, an old wooden fence post for the front bumper, you know, the usual! You can almost see the cruddy Revell '41 Chevy pickup hooked up to it in the background.

Just wrapped this one up. I built it from the new 'decontented' reissue- I lowered it by trimming the shackles, dearching the springs, and flipping the front axle. I also replaced the kit Rally GT tires with Polyglas GTs for a sort of '70's vibe. I cut a new trunklid from .030" styrene to rid the car's hiney of the vestigial spare tire well. I replaced the kit's buckets with a tuck n' rolled bench from an AMT '34 Ford 5-window. All else you see is totally out of the box. I'm saving that lovely 'Sock' motor for another build- but I think the AMT parts pack Pontiac 421 (with carb stacks from a '56 Vicky) looks pretty good in the Willys, as well!

I'm not sure if it was the JoHan kit- I don't own a JoHan Rambler of this vintage, but I've seen a few, and the body on the RamBlur looks a bit, uh, well... chunky compared to the JoHan piece. Still, I can't rule it out. And Mr. Moto- I agree it would be weird for them to do a new-tool Rambler, but hey, Lindberg did a Dodge Caravan! A @#$% CARAVAN!!!!! The '69 Chassis plate won't work with the RamBlur body without some major resizing, and it's so crude I doubt you'd want to use it anyway. The '69 interior isn't accurate for a '61-'63 American, not a big deal on a hot rod like this one, but for a rep-stocker, it sure wouldn't cut it. I had to narrow it a good 1/8 inch to fit the RamBlur shell. If you wanted to do a stock '61-'63 Rambler American from the RamBlur kit, you're probably best off scratchbuilding your own chassis plate, dash, etc. And I can't comment on how accurate the RamBlur body is in relation to the 1:1, so you might have a little work to do there.

Nope- that's a Chevy 4.3 Vortec with a carb instead of EFI. I do have a Buick 225 V6 powered '25 Model T, though! Thanks for diggin' 'em, guys!

'Fittzinstartz' is my middle name, Dave! I just posted two other builds a few seconds ago, incidentally! May be years before I post something else! Thanks for the kind words, guys.

Here are a couple of other takes on the Beverly Hillbillies truck kit. Can't wait for Brad Leisure's Sketchpad in the next MCM!

Yes, it is!

I don't believe so, Dave. Bill Nye the science guy did sometimes... and his theme song is sooooooooooo easy to remember! You know, kind of like the 'Hot Pockets' song.

I'll second that! Wait... what are we talking about again...

I just can't believe it's taken THIS LONG for rapid prototyping technology to enter the model car aftermarket! I've long wondered how well it could work.

I would think it would be way easier to just use a few select parts from the AMT kit and turn the Revell kit into a '67. The AMT body on the Revell chassis can work, but I think just adapting the Revell into a '67 would be a lot less frustration!

Here's a bit of an oddball I built this summer- It's the AMT/Ertl Snap Fast Slammer RamBlur kit. I cut open the hood, and removed the pocket for the snap in blower, and filled the resulting gaping hole. I cut out the molded in grille insert (it had receptacles for a Moon tank to snap into), and replaced it with an AMT parts pack '60 Olds insert. The interior is a narrowed JoHan 'Pro Street' Rambler part, narrowed to fit. The dash and steering wheel also came from the JoHan kit. I think the seats are from the '39 Wagon Rod. The stereo equipment is from Bandit Resins, and a '50 Ford coughed up it's top boot. Again, I raided the JoHan kit for it's 390 engine. I used some modified big block Chevy parts to hop it up a bit. You may have noticed the engine compartment- it's from the AMT '66 Nova Pro Streeter, along with the chassis. Sheez- never noticed the epoxy ooze over the firewall- guess I'll have to go back and cover it up! Or just leave the hood on! So... who says snap kits are completely useless?

I think it might be a decent jumping off point for a '77 Delta 88!

Yeah- Dave- I found the one I was thinking of, it appears to be a generic '73-'79 K Blazer-ish thingie. I have the Ertl 1/64 diecast of the '77 Scout II (came with an IH tractor), and it's more accurate in appearance than the 1/25 kit! I don't know.... and I'm not sure I WANT to!

No problemo! In fact, I'm going to have to order a set of your six hole Budds one of these days- I'm thinking of doing a model of that same truck in the photos.

I think there was also a MM Scout II- but do NOT quote me on that!

Ryan- I just added a few pics to my Fotki page you may be interested in: http://public.fotki.com/ChuckMost/Ford-C-Series It's just a few shots I took of a badly rusted late '50's C-Cab.

Yep- it was a '59. He's also got a '60 and a '58. Funny the '57's had two headlamps, then four, then they went back to two for '61! A neighbor has a fleet of C-trucks, they're all mid '70's with the sleeper compartments. You still see these things everywhere here in central Michigan!

Ed- she's a beauty! But wouldn't she be a C-600, not an F-600? As far as I know they stopped using the F-series designation on 'cabovers' after '56, when the F-series cabovers were replaced by this very truck. Any way, I love these things. They're kinda dopey and buck-toothed looking in the front, but my grandfather had (and still has) a whole fleet of 'em he uses as farm trucks. I remember climbing up into the '59 (the main truck), and stomping the pedals and sawing that giant steering wheel back and forth, as I pretended to shift the tranny and pushed pulled and turned every switch, lever, and knob on the dash. I always had fun, and (almost) always flooded the engine! I built a model of that truck for him, using some scratchbuilt side emblems, the quad headlamp bezels from the AMT '50 Ford convertible, and added the lights to the grille. Now I kind of wish I'd snapped a pic or two before I gave it to him!

J., Wow! From the looks of it, I build about ten times as many models as you a year, but NONE of mine are done to this level of excelence! Maybe I need to rethink my whole 'quantity trumps quality' mantra! I'm especially fond of the Lincoln, you done that turdlike old kit proud, my man!

Or how about a monster-truck Prius? Sure, it wouldn't be able to move under it's own power, but it would be so adorable just sitting there in the arena!

Yeah, Ed and Bob are right- you're pretty much going to have to make your own, or raid other kits. Mark's got some to give away, from the sounds of it- maybe you can put up a post in the 'Wanted' section of the forum so anyone else who has spare lenses they don't want can help you. If making your own doesn't seem like your best option, plenty of modelers have spares!

Sick as hell, my man! I love it!

I feel your pain, Mark! Do I ever...

I'd really like to see the AMT 'Hogan's Heroes' Jeep in the first photo reissued... or is that the Italeri kit? Either way!