Chuck Most

Absolutely bitchin'!

Gramps is right- just don't try to 'flip' the street machine axle, or the tires won't touch the ground! Unless you plan on running 24" wheels or something. You can also move the shackles up higher in back, to lower the rear. I don't remember if the rear axle is above or below the springs, but if it's below, you can flip it (a common practice on 1:1 vehicles) and do a 'c-notch' in the frame to clear the axle. Or, you could channell the truck, meaning, take x amount out of the interior tub, inner fenders, and bed floor to raise the chassis up into the body and lower the truck. It's used quite a bit on custom late-model trucks, and is also reffered to as a 'body drop'.

I just tried out Bob's trick of bending the hood- and man, it's quite a bit less tedious than the method I was using! It's one of those 'why didn't I think of that on my own' deals, for sure! You still have to remove a bit of material to get everything looking decent, but Bob's way is way less messy than mine! Oh- and don't forget to add the hood peak, absent from the kit hood. Now it's onto reshaping the grille and adding clear headlamp bezels.

There was a 1/25 diecast version of a 1947(?) IH pickup. There was a special version released of it for Antique Trucks magazine a couple of years ago. Other than that, the only other 1/25 scale IH light truck I'm aware of besides the Scout II is the Metro van from Motor City Resin Casters.

Did you know that five out of three people have problems with fractions?

What's the dollar amount for the 32,342nd place prize? 'Cuz that's what I'm shooting for!

Finally? Sheesh- I just finished it a couple of days ago! I was going to make it an "On the workbench" thread, but that sounded like too much work. That, and I had the thing finished long before I ever posted a photo of it. Now, it's back to whatever stupid little project I had going on before!

Aside from the glue, knives, and paint you already have, you'll most likely need some plastic stock. I prefer to use Plastruct, though other modelers like to use the Evergreen brand stuff. It's available in several sheets of various thicknesses, and as well as tubing and solid lenghts of various shapes and sizes. You may need this stuff to scratchbuild panels and parts to make your kitbash work. It would probably be a good idea to have some filler on hand, as well. Avoid the Testors 'Contour Putty' and go with something good, like the two-part Bondo spot putty. Gel type superglue can also be used as a filler. Other than that, having some spare kit parts (or even some aftermarket stuff) on hand is never a bad idea!

I feel your pain- I had a '75 El Co in high school! Broke down at least six times a month, caught fire no less than three times, and had the classic Michigan 'see-through floorboards'! I think that car pretty much cemented my status as a Ford guy! I scrapped it three years ago- the engine is in my buddy's C20 truck, and the trans went into my cousin's SBC-powered IH Scout. The body (from what I'm told) was turned into a dirt-track car before it finally got sent to China crushed into a cube the size of a dryer. I really like this conversion- I'd often thought of building a model of my '75 when I still had it. Maybe in it's natural habitat... by the side of the road, with the hood open and the hazards flashing. Trouble was, first of all there was no kit of it, and I have no idea how to replicate steam in 1/25 scale! In high school, I was not aware of the '73-'77 stock car kits, so that thought never would've even occured to me! Oh, yeah- when I graduated, I did not buy a yearbook. I just had my classmates sign the Elky with permanent markers! Yeah, I had fun with that pile!

Whoa- when I first read this, I thought it said "I only have one hand, so it immediately goes under the knife". What call they that disorder when mix words up you do? SERIOUSLY: I've always thought the AMT '33 Willys body had WAY too much chopped out of the top, but so far yours is looking good. Not sure if it's the fenders you're using, or what, but it doesn't seem to look as 'thick in the bottom' as the kit does unmodified. Nicely done! Love to see the 'Sock' 427 used in builds too! Quite possibly the coolest engine ever. Or, barring that, at least the coolest Ford FE ever!

Very well, then! Gentlemen, behold... http://public.fotki.com/ChuckMost/22-olds-rat/ There, Abe! You can relax now!

The Model A cues on the T-tub, the small upraised area on the cowl, the injected Red Ram Hemi- I'm starting to wonder if this used to be (or was based on) a kit of the Ala Kart?

Yeah, pretty much the same conclusion I came to! For everything that came out exactly as I envisioned, there was at least one thing that blew up in my face! Whenever you hack up a kit like this, there are bound to be a few snafus along the way! But, I'm about 85% satisfied with how it came out!

Here's a link to my latest abomination in styrene: http://public.fotki.com/ChuckMost/retro-ranger There you'll see some WIP shots, as well as the finished '53/'93 F-100/Ranger hybrid amalgamation thingie that resulted! Think of it like one of those '89-'97 T-Birds with the '49 Ford nose and tail added, except it seems to work a bit better on a truck! I've wanted to try this build for a while now, and thanks to Dan (Pro Mod Merc), I finally got the raw material I needed to pull it off. Oh, Chevy guys? I just posted some pics of my '3rd/5th gen' Camaro on my Fotki page, as well. It's based on that Steve Stanford rendering from Hot Rod a few months back.

YES! That, and the 'bag the chromed and clear parts' thing, as well!

Not me! Glad you did it! About all I knew of the letter series Chryslers was that the later Three Hundred (spelled out) models were an entirely different animal altogether. They were your grandma's luxo-barge. In other words, I knew nothing of the letter series!

First things first- there was no 1929 Model T. What this kit appears to be is a '23-'25 Model T Runabout tub, with some very faint '28-'29 Model A 'carriage lines' along the cowl, and a Model A radiator shell. As a hot rod kit, not much is really recognizable as stock Tin Lizzie-issue, particularly the frame, which appears to be an early rod style that doesn't look like a model T or Model A unit. This is an old kit, so there really isn't much to crow about, detail wise. You get some halfway decent axles, the aformentioned custom-fabbed frame, and a Red Ram Dodge hemi engine, with very nice looking plated valve covers and headers. The tires are two-piece plastic, and although there is the typical T two-tiered windshield frame, there is no clear styrene 'glass', except for the headlamp lenses. This is a very simple, and somewhat crude, kit, but I know I'll be having fun with it! It's kind of like the Lindberg '34 RPU- think of it more as a blank canvas and you're getting it. My only real gripe is that Lindberg still evidently has not gotten the memo to bag their plated and clear parts! Fortunately, none of the chrome stuff was scuffed on mine, and the scratches probably wouldn't show on the lenses, but it's a big problem on some of their other kits. This kit, and a quick raid on the old parts stash, should beget you a very nice traditional T rod, rat rod, drag car, or whatever your heart may pine for.

I might be able to snap a few pics of the tires... if I can remember where I put the things! Oh, and I should probably thank you for the inspiration to my military hot rod, oh- and to Dave Zinn, because the seats in it were made according to his how to in the January '09 MCM! I will warn ya, though, my military does have some (questionable) fashion going on!

Oooooooooooh- that's a close one! Was it one of the later issues, that had almost as much plastic just in the flash as the rest of the entire kit? If so, then yeah- you got the better end!

This is what I've found myself, It seems that for the most part, the model car guys are a pretty good bunch of guys to spend an afternoon with. It's the 1:1 guys you have to watch out for! Granted, it's true our hobby has more than it's fair share of d-bags, but a model car show is usually a less stressful place to be than a 1:1 car show, by a loooooooooong shot!

I'm not much into slot cars (I currently own exactly none), but I've seen some pretty amazingly detailed slot cars that could place decently, or even win, just about any model car contest. Hey- if you mess it up, you'll always have an excuse to build it up even better next time around!

Haven't built this kit in a while, I'd like to do the cement mixer next. Pretty good kit, and they don't seem to cost too much when you can find them.

It's supposed to be 1/25... and the same company has a Hudson Hornet and a '56 Chrysler 300C coming out as well! Guess who's buying one of each? (NOTE: It's me!) Of course, that is if they don't end up as 'ghost kits'...

I'm more of a Ford C-cab man myself, but I love the Dodge flip-cabs as well. Just wish there was a medium duty IH tilt cab kit. I really like this one, why don't my white paint jobs ever come out this nice?

The Model King repop of the '79 F-350 came with a 2wd twin I beam setup, though it wasn't called out in the instructions. You get the twin I beams (molded together, in front and back halfs to trap a typical AMT metal axle), the radius rods, steering link, and rotor/caliper castings. Not the most accurate rendition of the setup you'll ever see, but very workable. I can't say if the other '70's AMT Ford F-series kits had this setup included, but the MK and even the Bigfoot kit with the '79 body included the vestigial I-beam parts. Though not entirely accurate, the parts are 'dumbed down' enough to where they should work in a '60's Effie. Heck, a '64 F-100 I-beam is almost indistinguishable from a '94 F-350 I-beam, anyway! In scale, only the fussiest of detail freaks would even notice. Yeah, Mark, I know I'm not this Roger dude, but I hope my little rambling there helped ya anyway! I've owned several Ford trucks, and while the twin I beam is quite robust, it sure likes to eat tires! My old '81 has the 'Traction Beams' that is, twin I beams with a differential... and it was suspended by leaf springs! An odd setup, but it worked beautifully! I think the 2wd Super Duties still use the Twin I beam setup, or at least they did up to the 2004 re-hash.