Chuck Most

Stance and drivetrain angle look perfect- DO NOT mess with any of that. For some reason I'm seeing it in a metallic blue with white accents, and with a relatively stripped but still decently-appointed cockpit- maybe some tuck and roll padding on the kit-supplied bomber seats, or something to that end. Might need to steal a few of your ideas for use on one of the many '30's I now have in the stash...

Very cool! I have one of these and I'm still undecided on which route to take with it. Mine is the late '90's reissue. Ironically, that reissue was available for three years, but was a flop at the time. Now, even the late '90's reissues can bring some pretty decent coin. Got mine for about the same price as a current Round 2 big truck kit reissue- I think I made off pretty well on that one.

Another project wrapped up this weekend. I stared out (some time ago) with the Tamiya Abarth, and the engine from a Fujimi Porsche 359 Roadster. I wanted the car to appear stock, but I did keep the Abarth wheels, and added a tow ring in place of the front bumper. Paint is Tamiya Orange. In 1:1 I'm not sure how well this setup would work (as built, the model has no room for a clutch of any type) but it would be one fun ride.

Just a quick, mostly box-stock build up of the old Gunze Sangyo kit. I did use some nerf bumpers from a Revell '32 Ford Five-Window on it, but otherwise what you see is from the kit, including the fussy soft vinyl canopy gaskets. I've since touched up the scratch on the taillight lens- didn't even see it until after I'd taken and uploaded the pics.

I can't begin to describe how cool this is. I thought I was the only one thinking of this kind of stuff. Just today, I finished fitting a four-cam engine from a 356 Speedster into one of these...

Bought a visor from Models By Dave a few days ago. Yesterday I threw some paint on it and stuck it on the Raider.

Just plain love it. I'm also glad it isn't what I thought it would be when I saw the thread title.

You owe nobody an apology, Doug. The idiot(s) complaining about your photos, on the other hand...

Thanks everybody! That's Krylon Fusion Woodland Light Green.

Before. I don't see any reason why the top is done separately, unless perhaps Revell plans to bring out a stock-height roof version sometime later on.

Looks fantastic to me. I threw together the '30 Model A in slightly more time than 7.5 hours this last weekend. I think this kit might be my next "quickie" project. Thanks for the heads up on the rear window.

This is, of course, based on the new-ish Revell kit. I lowered it by filing off the top few leaf springs in the front pack, and by cutting a coil from each coil over -after removing the tabs the axle is meant to attach to on the chassis rails. Power is a 2.0 Ztec engine from a Focus SVT, fitted with side-draft carbs and a four-speed from a Ford Courier. The grille shell was cut from an Anglia tilt hood. Other than all of that it's alarmingly close to box stock. I left off the roof insert to show more of the interior. Next time I build one I think I'll drill out the holes in the bomber seats. This was built over the course of a slow Sunday, with the exhaust (dual straight pipes) added this afternoon- it looks decent for a 24 hour build. Next one I build I'll give a little more time and attention to detail and see what I can get out of it.

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-HAW!!!!

http://round2corp.com/product/1969-mercury-semi-chrome-sleeper/

Thanks guys! Leith- that's the 36" toolbox. Dave also does a 24" and (I believe) a 48" version, with or without the diamond-plate pattern on the door.

They're in the future, when there's a trailer for this model to worry about...

This was just a basic buildup of the reissued AMT kit, with an old AITM hood and bumper. I accessorized it a bit with a custom grille, plated 10 hole wheels from a White Freightliner Dual Drive, and the chromed deck plate. The exhaust stacks and mufflers came from a Revell snap KW, and I updated the door handles to a push button type by stealing a pair from a Revell '64 Chevy pickup. The paint is Chrysler Intense Blue Pearl. The hood binds a bit when I try to open it, so I'm leaving it alone until the clear fully cures, at which time I'll add the intake pipe and the remainder of the exhaust. Other than that, the fact that the driver's side door decal silvered on me a bit, and the annoying little BMF touchups you don't even notice until after you've photographed it, I'm fairly pleased with how it came out.

Danbury models, especially the later ones, were state of the art and quite impressive. And, for me, a tad depressing. I'd check one out and think "Jeez... some little old lady in China built this, at work, and it looks ten times better and has about twenty times the detail of anything I've ever been able to manage."

Just to clarify- the round headlights weren't early '78. The Custom (base model) used round headlights that year, while the XLT Ranger used rectangular lights. That was for the full model year. All '79's had rectangular lights regardless of trim level.

Wheels most certainly are incorrect for a first-gen Expedition, which had five-bolt wheels. The wheels the kit includes are later style F-150 units, which have six (or seven with the heavy GVWR) bolts. Only one minor fit issue- and it's mostly due to an instruction error. Install the radar gun to the dash opposite of how it's shown in the diagram. Otherwise, the interior tub will not slip up into the body, and you may crack the windshield in the process. Ask me how I know... They may have revised the instruction sheet since the initial run, but just something to watch out for.

I checked out this model earlier, but didn't comment, because I was actually speechless. There are scale modelers, and there are scale magicians. You, Mr. Rowley, are the latter.

Usually, when kit is reissued, the "vintage" versions tank, value-wise. There will always be collector types who are willing to pay more for an original kit, but my guess would be they aren't the majority.

AMT '62 T-Bird would be the best choice- the 1:1 cars shared many of their unibody components. Obviously the T-Bird chassis would need to be stretched. Retain the Lincoln's 430 engine- the MEL was an entirely different design than the FE used in the T-Bird. In 1965 the MEL was exclusive to Lincoln and was the sole available engine. You could adapt some of the FE's engine-driven components though, such as the air conditioning compressor. The "Prestige" series '65 kit actually comes with a booklet with a decent undercarriage shot, so you could use that to guide you in modifying the T-Bird floor pan. I haven't done a proper "stock" '65, but I did use a (mostly) unaltered T-Bird chassis under a '65 Lincoln body. The body was shortened to match the T-Bird wheelbase and done in a phantom roadster style.

Give me 70 bucks and I could throw an evening's worth of entertainment for 70 people. All depends on who you know, and possibly how far you want to dive into the weird end of craigslist. Not that I'd know. A guy at work told me. Yeah... that's it.

One night, I was doing an online image search and stumbled across some vintage GATR (Great American Truck Race) photos. I immediately wanted to try to build something like what I was seeing in the pics, and I had an incomplete Diamond Reo kit, so I decided to put two and two together. This was basically a quick, two-weekend project, and I used whatever I had on hand. The paint was done outside with rattle cans, so it would intentionally be a bit on the rough side... I actually wish it looked a little shabbier than it does. It appears that GATR racers tended to favor disc wheels, but a few did run spoke wheels, so that's what I went with on this. The exhaust, roll bar, rear bumper, and side guards are scratchbuilt, while the fuel tank and batteries have been moved behind the cab. The parts box coughed up various doodads, such as the side-view mirrors and the single racing seat. I have absolutely no idea how accurate it is, as I was basically going only by pictures and what little info I could glean from various online articles. But, it was a fun little project and it's an interesting shelf-filler, so I'd call it a win.