Phildaupho

This is fabulous news. After reading all the comments I realize this may not be the 29 kit I would have designed but I look forward to having the opportunity to purchase it for what it is and probably more just for parts.

So are the photos of the 1/1 or 1/25? Either way I love this hot rod!! I am definitely going to have to buy the book.

At first I thought the Jalopy Journal photo of the blue 29 was a very well done model. I read the article on HAMB The car really reminds me of Skip Hudson's 29 which was on the first color cover of Hot Rod mag and in which Dan Gurney drove his first sanctioned competition event - Bonneville. I have been wanting to build a model of this car so hope a new kit becomes available in near future. http://public.fotki.com/phildaupho/dan-gurney-scale-ra/bonneville-express/0709sr-04-z-dan.html#media

Fabulous photos of an amazing variety of incredible models. I skill of today's model builders blows me away.

I like this a lot and the photos have an almost sepia look to them.

Great project Steve. I forgot about the "Durability Run" Comets. I have been wanting to build a replica of the East Africa Safari '64 Comets, one of which I have seen vintage racing after a life time as a daily driver.

Nice conversion. I have one in works too

One of all time favorite cars and you have done a superb job building and presenting a model of it. I had a red 1980 Canadian version GTI which had the looks but not the performance up grades of European versions but still a great car.

Fantastic replica

Thanks everyone for your comments, it was a very interesting build. Here are a couple more photos. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki

Never before have there been stock engines with as much horsepower. I became intrigued with the idea of taking a traditional Deuce roadster and installing a stock Corvette C6 ZR1 LS9 engine [376 cu.in, 638HP, supercharged], multi-speed transmission and the requisite safety equipment to see how fast a stock engined street roadster could go at Bonneville. It likely would not be a record breaker [b/BSTR record = 241.37] but I bet it would break the 200mph barrier. This probably makes no sense from a dollar point of view since for the cost of a LS9 crate motor, an engine with much more HP could be bought on-line or built-up by a speed shop but very few hot rod builds really make dollar sense. A stock looking Lingenfelter LS9 crate motor puts out 750HP and they have more radical LS9 versions dynoing at 900HP. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki BODY - Revell 32 Ford Roadster – The street roadster class is probably the least aerodynamic of all the Bonneville classes in that the body must essentially be of stock dimensions, have rear fenders and headlights and retain the windshield brow. The rules also state “the windshield post mounting brackets (stanchion) must be retained”. Although I have seen Bonneville street roadsters racing without these brackets they are mounted on my model. There are only limited ways to improve aerodynamics such as smooth hood sides and top. The lips on the radiator shell and cowl were removed. I retained the splash panel under the radiator shell that might function as a spoiler. The headlights were mounted to the radiator shell. The rear fenders were bobbed. The tonneau cover was made from sheet brass. Hosted on Fotki INTERIOR - Revell 32 Ford Roadster – door panels smoothed and dash filled. Roll-cage, gauges and fire extinguisher are from a Revell Funny-Car kit. The resin racing seat is from M3 Hobbies with Acu-Stion seat belts. The passenger side is taken up with a battery and electronic panel from a Corvette C5-R. CHASSIS - Revell 32 Ford Roadster - As with many Bonneville street roadsters I bobbed the front frame horns. The stock fuel tank was modified being smoothed on top and flattened on the bottom. I considered fashioning a rear diffuser but reckoned it would not be very effective. SUSPENSION - Revell 32 Ford Roadster – I lowered the front as much as I could and eliminated the air bags in the rear. WHEELS & TIRES – Wheel discs are from the AMT Avanti. Front tires are Revell Funny-Car items. Front wheels have inner disc cut from sheet styrene. Rears tires are from parts box with tread and side wall rib sanded off. The tire lettering was done with a gel pen in front and decals in the rear. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki ENGINE – The Revell Corvette C6 ZR1 provided the LS9 engine. Getting everything to fit in a ’32 Ford engine compartment was an interesting challenge. The air conditioning compressor and power steering pump were removed and the alternator was repositioned. [Note - the alternator is misidentified on instruction sheet] Ignition and fuel lines were added. The Rat Roaster supplied the Tremec transmission. A radiator was fabricated that could cool both the engine and intercooler with a scratch-built air intake drawing air from the top of the radiator shell. I made up a dry-sump oil reservoir tank reminiscent of an old school beehive filter mounted on the firewall. PAINT – I chose yellow as the color as a nod to Corvette Racing [Testor’s Bright Yellow Enamel] as is skull decal DECALS – Computer generated I have been fascinated with Bonneville since I first heard the word when Pontiac started naming its performance versions Bonneville. As a kid I often got a Hot Rod magazine in my Christmas stocking and that issue always had a feature on Bonneville Speed Week. I finally got to Bonneville in the fall of 1995 but I was unable to watch the speed trials because it was a smaller event and not insured for spectators. Even the Bonneville Speedway Museum in nearby Wendover was closed. I could only peek through the windows. Attending Speed Week some year is definitely on my bucket list. Lots more photos at http://public.fotki.com/phildaupho/1/salt-flats-bbstr-ls/

Extremely attractive rendition of an unusual subject

Great to see a '51 4-door Merc which was one of the first hot rodded cars I saw in the early 1960's after moving to the west coast. It was purple and had a Thunderbird engine. I have often thought of building a model of it but never checked out the availability of a resin body

Definitely a winner in the curbside class

There is some info on MKIII in Haynes book but probably could find plenty by just googling

May have already been mentioned but I saw this in a book store yesterday. Lots of great photos and detail. I have the book on the Red Bull F1 which helped building the model. Hosted on Fotki

I have heard the explanations but I still find it strange that Tamiya and Revell of Germany continue to mold their kits in colored plastic when every serious builder will paint every part. I much prefer the white plastic in Revell of North America Ferrari kits.

Very well done. The perfect combination of color, stance and parts.

Yuri - You build incredibly realistic models cars but I am equally impressed with your photography. I understand the outdoor photos but how do you create such realistic photos such as the Studebaker. It looks like it could be from a Studebaker sales brochure. Regards from Canada

You really are a scale master of big and small

I had a pretty productive model car building year in 2014. I completed the five pictured here plus an entry for Mark Gustavson’s Custom Clinic. I got a couple of almost done, a few well started, a pre-decorated Woody built on a camping trip and a bare metal 1/43 Deuce highboy. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki

Andy - Both the coupe and sedan are 1/24. I have not researched to see if 1/1 '37 sedans were actually wider than '36 coupes but I did what I had to do to make it work. Jimmy Flintstone makes a resin 1/25 flatback.

Joe - This a 1/1 '36 which I hope my model will look like someday Hosted on Fotki

Seasons Greetings to all participants on the Model Cars magazine Forum. I thoroughly enjoy all the model car projects from around the world and the interesting commentary on model car subjects. While waiting to get inspired to start painting a current project, I decided to try and create a ’36 Ford Flatback Sedan by grafting the roof section of a Revell 1/24 ’37 Sedan onto the body of a Revell 1/24 ’36 Coupe. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Slicing and dicing to create my own body is probably my favorite aspect of model car building so I knew this would be fun. I was kind of surprised to find that the ’37 Sedan was about 4 scale inches wider than the ’36 so I had to take a corresponding longitudinal section out of the sedan roof. With the centre section of the ’37 rear window gone it was close to matching the shape of a ’36 rear window but not quite so I cut in the window from the ’36 Coupe. It is going to take a bunch of putty and Evergreen half round to complete the transformation but overall I am pretty pleased with how this conversion turned out. This will become a future street-rod with running gear and interior from the ’37 kit. I need a 1/25 Flatback for another project I have in mind but will try the Jimmy Flintstone resin ’36 for that.