David G.

Seeing this just makes me smile! David G.

Excellent work! David G.

Thank you Bob. Hello Alan. Thanks for cautioning me on the rear suspension. I was hoping for the best and preparing for the worst, as it were. I'll certainly keep your words in mind. Now that I look at the front shock mounting brackets, I can see that your recommendation regarding the paint color is correct. Thank you for the pointer. Regards, David G.

Thank you Jim. Here's another update with more modifications. OK. I've been dreading this front axle assembly ever since I opened the box and look at the assembly instructions. Although it looks fairly simple, it's what I call a floating assembly. Everything has to be assembled as it is mounted to the chassis and it all has to be kept in proper alignment without the aid of hard mounting points. Already there is a problem. The way shock absorbers are supposed to be mounted to the axle is by placing that 1.5mm pin into that 3mm hole. Not only is the pin too small, it's also way too short. The pin would have too be about 2 or 3mm longer than the radius of the lower spring cup. Using a proper sized styrene rod, I cut a couple of pieces long enough to allow the shocks to clear the axle mounting brackets. I then drilled them to fit over the mounting pins on the shocks. One advantage of pinning an assembly like this one is that the pins hold it all together as you go, which allows for test fitting and tweaking prior to gluing. All assembled. Once the adhesive cures, I'll add the steering linkage and track rod, then trim and file the pins and touch up the paint. Hopefully, this will be the last of the engineering adjustments I'll have to make. I can't imagine how this kit made it into production with such an obvious design flaw. Here's a close-up of the pin assembly I had to fabricate just to put this dang thing together. As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to comment. David G.

Thank you Michael. I imagine that there are vintage and classic American cars all around the globe. Back in 2014 I sold my 1971 Delta 88 to a man in Russia. He's been working on restoring it, we still email back and forth once in a while. Thanks Hector, I'm glad you like it. David G.

Excellent work! Could easily be mistaken for a 1:1. David g.

JC and Curtis, Thanks for the comments! I do appreciate the feedback. Here's another update: I started this one back in 2014 and sometime between then and now, the front brake discs went missing. It was an opened kit when I bought it so maybe the discs were lost before I even started it. Either way, I decided to make my own using sheet styrene and some .125 x.125 square styrene rod. There aren't any brakes or backing plates for the rear axle, so I probably could have done without the front discs. But, there they are. The seat provided by the kit is rather rough. There are ejector pin marks on the seat cushion and it just looks... junky. So I dug this fiberglass bucket out of the parts box and made some mounting brackets for it from sheet styrene. It doesn't have side bolsters like the kit seat but I think that the bucket is deep enough to make up for that. The headers required some attention too. First. they needed some heating and manipulation to mate to the flanges on the engine block. Second, the exhaust dumps are supposed to be glued directly to the end of the headers butt-joint style. Aside from this arrangement not even being close to looking right, I had concerns about the long-term durability of the joint. I decided to use some heavy aluminum foil I saved from some old dog food containers to make collectors. Not only would it make them look better, it would also reinforce the joint. No wonder I couldn't finish this kit when I was twelve. Sheesh! As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to comment. David G.

Very Cool! I built mine as an ambulance. David G.

Nicely done, love the color. David G.

I'm not familiar with the movie but that's a nice 57! David G.

Very Cool! David G.

Nicely Done! Love the weathering. David G.

Thank you Geoff. Thanks Rusty. I built the 63 as a glue bomb rescue. I posted progress pics on an MCM forum Community Build Project back in 2012 which I can't find now. I also have them on my personal web site along with many of my other projects. Here's a link. Please feel free to browse around once you get there. Thanks Larry. David G.

Everything looks spot-on! David G.

Excellently rendered! David G.

A beautiful automobile beautifully built. Well Done! David G.

Should be an interesting rescue, you're off to a good start. David G.

Spectacular paintwork! Love all the custom details too. David G.

What a great way to make a Ford Escort worth looking at! Beautifully done! David G.

I'm still very interested in watching this play out. The orange has me intrigued. David G.

This is another nostalgia build. I first bought one of these kits at the age of 12. At that age, I lacked the skill and patience to complete it. It's not a very complicated kit but the tubular frame chassis requires planning and patience. For strength and stability, I chose to pin all of the major joints. For those who are not familiar with this technique, an example of "pinning" can be seen on the cross member near the front of the chassis. With the cross member lightly glued in the proper location, holes are drilled through the frame rails into the cross piece to allow wires to be inserted and glued into place. The joint is reinforced with more adhesive then the wires are trimmed flush to the frame and filed down. I did this for each of the major connection points- probably about thirty. With most of the chassis frame complete, it's time to start planning the suspension assembly installation. A little bit of test fitting. As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to comment. David G.

Thanks Howard, I'm glad you like it. Thanks Danno. I'll see you in April! I also almost forgot about my traditional "Display Case Shot", so here it is! Thanks again to everybody for all your kind comments! Now, on to the next project. David G.

Excellent detail work, looks great! David G.

Nicely Done! David G.

Thank you Chris. Thanks David. I have seen a couple episodes of that show or a very similar one. It was an interesting show but I felt a little sad knowing that I would likely never see one of these fabulous cars in person let alone get to drive one. Somewhere in the back of my mind , that show was likely the inspiration for this car's story. Thank you Eric. I've been using Testors enamels since the 1970's when I started building model kits and I've often achieved good results with them. Once I discovered and began using lacquers and acrylics, I began to obtain better results more often. I've seen some of the YouTube videos by Donn Yost and a couple of other enamel paint masters and I'm envious of what they can achieve. Right now, I don't have the equipment or patience to practice enough to get to that level of proficiency. I hope to some day to do that, but until then, lacquers and acrylics are just easier for me to use. Thank you for the compliment Bruce. I live in Phoenix, nature's dehydrator. Yesterday's temperature was 111 degrees with 12% humidity and Testors spray-can enamel still takes a week or more to cure to where it can be color sanded. Tamiya lacquers and acrylics can be worked after about a half-hour of drying time. I even have a food dehydrator and thought of modifying it to dry model car bodies and bits. But why, when lacquer or acrylic paint is dry to the touch in less than ten minutes and cured to work in less than an hour? My biggest problem with enamel paint is my own lack of patience for what it takes to use it. Thanks for all your comments. David G.