David G.

Very Cool! It reminds me of Barris' Batmobile from the TV show in the 60's.

Just yesterday I used Brasso metal polish to remove some paint. The paint was fairly new, though. One advantageis that this is a cleaner that many people will already have around the house. I dabbed it on with a toothbrush and sealed the parts in a ziplock bag for a few hours to prevent evaporation, then came back and brushed most of the paint off with the toothbrush. It may take a few applications but it doesn't seem to attack the plastic.

I remember when I first started seeing the Daihatsu Charade about 20 years ago, I thought, "All we need now is the Toyota Travisty and the Mitsubishi Farce!"

I love those old models. In the days before CAD-CAM, designers had to hold a lot more in their heads than they do now. I think there was more of an art to it then. Thanks for sharing those!

Are you making the top panels removable or just removing them. Maybe another option would be to make them removable but use a translucent material and make them into sky-lights like the fiberglass roof panels on the UPS trucks. That would give a more solid reason to have the cut roof panels. So far it looks good!

Thanks, I'll keep that one in mind. I've always loved the Dodge/Chrysler products from the late '60s and early '70s. They looked great and were faster than most comparable Ford and GM cars. My mom had a gold '68 Coronet 440 sedan that she scared the tar out of her. It had the 383ci Police Interceptor. I've always wanted to build one.

It looks pretty good already. It'll be interesting to see what improvements and changes you make. Hmm, maybe a cop car, taxi or military staff car.

I can't wait to see what you do with it. Have fun!

A beautiful build and a wonderful tribute to your father. May I ask who made the kit and do you know if it's still available? I haven't built a muscle car in years and this one looks like something I'd like to work on.

The Ford Nucleon is in part what I based my concept on. Mainly the engine pod and the twin catamaran booms on the back. I wanted the rear of mine a little more protected to minimize damage from potential collisions. Wait until you see the rear bumper! "Chernobyl GT" I like that! I'm calling mine the Chevy Proton, though. They (fictionally) beat Ford to the punch four years earlier in 1954.

I added a scratch- and parts-built nuclear engine and started fine sanding the body. And as promised, the pics are at least a little better. I think the profile came out fairly good, in spite of the hack job. As always, thanks for taking the time to look and feel free to comment. David G.

The level of detail you've put into that car is just wonderful. It feels like it has mass and weight.

That's how you know it's a daily driver!

Wow! You really nailed the rust-bucket look. I remember seeing more that a few cars like this driving... yes driving... around N.E. Ohio where I grew up. Haven't seen so many since I moved to Phoenix, though. Very impressive!

That's a neat idea and well executed. Though if I were to drive something like that, I think I'd want a bit more of a bulkhead between me and that 500 HP fire-breathing dragon. Maybe it's just the paint color but it also looks like some kind of VW variant that the WW II German army might have built.

Unlike the first two games, there are no driveable cars in the third. But they are very blow-upable.

I can just about hear the pop and rumble of that V8 though the headers and savor the rich aroma of all those un-burnt hydrocarbons spewing from them. It has a very real feel to it.

In addition to building models, one of my other hobbies is playing video games; one of my recent favorites is Fallout 3. It's a shooter that's set in a post-apocalyptic alternate future in which nuclear energy was developed into an power source for just about everything... including cars. These images were taken from the video game Fallout 3 or from websites created and owned by Bethesda Softworks, the copyright of which is held by Bethesda Softworks or ZeniMax Media. All trademarks and registered trademarks present in the image are proprietary to Bethesda Softworks or ZeniMax Media. The use of images to illustrate articles concerning the subject of the images in question is believed to qualify as fair use under United States copyright law, as such display does not significantly impede the right of the copyright holder to sell the copyrighted material and is not being used to generate profit in this context. Images like the one above are the inspiration for my current project. I'm kitbashing this from 2 Revell kits: a 1956 Chevy Nomad and a 1958 Impala. This is the most extensive modification I've ever tried and I'm having to learn as I go along. Consequently, the progress is slow. Sorry for the old low resolution photos but I started this project in 2009. The gray panels are fuselage sections from a focke wulf moskito kit I'll post more updates as they become available. I promise better photos next time too! Thanks for your interest. Please feel free to comment David G.

In the '90s? I had a rust-bucket '72 Malibu with a dual-quad 427 Corvette engine that I ran the heck out of in the early '80s. Quite possibly the fastest car I've ever driven. I had to ease it up to about 35 mph before putting my foot into it, otherwise it would just sit there and shred the tires. Very good paintwork and detail, well worth the effort you must have put into it. Thanks for sharing the pictures, they brought back lots of memories. -D-

Thanks for all the input, guys. Are any of these currently in (re)production right now? If not, what would be the best bet for an ebay search. Make model or year wouldn.t matter so much, as long as it's something from the 50's. Thanks again, David

When I first started building model cars in the early and mid 70's several of the kits I bought and built had engines that carried a higher level of detail than any other kit I've seen. The level of detail on these engines extended to the representation of internal features. There were piston tops cast on the cylinder banks, the heads had the valve train cast on them and the crankshaft was featured prominently on the bottom of the block. These kits would be great for doing a "workshop" build in which the engine is in some state of dissambly. These were most likely 1/24 scale, though they may have been 1/25. A few years ago, I asked the "model guy" at my LHS if he remembered these kits and if they're still made and by whom. I think he had already decided on his answer by the time I started by saying "Back in the early 70's..." He essentially told me that that was "ancient history" and offered no more help or assistance than that. People here seem to be much more helpful and knowledgeable than "Mr. Hobbyshop" could ever be, so I thought I'd post this question here. Any way, I'd at least like to know if those kits were as detailed as I remember them, who made them and if they're still available. Thanks for any help you guys might offer. David

It's so much fun to do a build tike that. All the weathering and distressing seems to make the car more real to me as I build it. Looks like it'll cool when it's done, keep up the good work! -D-

Hi, Being new here myself, I'm afraid that I'm not familiar with that term either. But I can say welcome aboard and enjoy your stay. I've been a member of this community only for a short time, but I've picked up lots of helpful information ant tips. Also, be sure to check out the gallery to see some awsome builds. David

I store mine upside down, kind of packed in among other things in a drawer resting on its lid. This causes the lighter oily stuff to rise to the top (bottom) of the tube where it's out of the way. I do this with the Green Squadron Putty as well.

Except if it's during a full moon that happens to fall on the second Thursday of the month. In that case it's every 17 minutes for the 1st hour then 12 starting on the 3rd and every alternate consecutive hour until the moon passes completely through the house of Capricorn. Thanks