mrmike

I got a 1/24 scale "Tuff" steering wheel from Mr. Prestigious who was going to use it in his '63 Fury Pro Street. He was concerned about what colors that were available for this wheel and whether they would clash in his interior. After some discussion, it was decided to go with the stock kit steering wheel and he gave me the "Tuff" steering wheel. I placed the wheel on the bench and looked at it off and on during the last week or so. I decided to use it on the Dart. The kit wheel on the left and the "Tuff" wheel on the right. While I am waiting for the pie plate decal to snuggle down on the air filter housing, I have it 99% finished. More to come...

Thanks David and Anders! I normally don't do this, but I found the firing order for the 340 engine and wired the engine this way. I glued the ignition coil onto the intake manifold. When that is dry, I'll add the coil wire to the coil. I usually call people anal for going to this length, but I had to try it and it wasn't any more difficult this way. I may do this more in the future as long as I am using a pre-wired distributor. If I am wiring the distributor in my usual fashion with one hole, then I won't bother. More to come...

You learn something new everyday! I never knew that AMT had a '69 Mustang kit aside from the MPC '69 Mustang which I knew was a little smaller than 1/25 scale. After reading this thread, I looked this up in Tim Boyd's new book, "Collecting Muscle Car Model Kits". It makes me wonder what became of the AMT '69 Mustang tooling? Was it lost, damaged, or modified beyond repair?

Thank you Bill!

I have the Revell '65 Chevelle SS396 Z-16 kit in the stash, but I am in no hurry to build it. I do find the body to be kind of blocky and bland looking. A change in wheels and tires and the stance would help to spice the car up and I plan on using the Rallye wheels from the Revell '67 Chevelle SS396 kit.

Thank you Ricky and Andy! The wheels are tires are in kit. I believe the kit was retooled for big tires and wheels, roll bars, CB radios and antennas.

The Story Friday afternoon and young McNally is leaving school and heading towards the school bus when he sees his father standing next to it. His father wants young McNally to witness the takedown of Richard Tomlinson as he feels he is owed that right. All the research young McNally did on the Tomlinson's has checked out as reliable information and a warrant was issued for Richard's arrest for Embezzlement and Lying to a Police Officer. They get into Officer McNally Ford LTD Crown Victoria and drive over to meet up with another officer and Det. Brentsen. When Richard get home, they will all head over to Richard's house and make the arrest. The word is given and the three Police Cruisers head over to Richard's house just around the corner from where they had staged themselves. Det. Brentsen parks in the driveway just behind Richard's car and the two Cruisers were parked on either side. Young McNally watched as Richard was read his rights and handcuffed. This made the teenager feel good about all the work he had done. But, that all changed when he looked over at the front door and watched with horror as Richard's wife and young daughter was watching from the front steps of their house. Now he didn't feel so good. Richard was taken down to Police Headquarters to be questioned and processed. Young McNally sat on a bench in the hall waiting for his father to come out of the Detective's Bureau. Around 8:00 PM, his father comes out and takes his son to dinner at the Comet Diner, just down the street from HQ. Young McNally asks about the arrest and if Richard's family knew about the embezzlement and Officer McNally says he doesn't know. Officer McNally says there is a point where the investigation should end, either with the investigating officer or hand it all over to the detectives and let them deal with the investigation. The Build I gave the Beetle another coat of paint after a good wet sanding. McNally will return...

I wanted to remove the placards on the right side of the dash, so some sanding and about ten minutes later, the placards were gone! Bodywork has been ongoing with all the various holes being filled. There's a placard on the right side front fender in a well. I filled the well with some sheet styrene and I putty it over later.

It have been over a week since I have worked at all on the Dart GTS 340. Since I had to fire up the paintbooth to paint another project, I shot the hood with another coat of Tamiya TS-54 Light Metallic Blue. it came out nice and smooth!

Thanks for the link Robert! I got the engine finished and installed into the completed chassis with the driveshafts. I just need to do a few touchups and fix the plug boots. The chassis is complete with the transfer case skid plate. More to come...

Thanks Brenden! FWIW, this is not a "flat-fender" Jeep. This is a Jeep CJ-5 from the Korean Conflict era. The "flat-fender" Jeeps are from World War II.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkWECedSzio A new project for me is the Jeep CJ-5 used in the TV series, Cade's County starring the late Glenn Ford. The closest I can come to for Cade's Jeep is the Korean War CJ-5 Staff Car and Trailer kit #1-1210-250 which just fell into my hands for $10.00. Extremely little is known about the Cade's County Jeep so I am taking some artistic license here. I am also going to attempt weathering the body and chassis to reflect the Jeep's time in Madrid County, California.

Thank you Carl! I appreciate the kind words! One of my influences for this build past away this morning. Classic Plastic Model Club President Del Paone has gone to the big model bench in the sky. Thank you Del for you support and guidance. You will be sorely missed...

Thank you Steve!

Thank you Perry! I can understand how you can notice things like this. I use to collect antique radios as well including an old multi-band receiver that was a from the 1930's. It had an AM band and several shortwave and long wave bands. Now I have several CB radios including a telephone style that my father once owned and several Police/Fire scanners.

Thank you Perry and Steve! Yes, there are decals for the speedometer and the radio. I never looked at the radio decal until now. This must be one of the little things that makes this a European spec car. Once the body is on, you really won't be able to read the radio face.

Thank you Mike! The Story Feeling a little frustrated, young McNally approaches his Father, Officer Raymond McNally on his day off and he asks for some help or support. His Father says to just throw the picture away, but young McNally can't do that. He has spent a lot of time doing research on the picture and the family of the Tomlinson's and he doesn't feel right about abandoning all his work. His Father says he'll think about it and he walks away from his son, not wanting to be bothered. He thinks that maybe his father is right and he should just toss the picture away. About an hour later, a plain Ford Crown Victoria with a whip antenna on the back trunk lid stops at the curb and a tall heavy-set man gets out of the car and approaches Officer McNally who is sitting on the porch. Ray calls his son down to the porch to meet Det. Brentsen who wants to see the file that Young McNally has made on the Tomlinson's. Det. Brentsen is impressed with the file and evidence that is in the file and he says that he has to verify everything before he moves ahead with his investigation. He thanks Young McNally for his work and to Officer McNally for calling him. Youong McNally then thanks his father for his support. The Build I applied a black wash to the seats of the Beetle and to the side panels which I also detailed. I also detailed the dash. I'll apply some Tamiya X-22 Gloss Clear to the speedometer as a lens. McNally will return...

Thank you Cody! I will be getting back to this one shortly...

I used Tamiya XF-2 Flat White to make my Whitewalls. Thank you guys! This '32 is definitely something different to build. I found most of my influence from members of my Model Club.

That looks really good Wayne! Yes, I have painted the bottom of the interior platform, but I need to paint the bottom of the console to match.

The Story Business at the hardware store has been dropping off a little since a big box home improvement store had opened in the next city over. Not scheduled to work, young McNally needed a distraction from his research and decided to work on the Beetle. He was able to find a Hurst VW shifter for the Beetle real cheap and he spent part of the late afternoon installing it into the car. He bought it used and some of the hardware was missing from the box and he was able to find the appropriate nuts and bolts in the garage to finish the install. He takes the old shifter and tosses it into the trash. With his Junior year in high School coming to a close, he hopes to have the Beetle on the road before school lets out for the summer. Right now, he needs to replace the brakes on the Beetle and check over the front suspension one last time. Then the picture comes to mind again and he starts to wonder what is in store for him in his research. After dinner, he goes to his room to study and he picks up his file on the Tomlinson picture and he starts to look through it. He stares at the picture again and says out loud to himself, "Who are you people?" The Build I rummaged through my parts box last night and found a shifter and a piece of chrome plated sprue and drilled a hole in it and flattened one side of it, glued it to the shifter and now I have a Hurst VW shifter with reverse lockout. The side panels were masked and painted and now are waiting for detailing. McNally will return...

Then that tells me that I am on the right track with this VW!

Thank you guys! When it came to VWs, this perhaps is the one thing that stands out in my mind from those days back then. One thing I have learned over the years is that the harder you play with a vehicle, the more they wear out. VWs were no exception! They were meant to be nothing more than utilitarian transportation, but when they got turn into Baja Bugs and dune buggys, they wore out quickly. I pulled this picture from Google Images to illustrate what the shifter looks like.

The Story Young McNally goes back to City Hall after school to search birth records and to find any other notices of intent by the Family and the Executor of Tomlinson's Estate while looking for any clues and people he can ask about the picture in his possession. He also discovers that Richard Tomlinson works as a stock broker for Taggert, Mathews, Collins and Associates and they are in a cash flow issue as reported by the Boston Globe newspaper. It was reported that layoffs and even a possible closure of the brokerage might happen. The Police and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating the Brokerage. This must be bad news for investors and stockbrokers alike. He gets home in time to help his Mom get supper on the table. His Dad is working tonight, so it is just the two of them again. After dinner, he helps clean up the table and puts the dishes into the dish washer and then he takes a glass of water out onto the back deck and he sits there and stares at the Beetle still up on blocks. He thinks about the work he has done on the car and the work still needed, then he turns his mind towards the picture and the information he has amassed since he found the picture. He wonders about where all this is going and what he still needs to do. The Build Paint was flying today as I got all the body parts into three mist coats and two wet coats of paint. Last night, I attempted to make a Hurst VW shifter with reverse lockout. Not bad, but it could be better. I may try again with a shifter from my parts box. McNally will return...

The Story Young McNally is in his room doing his homework and studying when he hears the doorbell ring downstairs. His Mom answers the door and he hears her talking to someone, but he is focused on his homework and he doesn't pay any attention to what is going on downstairs. That changes when his Mom calls upstairs to him to come down to the living room. He is then introduced to Richard Tomlinson, Everett's son who wants to see the picture and young McNally gets the picture from his room and brings it down to show Richard. Richard looks at the picture front and back and says to throw the picture away and he leaves to the house with McNally and his Mom looking at each other and wondering what just happened. There is a small waste can next to the coat rack by the front door and McNally tosses the picture into the trash and goes back upstairs to continue studying. The following morning, young McNally is putting his books into his back pack and he finishes getting dressed for school. He goes downstairs for breakfast and puts his pack by the front door and he sees the picture in the trash can. He pulls the picture out of the trash can and places it inside his back pack and then goes into the kitchen for breakfast. He will try to find out more about the picture after school. The Build I finished the chassis this morning, complete with weathering. The body, trunk, and hood have been re-primed and will be painted soon with Tamiya TS-23 Light Blue. McNally will return...