mrmike

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...

Thank you David and Perry! It's good to know that I am on the right path for weathering.

Thank you Marty! Gotta love a Mopar!!!

The Story Young McNally takes a seat at the dinner table with his mom. Tonight, they are having fried chicken, corn, and mashed potatoes. His Mom asks about his day and he tells her about school work and the Beetle. He mentions the picture he found in the owners manual and he shows her the picture. She says that she doesn't recognize anyone in the picture or anything in the background. McNally says he has asked the Tomlinson attorney about the picture and he will ask the family about it. Young McNally hopes to be able to return the picture and move on with the Beetle. His Mom knows that he can become a little narrow-minded once he starts focusing on a subject, and this picture is no different. He tells his Mom that all he wants to do is return the picture to the rightful owner, but little does he know what he will find as he digs up information on the Tomlinson family. The Build I have never weathered a model before, so this is my first. I wanted to weather the chassis and the engine a little to show some wear from years of use. I started with Acryl Rust and I dry-brushed it onto the chassis. I installed the engine and dry-brushed some Tamiya X-19 Smoke onto the engine with a little Acryl Rust. McNally will return...

Thanks Gary, Perry, and David! The Story will keep on going as I do have a ways to go with it. This is just the beginning!

The Story Young McNally returns home from school this Friday and he is not scheduled to work at Piccolo's Hardware tonight. He changes his clothes and goes outside to work on the Beetle. He decides to wash and polish the old car to see just how bad the body and paintwork really is. With a bucket full of warm soapy water and a sponge, he starts scrubbing and it reveals a decent re-paint at some point in the old car's life. An inspection reveals that the left rear fender was replaced which may have required a re-paint of the car, at least for Everett, the former owner. The Beetle only had 83,000 miles on it and he is sure that the majority of the miles were put on when the car was young. But, in the back of his mind, the old picture was there reminding him that he needs to find the owner of the picture and who the people were in the picture. After drying the Beetle, he gets out the polish and starts rubbing the finish, bringing out the shine in the old repainted body. He finishes polishing and waxing the Bug when his Mom pulls into the driveway with her car and a load of groceries. He helps her bring the groceries into the house and then he cleans up and helps with dinner. The Build I spent about an hour putting the engine together this afternoon. You can tell that this is a Revell of Germany kit inspite of the Revell USA packaging. This is fine with me since this VW kit is a very nice kit with positive mounting points and really good molding. I was going to wire the engine, but now that the engine has been assembled, I think it's a little too late for that now. McNally will return...

The interior is almost finished. I realized that there is a tachometer and the instructions show it being mounted on the steering column which is a good location for mounting. Every factory mounting for this particular car should be on the console just under the dash. This is where I'll mount the tach. I did a little detailing on the tach face. More to come...

After a good washing and sanding, I'll re-prime the VW body, let it dry for a day and re-paint with Tamiya TS-23 Light Blue. It's not the color I want, but it is close. Sometimes you can't have everything.

Thank you Jim and David! I am finding so many things that I would like to do to this build, but I must be patient or this will look like a big blob.

Thank you Ron! I'm trying to keep this one stock, but in my research I'm finding more things that seem to be not correct. So, I will build this as close to stock as I can even if the wheels are incorrect. They look good to me on the Dart!

Still picking away at the Dart GTS 340. I installed the firewall and the brake booster and I still have to finish foiling. I got the interior side panels and center console with shifter installed. More to come...