mrmike

After polishing the body and installing the chassis, I went looking for the radiator hoses only to find that there are none! None in the box nor are any called out for in the instructions! There no holes in the radiator, either! So, with ingenuity being the mother of invention, I got out a hose from the parts box and a piece of styrene rod and inserted the rod into the hose and glued it to the intake manifold. When that has dried solid, I'll do the same to the other end and glue it to the radiator. More Buick to come...

David, my plan is to bring the front and rear tires up to the edge of the fender lip. I think I can accomplish this. The Story Night time has come and it has gotten dark out as McNally slips out the back door and he creeps along closely towards the ground. As he ducks behind several massive trees, there is no return fire from the other side of the road. Maybe the assassin has left the area to avoid capture, but McNally will never know. As he walks up the road, a Whelton Police Cruiser comes along and McNally flags the driver down. Officer Tim Reilly asks who he is and why he is out here. McNally says he was attacked by automatic gunfire earlier in the afternoon at the Dundy Homestead and he escaped under the cover of darkness. Due to the late hour, McNally's Challenger will be picked up in the morning and Officer Reilly will give McNally a lift back into town. There are no motels in this town so Tim offers the use of an empty cell at the Police Station for McNally to spend the night. In the morning, he leaves the cell with a folded up blanket on the pillow and he heads over to the Diner across the street for breakfast. The Police Chief walks over to get a cup of coffee and to talk to McNally. The Chief squeezes into the booth with his large gut when McNally offered him a seat at his booth by the windows looking out on the street. The Build The basic engine and transmission were assembled and painted. Mopar Street Hemi Orange for the engine block and Tamiya X-11 Chrome Silver for the transmission. The body parts and chassis were assembled and awaiting Model Master White Primer. McNally will return...

The Riviera got its coat of Tamiya TS-13 Gloss Clear. This is two mist coats and a medium coat of clear. A wetter coat of clear is coming soon. More Buick to come...

Thanks Jeremy! Still looking over the suspension so I can lower it. I have some ideas, but that doesn't stop me from researching it further.

Thanks David! There is a Riviera GS that I have been watching lately that has a similar color interior. My build is based on that car.

Yep! McNally has had the Challenger for a while and it's time for another car. I wish there was a newer version of this Charger, but alas no, there isn't. I have the PD version and the stock R/T version as well.

My new project and the return of McNally, Boston PI. The story is titled Starting Over. There is no one in this story related to any one living or deceased. The Build I am using Lindberg's Charger SRT8 Super Bee kit #73065 and will be painted with Model Master Hemi Orange Lacquer with a black/grey interior. The Story Walking out of Court with his attorney Charlotte Rothmann, McNally has paid a fine for refusing to answer the Judge's directive. Charlie was able to get the jail sentence changed to a fine and McNally has plenty of money in his savings to cover the check. But, Charlie didn't want to talk to the Boston PI for some reason and she got into her Caddy STS-V and drove away. At home, McNally checks the mail and finds an envelope in the mail that contains a letter and a check for his services. He'll insert the letter with the file and cash the check, but the file seems to be missing some details and he decides to follow up on the case. The case involved a man checking to see if any other heirs to his family farm estate were still alive. Whelton, Mass. is a small farming community with a town hall, a couple of stores and a diner that serves breakfast all day. At the farm, he gets out of his Challenger SRT8 and walks towards the farm house and suddenly automatic gunfire erupts from somewhere and he takes cover a large boulder near the front porch. Now the gunfire seems to be concentrating on his Challenger, shooting out the windows and the tires. The car body is full of bullet holes and three of the tires are flat. The automatic gunfire stops and McNally runs to the front door of the farm house and kicks the door open and he takes refuge inside to wait out the assassin. McNally will return...

Thanks trendsetter68 and Keith!

I got the Riviera foiled. This took me hours to do and I like the results! More Buick to come...

I painted the grille with Tamiya X-1 Flat Black paint, waited a few minutes and then I wiped off the grille bars. The headlight covers were painted with Model Master Metalizer Aluminium. The taillights were painted with Tamiya X-27 Clear Red and the backup lights were painted with Tamiya XF-2 Flat White. More Buick to come...

I made a wider intake manifold for the Studebaker with a notch in the back for a distributor. The engine is almost complete save for the ignition coil and painting the transmission. More Studebaker to come...

I have a picture of my friend Larry standing next to a Studebaker and I had noticed that the engine in this car has down draft Weber carbs. I know I have those carbs and I found them in the AMT '63 Cobra. I'll widen the manifold and add the Webers! I found these exhaust manifolds in the '56 Ford Victoria and they are as close to headers that I can find in my stash. More Studebaker to come...

I sanded the holes with flat edges and then I cut out 4 patches of 0.0200 styrene sheet and filled the holes with the patches and some Tamiya Extra Thin Cement. When thi shas dried, I'll spread some Mr. Dissolved Putty around the edges and so some sanding to get this flat. I drilled out my spark plug holes and mocked up my last Parts By Parks distributor. Time to get more distributors! More Studebaker to come...

Thanks Michael and David for the suggestions! I never thought about using a Paxton supercharger. Good idea! The Foose Cadillac idea is out since I don't have the inclination of getting another kit just to rob from it. I do have a '41 Willys custom chassis that was given to me for this build, so I'll be sticking with that.

Thanks Jim! There will be more from this slow moving WIP. Stay tuned!

Thank you Tom!

I sat down this afternoon and started with the '53 Studebaker again. I assembled the kit motor which I'll try to hot rod with a different carb, air cleaner and headers. I created a new frame using parts of the frame from a '41 Willys hot rod and some Evergreen styrene. A mockup with the engine and the interior on the new frame. I cut out part of the bottom of the interior and will fill those holes with sheet styrene to create a flat bottom. More Studebaker to come...

Thank you Jim, Charlie, David and Carl!

Thanks Michael and Keith! Micahel, I painted the interior with Tamiya AS-15 Tan (USAF). It has a semi-gloss effect when sprayed from the can.

I got the Riviera interior finished. Have a look... More Buick to come...

I did a mockup of the Riviera to set and check on the stance. I like it! More buick to come...

Thanks Robert! Exposed or not, those two better looking carbs would have sat under a large air cleaner and not be seen. It is not often I build a model with an exposed engine and little air cleaners on top of nice looking carbs.

Thanks guys! The color has gotten darker since I have added two more wetter coats of paint.

Paint was sprayin' this afternoon! I got the body and hood painted with Dupli-Color Emerald Green Metallic. This is the first mist and medium coats of paint. The interior has been painted and the dash and console are waiting for detailing. I painted the chassis, transmission and wheels and wheelbacks. The chassis will need to be detailed. More Buick to come...

Gave the Riviera a bath yesterday and I let everything dry in the paintbooth overnight. This morning, I gave the Riviera a good coating of Tamiya Light Grey Surface Primer. I'll let this dry for a bit and give the body and hood another good coating of primer in prep for the Dupli-Color Emerald Green Metallic. More Buick to come...