W-409

I agree, very nicely done Front Engine Dragster. I really like seeing these things either in real life or as scale models. Yours is definitely one of the best ones that I've seen. I think all of the steering linkages etc make a huge difference to the overall look, as those parts usually are lacking detail when using kit parts. Excellent work!

Slowly but surely this is coming along... Today I got the firewall installed and painted the windshield wiper motor/hood latch unit with silver. A bit of Detailer's black wash and it was ready to be installed too. I also added the vacuum hoses for wipers as I read that these Fords had vacuum operated wipers. I'm not sure if they are 100% correct, but they should be fairly close anyway. Next I can finish the interior and add bunch of small details to the engine bay. And body needs decals too, so stay tuned...

Thanks guys! That has happened to me in the past as well. Now I masked the edges with Tamiya "Masking Tape for Curves" (product number 87177) and have to recommend that masking tape for anyone. Easy to use and works great in curves as well.

Some of the cars I've seen lately here in Finland... '63 Cadillac: Several VW Beetles, but this is the only one that I was able to take a picture of. Renault 4. A common car back in the day, nowadays not so much... '65 Buick Skylark... Very nice '64 Impala SS. Ford Cortina GT. Imperial Crown. Mazda 1300. These things were fairly common as well, but nowadays it's rare to see one in traffic. And a really cool Jeep J4000.

I like to listen music while I'm building but sometimes silence is OK as well. Though many times the music stops for a while as I'm too concentrated on the model that I can't go and flip the record for side B or change it (Because vinyl records are the best). I usually don't listen to radio, because most of the times the music they play is not for me... I listen to '50s Rock N Roll and Rockabilly and '70s-'80s "Revival-Rockabilly" and pretty much nothing else.

And today while the white paint was completely dry, I was able to do some more masking and shoot the black color on the body as well. Again, I used a couple of Tamiya Masking Tapes and then some generic cheap "painter's tape". It's not perfect, but pretty good. While the body dries, I hope I can get the interior completed and then put the decals on.

Thanks Dennis! It's surprising how much difference a simple detail painting can make. And I agree on the stance, some kits sit pretty high if they're built out of the box, this one looks pretty good as is. Today I sprayed some gloss white on the body. Once that was touch-dry, I removed the masking tapes and it looks pretty good. The Tamiya tape seemed to work really well. Now I'll let it dry over the weekend and next week I can shoot some black to the rest of the body...

Thanks JC and David, I appreciate the kind words! I finished up the door panels after painting the bottom parts of the upholstery with black and doing the panel lines with Tamiya's Panel Line Accent Color. Window cranks and door handles were of course painted silver. And I glued the seats on place. Once couple of smaller parts are dry, I can assemble the rest of the interior. The body looked finally like it is ready for paint. With this being two tone, and I decided to paint the white areas first, I had to do some masking. I used mostly two different Tamiya Masking Tapes and then some generic cheap "painter's tape". I shot some white primer to these areas and tomorrow I guess it's time to paint the roof and doors gloss white.

Thanks for the kind comments everyone, they're highly appreciated. JC: Yes, the rear wheel openings will be cleaned up before the body goes in primer. I just need to do all fabrication work for engine bay/interior/chassis before primering the body, as grey primer will be the final color on this one. John: I've tried to use solder in the past for headers, but I was never quite happy with the results. I've seen some incredible solder headers done by other modelers, but I've found out that plastic rod works better for me. Right now I don't have another project that needs Fenderwell headers, so can't do a tutorial on them at this time. But, it's quite simple actually: First I make the header flanges from sheet styrene (cut to desired shape and drill holes for the header pipes). Glue them to the engine. Then I put the engine between the frame rails and just sort of eyeball where I have to bend the header pipes and in what direction. Important is to start from the rear cylinders that are closest to the firewall and work your way forward from there. And don't heat the plastic rod too much or it will melt. Every time you get a header pipe finished, glue it on to the header flange/engine and paint the headers later. You will need a small brush and a steady hand for this, but it can be done. The worst part on plastic rod is that if you screw up a bend, you can't undo it and try again like you would do with solder. But, in these cases, it is possible to cut the bad bend away, try again with a different piece of plastic rod and just create the header pipe from several pieces. But of course, then you need to smooth out the glue joints.

I had to scratchbuild a set of Fenderwell headers for the Plymouth. As these Flatheads have only three header pipes per side, I was pretty sure I would not be able to find headers in my parts box. So I made the header flanges from sheet styrene and glued them to the engine. Headers are made from .080" Plastruct plastic rod. Next I'll fabricate collectors for them and then paint...

After that the seats and door panels were shot with a grey primer, which will also be their final color. But to be able to install decals on them without the annoying silvering effect, after the primer coat I sprayed a bit of gloss clear and then I put the decals on place. Fitment of the decals was really good. The door panels still need a bit of painting before they can be installed. Then I sprayed a coat of flat clear to the seats and now they are ready to be installed.

Interesting! I might pick one up when they're available, depending on price and how the actual kit looks. So far it looks good, but it's hard to tell from those pictures as they're not actual kit parts...

Today I got the modification from Hardtop to Sedan done on this '55 Chevy. Next up...More body modifications.

Thanks Mike! The race car is currently going through a big update but we are on home stretch now (new roll cage, rust repairs, new paint job, hopping up the engine and some chassis work as well). Today I got the Ford on four wheels. Had to try how it looks with the body on. As you can see I had to do some fixing after the first primer coat so had to add some putty to the body... Then I sanded the body and now it's ready for the second primer coat. Hopefully then I can start moving on to paint. Front seat had an ugly seam where the front and rear halves meet. That had to be smoothed out with putty as well. Now the seat is ready for paint.

I've bought parts from Ted's a few times and it has always worked very smoothly. Actually I just placed an order earlier today as I'm running low on wiring materials. Great guy, good products and easy to deal with.

Really nicely done Thunderbolt! When I built mine a few years ago I also lifted the front suspension to about the same height as yours. Made a big difference in the overall appearance. You did an excellent job on this T-Bolt. Makes me want to build another.

Really nice job on that Melrose Missile Plymouth. Overall a really nice and clean model, but the engine bay is my favorite part. Nicely done. I have the same kit on the stash waiting to be built. This is a great inspiration to do that.

Thanks guys, it's good to be back on the bench. I haven't noticed any major flaws on the body, but to be honest I've always had a bad eye for that kind of things. Even though it might not be exactly correct, it builds up really nice and looks good when it's put together, so that's what matters to me the most. Speaking of the body... I sprayed the first coat of primer on it today. The body had lots of mold lines and mold flash to be cleaned, and it looks like I still need to fix a couple of spots before I can move on to the actual painting. Meanwhile, I hope I can do some progress with the interior.

I would not stress if the engine is 1/24 or 1/25, the actual size of the engine is what counts and I've noticed it has nothing to do with the scale difference between 1/24 and 1/25. I have always mixed those parts on my builds and there is no way anyone could tell if a certain part was different scale than the rest of the model.

Great work with the little Falcon. Always nice to see these old built-ups being brought back to life. The starting point was pretty rough but you did an excellent job fixing it. Nice work.

I think it should fit better than what you described straight from the box. When I built mine I don't remember having any fitment issues on that area that would have required any modifications. Like Mark said, make sure everything else is fitting properly when you do the test fit.

Sometimes I see cool cars in traffic here in Finland also. Here are some that I've been lucky enough to capture on camera in 2021. '70s Toyota Corolla. Very clean. Very clean Dodge Ramcharger: UAZ Van: This was the coolest one during the whole winter. '49 Buick Super. The owner is nowadays over 80 years old, he bought that Buick as his daily driver in 1960 and still drives it every day. Buick still has original 1949 straight eight under the hood. Saw it on one Saturday morning in local grocery store parking lot... Ford 17M: '70s Chevy Van: In the winter I also saw a '65 Rambler Marlin a couple of times but didn't get a picture. Plus, bunch of other cool cars.

More progress, front axle parts painted with several different colors. It was nice to see that ball joints and everything were molded really nicely to the A-Arms as many kits are lacking those details. Driveshaft painted... And here is the engine ready to be installed on place. I built a generator bracket from sheet styrene. Some small details like a carburetor linkage and generator wiring will be added later on when firewall and everything is installed. Then I glued the frame and chassis floor together. Exhaust pipes were not the easiest ones to install, but after some fiddling they fit fine. Front and rear suspension were installed too. Everything fit really nicely, except that I had to trim the rear shocks a little to fit properly. Not a big deal though. Wheels were painted gloss black. The white ring with silver Ford-lettering on the hubcaps was offered as decals, but while the letters on hubcaps were raised, there would be no way to get the decals applied cleanly. So I painted the white area and dry-brushed silver to the tiny Ford letters. Not perfect, but came out decent I guess.

Thanks! That's exactly what happened to me Tom. I went to look at the car and it was so clean that I had to have it. And it seems like it was a good decision, as it runs and drives excellent.

I updated my daily driver in January. I used to daily drive my '74 Malibu Classic Wagon, but with the current gas prices I had to find something that gets a bit better mileage. So I bought a '64 Rambler American. It's pretty much original in a really good condition, 196 Cid straight six and three on the tree. Really fun car to drive and much cheaper to drive as it gets a pretty good mileage, too. It is sold new here in Finland (in 1964) and has still original license plates and everything on it.