W-409

Yesterday night when Cruising in Helsinki, Finland with my Chevy S10, I saw this clean Mazda Marella. These things used to be fairly common back in the day, but they had pretty bad rust issues so nowadays they are getting pretty rare. And a bit later, I drove past this small parking lot and saw a '64 Dodge Dart, so I had to stop by and check it out. Not the cleanest that I've seen, but not bad either. Really good looking car, and definitely better looking than the newer (and more common) Darts...

I'm glad I saw this thread now, really nice fabrication with that Datsun Pickup. The Kart looks very good, too. I've never thought about these kits, but now after seeing your project, I just might have to buy one.

This is looking really good. Love these Ramp Trucks, and actually I've had plans to build one for a long time. Too bad those Racer's Wedge kits seem to be so expensive. Luckily, it shouldn't be too hard to scratchbuild so guess I'll have to go that route. Anyway, your project looks really good. I'll be watching how this turns out.

This looks like a great start! Those tires & wheels look really good on the Chevelle. Perfect starting point for a Street & Strip build.

This is an interesting project. With your building skills, I know it's going to be fantastic when you're finished. That color choice is excellent and you can't go wrong with the Fireball Modelworks' items. I'll be watching since I've always wanted to build this kit.

Mine is pretty simple actually. I've always been a Chevy guy and the Chevy W-Block (348, 409 and 427 Z-11) happen to be my favorite engines. Hopefully some day I can afford building one 409 to be installed in some body.

Wow, this looks really nice! I'm not a Porsche guy, but I've always liked how this 550 Spyder looks. You did really good job with this, and big thumbs up for this unique subject too. Never heard of the Fernando Pinto Models. How much did the kit cost?

Thanks for the kind words guys! And, sorry for the late reply, been really busy with other life so haven't had time to build or visit here much since the latest update. Carl, the engine was painted with Tamiya TS-23 Light Blue. I have to say that I'm a huge fan of these Tamiya Sprays, they work so well and have a killer selection of different colors.

And I'm pretty sure that's exactly what would happen if one was parked in a car show in the States. It's funny how many times when I have posted a picture of some car that was pretty common around here back in the day, bunch of guys from USA are scratching their heads as they have never seen one. But, of course I understand that, since many of the cars were never sold to US market.

I can imagine that ! Back then those were pretty common here in Finland as well. Nowadays they can be seen on the road from time to time, but can't say that they would be very common anymore.

Thanks Andy! When you get back to your '41, it would be interesting to see a WIP-thread on it... This is a bit of a boring update, but at least something has happened. Unfortunately changing the stock oil filter to somekind of aftermarket unit didn't come to my mind before painting the engine block and heads. Now it's too late to fill the mounting spot for the stock oil filter on the cylinder head, so I'll have to use that. But I had to fill this hole on the stock filter: It was filled with a couple of pieces of sheet styrene that I sanded to correct shape after gluing them on. Just a bit of putty and sanding... Now it's ready for paint.

I had absolutely no idea of this one. Well, I was searching for cars from Germany so I wasn't that far off. But honestly, had no clue what this one could be, even though it looked pretty familiar at first. Anyway, it was fun to try figuring out what could it be.

Last night I saw this very clean Ford Taunus at a gas station while we stopped there for a cup of coffee. These things were quite popular back in the day, but nowadays it's pretty rare to see one in this great condition.

I need to say that those look a million times better than somekind of horrible looking aluminum wheels those things originally come with. But, still I think probably the only way to make one of those disgusting electric "bread toasters" interesting would be installing an engine in there...A Big Block Chevy for example.

Joseph at Fireball Modelworks has Drag Radials: http://www.fireballmodels.info/ Haven't seen them in person, but I'm pretty sure they are excellent quality like his other products as well.

Always great to see Stock and Super Stock cars built in scale. For some reason these Mustangs are not very common starting points for S or SS cars in 1:1 scale so it's always good to see one. Yours turned out very nice. Great looking detailing in the engine bay and I think you captured the look of an NHRA Super Stocker perfectly.

Very nicely done Impala! In fact, one of the cleanest ones I've seen built from this kit. The color is very nice and I like the wheel and tire combo as well. Very nicely done!

Thanks, that's the answer I was kind of thinking myself too but had to make sure. Steve, the Astorian is exactly what I'm trying to replicate. It's not going to be a perfect replica, but I'm doing it as close as I can. In fact the project got started earlier but it has been as a back burner for (too) long time. Now when I pulled it back on the bench, this tail light issue came to my mind. But, scratchbuilding those tail lights shouldn't be a problem so I guess that's what I'll have to do. I've already started converting the roof into a Sedan (the B-posts are missing in this picture as I dropped the body to the floor by accident) and re-styling the front end...

Does anyone know if there is any source for these tail lights in 1/24 or 1/25 scale? They are from '63 Oldsmobile 98. I know Jo-Han made a '63 Starfire, but it has different tail lights of course. I don't think I've seen a kit of a '63 Olds 98, but has anyone seen these as custom parts on some other kit or something like that?

That turned out very nice! All the detail work you did on it really paid off. The color choice couldn't be better either. Very nice work, makes me want to start one of my '65 Plymouths.

Wow, that is probably the cleanest build of a Pacer that I've seen. Very nice work with it inside and out. In addition to the ultra clean overall look, the interior catches my eyes. It looks fantastic. Excellent work.

Me too, as a kid I always dreamed of having a '69 Nova with 454 and Blower. Nowadays I like the look of the 1st Gen Nova more, but the love of Blower Power is still there. I also like high revving N/A engines, but as I'm planning on driving the Chevy II on street as well, the Blower engine will probably be a bit more streetable. And, it looks a lot cooler of course. When you get to building that Tall T, it would be very cool to see a thread in "On The Workbench"...

This is a great tip. I always seem to struggle when trying to BMF long straight moldings (a side trim for example). I will definitely try this on my next build, thanks!

That's a good one ! I've seen in person how one of these look under the hood so I know what you mean...

That's a great looking Mustang Charlie! Is the engine also from the Jo-Han kit? I'm asking because my dad who built the kit when it came out, keeps always saying that the engine was undersized in that kit. Yours looks very good, so either my "old man" remembers wrong (would not be the first time ) or you changed the engine.