W-409

Well, it's been a long time since this build has seen the bench, but I want to say a late Thank You to Carl, Cliff, Joe and Michael. The kind words are highly appreciated! While it's a bit cold outside (something like -8 Fahrenheits now) I'm unable to shoot a second color coat on my Ford Thunderbolt or clear coat my '55 Chevy Gasser, so I decided to take this one back on the bench to do something. Next step was to figure out the stance. On my previous mock up, front end was too low so that had to be fixed first. I cut short pieces of plastic rod and drilled a proper size hole to mount them to the spindles. A Same size hole was drilled to the inner wheels too, so now the front suspension is in the highest possible place with the original kit spindles. Next I had to do the same thing to that rear axle. The problem was that I couldn't drill correct size holes to the axle, because the axle is glued together from two halves and when I tried to drill a hole in there, those two halves just came apart. So, my rear inner wheels had bigger axle hole in them than the axle itself, so as a solution, I installed that plastic rod on my motor tool and filed the other end smaller so that it fits inside the rear axle, while still the other end is a tight fit to the inner wheels. And now when I was able to mount wheels and tires properly on place, I decided to do a mock up to see if more adjustments are needed. On rear, everything except the wheels and tires are stock and I think that the ride height on rear is pretty good. Front end is a lot better than on my previous mock up too, and I think it's actually pretty close to what the real car was. (That last pic was borrowed from George Klass' site.)

This is a very interesting project, I think that Sedan body looks better than the HT, very nice work with that body conversion! Great job with the chassis too, intersting to see how this one turns out.

I listen to Rockabilly / Rock 'n' Roll only, but the only exception in here would be Johnny Cash I guess. All of that modern noise that most of my age people are listening causes me a headache.

I'm no Mopar expert, but I believe the scoop in Lindberg "The Ramchargers" '64 Dodge 330 kit or Moebius Melrose Missile '65 Plymouth kit should be pretty close... But as I said, I could be wrong, I'm a Chevy guy after all.

That turned out extremely nice, but your builds always do! Always when I see a black car that has a flawless paint like this it makes my jaw drop to the floor, as I've found out it's VERY tricky to get right. Fantastic work in every way, it looks like a 1:1 scale car to me. Interesting to see how that Chopped '48 will turn out. I know you're a factory stock builder, but I've always liked old Custom Cars and this is one of those bodies that look very good when chopped correctly.

Wow, that is a perfection! As always from your bench, an ultra clean and very well detailed Factory Stock build. It's nice to see these rare kits being built, especially when they're done this well. Everything looks so realistic that it would be hard to guess it's a model if it was used in that Real or Model Quiz. One of your bests in my opinion!

Yes! And now I just remembered that I forgot to add this item to my list I posted previously: -Formula 1 Super Stock tires in either 1:24 or 1:25. I'd need several sets of them! EDIT: I just found out that Fireball Model Works has all of these! Yeehaw, I guess I'll gotta place an order soon! http://www.fireballmodels.info/

Well this was a surprise for me, I never thought this kit would be reissued, but now I'm really happy! I have that original issue in progress, but I'll definitely need to buy another one as Monza has lots of potential to be built as a Street & Strip car. Several years ago we had a '79 Skyhawk in our family so it's always nice to see these GM H-Bodies.

-'74 Chevelle or Malibu Classic conversion kit to be used with Missing Link '73 Chevelle. -'62 Chevrolet Chevy II or Nova grill. I know Modelhaus did this, but as we all know it's not available anymore. -Four Door Sedan '62-'65 Chevy II. I'd build a typical old Finnish Taxi from it. -GM Iron Duke 4 cylinder engine (I'd use it for building a replica of my daily driver '92 Chevy S10). -Aftermarket decals for a couple of legendary Finnish Drag Racers that I'd like to build replicas of. -'87 Chevrolet Chevy Van grill. No one has done this, but I'd need it to be able to build a replica of my former daily driver...

Yes, the Datsun would be cool! Looks like it's 4 minutes and then it's January 1st... I think I'll have to start lifting that Turbine Car on the bench!

I've been following this one, great work with this cool project! You're always building some wild & cool creations and this one is no different. The overall look is just right, keep the pics coming! Agreed, and I'll gotta add Bill Hines to that list. In a couple of days it's time to sling some lead on my 1:1 project too, and watching Bill's work from the internet has been an inspiration!

Great work on this tiny Fiat! I think I have never even seen this kit but it definitely looks really cool! And as usual, you're doing an excellent job with this build. The frame and engine are looking really good. I can imagine how hard it is to do that work in 1/32nd scale, maybe this will encourage me to start my Monogram 1/32 Chevy Malibu!

But on paint job you have to look very, very carefully if you want to see that minor flaw and it still might be hard to see. But on those windows, every scratch can be seen much easier.

This is what I'll be building for this Cannonball, a Jo-Han Chrysler Turbine Car. It'll definitely not have a Turbine engine though. Actually I'm not sure about the engine choice yet, but I'm thinking about somekind of Mopar Big Block, or then the reliable Chevy Big Block... Let's see. Anyway, I've had this pile of Turbine Car parts for a long time and now this is a good place to build it. It's missing some parts, the biggest problem is the rear bumper and tail lights. If I can't find a bumper, I guess I'll have to scratchbuild something from sheet styrene. This is not gonna be factory stock anyway so....... Can't wait to start building it next year!

When I asked the same question years ago when I bought my first resin body, I was told that pretty much any two part body filler would work, but regular model putty, for example Green Putty would not work. So I used just that basic stuff that I bought from a local auto parts dealer with no problems. I'd say Bondo will work.

This looks like a great kit! When I see one, I'll be buying it for sure. Moebius is doing a great job with these new releases and their subjects are the most interesting if compared to Revell and AMT/Round 2. I just wish they'd stop doing the windows like that. Nothing wrong with installing them from outside, but it's stupid that chrome trim is molded to the windows. One little slip with a knife when doing BMF and your windows are ruined... There's nothing wrong with the old method anyway... Otherwise I'm a huge fan of these Moebius kits.

You always build some excellent stuff and all of these are very nicely done! Great to see such a big set of rarely seen subjects built, especially that '60 El Camino is my favorite, but those AMCs are looking really good too. Nice work with all of them!

Thanks Dave! That was a fun build. When it was done I already started about thinking of buying another Double Dragster kit to build a couple of more Vintage Drag Racers...

Fantastic looking Nova! That paint job is looking very good to me and I also like your detailing in the engine bay. Realistic weathering and nice clean work all over make it stand out. And I have to say that the pics are really good as well. Only minor thing I'd do would be painting bolts and nuts and wheel centers from the wheels. Now when the model is otherwise so close to perfect, I think those kind of catch my eyes. But all in all, fantastic work! One of the best Novas I've seen for a while.

WOW! I don't visit very often here in this Big Scale section but after seeing these builds I think I'll have to look around in here more often. That Corvette is looking fantastic, in fact, I thought it was real car at first. It's always nice to see a flawless gloss black paint job as it's very hard to get done properly. You nailed it here, and you did a very nice clean job overall. Fantastic work. And I just looked your Cheetah thread as well...That's another fantastic build! I can't even imagine how much work it takes to make everything from scratch, incredible work. Cheetah is a very cool car in any scale, I'd definitely like to build one in 1/25 if there was a kit of it....

Great work as always! It's always a pleasure to see your Drag Cars come together, but the street cars are looking fantastic as well. Everything seems to be just right on all of them. If I had to pick a favorite, I think I'd go with the '66 Chevy II, it's just so clean with that flawless black paint and super detailing.

That looks great! Looks like I need to buy this kit too. You did a very nice and clean job with yours, the Moon tank looks spot on in there and I like those white headers too. Great job!

Finally I decided to paint that Ford emblem to the steering wheel center. As it is so tiny, it's not perfect, but I think I can live with it. Then I added just a little black washing in there too. Dashboard and steering column were clear coated earlier and now I just glued everything together. Tachometer is from the kit, I just painted a part of it with Revell's silver and I also used the same method on that cauge face as I used earlier on that another cauge below the dash. Cable was made from spark plug wire. While the dashboard assembly was drying I glued wheels and tires on place. There's not much to do with the chassis anymore, but still some work with the engine bay though... And finally, the interior was finished. Shifter is from the kit but it required some cleanup as there was pretty much mold flash. Dashboard assembly was also glued on place.

Thanks everyone for the kind words, they are highly appreciated! Building that Fiat was a great fun. Maybe it was because the kit had some good Vintage Speed Parts that most of the newer kits don't have and that was good, as I was shooting for a Vintage look. These are very cool in 1:1 scale too. That Chevy II is one I think will never be finished, but the plan is to drive with it next summer. Currently I'm in the process of turning it from Four Door Sedan to Two Door Sedan and I have already built some mini tubs in it. The starting point was good, someone had already done massive rust repairs on it so I didn't have to do that. And yep, someone has already swapped 5 bolt hubs in it...

Merry Christmas everyone!