W-409

Here is a minor update on my Thunderbolt... Dashboard, steering column and steering wheel had to be painted with the same color as the rest of the interior, but they needed a glossy clear coat on them as they're not upholstered with any kind of material. Interior is painted with Humbrol Enamels, so that was my choice for dash and steering wheel and column too, but right away I knew that Humbrol Enamel clear won't work as it turns yellow by the time. Some people had been saying that you can't spray an automotive gloss clear on top of Revell/Humbrol Enamels, but I gave it a try on a scrap piece of styrene and it worked perfectly. So, now the steering wheel was sprayed with that stuff as well and I like the end result. I'm still debating if I should try painting that Ford emblem on the steering wheel... It's so tiny that it might end up as a mess... Dashboard is getting there too. Pretty much everything else is done but a clear coat. Cauge decals are taken from kit's decal sheet, but it didn't have any decals for that additional meter mounted under the dash. So I painted it gloss black and wiped black paint off from the raised letters and needle. I also added valves to front wheels and did some minor black washing on them.

Thanks Mattias! When I started this build, the plan was to build a fairly simple Nostalgia Drag Car with only some minor modifications and plan was not to try to build it to match any class rules. But looks like my plan failed completely... Though that's not a bad thing, I've had a lot of fun modifying this old kit trying to make it more presentable. The color combo came to my mind when I remembered a '57 Chevy I saw at a Drag Strip here in Finland a few years ago. That looked really good, so I thought I'd try it on mine too.

This year started out very good as I finished this Fiat Topolino Altered in early March. It was built for a Primer CBP on TRaK, where the basic idea was to leave the body, or parts of it in primer finish. So I decided to build something that's a bit lower budget racer with most of the money spent on the engine. I think I captured the Old School look and feel on it pretty good... ...And then that was it, nothing else was finished this year. What might have affected this, is that I spent the first half of 2016 in the Army and now during the second half I've been working with my 1:1 project, '62 Chevy II. All that together with all of the American Car Events in here during the summer, Drag Racing and everything, no wonder that I couldn't finish anything else. Now I have a couple of projects quite close to finish ('64 Thunderbolt S/S and '55 Bel Air A/GS) but there's no way I could have them done before the year ends. Hopefully I can finish a bit more in 2017 then!

Two impressive builds for sure! Especially that Impala is a real beauty, all of the modifications you did they improved the overall look. Even though I usually don't build factory stock, it's very nice to see one that's built so well. Great work, can't wait to see what you'll be building next year!

You always build something interesting. All of those four builds are super nicely done, and I also like the fact that they are done in Traditional style. I like it that each time I open one of your threads I don't have to be afraid if the model is full of billet parts everywhere or it has big wheels and low profile tires or other too modern stuff that I don't like. Fantastic job on all of them, but that '55 Gasser has to be my favorite. Nice work!

Your builds are always a pleasure to see. The fit and finish is just right on every one of them, and these are no exceptions either. Fantastic work on all of them, but that Monaco has to be my favorite. That body style is looking so good that I'd be happy to have one in 1:1 scale too, even though I'm not a Mopar guy. Great work!

WOW! I'm very glad I saw this thread even though European or Japanese cars are not my favorite subjects. This has to be one of the cleanest builds I've seen in a long time. Especially that paint job makes me speechless. I've tried gloss black a few times and it always turns out to be a disappointment even after polishing it. But your paint job is flawless, I guess I just have to keep trying.... What else could I say other than you did simply perfect work in every way. Wow.

Very nice builds, all of them! Especially those two Pickups in the end caught my eyes, maybe because I had not seen them before. All of them are done very nicely and they'd defintely be good material for the Real or Model Quiz. Fantastic work, can't wait to see what you build next year.

I have a pair of old narrow Cheater Slicks too. I'm not certain who made them but those Speed City Resins' slicks sound familiar, so I guess that's what they are. Anyway, they're very nice and also they're not as wide as the 9" slicks most kits come with, so I highly recommend them too.

That looks very good! You don't see many of those in that nice condition. Mine is a bit older one, '92 with that 4 cylinder "Iron Duke" engine and 5 speed manual trans. It's not a rocket, but fun to drive.

Very nice work on all of those models! You sure know how to build these Factory Stock cars right and as always, I'm impressed by the quality of your paint jobs and sharpness of your BMF work. As a Chevy guy, those Chevrolets are my favorites, especially that '57 Cameo is a real beauty. Oh, that's great! I have a Chevy S10 too, an excellent daily driver!

I agree, sometimes it might be a problem, but not always. I built an AMT '67 Impala a few years ago and used tires from some old Monogram 1/24 kit. They fit with no problems and look much better and more accurate size than the too small AMT tires the kit came with... Same thing was done on AMT '66 Oldsmobile, and probably with some other kits too (Can't really remember them all!).

Well a lot has been said already, but here are some of mine. Not in a specific order... -Errors with chrome parts. Mold lines, sink marks, and just chrome parts that don't fit. When you start correcting these issues, usually the chrome plating damages and it's very tricky to fix. I haven't tried Alclad yet so I've always used BMF for this. Not fun. -One piece interior tub with molded in door panels. That way door panels are usually not as detailed as if they were molded separately. And detailing them yourself is quite tricky like this. Even worse, if all seats are molded in too! -One piece chassis with everything molded in. This sucks a lot, finding a more detailed chassis from somewhere usually requires pretty much work and it's not easy to fit under a different body. -Windows that are mounted from outside with window trim molded in them!!!! Aaargh, this is really frustrating. Seen in new Moebius kits that are otherwise top notch, but this feature really sucks big time. It makes installing BMF very tricky, and one slip with a knife and your windows are ruined. There was nothing wrong with the old method where window trim was molded to the body. -Speaking about windows, bad fitting windows is no fun either. You can't do much on them, as everyone knows what happens when you show some sandpaper on that window.... Of course it can be polished afterwards, but it's not as good as bright it was originally anymore. -And last, the thing that annoys me every time... Big wheels with low profile tires! Those look horrible and they don't fit in any classic car in my opinion. I know many people like these, but I've always hated them so I'd prefer having an optional set of somekind of old school custom wheels instead of those big ones. For example on a Muscle Car kit, a set of Slot Mags or Cragars would look really good...

I think anything that was originally 1/20 would be better as 1/25. I have nothing against 1/20 scale kits even though they might look a bit goofy on display cabinet with a big bunch of those regular 1/25 models, but the problem is that there are so few 1/20 kits out there that most people don't have much spare parts for them. That said, you'd have to build them box stock, or then scratchbuild all of the details. And then the legendary 1/24 VS 1/25. I have never seen a difference between those two scales. In fact I think that the difference is so small that it doesn't matter, bigger problem is that sometimes kit parts can be different size compared to each other, even if both kits were the same scale. Some kits, for example AMT "Twister Vega" have way too small engines compared to the size of the engine bay. I mix up 1/24 and 1/25 parts all the time with no problems, so I don't care which scale it says on the box top. That's good, because there are some very good kits released in both scales.

I've been installing some chassis components on place recently. Front axle was not an easy one, as one of the steering rods had to go between headers and oil pan. For some reason I couldn't slide it on place as one piece so I had to cut it into two pieces. Then when everything was on place, I glued that steering rod back together. Rear axle fit just perfectly, and I also started making a fuel line from gas tank to fuel pump, but it's not quite done yet. Here's a mock up with the body. Engine fits nicely on its place. Wheels and tires are not glued on place yet, it's just a mock up...

Today while my Ford Thunderbolt was drying I had to do something on this '55 as well. One of the reasons why it has been sitting long time collecting dust is that I couldn't install the engine on correct position, it was too far in front. So the problem was solved easily with a couple of cuts to the chassis and now those headers are not hitting anywhere anymore. Now the scoop is right in the middle in that hole on the hood too. Oh well, looks like the chassis is a bit dusty... Gotta clean it up! Here the chassis has been cut from the bottom, but upper side is still as it was before. And as the scoop and hood hole lined up properly, I did one more mock up to see that everything fits on place. Now next steps will be clear coating the body again and painting the hood...

Wow! That's a whole lot of rivets ! I bet sanding those to correct length and then gluing them on might not be the funniest possible things in model building, but after it's done the result looks fantastic. Those body tins looked very good even before the rivets, but now with the rivets mocked up the tins are even better. Excellent work as always. Every time I get to visit here on this forum, it's always neat to see what progress you've done. This is one of the most interesting builds anywhere that I've seen. Can't wait to see the next update.

This is a cool looking project. I have an old Beretta Bracket Racer project somewhere waiting for more inspiration to complete it, so I'll be following this with great interest. The start looks really good already, excellent bodywork and chassis modifications. This will be a good looking build when it's finished.

I think it would be either one of these two... Model Car World resin '63 Chevy II 2D Sedan. Why? Well, I would build a model of my real car, '62 Chevy II. I'd just need a correct '62 grill, but otherwise this transkit and Trumpeter '63 Nova HT would do the trick. Or then Aurora '34 Ford Double Kit. This is one of the kits I've dreamed about for a long time. Ultra rare and expensive, so probably I never get to it, but I'd really like to have one...And of course build it!

Really nice work! Excellent paint job and a perfect color combination too. I especially like that white interior upholstery, and your engine detailing looks really good too. Nice work! The only problem with it is that it's not actually a Gasser. You'd need to install a rear bumper, headlights, passenger seat and a hood to make it legal. Otherwise really nice work and it looks period correct, which is always a good thing.

I went to a local Hobby Shop as they had received a collection of a long time model builder who just passed away. There was a big bunch of old kits mostly from the '70s and '80s and while they were not especially cheap, they weren't really expensive either, I had to buy a '74 Malibu Stock Car and Jo-Han '63 Fury. Both of them are opened, but pretty much all parts are there in mint condition. That Malibu will be built box stock with some additional detailing (If I can save those old decals) and Fury will be a Super Stock car some day...

That sounds great! I'm seeing a couple of Caprices coming to my way when they are available. Many of those were sold as new here in Finland and still they are seen fairly often cruising around on the streets. Unfortunately the Finnish forum is a bit quiet nowadays. It used to be a lot more active a couple of years ago, but still there are a bunch of guys that visit there daily. Here it is: http://fcma.fi/FCMABBS/

The paint looks a bit better after it dried completely, but it still needs some work before I can go ahead and spray another coat on... Meanwhile some progress was done with the engine and chassis. I added some little details to the engine, for example oil filter decal, throttle return spring, alternator bracket and wires etc. I also gave that whole engine a light black wash to give it a bit depth, not dirty/oily look. Then I glued the engine to chassis. It fit on place perfectly. Headers had to be glued after installing the engine on place. They were not easy to get installed correctly, but after some work I got them on place. Next step should be front suspension and then rear axle together with driveshaft too...

That Caprice is one I've been dreaming of for a looooooong time! I can't remember if it was already discussed in this thread, but what would be the price of a finished resin kit when it's availble? I'll buy several of them if I can afford it! That Caprice has been one car I'd like to have in 1:1 scale too.

Can't see Fox in here, but Pro Mods have always been my favorites (After Stock and Super Stock of course). Good looking cars with different engine setups and short wheelbase = Lots of fun!