W-409

Well I tried to find another can of that clear for chassis and firewall, but it looks like I couldn't find it anywhere no more, all shops were carrying other brand paints that I normally use. So as a solution I decided to try spraying different brand clear over the paint and I'm glad the paint didn't react with the clear. The paint job on these parts is not perfect, but I think it'll do in the chassis and engine bay. Here is the bench seat sanded and ready for another coat of primer. After that I tried to paint it, but looks like that old spray can didn't want to spray anything out from it anymore. The fun thing is, it worked fine last weekend when I tested it. Well, I gotta get me a new one next weekend. Here are front inner fenders and radiator wall. I had to add some filler to smooth out ejector pin marks from them and now I sanded everything smooth and shot some primer on the parts. I also installed the generator on place. It wasn't very easy to install with that quite fiddly belt, but I got everything on place in one piece anyway.

Here's a small update for this project. Yesterday my painting didn't go that well, I shot some primer to the bench seat after smoothing out filler I had applied on it. It turned out pretty good, but unfortunately I dropped it to the floor by accident. Now it requires a light wetsanding and another coat of primer before it can be painted. I also tried to shoot some clear to chassis and firewall, but looks like my spray can had lost its pressures and none of the clear came out... I gotta go to get me another one of those cans and try again... Anyway today I installed carburetors on place. I also built fuel lines to the engine. Fuel filter is somekind of electric component and the fuel lines are regular metal wire that was attahed to the electric component already when I bought it.

Thanks guys, I appreciate your kind words! Grant: Unfortunately I have no updates yet as right now I have time to build only on weekends. I'm planning to shoot some clear over the body next weekend though so I should have an update then. At the same time I can clear coat the dashboard so I can continue the progress with the interior as well.

Turned out fantastic. That fuel injection setup is something I have never seen before, but you did a great job replicating it in scale. Excellent looking paint job and flawless detailing in the engine and interior as always. You for sure know how to build these tube frame cars right.

Very nice job on this Pro Stock Ford! I have the same kit in my stash waiting to be built, but I'm missing the decals for it... Anyway you did a great job on this. The paint and decal work looks really good to me even though you had some problems, and sharp details in the engine bay look good too. Nice work.

It's great to see this one done, following the WIP thread was a lot of fun and I learned a lot from that thread. Now it's bookmarked for future reference as I have a couple of '59 Impalas to be done too. When looking at this finished product, I can't think of a word that describes this one better than "Perfect". Everything seems to be just right and the biggest issues in this kit are fixed very nicely. Personally I see nothing wrong with the kit's roof, but I have a bad eye for accurate body shapes, but great job fixing the engine placement as it's way too back originally and nice to see that the chassis is not visible under the body too. Those are probably the two things that bother me the most in these kits anyway but you fixed them nicely! Nice work overall, with all side windows down you added that little piece of chrome trim where that rear side window rolls up, I've never seen anyone doing that before even though it is there on real car. The trunk looks just like real '59 or '60 Impala trunk does...Fantastic. Overall very nice and clean work, everything seems to be just right including the paint job, BMF and detailing all over. Those hubcaps are looking very fine too. Nice job detail painting them. (Sorry for such a long story...This model just made me drool over my keyboard very hard.)

Looks fantastic as your builds always do! One of the best Monogram Cadillacs I've seen. It's great to see this one with the top up, I think it looks much better that way than with top down. I like that color choice and paint job is really smooth too, plus that your work is very nice and clean overall as always. Great job.

That looks great! Very nice and clean work overall, everything seems to be just right. Nice color choice and those wheels and tires look spot on with rest of the car too. Great job detailing the grill and engine bay, both look very realistic. Nice work.

This made my jaw hit the floor, very beautiful Chevy Custom! Body shapes are excellent and especially that chopped top is just perfect. Very tasty Custom with great color choice and I like that engine too. Very smooth looking Chevy.

Fantastic looking Nova! I really like how these look with body color steel wheels and Dog Dish hubcaps. You have done an amazing job with this, very nice and clean build with a fantastic paint job that's smooth as glass. Excellent work.

Another winner from your bench for sure. That weathering is as perfect as it gets and I really like how that Hemi fits in there. Using that Chrysler's original air cleaner on this one is a great idea too, and I like your details a lot. Especially that half-full Coca Cola bottle is a great idea. Fantastic work.

WOW! I thought those were pictures of your 1:1 inspiration but then I realized that it has to be a model. Very nice work with it overall. That black paint job is flawless and sharp details like that Lincoln text on the hood really make it stand out. Plus that it's nice to see a real rare kit like this built this well. Nice job.

Today when I was sitting on co-driver's seat in my friend's car, I saw this Pontiac Convertible. It has 540 Cid Big Block and it runs high 10 second ETs on 1/4 Mile so it's pretty good considering that it's definitely not a lightweight car. I was even able to take a picture through the car window while we drove past it.

I saw this pretty wild creation at American Car Show here in Finland a week ago. It's a Volvo Amazon with a 331 Cid Blown Early Hemi and that's where the "Hemizon" name comes from. It's built in Sweden by Larsson Customizing and it's a true piece of art. For example the diamond plate pattern door panels in the interior are fabricated from metal and the car has neat details everywhere. Here are a few pics and a short video of it firing up with those straight headers that exit through the front fenders!

Thanks for the kind words guys! Stan: Black wash means simply thinned black paint that is easy to use when bringing out details or then it can be used to make something look greasy depending on what you want. Maybe the most common place where black wash is used is the grill in every car. While the black paint is so thin, it runs easily between the grille bars and makes it look much more realistic. For this I use The Detailer's liquid that is by far the best I've tried. But mixing up your own black wash is of course possible too. The Detailer is available in many colors...I haven't tried any others than black though. Mike: I can't remember for sure if it was from this Slixx decal sheet or not as I bought it a while ago and right now I don't have it on my hands to check out if it was this one or not. But I do believe that it was this sheet: http://www.tedsmodelingmarketplace.com/oil-filters-decal-sheet-1-25/ A.C.: This would be a good starting point for a Race Car Hauler/Push Car you're right. That would be a great idea for a build.

I really don't like those Foose's "creations" either, way too modern for me. That Cadillac might be worth buying though, but looks like at least those horrible wheels and tires will need to be changed and something has to be done to the tail fins too. But overall the bodylines look decent on that thing. Well we'll see once the kit is out.

Thanks for the kind words guys! Wally: Dang that oil filter actually was pretty close to what it should be! I'm no Ford expert so I thought that a Motorcraft filter should be pretty close. I'm glad I decided to go with that decal even though it might not be perfect choice for an 1:1 version. This is a nice kit and so far all of the parts have gone very nicely together. Unfortunately the progress is just a bit slow as I can work only on weekends right now. Hopefully I can do some more work next weekend on this one.

That turned out very nice! Plus that it's great to see one done pretty much the way they were delivered from the factory (Grey primer & black front end). Very nice and clean work overall, but that engine detailing is definitely my favorite part of this build. It looks like you could turn the key and fire it up any moment. Excellent work.

Thanks guys! Bruce: Those wheels were bought from Model Express a few years ago when they were still in business. I think they are from some of the old AMT or MPC kits but I'm not completely sure. However, they were sold in pairs back then so I bought a few sets of them. But yeah, unfortunately I can't tell you an exact kit where those wheels were included.

Thanks Stephen, actually I originally thought about building mine as a Drag Car too, but then I thought I'd like to keep this one simple. I've made some little progress with this thing. Little black wash was added to the engine to bring out some details, the plan wasn't to make it look dirty or greasy at all. I drilled holes to kit's distributor and installed spark plug wires on place. They are made out of Scale Dreams' wire that works very well. Litttle details look good in the engine bay, so I added a Motocraft decal to the oil filter. It's from Slixx decal sheet. I also assembled the alternator and added some black wash on it too. As you can see, some touchups are required while the paint is coming off a little because of handling.

This turned out great! Neat to see a Barracuda built like this and it would be great to see an 1:1 version of this roaring at the Drag Strip too. Very nice work everywhere. Especially engine details look good and that worn out paint is done beautifully too. And golden steering wheel together with golden shifter knob create a good contrast in that interior too. Great work.

It's funny that I was just thinking about this project a day or two ago and wondering if you've made any progress with it. Hopefully we can see some new pics soon, this is turning out excellent so far.

Thanks Jason, Gene and Dave! Gene, yep I wanted to install a good set of decals for this one but sometimes I just felt like I should clear coat it as is and finish it. But now when the decals are placed I have to be happy that I stayed with the idea to wait until proper decals are found. Now it feels like I want to finish this thing again, so hopefully I can shoot some clear over the body this weekend. I wasn't originally planning on installing those pinstripes to the trunk, but as I found a set that was pretty close to the color of this '55 I thought I should give it a go....And I like it too.

I'm a little late, but thanks Gene! There's still a lot to do but you're right, it's starting to look like a car already! So this thing has been sitting for a long time on my bench. I kind of lost interest in it because I didn't have good decals for it. I wanted to put a name for this car just like they often did back in the day, but I couldn't find any suitable decals from my parts boxes. Finally today I opened the box of Revell '50 Austin and found those Gas Hopper decals from there. I'm not quite sure if that's exactly the name I was looking for, but it looks pretty good so I thought I'll go with that one. From that Austin kit I took also that "427 Powered" text and A/GS class markings. Driver numbers are taken from AMT '57 Ford's decal sheet and pinstripes on trunk lid are from Revell's old '56 Chevy I guess, but I'm not completely sure on that. And here's one picture with everything mocked up. Still lots of work to do but hopefully it'll be finished this year.

Well that turned out very nice! I like how that color fits together with that black vinyl top and as always with your builds, the BMF work is flawless. This is a museum quality build. Very sharp details in the engine bay and that wheel and tire combo finish it off. Nice work.