W-409

Hey, another easy one! Stray Cats - Look At That Cadillac.

Thanks again for the suggestions everyone! It's true that it's impossible to visit in every place, but the plan is to go and see as much places as we can. And of course there are other places as well than Car or Model Car related places but not so many. So Cal Speed Shop was on my list, too, it's a must visit for sure. Looks like I'll have to go to In-N-Out Burger as well, it sounds good! Buzz: Could you post the opening hours of that Warbird Hobbies in here? I have no Facebook myself nor have I never opened a link that leads there.

Wow, finally after 314 pages I saw the second one that I knew right away . But just like last time, I saw it after someone had already recognized it...

This is easy! Option S for sure, because it's a Model A & 5 Window Coupe. I think that pretty much says why. But of course it would need some chopping and minor channeling, plus a Chevy engine in it etc... That would be a great starting point for a Hot Rod so I'd be happy to have it.

Yesterday while I was Cruising around with my '60 Impala here in Finland, I spotted a blue '69 Oldsmobile Cutlass, very clean & red '68 Camaro with white SS Stripes, an early '70s Chrysler Convertible and a green '53 Hudson Hornet. I also saw one late '30s / Early '40s Pickup that I had absolutely no clue on what was it. I bet it was really rare, I've never seen one like that before.

If the box is old and/or it's already rare even if it wouldn't be that old, it gets saved. Then if I like the boxart, I'll save it even if those kits weren't rare or old. Though nowadays when I buy lots of glue bombs and old builtups that often come without boxes, I haven't thrown a model kit box away for a long long time as they are great for storaging those projects. I'm having a bit problems with space, but at some point I guess that will make me sell some of my model kits or projects that I'm not so interested in instead of throwing those old boxes away...

To me, the best one would be option H. Option G is looking horrible in my opinion. Flames and that color combo don't fit to a car like that and engine is way too modern. Wheels and tires are not fitting to the look either. Option H is a lot better. If it was mine, I'd remove the exhaust pipes and leave open headers on it, put Cheater Slicks on back and shoot a glossy clear coat to the body. Then it would be pretty close to what I really like. Option I is looking good as well, there is not much wrong with it. But somehow it doesn't have as much "Wow Factor" as Option H did.

Wow! Nice to see this kit built this well. As always, your paint job is smooth as glass and you've done very sharp work overall. That combined to those pictures made me think it was a real car too. Fantastic job!

That's looking very good! I definitely can't wait to build one of these and it might not be a surprise to anyone that mine will end up being a Junior Stocker just like the Belvedere. But looking at the pics, only thing I'm not so happy with is the fact that it looks like windshield and rear window trim is molded to the windows. It will make foiling very difficult as if hobby knife blade accidentally slips a bit, whole glass is ruined. On a paint job a mistake like that is not seen so easily. But anyway I'm very interested in this one.

Thanks Guys! Moving the engine was actually pretty easy and it looks already a bit better even if it's not completely right. But if I moved it more, then there would be clearance issues with generator belt and fan hitting the fan shroud. Tom: That's very cool! I have those original brochures as well. My dad bought them a couple of decades ago and now I have them hanging on my wall. Fun thing is that I just graduated from High School myself and I went to the graduation "ceremony" with this: I hope I can find some more modeling time soon. This summer has been very busy and I've had no time to build. I hope I can change that as I have interesting projects, like this, going on.

Wow, it looks like this is out! Gotta get me one as a starter as soon as I see one somewhere. From the pics, it looks like Moebius hit another home run with this kit. Now I see a Factory Stock or Mild Custom Hudson coming from my bench.

Great to see that Vega being reissued! I'll definitely buy a couple of them when they're out. It's a shame that engine, interior and chassis are so simple that I'll have to find better parts from some other kit... Anyway I'm very interested in this.

Good looking work with this '55 Chevy so far! It's very interesting to see more as I have one of these in progress as well and it's even almost same color. Very nice work with that BMF, body looks very good with chrome trim foiled properly.

Thanks for the great tips Everyone! I put all of those Hobby Shops on my list. I'm trying to visit in as many shop as possible, but it might be possible that I can't make it to every one of them as there are other cool places where we'll visit too. But definitely I'll find something from these. Joe: I bet that five is not enough ! The NHRA Museum was the number one on my list, if there's some place I have to see, it's that! Can't wait to see it even though there is still plenty of time before I'll get there. AutoBooks-AeroBooks looked like a good place, too. Not far away from Burbank's House Of Hobbies. That's definitely on my list now, just like that Justice Brothers Museum which sounds like an excellent place as well. This is just the reason why it's great to ask here on these things. Of course I can find some shops and places to visit in Google, but here I can hear actual comments on the stores and information on what is a good place and what might not be. Also, places like that Justice Brothers Museum are something I'd never come across in Google. Thanks again for everyone! More places are welcomed, too...Hobby Shops or just other cool places.

I'm coming to watch NHRA Drag Racing Finals at Pomona in November and while I'm coming with my dad only, there will be time to visit in other cool places as well (No ladies, No shopping centres !). And of course one thing on my list is a Hobby Shop / Hobby Shops to buy a couple of kits. So now I want to hear recommendations on good Hobby Shops in L.A. area where I can find a good selection of American Car models.

Thanks guys for the kind words! Brian: I'll be going with 347 Cid Stroker (Based on Ford 302 Small Block) with a couple of Dominators and some NOS. I haven't built a car with this kind of engine for a long time, so it will be interesting when I get to that point... Well as you might have noticed, I have had completely zero modeling time and I haven't been able to check these forums either. I hope I can get back to the bench as soon as possible...

I think it's great to see this with a SBC, because it is a commonly used engine on 1:1 Hot Rods, or well, actually, just on 1:1 cars in general. I've noticed that I have lots of engines on my parts boxes... Lots of Hemis, different Caddy, Mopar and Ford engines etc. Even some rarely seen ones. But there are few Small Block Chevrolets, especially good quality ones. So I think it's great to see this kit coming with one and it's easy to swap if the builder wants to have something more unique behind the grille. Of course a W-Block with Hilborns would have been another good choice. Cross Ram and Dual Quad intakes are already seen in kit form...

Excellent job Tom! This proves that it is possible to build a very nice model from a simple kit like this. Very nice and clean work as always. Especially that paint job and black rubber trim is very nicely done. Congrats on a very fine build.

Very cool Predicta, a kit that is on my To Do List as well. You did an excellent job with this (As you always do!) and especially that color looks spot on. Excellent work creating a beautiful replica of this good looking car.

I understand that very well, it's not always easy to lay a good paint job with a brush. I still use brushes pretty much, though. Usually only body and then chassis plate are painted with spray cans and pretty much everything else is painted with a brush. Sometimes my engines and even interiors are painted with spray cans though. Maybe the reason why I use brush so much is that it takes a lot of time and effort to mount the parts for painting and then they need always Primer etc when painting with spray cans...

Actually I agree with you on the roof. It would make it possible to build a Stock version from this as well, but then again chopping a car like this is so easy that it would not result any problems when building a Traditional Hot Rod.

WooHoo!!! This is a real dream come true! I have always thought that '30-'31 Ford 5W Coupe looks million times better than any other '20s/'30s Ford... Even much better than the '32. Now it looks like I can finally pick up a big bunch of these. Of course there is the Monogram kit that would work just as well for me as this Revell kit, but it's starting to get hard to find. Based on that picture, there will be lots of spare parts left when the build from this kit is done, too. The best news in a long time for sure!

Excellent work on this Mercury. Rusting is much harder than doing a shiny paint job so I have to give you a big credit for doing so good job on it. Looks just like many cars are seen on eBay auctions... "Pretty solid project car. It has some rust on quarter panels and on rear floors. Engine is not running" My favorite parts are those brakes. They look super realistic, especially the one without a brake drum. Did you scratchbuild the brake shoes or where are they from?

Thanks Dave and Gene, I appreciate it! Gene - Yep I used a brush on the gloss black. I don't think I could mask those flat black areas away so that I could paint the glossy parts with a spray can since chassis has so many shapes that my maskings would leak from somewhere for sure...

Thanks Jed! This is a lot of fun to work with, these X-Frame Chevys are my favorites and I like building replicas of old Drag Racers. Not much done on this, but something anyway. Chassis is now painted and once I get axles and everything mocked up to see what I'll have to do to get the stance I'm looking for, I'm ready for assembling the chassis. On the chassis Flat black is Maston spray paint and gloss black is Humbrol Enamel.