W-409

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.

Oh Boy, when I get my salary I'll definitely buy two of these immediately. I see a Stock and a Mild Custom Hudson coming in the future. So far I've built the '53 Hudson and '55 Chrysler and both of them were really trouble-free models to build so I can't wait to see how good this is. Great job Moebius, I think you're the Number One kit manufacturer nowadays.

Last night after a local Cruising Night I was just Cruising around with my '60 Impala and then I saw this Chevy Caprice parked in side of the road. It was in pretty good condition and basically the only thing I didn't quite like was the fact that it had those barber shop ads on both sides.

Another true Masterpiece from your bench. Every time I see your post I can prepare myself to see some amazing work, but every time I'm completely amazed by your skills... This is not an exception, fantastic work and a very stylish Oldsmobile overall. I like how it looks as a Hard Top. If this thing doesn't win a prize at a show.... It must be so that prizes are not available at all.

If Monogram had went 1/25th instead of 1/24..... ...Nothing would be different. (Except the scale written on the box top). I find no difference on those two scales as they're so close. I mix up parts from both scales and more important to me is that the parts look realistic. Some kits have way too small engines, for example, and they might not look good on the car they're supposed to go in and they might be too small on 1/25 scale car even if the engine was 1/24.

That turned out simply outstanding! I like the overall look very much: Stance is just right and wheels and tires work very well with this body style. Color is spot on, too. Very nice and clean work all over, one of the best Customs that I've seen for a while.

Ford engine in a Chevy? Shame on you, Tulio ! Seriously speaking, excellent looking trio you have there. I like to build these older style cars too so great to see them done this well. My favorite is that '49 Mercury. It just looks so great like that.

Oh Boy - that would get lots of looks in traffic ! Not sure how that works, and mainly I wonder about the same front tire thing as Jamie. Here's another pretty cool way to haul your Front Engine Dragster. I saw it here in Finland a few years ago, a Finnish guy came Drag Racing with his Fuel Injected, Methanol Burning FED using his '32 Ford Coupe with a 409 as a hauler.

Thanks Gene (Even if the thanks comes a bit late)! As some of you might noticed from my other posts and from the fact that I haven't been checking in much lately nor have I posted much, I've been very busy with my 1:1 '60 Impala. Now it's driveable so I'm slowly starting to have time for these scale models as well. I thought about what should I continue next. I had a '78 Ford Pickup, the Top Street Mustang and '55 Chevy on my bench. Mustang is still waiting for some accessories, so I need to wait for a while before I can continue that. So I decided to do some work on this, as it's one of the most interesting projects that I've had for a while. That Ford Pickup and the '55 Chevy are being worked on as well, so I can see an update in that '55 thread in near future... I thought I should start with the chassis. I had stripped the old paint off earlier and after that the chassis seemed to be in good shape. Almost all of the paint came off nicely and paint hadn't reacted with the plastic at all so I gave it a light sanding and then today I shot a coat of Primer on it. My plan is to paint some flat black on that chassis tomorrow.

Fantastic work on an interesting project. This Riviera can be turned into a super cool Custom and it might not even need body mods for that! Excellent color on the body and very good looking paint job as well. That interior makes me tempted to just jump in for a ride! Here's a little inspiration for you - a Finnish Buick Riviera Custom:

I like it, nicely done. Very clean work overall, good looking paint work and all parts fit very nicely on place. I like your color choice as well, and even though I'm not a fan of non-chromed bumpers I think they look surprisingly good on this. They give it a mean look and it fits to this car very well. My only critique was those spark plug wires, but it was pointed out already. Anyway if you end up buying aftermarket stuff for them, I recommend Scale Dreams' wires as they've worked very well on my builds. Very nice Dart overall.

I built the Charger Daytona version which is basically the same kit and I had problems with that rear bumper as well... It didn't fit at all. I found out on mine that the gap where the bumper is supposed to go, is a bit too small. I ended up filing some material off from bottom of that gap to create a 'taller' gap for the bumper. After that it fit on place even though it wasn't en easy part to glue on place like that either. And this was done after my body was painted, cleared and polished too. Here's a picture that might help a little. Sorry my picture editing skills are a bit rusty... That engine is looking spectacular. A true piece of art, excellent job.

Thanks for the information again, Bill! I searched from Google when I got this kit and I thought that it might be F350, but I wasn't sure. Now I know. Work with the wheels has begun as well so I guess this case is closed. Thanks to You both.

That was the first thing that came to my mind when I saw this kit being in progress (Probably this is no surprise to anyone who knows me )! Good looking pics for sure and despite all of the "problems", this'll be another excellent kit.