W-409

Really nice to see these cars being built in scale! You did an excellent job with this one, the promotional models never looked nowhere near this good. I really like the added vinyl roof. Beautiful work.

This will be an interesting build, I really like the look of one of these Cords and have plans to build one myself...Some day... So I will be watching closely how this goes together, the start looks already very promising.

Yep, the drive itself is probably the only thing that is different than what we're used to see on these mechanical tachometers. I've also never seen one of those things anywhere, but like you said, it probably worked fine with the right gearing. Next I thought it's time to install the engine between the frame rails. There's still bunch of engine work to do, but I think all the rest can be done while the engine is mounted. Rear engine plate had some ejector pin marks that needed to be filled with putty. After sanding and primer, the plate was painted with "Chrome Silver" from a spray can. Bellhousing was airbrushed with Alclad Pale Burnt Metal. The color is exactly what I was looking for. Then I added a slight black wash around the mounting bolts. Before the engine installation, I glued blower belt and pulleys and a fuel pump to the engine. Then on first test fit, I noticed that the engine doesn't sit straight on the frame, passenger's side valve cover was a lot lower than driver's side one. After a while figuring out what's wrong, I thought the best way to fix it would probably be adding a little material to passenger's side engine mount. A couple of pieces of sheet styrene cut to shape, carefully sanded smooth and painted with silver, did the job. Now engine sits properly on the frame. Bellhousing and driveshaft cover were also installed.

Thanks Bob, it's interesting to see how this turns out as that was kind of the challenge I wanted to take when I bought this: "Can I make a simplified 1/43 kit look presentable?". Wheels and tires were glued on place next. Their fitment was really good. Then I painted interior floor with flat black and started building the interior. Right now I'm painting door panels and dashboard, but seats are already installed...

I usually use the actual tires that I'm using as a template. That way I can get just the correct size opening for that tire. For cutting, I usually use this type of saw. I have no idea what would be the name of it in English though. Finishing can be done with a half-round file or sandpaper.

Like mentioned above, Bel Air was not available as a Hardtop, which is the body style that all of the Impala kits represent. The small trim changes etc and tail light removal is quite simple and easy to do on an Impala body, but converting the roofline from a Hardtop to Sedan is a lot of work, so that's where the resin body becomes a good idea. I'm sure there are probably several resin manufacturers that offer a Bel Air bodies in either two or four door version. I'm pretty sure at least Model Car World should have those things available and from what I've understood their quality is usually pretty good. One thing to consider with the resin body, is to find out what kit they used as a master for the casting, meaning, which model kit the resin body fits together with. In the case of a '64 Chevy, I'm thinking the resin body will probably fit either the Revell kit or an AMT kit, but probably not both. In addition to the body, some interior parts will also need to be modified for a lower trim level if you're looking for a factory stock approach, and possible some other small modifications need to be done as well. I've built the Revell Impala years ago, it's a really nice kit! I don't remember having any major fit issues or other problems with that kit.

Well, it's been a while, but this thing is still around. While parts for my Pinto Funny Car were drying, I thought I'd continue this so I could get it finished some time. Actually, I'd like to have it done before the end of the year, but we'll see about that... Chassis was clear coated with Tamiya sprays. Then it was time to try detail painting it a little. Well, the chassis is really poor as far as molded in detail goes, so there's not that much to detail with paint. But, I tried my best and this is what I came up with. It will be good enough for this project.

After looking at some reference pictures, it looks like the Mickey Thompson Pinto has a tachometer drive taken from the crankshaft with a belt. Never seen one before, but I decided to fabricate a similar setup for my model. It's not really seen that well on the finished build, but it's there anyway. The actual tachometer drive piece is built from two pieces of plastic rod. Really tricky to fabricate such a small parts, but in the end I was able to make it. Belt pulley is from my parts box, but I had to drill a bigger hole on it so that it goes properly on place. Mount is a photo etch part by Detail Master and the fitting on bottom where tachometer cable will be connected, is hex-shaped plastic rod. Belt is paper that I painted flat black. It's not flawless, but it's pretty much hidden once the engine goes between the frame rails so I think it'll do its' job. On another side of the engine I got the oil filter done. It's just orange from a spray can, a decal from Ted's Modeling Marketplace sheet and clearcoat on top. Still some detail work to do before I can install the engine...

This is an excellent news, the '60 Chevy Wagon is a kit that I will need multiples copies for sure. No matter if it's a curbside, the engine bay can be modified from some existing kit. Luckily I have 1:1 scale '60 Impala in the garage so I have plenty of reference material. I've had a '60 Nomad resin body for years, I've been waiting for my building skills to improve so that I could build it into a really nice model. But now with a new version of that car coming, I think it's time to build the resin version. Barracuda is another must have for me, so much potential for several different types of builds on that kit. And it will make kitbashing possible, to create for example, a stock '66 Barracuda.

It has happened to me once as well with the Tamiya paints. I don't know why it happened, but here's how I fixed it: After the paint is dry, sand the are carefully with 1200 grit sandpaper and make sure you're not going through the paint. Then spray several VERY light coats of color on the area, letting each coat of paint dry for a minute or two before the next coat. Important thing is that the paint coats at this point need to be very light. Once that was done, I clear coated mine normally and had no issues. Obviously I can't quarantee it will work every time, but at least on my case it did.

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate the kind words. Then it was time to continue working with the engine so that I can install it between the frame rails in the near future. Blower was installed and I gave that a light black wash too in order to try to make it look a bit more realistic. The magneto that comes with this kit, has molded in spark plug boots on the cap. But it would have been impossible to drill holes for plug wires on them, so I cut the spark plug boots away. New spark plug boots are by Pro Tech and plug wire is by Scale Productions (I think). They're not flawless, but I guess they never are.

Thanks Bill, it looks like it's going to be functional. I will contact the seller about shipping to Finland to get the parts I need.

Looking good! Not exactly related on the Satellite grill, but how is the print quality with 3DScaleParts? They seem to have one grill that I've been looking for years, but if there's a heavy "3D printing texture" between the grill bars, then it's not going to work. On eBay it looks like they're not shipping to Finland, but I'll need to ask him on that.

This will be interesting to follow, I like Tri-Five Chevrolets and I've also enjoyed following the development of this actual car over the years via Motor Trend. How accurate replica you want to build? Because the real car is a 2D Sedan and the kit is a Hardtop. Sedan has a taller roof and actually whole the roofline is completely different than on a Hardtop. So, with that said, I personally might consider picking up another kit as a starting point. At least AMT has reissued a '55 2D Sedan kit not that long ago, it should be easily available. The other thing why I might consider building it from another kit, is the amount of work this kit requires if you want to make it at least somewhat accurate. I built a '55 Chevy Gasser from the same kit a few years ago and I think I probably used a handful of parts straight from the box, everything else was either scratchbuilt, kitbashed or modified in some other way. By the time I realized the actual amount of work with this kit, it was too late to turn back so I pushed it to finish... But it would have been way easier if I started with some other kit. Don't get me wrong, this kit builds up pretty nice even out of the box, but if you really want to make it accurate, it's a long way. I don't want to be "that guy", I just wanted to give a heads-up in case you are not that familiar with the kit. Either way you do, this will be an interesting project. Finally, if you want to build it using this kit, here is a link to my Fotki album where you can see all of the project pictures on my '55 Gasser that I built from the same kit. They might help. https://public.fotki.com/NostalgicDrag/55-chevy-bel-air-ags/

After prepping some parts for paint, I was able to paint inner wheels for front and rear, together with some blower parts for the engine. They're airbrushed with Alclad Magnesium on top of Alclad's Grey Primer & Microfiller. Then it was time to put this thing on four wheels. On front everything was easy, just glue the inner wheels on place, install the wheels and tires and they were instantly sitting correctly on the axle. Rear was quite tricky however, rear brake fitment to rear wheel and to the axle was not that great. But after some fiddling I was able to get the rear tires sit properly so I glued them on place as well. Now that it's on four wheels, it's a lot easier to handle and the chrome plating will less likely be rubbed off from the front axle parts when handling the chassis.

Thank You Andy, I appreciate the kind words! I was also wondering about the rear axle at first, but a quick search in Google told me what it actually is. This is the thing I love about these old kits, they often have some obscure speed parts in them that most people of today have never seen. Next up was the front axle. Axle, radius rods and tie rod all had quite heavy mold seams on them so the first step was to strip chrome plating off. Then I sanded all of the mold lines and other imperfections smooth and also had to fill a couple of ejector pin marks with putty on the front axle. After that the parts were painted with primer and "chrome plated" with Revell's Chrome Spray. It makes an incredible chrome effect, but it doesn't like very much handling. I let the parts dry for a couple of days and then assembled them carefully. Front springs were black washed with Tamiya's Panel Line Accent Color. Next I will need to finish the wheels and tires to get this on four wheels...

Thanks Andy! You're correct that the front tires on 1:1 car are not exactly in the middle of the wheelwells, and that's what I'm looking for.

This kit has the Mickey Thompson designed rear axle that is a combination of a Ford Quick Change rear axle and a two speed planetary "gearbox" designed all in one. Even though I'm not building this as Mickey's Pinto, I'm going with that axle anyway. The halves of the center section and the axle was all glued together first, then I smoothed out the seam between the halves with a little putty. Center section was painted with "Chrome silver" from spray can, axles are Humbrol's Metallic 56. I added some black wash to add some depth to the parts. For some reason it looks really "heavy" on the pictures, it's much more subtle when looking in person. Frame was also clear coated with Mipa two part clear coat shot through an airbrush. And the assembly has started, rear axle is mounted to the frame.

And now I got the frame clear coated so now we're getting closer to the assembly stage. Clear coat is Mipa two-part clear coat that I've also used for my 1:1 cars. For the scale model application it just needs to be thinned down quite a bit more. It sprays on really nicely, evens out when drying and it's much more glossy than any of the other clear coats that I've used.

Being a Stock Eliminator racer myself, it's nice to see a modern day Stock Eliminator car built as a scale model. Especially when the builder knows what is allowed and what isn't. Looking really good so far, keep up the good work!

I don't know which one I'm waiting the most here. I've always been drooling over the Mavericks and Comets of early '70s but I've never had one as the Jo-Han kits usually go for a huge price tag. Seeing Moebius making kits of them means I will definitely need several of them. But then also the '64 Comet is a must have. We've already seen here several different ideas how one could be built.

Great work building this tricky kit. I have the same kit in the works currently and so far most of the parts have had somekind of fit issues. Here everything looks right and I really like the paint job. Nicely done!

Yep, it came from GhostMan. Everything worked so well and the quality is pretty good so I don't think it's my last 3D printed kit, as they have some other interesting vehicles as well... Especially the Wagon is cool, I will definitely need at least one of them. I just hope someone would do a 1974 conversion so I don't have to.

Last weekend I stopped by at a local Hobby Shop here in Finland to buy one Revell silver paint and Tamiya's Lacquer Thinner. Well, in addition to those, I had to have MPC's new '71 Dodge Demon as there was one of those on the shelf. I'm pretty sure I want to build it factory stock with the 340 engine. Today I picked up a 1968 reissue of an AMT '57 Ford Fairlane. Couple of parts have been glued together and chassis has been painted, but otherwise it's complete and unstarted. I'm leaning towards either a Traditional Custom or a Gasser, but let's see which one I'll end up with when I start building. Another package had a 3D printed model kit of a '73 Chevrolet Chevelle. I don't know who has made the file, but it was printed in Sweden. It's definitely one of the better 3D printed products that I've had, but of course it's still a lot of work before it's anywhere near primer or paint. Anyway, a really nice product and in my opinion, worth the money. I think I'll be using Revell's '67 Chevelle as a donor kit, to build a factory stock Chevelle SS with a big block.

Today I was able to paint the frame. I don't have too many reference pictures on the real car, and from the ones I have, it's really hard to figure out a correct color for the frame. I've seen the restored car myself and have pictures of that, but restored car is not always the same as original. Anyway, I thought the red looked more like a metallic or even candy color than just a solid red. So I painted mine with Tamiya TS-95 Pure Metallic Red. But instead of spray painting it with the can, I decanted the paint and sprayed it through my airbrush. To do this, I thinned the paint a little with Tamiya Lacquer Thinner. Now I'll let it dry for a day or two and then it's time to clear coat it.