W-409

It's actually quite easy. I started by making the bottom plate from sheet styrene. I just drew the lines to the sheet styrene and cut it off. The sides were done next. I used the first side piece as a quide to the other one and that way they turned out similar to each other. Then I glued those parts together and I also glued a larger piece of styrene to the top. Once the glue was dry, I trimmed it into a proper size and then I did the back piece with the same method. I've done three of these scoops in the past and all of them have turned out good. So those are actually quite easy to scratchbuild... I'm sure you can do it. I still have to drill holes for the carburetor throats on the bottom part, though.

Rob's idea of the 1972 theme sounds excellent to me. No one could turn old Classics ugly with big wheels or modern engines... (Just kidding of course, but you know I don't like those...). I really liked the Pre '62 Cannonball, too.

Thanks Ben! If you mean this Firebird... ...It's been looking pretty much like that for a long time. It was one of the Fastest Street Cars in Finland in the late 1980s. It looks still pretty much the same. I don't know what engine it had back then, but now it's powered by a Big Block Chevy. Here is a picture of it at Kauhajoki Street Race in 1987. http://superbird.kuvat.fi/kuvat/1987/Kauhajoki+Street+Race/IMG_0011_NEW.jpg

Thanks Glenn and Ron! I appreciate your comments. Finally I'm back working with this one. I started modifying the hole on the hood. It's too big for the scoop so I started adding some sheet styrene to make the hole smaller. I'll try to add some more styrene on this one really soon to get the hood painted.

Well I took a break of couple of months from this build. Now I thought it would be a good time to get slowly back on this one. My main focus will be on the '50 Oldsmobile Mild Custom, '69 Charger Daytona for Cannonball Run CBP and the "Summer Project" '55 Chevy. But while those three are drying, I thought I'd work with this a little. Not much progress, but I wanted to let you know that this project isn't forgotten. I painted the backseat. I painted the red first and then the white. As with the front seat, this is painted on free hand without masking tape. Next step will be flocking the floor. Hopefully I can make it on the next couple of days...

Incredible engine work Clay! If I didn't know it's a model, I would say it's real deal. Fantastic detailing and great paint colors, too. The parts look very real, not at all like painted parts of plastic. Great job with the carbon fiber too.

I agree. And I think the deadline on January 1st is really odd. I mean that there are only few builders who can build something from start to finish in that time. I know I'm not one of them though. I'd like to take part in a Community Build too if it had a good theme and a possible deadline.

That turned out really nice. I thought it's hard to build anything interesting from these kits, but you proved me wrong. This is a really good looking Hot Rod Delivery with good looking paint job and sharp detailing. I like the crate engine in the back, too. I have a question though that I've been wondering for a while. A few people write "HEMI" (With Capital letters) and other write "Hemi". Where does the word "HEMI" come from? Is it a shortened version of something else, like for example NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing)? Just curios, I don't mean to nitpick here.

That's a good looking Hudson. I like the color combo a lot, not always blue and white (It's kinda funny to say that as I painted mine blue & white ). Great paint job too and sharp foiling on the chrome trims. Good job overall.

Probably the last Vantaa Cruising Night was on Friday. It was cold and the temperature went below the freezing point, but there were more cars than usually in October. There were some smoky Burnouts, too. Full Picture Gallery. Burnout Video. Featuring for example low 10 second Dodge Dart Swinger with Pro Charger, low 10 second Brutal Twin Turbo Chevy Pickup doing two massive Burnouts, a couple of Plymouth Valiants and a Dodge Monaco etc etc!

I also enjoy rebuilding old Glue Bombs especially if it's a rare kit. I have many of those restorations in progress, but here are three that I have finished. '69 Chevy Camaro Gumball Rally. This was bought as a Glue Bomb where the paint had been stripped off so many times that the body cracked very easily and required lots and lots of Bondo and sanding. After some other modifications it ended up being completely Black Road Racer. Then this is a '70 Dodge Super Bee that I got for free a couple of years ago. It was a great starting point for a build as almost all of the parts were there and only some minor parts had to be found from parts boxes. I built it as Factory Stock. And this is my most recent Glue Bomb rebuild, Jo-Han '71 Plymouth Barracuda Pro Stock. Almost all of the parts were there, too, but I did some modifications to the kit. For example I added proper front axle parts to replace the metal axle, scratchbuilt a new fuel system etc.

That is just my style Chevelle. Especially I like the stance a lot and it's great to see those old sponsor texts etc on the sides. Really nicely built and restored Chevelle overall.

Another great build from your bench! The color looks very good, actually it fits surprisingly good on a Mustang like this. Smooth and Shiny paint job with excellent detailing make this one a winner for sure. Personally I think the front end should be higher so that the car would sit on level, but that doesn't change the fact that this is an excellent build from a talented builder.

I just read through this whole thread and all I can say is that you're doing an incredible job with this Pickup. The modifications you did look so nice and sharp that now when the primer is on and the whole body has the same color on it, I would guess this is either a kit body or a resin body. Fantastic work. Projects like this make me wanting to visit in these Truck sections more often...

Thanks David! I highly appreciate it. I was finally able to wetsand the top lightly and then I sprayed some more silver paint on it. Now I think it looks pretty good, so I took the tapes off. I'm really happy how it looks and the colors fit perfectly together. Now I'll let it dry properly before clear coating the body. Sorry the pics are not the best. It's a rainy day and I had to use flash to get enough light. I will take some better ones another day when it's a bit brighter.

You sure do great work, Tom. This is another example of your fine work, modifying it from a Wagon is a great idea, but of course it needs lots of work. You did everything really nicely, great bodywork and nice paint job too. It's great to see these "Base Model" cars as models, too... I like seeing something different.

Thanks guys for the comments regarding the Impala. Tommy: I hope you'll find a neat car for yourself. I'm guessing there are quite a lot of American Cars in Norway, too? Mike: Well, officially it says it's my dad's car, but he told me that I can build it for myself and drive it on the summers. Of course that means that I will buy all of the spare parts etc for it, and that's why I'm trying to keep the budget as low as possible to be able to drive with it (And with my Chevy Van) as much as possible when I get my drivers' license. And of course, everything will be done by myself, I can't afford on paying to anyone for work I can do myself, too. I don't care what name is written on the papers, as long as I can build and drive the car so great thanks to Mika for this possibility!!! Ray: Yep there are lots of American Cars in Finland. A good example is Helsinki Cruising Night, which happens on the first Friday of every month (In the summer of course). Each time there are hundreds of American Cars from 1910s to 2010s, Muscle Cars, Original Classics, Hot Rods, Customs etc. And there are many more events where you can see more American Cars than you probably thought. I think this Impala is one of the best looking cars ever made. I'm planning on doing some rust repair and other little fixes. Some cleanup is required, too. I want it to look a bit different, so I thought about changing the front springs from a Big Block car to get the front end a bit higher and new wheels and tires. Gloss black 8" steel wheels to the rear with high profile blackwall tires and Chrome Reverses to the front with whitewalls. Kind of an early '60s Stocker stance.

Can't wait for the Summer 2015! So it's a '60 Impala that was imported to Finland in 1988. Now after 5 years sitting in a garage unused, it's time to do some fixing for the next summer. It needs minor welding and some smaller fixes and of course some cleaning. It has a Matching Numbers 283 and PowerGlide in it.

That's great! The Vega is a good looking car and with a good engine / drivetrain / chassis combo it runs very consistent ETs. I bet that you'll be a nightmare for other High School Racers in their regular cars. It's very hard to run bracket against a car that runs much faster, I ran against an eight second car with the Stock Eliminator Chevelle last summer. It was really hard to slow down just enough but not too much. And when the speed difference is even bigger (as in your case), it's even harder. So you're doing a really great job. I know how hard it is to build that kind of a car... We just brought home a project car for me, 1960 Impala. It needs some work and new spare parts so I must work hard to get the money, too. Plus that my Impala will be much cheaper to build than your Vega, as it will be just a street car. So I can imagine how hard it is to build a car like that at this age. Keep it going and keep us posted!

I'd definitely be interested in a Drag Car community build. The F.A.S.T. would sound very interesting to me, as those are really cool cars and they run amazingly fast in the condition they are. However, building a car from the year you were born is out of the question. I was born in 1996 and there are no cars made in 1996 that interest me.

Great job as always. I like the look of this kit especially with that body. Your paint job looks very good even without the clear and detailing is really sharp. It couldn't have been done any better, great job.

Personally I've never been a fan of them. So maybe I'd go without. But I'm sure whatever you choose, it's gonna look amazing. So if you want to go with them... Go for it. Very nice work with the detail painting. I like the parachute, too.

Nice job as always Brett! This is a great kit and a lot of fun to build, too. You did a really nice job here, the paint job is especially very nice but I like the chassis and engine, too. I really like it.

Here are pics of the third Vantaa Cruising from 2014 that I visited in. Unfortunately I missed a couple of Cruise Nights because of Drag Racing, but the next time I was at Vantaa was in September. There were lots of cool cars, but unfortunately after the first burnout by a Big Block powered '78 Malibu, the cops arrived. They spent a couple of hours at the Cruising, but it didn't take long time after they left and it was time to burn rubber again. Full Picture Gallery. Burnout Video. Featuring for example Plymouth Valiant blowing up the tires and doing burnouts & donuts, a brutal Twin Turbo Chevy Pickup burnout on the 3rd gear, 10 second Ford Torino doing a great burnout etc etc. I hope you enjoy looking at these.

Thanks Jonathan! After a short break, I have finished the interior of my '69 Dodge Charger Daytona. I started by scratchbuilding a shifter. I wanted something similar to B&M Pro Stick Shifter so I had to scratchbuild one from sheet styrene. Only problem was that my styrene got lost and finally after a couple of days' hard searching I found it from a strange place... I also had to modify the tachometer from the kit a little. Once it was ready for paint, I dropped that one too by mistake. Finally I found it in a pocket of my jeans... After painting it, I installed it on place and the wire is made out of Scale Dreams' spark plug wire. The last thing to do was adding a V8 Magazine on the top of the center console. V8 Magazine is a Finnish American Car Magazine that was founded in 1978 and is still active today.