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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.

That's a good looking Mustang for sure. My favorite part must be the stance, I like these when they aren't lowered that much. This stance is spot on! Great paint and decal work, along with the clean and flawless assembly make this one stand out. Maybe some slight black wash to the panel lines might make it even better, but it looks very, very good like that, too. How about more pics?

Hey what's wrong with the Edsel?! I like it lot more than any of the Fords from those years. This is looking great so far! Your build threads are very nice to follow as I know the model you're building will end up being another masterpiece. Great work with the body. I can't wait to see more.

This is one really fine Custom Car, built by Kartsa Saarela here in Finland:

That's a very cool concept and nice build, too. I like how it looks, it's just like it could have been in real life. Sweet paint job and great detailing... I really like this one.

That's a good looking Willys. The paint job is looking excellent and I like the steel wheels a lot. I wouldn't worry about the decal issue either, I'm pretty sure if you hadn't said it no one had noticed it. I like the overall stance and everything, but the detailing really finishes it off. Nice work.

I think the Charger 500 version looks really good. Nice to see one in resin in the future. Especially I like how the real car looks because of its headlights. Those look much better than the hideaway headlights on a regular Charger. I probably don't end up buying one, though. I'm not a Mopar guy myself and Chargers don't interest me so much that I'd spend that much money on one. But it's still very cool to see one of these done in resin and it will be interesting to see what other people do with these kits when they are out.

Really, I've been wondering why hasn't anyone tooled up a G-Boby Malibu. I guess they would sell really well, as they are quite popular in the 1:1 world. Especially they are very popular Drag Cars, but there are also lots of street car Malibus. Personally I'd guess they'd sell well and I really hope to see a kit of '78-'81 Malibu (With the single headlights, they just look million times better than the double headlights). I know I'd buy at least three of them to build different versions. The Cutlass would be another cool one. Hopefully we'll see a kit of one in the future.

Here are a couple of more pictures. I got the center console painted and clear coated and of course installed. Also the seat belts were made out of Scale Dreams' seat belt material and Model Car Garage's Photo Etch parts. The kit didn't have any pedals, and I thought that it might be a bit easier to drive if the car has pedals, so I scratchbuilt a simple set of them from metal wire and sheet styrene. They're very basic, but after all they can't be seen much from the finished model so I guess they'll do. A little cleanup and detail painting for the dashboard and some clear coat to the wooden steering wheel and I was able to glue them together. Next I will have to scratchbuild a shifter and then I can install the dash on place.

No one on this one? Here's another one from the same movie. Who was that? It sure is fast. -Baby, Hell on Wheels.

And yet another update, looks like I'm on a roll now ! I made the spark plug wires for the engine. Again, the spark plug boots on the heads are made out of the same electric wire as on the distributor. Those wires were quite easy to install and I'm pretty happy with the result. I also started the dashboard. Before I had smoothed out a couple of sink marks from it with putty and painted it with Revell's brown Enamel. The wooden part was painted so that I brushed a light and uneven coat of Humbrol Clear Orange over the brown paint and once that dried, I clear coated the wooden area. The gauges are painted with semi gloss black and the chrome rings were painted silver with a thin paint brush. It is not completed yet, there's a bit more detail painting to do and some cleanup also. It gives you an idea though how it will look. I also wanted a wooden steering wheel ring on this thing. It was created with the same method. The steering wheel spokes need still minor black washing, but otherwise that should be ready to be glued on.

How about this one? First is first, second is nowhere man.

Excellent work in every way Paul! Your modifications are looking great, and this not so good kit is turning into a super nice buildup. I'm especially impressed by that engine bay, I have the Charger Daytona version of this kit on my bench now and I've been planning on doing the same thing. Great work all in all, this is a great inspiration for sure.

Unfortunately I missed Vantaa Cruising Night in May as it was at the same time as the first Drag Race event of the season. In June the Cruising Night was at Midsummer, so lots of people were on their summer cottages and there were less people as usual. Still lots of cool cars were present and there were some smoky burnouts, too. Here is a link to the full Gallery. Burnout Video feacturing for example 1955 Chevrolet, '69 Charger, Chevy Caprice etc.