W-409

I sanded tire treads on front and rear tires to make them look a bit used. Especially the rear tires were litle too shiny from the sides, so I carefully wiped the sides with a scouring pad (is that a real word in English?). Turned out a lot better. Here on left side is before and right side is after the treatment. Tire texts were handpainted with a small brush and Tamiya Acrylic white. Wheels are airbrushed with Alclad Magnesium. For lug nuts on rear wheels, I used brighter silver and after that all of the wheels were given a really subtle black wash with The Detailer. I was very careful not to overdo it, so I basically just dry-brushed it on. I think I was succesful. I still need to paint the center caps for front wheels and also I need to find proper wheel backs for front. The ones that came with the kit were so badly warped that I don't think I'm able to fix them.

Next up, cleaning up the wheels for paint. I want to paint the wheels to look like magnesium, so I had to strip the chrome plating off. But before that, I wanted to open up the holes to make them look more realistic. After some careful sanding from behind, I was able to open up the holes. For comparison, on left side, a wheel with opened up holes, and on the right side, one that's straight out of the parts tree. Front wheels had open holes in them, but each hole had a pretty significant amount of mold flash. So they needed some careful sanding as well. And here are the wheels ready for primer with the chrome stripped off. At the same time as I had Alclad's Grey Primer & Microfiller on my airbrush, I shot some primer on the wheels and on the frame.

After some cleanup and dozens of mock ups, I think the frame is ready for paint. I've been wanting to move from spray painting to an airbrush for a long time and now I finally picked up a small compressor for my airbrush and the frame of the Mustang was the first test. Well, actually, I've used that airbrush with a few models years ago, but for last 10 years or so I've used spray cans. Anyway, I shot some primer on the frame. It's Alclad Grey Primer & Microfiller which is really good stuff. And with the airbrush, it's a lot easier to control the amount of paint than with a spray can, especially on a tricky item like a Funny Car frame. It turned out good. Now I'll let it dry completely and then shoot some color on it.

This looks like an interesting project! Nice work with the roof swap and side trim! Will be following to see how it turns out.

Slowly working on this thing a few minutes here and there when I have the time, so the progress is quite slow. Anyway, I got some of the engine parts prepped for paint. Engine block, front cover, oil pan and heads are silver out of some automotive spray can. The brand of paint I've usually used had changed a little, and now it's unfortunately a bit brighter silver than before. Valve covers are kit chrome with a coat of flat clear and intake manifold is "Chrome Silver" spray paint. But, the shade of silver on the block and other parts, is a little too close to the shade of valve covers and intake. I think a subtle black wash and all of the detailing later will help the overall look though.

That's typical, living in Europe, I have to order a lot of kits, supplies, aftermarket stuff etc from USA. You always have to be prepared for delivery times somewhere between one week and one month, depending on the shipping method. Also, the tracking often "gets lost" like that, but despite that I've always received my orders no problem.

Thanks guys! Let's see how this thing will turn out. I got the frame assembled. It was a ton of work to get everything to line up properly. Not only because it was quite fiddly assembly, but the frame rails were slightly warped, but that was so little that I didn't even notice it until it was time to actually glue the parts together. After some very careful heating with a hair dryer and at some places, a candle, I was able to straighten it out the best I could. Now I think there is a possibility that everything could actually line up properly and all four tires might hit the ground at the same time. I assembled the tinwork on the body and then I was able to test fit the frame on place. This was also a good indication if everything fits correctly. After some adjustments, measuring over and over and trying to make it straight, I think I was succesful. And then there was the issue with the wheelbase. I mocked up the front axle to the frame with the body on place. The front axle seems to be tilted slightly forward, so I figured out that I'd tilt it a little backwards so that it's in about 90 degree angle with the framerails. It'll still look good even with the body lifted up, but now the tires line up as they should. Obviously, I might have to do some slight modifications to the hairpins and steering gear, but I think it'll be easier, because after messing with the frame so much to make it fit properly, I don't want to cut it up to shorten it. I also test fitted the rear axle and it seems to line up pretty good. Now there's some more cleanup to do, but I think I can soon move on to painting some of the frame parts, to get started on the assembly.

Thanks Roger! I appreciate taking the time to post the pictures, they sure help a lot because you can't beat closeup pictures like that when trying to detail something. To tell the truth, now I have a lot more knowledge, pictures and information about these cars than what I did back when I started this project, but despite that the reference pictures are always a great help.

This is an interesting project. I've played with the idea of building the same car a few times, but it has never happened. Yet, at least. I think I might also have a resin body somewhere. You're off to a really good start! The real car is not '66 though, it's a '67. I wonder if there is a source for 1967 grill if you want to make it truly accurate.

After almost 11 years, this thing is finally back on the bench. Today I was working with my other Funny Car, Gas Ronda's '69 Mustang, and I got to the point where I had to wait for glue and putty to dry before I'm able to continue with anything else. So, I decided to grab another Ford Funny Car from the pile of stalled projects. Since the last update, I had sanded all of the mold seams and other imperfections from the frame. Some spots required putty and sanding also. That was done and today I could start assembling the chassis, as I thought it's easier to do it before painting. The instructions were not that great, but because of genious use of half-round locating pins on the frame crossmembers, it was actually easy to figure out the correct way to mount them. Then I started to prep engine parts for paint. The front cover had a hole straight to where the magneto is installed. I wasn't sure how well it can be seen after the cylinder heads are on place, but I decided to fix it with sheet styrene anyway. After the pictures, I also smoothed out the ejector pin mark with putty. Then I had to test fit the tin work to the body to prevent issues during final assembly. The fitment was great, and I was able to glue some of the tin work pieces together to ease painting and assembling. Now I'm also able to fill the joints with a little bit of putty. I guarantee, the next update will come sooner than in 11 years!

This year the Traditional Rod & Kustom In Scale forum has a "1969 Build Off", where the goal is to build something from 1969, but of course keeping the car period correct, because on TRaK forum, the cut-off year is 1969. So, I picked up a Polar Lights kit of Gas Ronda's '69 Mustang. I'm a little late to the party as I haven't had much time to build during the summer, but I'll try to finish it before the end of the year. Let's see if I can make it... I started working with the body. The kit comes with front end for either 1969 or 1970 Mustangs, because the real car used both, but I'm obviously using the 1969 nose. The fitment of the nose and the separate "tail light panel" wasn't that good. After some careful sanding and test fitting I was able to make them fit a little better, but some putty is required to smooth out the gaps. The first round of putty and sanding is done, but there is more to come. Underside of the body has also bunch of stuff that needs to be cleaned up before painting. The frame is assembled from several pieces. I thought it's easiest if I assemble the frame first and then paint it as one unit. But first, I had to prep the frame parts ready for assembly and paint. Removing of the mold lines was really tedious work and took several hours, but I made it. I also had to smooth out some ejector pin marks and sink marks with putty, so now I'll need to wait for it to dry before sanding and assembling the whole thing together...

They do, so we also need a good rust protection to keep the cars in driveable condition. As far as the HEI ignition, I prefer points ignition all day long on my cars. Much more reliable. Have driven several hundred thousand miles with points ignitions on several cars, never had any issues. Can't say the same about the HEI ignition...

An easy choice, I'd definitely go with the Nova. For me, the problem with the Lincoln would be pretty much what Steve said above, it's a lot easier and probably cheaper to find spare parts for the Nova. In addition to that, the Lincoln is way more complicated car with lots of electrical systems etc that could give you trouble, and they could be tricky to repair. I've driven with several old cars in the winter, and actually for the past 3,5 years my daily driver has been a 1964 Rambler American. I live in Finland so we have a pretty rough winter, but because the car is in good condition I've had zero issues with it. For the Nova, for winter you will need a good heater, which these cars usually do have if all of the components are working, good weatherstripping is a big advantage as well and proper winter tires. I haven't had the need for a limited slip. I mean, of course it helps, but I would think it more as an optional thing. With good tires and some common sense between the steering wheel and the seat, you'll be fine even without it. But, whichever you choose, I hope you'll enjoy it, also in the winter!

Because I enjoy building and detailing engines and engine bays, I definitely want to have one. It's not that I don't buy a model kit if it doesn't have an engine, because sometimes I also build curbsides if the subject matter is otherwise interesting. But if a kit has an engine, I'm more likely to buy AND build it. I like to kitbash / modify / scratchbuild parts, too, so I've done projects where I have installed an engine and engine bay in a curbside kit, but it is a ton of extra work and because I don't have as much bench time as I'd like, it will take a long time to finish. Luckily most of the kits today are pretty good out of the box, but then again, I really enjoy building older model kits that you don't see built that often, and taking the challenge to improve them to today's level.

I've had a passion for old cars as long as I can remember. When I was six years old, I saw a Monogram '70 Chevelle that my dad had built. A nice, clean factory stock build in red with black SS stripes. At that moment, I knew I wanted to start building models as well, and now over 20 years later here we are... I guess there are two main points that keep me going with this amazing hobby: -I'm able to build cars that I could never own in 1:1 scale (either because of the rarity / price of the car, or because of just the fact that I have several 1:1 cars already and have no space, time or money for more). -I can build an accurate replica of some 1:1 car for my display shelf. Another good thing, when I started as a kid, I learned a lot about cars from scale modeling. I learned how all the parts look, what they are supposed to do, learned to recognize, for example, engines (I was young when I could tell a difference between for example, a Small Block Chevy or Ford) and learned a lot about the cars in general. Nowadays I'd wish I had more time to actually build models, but I'm pretty busy so I don't get that much bench time, especially in the summer. I have tons of projects and cool ideas I want to build. You will see them here when I get to actually building them.

Congrats to the two of you who found the answer. I spent quite a lot of time in Google but found absolutely nothing. I've never even heard about that truck but in all of its' weirdness it's actually pretty cool! That thing would be interesting to see in person.

Thanks! I hope everything goes well (basically, I hope the car will work the whole trip, if it does I should have no problem). I've driven almost 100 000 kilometers with it during the last three and half years and haven't had any major issues. But every time you're far from home, anything can happen.

Thanks for the suggestions! These will help when planning the route that I will be driving, because when you're in foreign country, you always have to find a local Hobby Shop to stop by. Michael, I will be visiting a friend who lives a bit south from München.

I'm going to take my '64 Rambler for a little road trip in August. My goal is a little south from München, so I'll be driving through Germany. The exact route is not decided yet, but I will be visiting some interesting places on my way back home so I'm taking recommendations from all over the country. I know we have some members from Germany on this forum so I'd like to know what are the best Hobby Shops to visit on the way? I'm looking for mostly 1/24 or 1/25 model kits of older cars (American or European). So, let me know what are the best hobby shops to visit in Germany and I'll figure the route so that I can visit at least in some of them.

I have absolutely no idea what I'm looking at, but I like it! Now I'll just need to try figure out what is it.

Thanks for the kind words! The worst thing with these smaller scale kits in my opinion, is that it's really hard to find any optional parts other than what you'll find in the box, which will lead to scratchbuilding and then it usually takes forever to get finished. But this was a fun project. I might consider another 1/32 scale kit at some point.

This is not an easy car to find in 1/24 or 1/25 scale. I have had the plan to build a Cadillac of this era as a Traditional Custom for years, using the Revell Foose Cadillac as a starting point, but obviously everything that Foose did to that Caddy, has to be re-done to get rid of any modernized junk on a beautiful old car. Basically the only thing I'm missing is the tail fins and tail lights. Pretty much any Cadillac from '48 to '55 would be a suitable donor for these parts, but haven't found any. Even a "junk" resin body would work, if only the tail lights were salvageable. I know Modelhaus did some Cadillac quarter panels in resin which would be exactly what I needed, but they are really hard to find. If anyone has these parts, or a resin body, or a diecast or whatever that has the tail lights and rear quarters, I'm interested.

I'm a little late (was out on vacation and just been super busy overall), but wanted to say thank you for the kind comments! They are appreciated. I also would like to see one of these in 1/25 scale. It's a little newer car that I'm usually interested in, but I like these GM G-Bodies. So with that said, even though this was a smaller scale and a Snap Tite kit, I had to try building it.

The '65 Chevy II 100 2D Sedan should not be that tricky to kitbash. I need to find a few missing parts for it and then my plan is to build one of them. I already have the '65 Gasser kit and '64 Hardtop on the shelf, but I'm waiting for some smaller items, like dog dish hubcaps to arrive before I get started on it.

Thanks Mike, I appreciate the kind words! Here is a link to the finished pictures in Under Glass section. Thanks for everyone who has followed this thing come together. Now let's see what's next... https://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/192816-79-chevrolet-malibu-4d-sedan/