W-409

This will be a very cool build. I'm a fan of GM H-Bodies and this year is my favorite of all Chevy Vegas. I know you will turn it out fantastic, and the start looks very good already. That chassis fits pretty nicely on place with those modifications, so keep it coming, I'll be watching this one closely.

That turned out great! I can't believe it's possible to build something that nice in such a little time, especially with the amount of modifications you did. I know I couldn't get even a body painted in that time. Very nice job with chopping the top. I like the rear wheels and tires, too. They fit perfectly to the look. I really like this one...It might be my favorite from your builds.

Nice job as always, Brett! That turned out really nice, especially I like the overall look: Very clean, no flaws or anything and parts fit perfectly together etc. Paint job and decals look very good, too. Overall a very nice build.

I agree with Scott... I saw nothing wrong with the grille when looking at the box art. But now when you guys pointed it out, it's clearly a bit incorrect. Well that doesn't matter me, I bet this body is better than Monogram's old '69 Camaro. Trans Am version would have been nice. I must agree with that, but overall, how many Trans Am Camaros there would really be if this kit included parts to do one of those as well? Somehow I believe that there would be more imaginary Circle Track racers than actual Trans Am Camaros being built. I might be wrong, but this is what came to my mind. Anyway I will be buying at least one of these. A perfect starting point for a Stock Eliminator Drag Car.

A Minor Update for this one, too. It's the same story as with my '55 Chevy that I've had zero time for modeling in a while. Luckily today I was able to make a little progress with this. Not that much, but as I'm doing this as a Step By Step thread, I think this might be worth posting anyway. So I filled the gap on the nose with sheet styrene. I used two different styrenes: Thicker one where it doesn't need to be bent that much and where I had to bend the styrene, I used thinner material. It was actually really easy to fill the gap, but it's still in rough stages. When I can get a bit more time to work with this, I'll rough sand it and then continue with other body modifications... Stay Tuned. As usual, good ideas/comments/suggestions/constructive criticism is welcomed. Remember I have no experience in building Pro Modifieds.

Thanks Gents! I really appreciate your kind comments! Rusty said it really well, I agree completely. These are good kits to build even a fast and simple Box Stock build, because these kits have few parts compared to some of the newer kits. But then with some extra detailing and a little scratchbuilding, these can be turned out into a very sharp models. Well, I haven't posted an update in a while. It's because I've had absolutely zero time for modeling after the latest update. I've been busy now when the schools started again and also the Finnish Championship Drag Race Series Finals were last weekend. I finished the 6th at Finnish Championship points, BTW. Anyway today I had a little time and I started smoothing out the firewall with Squadron's White Putty. I would have liked to use a proper two part putty, but it is in the garage and I must go outside to get there. The problem is that it was raining like crazy today, I mean really... That was a very hard rain! So I used this instead. Hopefully I'll have some time to sand it smooth soon.

Very nice work, as usual! Really nice and smooth BMF work. Especially I think it's important in these '50s cars to have flawless BMF and you definitely know how to do that. Really nice job overall. Another thing I've noticed is that removing mold lines is a lot easier from those old bodies than in the new ones. When I built my '61 Olds STW by Jo-Han earlier this year (http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=84746) the mold lines were really easy to remove. I just sanded them smooth, brushed a little liquid glue over the sanded areas and sanded again... Nothing showed up after the Primer. I must say that the same thing has never happened with any of the new kits, they require usually putty and/or more and more sanding...

Yep that's a good looking Road Runner! I'm glad to see better pics, too, because I think your models deserve sharp pics. You did a great job with this. Nice color choice, too and I like the wheel & tire combo a lot. Overall a good looking Mopar.

Yep there are lots of American Cars in Finland and there are many different styles as well. Here are pictures of Cruise Night in May 2014. It was a warm, but a bit rainy evening. When we arrived at the Market Square, it was raining so hard that we didn't want to go out. So with a couple of friends we went to coffee and during our coffee break, the rain had stopped and lots of cars were Cruising & Meeting friends. Here are some pics: Here's a Link to the Gallery.

The interior needs a little modifying, too. My build will be a race car, however and it had bucket seats. I must also remove the door panels and do that kind of minor modifications. Thanks for the help!

Thanks Billy and Antonio! After looking at the pics, you're correct, there shouldn't be too much work with the conversion. The one I'd like to build would be 1984 Buick T-Type which is pretty much the same as Regal. Looks like it's possible to modify from Revell kit. I'll start that project at some point, and there is an 1:1 scale car I want to replicate.

I'd be interested in modifying a Buick Grand National in Buick Regal, so the question is are there any resin conversion kits or even resin bodies? Especially the grille might be tough to scratchbuild... The best would be a 1984 model.

:lol: This made me laugh really hard! It's interesting to see, what's "wrong" with this kit when they arrive in the Hobby Shops... Anyway I will be buying at least one of these for sure. It's a bit different from the regular '69 Camaro and this will be an excellent starting point for a Stock Eliminator Drag Car. I can't wait to see this kit in the shops and of course I can't wait for the pictures of the kit's contents.

This is an interesting project, you build really cool stuff! I like the Nova and I'm interested in seeing how it will turn out. Anyway I believe you can do it in this short time, I know I couldn't!

If the hood from Lex's doesn't fit, how about cutting the scoop separate and gluing that on Revell hood? I don't know if it's a good idea, just thinkin' aloud...

Dang I didn't see this until now. I think it's too late to join in the party as there's no way I could finish anything in this short time. The idea is perfect, no modern cars allowed . I will be following.

I found nothing, except for the Lex's Scale Modeling hood. It's not too hard to scratchbuild that kind of scoop, though. I've done it a couple of times. I bet you could do it easily.

Helsinki Cruising Night (Stadin Cruising as we Finns call it) is a large American Car event in Helsinki, Finland. It is on the first Friday evening/night of every month in the summertime and there are lots of cars driving around on the streets of Helsinki and/or meeting friends at the Market Square. I will be posting pictures of 2014 Cruise Nights here... The first Cruise was in April. It was really cold weather so there weren't that much cars as usual. Anyway here are a few pics and then I'll post a link to the full gallery. Here is the link to the Full Gallery with all pictures: http://tapahtumakuvia.kuvat.fi/kuvat/Tapahtumat+2014/Cruisings/Stadi/Stadin+Cruising+4.4.2014/ Pictures from May coming soon...

Thanks so much, Stan for the kind words, and especially thanks for pointing out my mistake! I completely forgot about that, after working with a GM 10 Bolt rear end from a '74 Chevelle. I should have remembered that, as we have a '60 Impala in the garage, too, and it has a rear end like this... Thanks! So I fixed that problem by painting the rear axle completely black and after that I glued the rear wheels and tires on. I decided to do a little mock up to see if the tires fit nicely in the fender openings, and they did. However, I found another problem... The firewall in this kit consists of two pieces. There is an upper part molded in the body, and lower part is in the interior. As you might guess, the fitment is not so great. So I had to scratchbuild a new firewall. I took some styrene and made a new firewall from two pieces and glued them together. When making the firewall from two separate pieces, I could add the little bend in the middle. I haven't mocked it up yet, as I left it drying yesterday, but I will test fit everything today and see if the firewall fits. It should fit nicely, as I took lots of measurements and used them as a quide, but anyway I can't be completely sure about that. If it fits nicely, then I need to smooth out the seam in the middle and then I can spray final Primer coat and move on to the paint... Here is the original firewall from the kit... And here's my version. As you probably can see, the firewall is still in rough stages and it will need work before it's smooth and ready for paint.

Thanks Chris! Usually carburetors are really unrealistic straight from the box, so I thought I should try to make them a bit realistic by adding a couple of details and painting them. The carbs on that Impala are detailed without any Photo Etch parts and on the Hemi I used PE parts... It sure makes a difference. Those fuel line fittings are scratchbuilt and they are far from perfect, though.

Yep that's a really nice Funny Car. You did a great job with the paint and decals. I think it always look the best when there is a clear coat over the decals, just like here. Incredible engine detailing too, it looks like you could fire it up any moment.

This is easy! '74 Chevy Chevelle / Malibu STW.

Yep I'm going to start it immediately when I get my Frontrunners ready and my friend casts them in resin. It shouldn't take too long time before the tires are done and I can start building the Stock Eliminator Chevelle... The paint and decals look fantastic! I like the color a lot and those black stripes fit perfectly with silver. Nice and smooth looking paint job, too. I can't wait to see more.

My dad said that it's a great show, too. He visited SEMA Show in 1990. Please post pics after the Show. I'd like to see them and probably everyone else, too. Here are my dad's pics of SEMA Show. http://public.fotki.com/NostalgicDrag/vanhoja-valokuvia/sema-show-1990/

Wow! I must have missed this one, but I'm glad I saw it now! Fantastic looking Impala. I really like these cars and you did very good work creating something really rarely seen. Excellent paint job and nice detailing all over. Opening doors are a nice touch.