W-409

Thanks Fellas, I appreciate it! Jason: Yep, quite a lot actually. We will do some chassis work before the next race to get rid of those twisting wheelstands as when the car launches like that is wastes speed. We're planning to add a sway bar to the rear end and new springs would be nice too. Then it's very interesting to see how it runs. Your Vega looks great, too. H-Bodies are always nice! In the West Coast Street Cup race there was one very nice Chevy Vega Wagon. It wasn't quite done yet, for example headlights were missing as they didn't have enough time to install everything before the race, but it ran very nicely. I can't remember their ET's, but it was pretty fast: Here are all pics from the WCSC race: http://tapahtumakuvia.kuvat.fi/kuvat/Tapahtumat+2014/West+Coast+Street+Cup+Pori+24.5.2014/ I've been doing the putty work with the front seat. It's getting there and I believe the coat of putty I just put on in the morning is the last one before paint. I'll post pictures when I get it painted.

So what is the best kit of a First Generation Ford Thunderbird? I see Monogram has made a '56 Thunderbird and AMT has a '57. So which one is easier to build and if there are some problems, fit issues etc it would be nice to know them as well.

Really nice work getting the body shapes right. I also like the trims you added. I've been afraid of the same thing as I should do it on a '61 Chevy Resin Body... What size styrene did you use?

I like the idea of the paint. It's just very hard to do and that's why I've never actually painted anything that way. It looks like you did a great job with the painting, but we need more pictures of the body ! Fenderwell Headers are really cool and they were really popular in the '60s as these Nomads (or regular Bel Airs) didn't have too much space in the engine bay. I like them.

I like it! The Hemi will look better in the engine bay than a too small engine would. The bodywork looks good, too. Whatever color you choose, I bet it'll be a good looking one. Personally I might go with something like this:

Thanks Guys for the kind words! Ray: Yep it's a little rough. One thing that surprised me when I opened the box was the body. I've built one of these before (Many years ago) and I don't remember there were any big mold lines or other things to clean up. But I believe it's fixable, it just takes a lot of work. Stan: That really makes sense! I will have to try that, I hope it'll turn out good as I've never scribed whole new panel lines, I've only deepened the original ones. Carl: Semi Gloss Black sounds really good. The one I built years ago was painted with flat black and I think it looks quite mean in that color. Same thing with semi gloss, too. This will be light blue and if I decide to go with two tone option, other color will be white. I hope the paint job will turn out okay. Here's a little update: I filled the other hole on the chassis with styrene and then started the putty work. Those putties won't be too easy to sand smooth, but I think I can do it. I will do the sanding tomorrow if the putty is dry, because I want to get it on four wheels soon. I also primed the interior bucket and front seats. They will be painted also light blue and white as the body and those colors won't cover black plastic very well, so I thought it would be better to shoot some Primer on those parts. It's a very thin coat, but I guess that's all we need. I also removed the original "hood hinges" that were molded in. My hood will be a lift off model so I didn't really need those. They were easy to remove with a hobby knife.

That's really super nice work, Chris! I'm really amazed by the talent that shows here in this thread every time I open it. The tin work is turning out fantastic, and it looks very good already. Your attention to detail is unbelievable...When you get this one done I bet if you posted it in 1:1 forum, no one would notice it's actually a model. I gotta go and get more popcorn!

Thanks Tom! It's always great to be able to inspire other people. As for the carburetors, thanks for pointing that out! I don't know how I even missed it that I glued them backwards...I must have been really tired or something. Luckily that's an easy fix. Here's a picture of the front seat as I put some Bondo on it yesterday. I will sand it today, and if it looks smooth enough I'll probably throw some paint on it. I could also flock the interior floor...

Thanks Scott! It means a lot! What car did you race with? It's sure a lot of fun and not only it's fun to drive, but I also like the actual building process and updating the car to make it faster. As a Stock Eliminator racer who has to run Bracket most times, to me the hardest part is taking a good RT and then slowing down on the finishing line to prevent from breaking out. At this point I'm on the third place in Finnish Championship points (After the first race). The next race is in three weeks at Alastaro and I hope I will do good there. And a week after that race it's time for the Nitro Nationals also at Alastaro. There are European Championship categories, too like Pro Mod, Top Methanol Funny Cars, Pro Stocks and Top Fuels etc. There the track is usually the best so I hope the car will do good ET's there. In the West Coast Street Cup points I actually don't know where I am at. The results haven't been posted yet, but anyway I won't be driving all WCSC events as the next one is 1/8th mile race and at the same day there is another Drag Race event for real street cars where I'll be watching as a friend is driving his '80 Chevy Monza. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkDs3ZMfEqU

I'm not a Rat Rod fan, but this is very cool! You did an amazing job with the weathering, it looks very realistic to me. Great detailing, too. Very neat build, thanks for sharing.

Looking great so far! This will be an interesting project, as I like Classic Chevys and Drag Cars a lot. You've done a great work with this one, especially painting the Blower is a good thing...They rarely are chromed in 1:1 cars, either. Only thing I'd do different is the engine. It looks very good, but the engine in that BadMan kit is a bit too small in my opinion. I don't mean the cubic inches, I mean its' actual size. But of course once that engine is built nicely, the size isn't so big thing I guess. I'd buy the slicks from here: http://www.tedsmodelingmarketplace.com/drag-slicks-tf-or-fc-1-25/ Ted has a lot of nice stuff for sale and he is a very nice guy to deal with. I highly recommend his place.

Welcome! It's nice to see other young people who are interested in Classic Cars. I'm quite sure you will learn a lot from this forum. At least I've learned a huge amount of information while posting my WIP threads or just looking at other posts. This is a great place for sure. I'll look forward to see your work.

This is a must have for sure. Especially it's nice to see Junior Stock kits, and because it's Moebius Models who is doing the kit, I think I don't have to worry about the accuracy too much. Especially the rear tires would fit on many different cars, too. I guess I'll be getting a couple of these Junior Stock versions.

Well as I said on my '61 Impala thread I wanted to build a fast and simple & easy (?) build that I could relax with a little. The other projects I have going right now (Like the Don Nicholson Impala or Grumpy Jenkins' Nova) require a lot of modifying and scratchbuilding, which means they will take a lot of time and work to complete. The idea with this is to get it done pretty fast without huge modifications. As I was choosing a subject for my Summer Project I came across the Monogram (Or nowadays Revell) '55 Chevrolet Bel Air StreetMachine kit that I got in a trade last year. It's a pretty simple kit with not too many parts, but still it's possible to turn out into a very nice model. My plan is to keep it pretty simple, but to do a couple of little modifications to make it a bit better. I'm going to build something that could Race nowadays in Nostalgia Events with Chevy Big Block and a Straight Axle. I will swap the kit's tires and maybe wheels too. I will use 9" Slicks on the rear and white walls in the front. When I opened the box I saw immediately that the kit will need some work, but not anything impossible. I've built one of these before and there are no big fit issues, only problems are with the mold lines and that kind of stuff. The body alone has pretty much mold lines and other stuff to clean up. That will be no problem, but as seen on the third picture, part of the door line is missing. That is a problem as I've never re-scribed them...What should I use and how should I do it to get it right? Sanding is required between the door handle and side trim, too... ...Then there are regular mold lines to be cleaned. This is the basis of the engine. A Glue Bomb BBC from some Monogram kit. It had a single 4bbl carburetor with original steel intake manifold, so I decided to replace that with a Blower from another version of the same Monogram engine. Now the engine is in paint stripping, The chassis is nice otherwise, but it has molded in exhaust pipes. A Drag Car should not have them so I decided to get rid of them. First, I cut the mufflers away with a saw and then using knives and other tools which names I don't know in English, I removed the actual pipes. Here in the pictures I have rough sanded the areas with 400 grit sandpaper. I also filled other muffler hole with styrene, other one still to go. Then I can start the putty work... Comments and Ideas are welcomed! Here We Go!

Thanks Fellows! Shaun: Yep, the scoop needs a bit thinning before I can call it good. It would've been much easier when it wasn't glued together, but I remembered it only when I had glued the scoop together. Well, with a small file I believe I can make it. Steve: This kit is definitely worth building, even if it needs a couple of modifications. When you start yours, please post pictures of the progress, as there can never be enough X-Frame Chevrolets. I put a little Bondo on it and on the front seat, too. Once I get the seat smoothed out, I'll paint the interior. I must go to get the new drill bit too to continue the work on the engine. Anyway I think I'll do a fast build in between and this one will be put as a back burner for a while. I will try to make progress, but it's not the Number One build right now. I just think I need a little break from these replica builds and I wanna build one really simple and easy one in between...Stay tuned for a WIP thread of it.

Very nice and clean Hudson. Your paint jobs are always incredible and this is no exception. Nice pics, too! The interior looks very good to me. The shade and the semi gloss shine on that blue really makes me want to jump in. Very realistic looking seats. One of the best Hornets I've seen...Congrats.

I use Primer only when I paint bodies or parts with spray paint. When using brush paints (I use Revell & Humbrol Enamels) I see no need for a Primer. But when painting with sprays, it makes life much easier as paint will stick better and it won't run from sharp edges so easily.

It looks great! I like the color. That red fits very well on a Falcon and your paint job looks good too. Great detailing in the engine bay and a nice stance. Really nice work. Only thing is that this is not a Gasser. In Gasser classes you were not allowed to build AWB cars. This would be more like a '60s Match Race Drag Car in my opinion. But whatever it is, it sure looks good!

Great Build, John, but what else could we expect from you? As always, nice paint job and great detailing. A very cleanly assembled Dragster overall.

Yep, very nice and clean Dragster! I like the blue body panels and how they fit together with the grey frame. Nice detailing, too. I like the wheel and tire combo, too.

Beautiful Javelin with super paint job. I like the color and wheel & tire combo. It's very nice to see these rare subjects being built, this one makes me want to pull mine out from the stash. It will be a Super Stocker...

Good looking Coronet Super Stock! It's always nice to see a model that's built to match a full scale Drag Car. Especially when they are this nicely done, super paint job and incredible detailing in the engine bay, too. The decals on the windows are silvering a little as you said, but other than that I see no problems...Very nice build!

Thanks Jason... I appreciate it! I started assembling the engine. Nothing really special, but I got the valve covers, intake manifold and carburetors on. Timing Chain Cover was installed, too and I painted all bolts and nuts with silver. I also added some minor black wash to the engine to bring out some depth and I think it's a bit better now. The next step would be scratchbuilding headers as I can't put plug wires yet. I broke my drill bit that I used for them and now I gotta get a new one.

I'm have to agree with the guys here. Even if I had money, space and everything to buy that one, I'd definitely pass it. Personally I'd like to have a regular car that I could drive with, like a '63 Impala SS. This is in the same category as many show cars. Both are very nice, but I wouldn't want to own something I could not drive with. However, if I bought that one, I'd drive it a little, just like Al said. There are some very valuable cars that can be seen on the public roads sometimes. This is the Art Russel Plymouth that won Grand National Roadster Show in the '60s. It can be seen in local Cruising Nights here in Finland sometimes.

Thanks Aaron! I agree with you, it's a lot of fun to be able to Drag Race in 1:1 scale, too. Here is a video from West Coast Street Cup that was on last weekend. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMFeqyfz2dI Here's a little update on the Impala, too. I scratchbuilt the hood scoop, but I'm not completely sure if I like it or not. So I'd like to hear your honest opinion on that. Anyway the bottom part has two holes where air will go to the carburetors. Same size holes will be drilled on the hood when I can mock up the engine and see where those holes need to be located. If I will end up using that scoop, I have to do some finishing touches for it with Bondo. I'm sorry the pics are not the best. That thing was very hard to photograph.