W-409

Yep it's a little different from what you see here normally, even though there are pretty much Chevy Vans here in Finland. In the '80s a company called Metro Auto delivered new Vans into Finland and yesterday I saw three of these. But most of the Chevy Vans you see here are not as nice as this one, as many of them are starting to get a bit rusty and there are some horrible looking equipment like spare tire cover, ladders or fender flares... I'm going to change the wheels. I want it to have gloss black Steel Wheels with Dog Dishes.

Has anyone made a resin grille for '87 Chevy Van? Or is there even a kit with that kind of a grille, but I believe that all of those kits are from older Vans. I just bought a real Van and I'd like to build a replica of it. This kind of Grille I'm looking for:

We just bought this one, a '87 Chevy Van with 6,2 Liter Diesel engine. It's pretty nice and clean and we'll use it as a Race Car Hauler and in December when I get my driver's license it'll be my daily driver...

Another incredible '57 Ford from your bench. You sure know how to put these kits together and these builds are great reference material as I'm building my '57 Ford Police Car currently. Paint job is fantastic and overall it looks like a very sharp model, as your builds always do. Gotta love the combination of body colored Steelies and Dog Dishes! Are there any problems with these kits? I mean that if I have to watch out some parts fits etc?

Thanks Stan, I appreciate the kind words! Especially when coming from such a talented builder like you. I got the fuel line done today. I used metal wire for that and it was really easy to get there. I also added the other line, but I don't actually know what is it. There's missing a line between that black junction block and firewall, but that can't be installed before I got the engine and firewall on place. My next steps will be adding the generator and the belt. Also carburetor linkage needs to be done.

What Tulio said is pretty much everything it needs. Otherwise it's really nice build! I like these Vintage Drag Cars, and this one has the right look and feel. Really nice work, I can't wait to see more of your builds!

I've been following this thread actively, but I've been speechless from the beginning! Fantastic work with the details. Especially those carburetors look very good, I wish those were available in 1/25, too. The gas tank is another masterpiece, I have never seen anyone else who has simulated the fuel inside the tank in a Model Car... Amazing!

I've been following this thread actively, but haven't posted anything as my Charger Daytona has been kinda stalled for a while. Erik's Riviera turned out really nice! The paint is incredible, especially when thinking how much trouble gloss black paint jobs have caused to me. I really don't care for the modern engine in it, but otherwise I like it. Pat's Nomad is looking good! That is gonna be a Wild Ride for sure. All that body and frame work you've done looks really good. Nice scratchbuilding! Matti did also a good work with the scoop on his Impala. That Cowl Induction Hood will fit perfectly on Impala's body shapes. I'm looking forward to see how it turns out. Everyone else has done really nice job, too, keep the builds going (Including me )! Here's a little update on my Charger Daytona. I cut a hole on the hood and made a scoop. It is the bottom part of kit's Pro Stock style scoop turned around and cut apart. Then I added sheet styrene to cover the hole on top of it. I started painting the interior tub, too.

Thanks Tyrone! I got the headers done today. The collectors are still missing, but I have to figure out how to build them before I can start the actual building process. The headers were a lot easier to build than I thought, and probably I'll be making them from plastic on my next builds, too. If anyone has good tips how to make collectors, I'd appreciate the help a lot.

Thanks Bob! Your build inspire me, as you've said that you're doing things that you haven't done before and I have the same feeling with this one. I started making the Headers. I built the flanges from sheet styrene and then drilled holes on the cylinder heads, too, as Jason suggested. It definitely helps and now I have the first two pipes mocked up. I have to bend the next ones, too. There's some minor adjustments to do that I noticed from the picture before I can continue, but I'll hope to have another update soon.

Thanks Fellas! Your kind comments mean a lot to me. Yesterday I took One Step Forward and today Two Steps Back. I painted the firewall and it looked good when it was still wet. Once the paint dried, it cracked very badly. Now it's in paint stripping and all I can do is wait...

YeeHaw! That's a real Red Neck Pickup, great work with the weathering and I like the different color body panels, too. Only thing I'd change would be Steel Wheels on all four corners and a Rebel Flag on the back window . But very nice work, I like this one.

Good Job, Alan! That's really mean looking Firebird that would be a fun ride on both, a Street or Strip. You did a great job with paint, it looks smooth and I like the color choice, too. Nice work! It's not a Super Stock car, though. It wouldn't match the rules that are quite limited, but who cares, as you did a very fine job !

Thanks Everyone! Your kind comments do mean a lot to me and they keep me going. You all are very talented builders and it is so nice to hear that I did good work. Of course constructive criticism is highly appreciated, too. I got some more work done with the Impala. I re-did part of the chrome trims with BMF and they look much better now. Not perfect by any means, but I'm pretty happy with it now. I also painted the underside of the body with flat black. I'm hoping to install the windows soon. Then there was a little problem: The tail light panel should be silver with chrome trims, not fully plated as it comes in the kit. I had two opportunities with it, either paint it silver or flat clear it. The silver wouldn't stick very well on chrome plating, so I decided to use flat clear. Revell and Humbrol Clears turn yellow during the years, so I decided not to use them. I wanted to spray the flat clear on, but I couldn't mask that part so nicely that it would be possible. I had no Tamiya Acrylics, so the only way was to spray Maston flat clear into a cup and paint it with a brush. It turned out okay, though. That part was very hard to photograph, but I was able to get one shot which I can publish... There are also two pics of the body in better lightning and with the little fixes made.

Thanks for the tip, Jason! I will try that for sure, it sounds like a great idea. When I drill the exhaust ports, I can build the flanges from thinner styrene and then they of course look better than if I made them from too thick material. Thanks! I'll probably start building them tomorrow if I have time, so I'll try to post an update soon, too.

Thanks! I'm glad this thread could help, Sam. This kit will build up really nicely, and I bet your Nova will look great when finished. I haven't seen any of those pics actually, only the one Alan posted in this thread. It seems to be hard to find engine or interior shots of these old Drag Cars, but luckily I have the one. I will start the headers really soon. I will have to make header flanges first and then move to the actual headers. I'm going to try making them from plastic instead of solder I usually use. Let's see if it turns out okay.

Here are a couple of pictures of Larry Watson's flame paint jobs: I think Larry's flames are the most beautiful flames I've seen on Custom Cars. Today's True Flames paint jobs just don't look good. I hope these pictures give inspiration.

Thanks Chris, Gene and Michel! Your kind comments mean a lot to me. After a little break I was able to get something done. I was very busy on the last couple of weeks, but finally I was able to get the BMF done. It took some time, and I'm not completely happy with the result, as I've done better jobs too. It doesn't look that bad, though, when looking from further distance. Also the hood is clear coated. I will let it dry a couple of more days still so it's 100% dry when I start polishing it.

This thread has lots of good information about the engine: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=83254 . You'll need some scratchbuilding to make it accurate, but I guess it's nothing impossible...

It's so nice to see that you're back building this one, Clay! Your work is impressive and that rear end is looking like an 1:1 scale part. Nice detailing, and I'm taking notes for my possibly upcoming Pro Mod build...

That's really fine work, Chris! The Body Cart is looking excellent, especially now when you installed the brackets on it. That's a great idea to use to display these Funny Cars, especially when you're doing so great work with this one, it'd be a shame to cover that chassis. But now that's not a problem. Excellent work as always.

Junior Stockers are my favorite subjects and I have a couple of them in progress, too. You did a great job here. Nice paint job and detailing, it has the look and feel that it actually could have been racing back in the day...Very nice work.

I wrapped a narrow slice of Tamiya Masking Tape around thin metal wire so that the metal wire comes out from the other "end" of the tape. Then I drilled a little hole on the parachute on a proper place of course, and the metal wire goes through that hole and then the tape looks like it comes out from the parachute. The Remove Before Flight-pin is printed on regular paper and it looks a lot worse on that first picture than it really is.

Thanks, Charlie and Thomas! I'm pretty happy with the work I can do, but there is a lot to improve, too. I got a little work done with the engine. I painted all parts and glued some of them together, but the main thing was that I put the spark plug wires on. I also added that coil wire and the next thing will be fuel lines. I've been looking for lots of reference pics, as I don't know much about these Ford engines. I think I got the fuel lines figured out, though. That should be tomorrow's thing, if I have time. I also cut the kit's plastic fuel line away from Fuel Filter and painted it with silver. I made the connectors for fuel lines on that part and glued them on. I still have to paint them.

I own one Large Scale Model that I built years ago... AMT '57 Chevy Convertible that I got really cheap. I would like to try building another Large Scale Model, but the problem is that they need way too much space in my Display Cabinet once they are done. I also would need to buy the same aftermarket parts in two scales then, and that would be expensive. I like to follow those builds, though, and one of the reasons why I'd like to try building them is that there is a possibility to add much more details than in 1/24 or 1/25 scale.