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R&R Resin has '72 Vega Wagon, but I don't know if it's still available. http://resinrealm.net/GALLERIES/RRGallery/ Also I don't know about the quality. But someone (AMT, MPC?) has made a '71 or '72 Vega in kit form, it was a Funny Car, but the body looks pretty close to stock (I'm not completely sure because the body that I have is missing lots of parts, for example the roof and part of the nose). Anyway that kit might be really hard to find, so maybe that resin body would be an easier choice?

...As always. Okay I don't have this kit yet, but I will be buying one. That distributor thing is not a problem after I put the plug wires on place. No one will see how many ribs there are when the wires cover them. So that doesn't matter in my case, though if someone is building Box Stock, that's a different thing... Only thing that I don't like on new kits, are mold seams on the bodies. They seem to be really hard to get covered, or I mean that it takes a lot of work. Currently I have Revell's new '50 Oldsmobile and Jo-Han '61 Olds Wagon on my bench and the mold seams in Jo-Han kit were a lot easier to smooth out. But I'm really happy that Revell and Moebius are releasing new kits and AMT is re-releasing great kits. Despite all of this "nitpicking" in here, I'm always really happy about each new kit that I buy.

Wow Dave even if this is the Big Boyz Section, it's not right to post 1:1 projects in here! Seriously, you're doing a great job here. All of that detailing really pays off. The frame is looking excellent, but my favorite parts are the tires. I've never before seen anyone to put those wear indicator holes on model cars! I might try that, too.

That turned out awesome! I really enjoyed following this WIP Thread and there was lots of work on this one! You did it very nicely and that's really unique and cool build - haven't seen many of these completed. Great Job!

Stefan: Thanks! Yep, I like Stockers and Super Stockers as well. I think it's cool how close to Stock they are, but anyway they are full race cars. And all little badges, chrome trims, buttons, switches etc have to be original. Hopefully we can make it to run in Sweden, too. If not already in 2014, maybe in 2015. Bob: Thank You, I'm getting better slowly, actually now I've been building exactly ten years and I have a bit over 60 finished builds on my shelf. But there sure is a lot to improve. Jesse: Thanks! I'm glad you got it, since I don't know if I could have explained it any better. I bet yours will turn out at least as good as mine! Interior is finished. I installed kit's decals on the dashboard and with a little black washing I tried to bring some details out. I also put BMF on Door Panels. They didn't turn out good, but luckily they can't be seen that well when everything is together. Everything fit really nicely on place, the interior was really fun to put together. In many kits especially steering column is a pain to get right. But here it worked well, too.

I was also thinking about that Pickup from Gran Torino. It has been one of my favorite movies for a long time and soon there is a possibility to build a replica! I'm really looking forward to these. If I buy two of both, I think I'll be good with them.

The plastic color is white at least in my kit. My pics seem to change the colors a bit, I guess it was because of a bad lightning or something... But all parts are white plastic in person, as I guess they should be. I hope that the strange color doesn't affect to any paint or glue on your kit.

Thanks Very Much, Everyone! I appreciate the kind words! At the start of 2013 I hoped that I could finish 10 builds. I did 12 last year (If I remember correct), but this year I didn't make it, probably because Drag Racing took lots of time in the Summer which is usually when I get the most done. But I'm not really disappointed that I finished only 7, because the quality was better this year than it was last year. And of course that's the main goal I shoot for. I tried some new techniques and got more experience for example in polishing. That paid off on my Barracuda, it's the best paint job I've done so far. Looks like 2013 was a Stock Car year... I finished more Stock Cars than I've built in my whole life before! My plan for next year is to finish a bit more to reach the 10 finished builds, and right now I think everything looks pretty good. I have three builds that are coming together really nicely. Some of them have a bit more work to do, but at least one is getting very close ('62 Impala Super Stock). But I hope to get the Mild Custom '50 and '61 Oldsmobiles done early 2014, too.

Looks like you had a great year! Lots of nice builds and it's always nice to see Factory Stock builds, too. I have always tried to do one build Stock in a year, and since I don't make it every time it's nice to see someone else building lots Stocks. Very nice and clean. The '58 Plymouth might be my favorite.

6. Tim Flock '55 Chrysler. 7. '71 Plymouth Barracuda Pro Stock.

This year wasn't the best one for me. Even though I think my build quality improved again, but I finished only seven models in 2013. I've been well over 10 on the last few years... Well anyway here they are. 1. '53 Hudson Hornet. 2. '62 Pontiac Catalina Super Stock (This was basically done in 2012, but I finally got the hood painted in 2013). 3. '64 Plymouth Belvedere Stock Car. 4. Gumball Rally Camaro. 5. '77 Chevy Van.

Thanks Guys! Stefan: Yep you're right. Close up pictures show all little flaws a lot bigger than you can see them in person. On the other hand it is a good thing, because when seeing the flaws in bigger scale, they are easier to fix. But then again the parts don't look that good in pics.... Men jag är nöjd med den här motor. Tackar! Jesse: I tried to find a picture or two of the lowering, but I couldn't find any. My English is not the best, but I'll try to explain as good as I can. If this doesn't make any sense, ask again and I'll try to answer more clearly. On the front end, the spindles are molded together with the rear axle. There are little holes on the spindles where the tire will be glued in. My plan was to move those holes up so that the stance is as low as possible. So I cut the spindles in three pieces and glued them back together in a bit different way so that the part where the hole is, was glued as high as possible. The rear end was much easier. I just used shorter rear springs and mounted the rear axle in a different angle to get the tires sitting lower. Only thing I really had to do was to grind that frame a little to get the axle on place. I hope this makes sense. The white walls are the ones that came with the kit. If you kit doesn't have the white walls, it is (If I remember correctly) an earlier copy of this kit and was it so that you can get replacement white walls from Revell if the kit you have doesn't have those white walls already. I'm not 100% sure on this, but it was something like this if I remember right. Someone else might know a better answer for this, but anyway the tires I have came with the kit.

Yep, sanding is important. Especially in bodies, because sanding removes mold lines and other 'flaws' from the body before the painting. If you paint on that bare plastic without sanding, all of those 'flaws' are visible after painting. Primer is good to show flaws that still need to be taken care of. For example you sand a body and it looks smooth. Then you primer it and you can see that there still goes one highly visible mold line on the body. Then it's easy to remove that one (Putty will work fine) and then another primer coat and then paint. Primer also helps the paint to stick in your body. Gluing parts before painting... Well it depends. When building an engine, only parts that I glue together before painting are the engine block halves. Then it's possible to smooth out the seam in the center before painting. But all other parts I paint separately. But then again on the body, if it has for example separate front clip (Like MPC '86 El Camino) I glue it on place before painting, and if the part doesn't fit perfectly, I fill the gap with sheet styrene and putty. Or if there shouldn't be a seam on a real car, I fill that seam away. Then I paint.

Wow that's a big bunch of great information! Thanks Alan! I'll try my hand at building the Fenderwell headers. I probably will end up making them from solder since that works pretty good for me. I will try making those heat shields as well, I hope I can scratchbuild them for this one. That engine shot is really helpful, even if it's really small size, but it's clear picture and I can see lots of details there to make my model correct. And yep, as Jason said your collectors look beautiful! I will have to try that as well. I will also build that kind of oil pan. That shouldn't be as hard as the headers will be but once done it sure makes a difference. Your oil pans look really good! You said you vacuformed the air cleaner base... What did you use as a basis/master for that vacuformed part? The tires won't be a problem since I'm in process of making a master of tall Frontrunners since I have a '73 Chevelle and '75 Cutlass waiting for those tires. When I get that master done, I'll send it to my friend's and he'll cast it in resin. I have to take three pairs of those then. Or then I'll use the Frontrunners from Lindberg '64 Dodge 330 kit. A Big Thank You for Alan. This is really important information, and I think now I'll just try to get this one as correct as possible.

Hey Alan, thanks for a good information! This might not be a 100% correct replica, but I definitely would like to get it close. Do you have any pictures of those parts? I mean that there might be a bit different looking fenderwell headers and those oil pans... And how does the air cleaner base look something like this? I haven't looked at the chassis parts that much. The rear axle might stay as it is, depending on what I have in my parts boxes, but those Slapper Bars need to be replaced. I really appreciate the information. If you (or anyone else) can help with a couple of pictures of those parts, I'd be even happier.

Great looking builds! I like all of them, but that '48 Ford Custom fits my eye the best. All others are nicely done as well, looks like you had a good year. I've been thinking about building a Factory Stock '32 Ford for a while. Just needs to find the AMT kit.

Does this kit share some parts with Revell's '53/'54 Chevy? A friend of mine had this Hot Rod Series Chevy years ago and he was building it as a Gasser with a 409 and Blower. If I remember correct, that engine was from Revell's kit but of course I can remember wrong as well...

Thanks for the comments Everyone. Steve: This kit seems to be worth buying and building. These Novas are really nice cars. Jason: Looks like many people got this one for Christmas. Drag Radial car would be an interesting one for sure. Of course I'm more Stock Eliminator kind of guy, but whatever you build from it, I know it'll be an incredible build. Two Racemasters...Dang, you had better luck than I did ! Sean: That book might be a good one. I gotta see if I can find it somewhere with a reasonable price. And interesting information, too, something that I didn't know but I read somewhere that this Nova that I'm building had no decals on it, all texts etc were hand painted. Carl: That trimming with a Hobby Knife would have been a good idea. It took some time to get the letters sanded smooth so I think you did it just the right way. Just a minor update. I detailed the wheels today. I started by painting the holes with Revell Flat Black and once that was dry I did two very light black washes for the wheels with black washing liquid from The Detailer. Then I painted the bolts and center caps (What are they called in English?) and test fitted how the wheels fit on the tires.

Thanks Tom! It means a lot when coming from such a talented builder like you. I got the dashboard clear coated with Maston clear. I finished the steering wheel, too. I painted it with Revell Gloss Black first (With a paint brush) and then I painted the horn ring (?) with Revell's silver. After that I installed the little decal on the center and when it dried, I used Revell Gloss Clear to mount the glass cover on the top of the decal. The engine is almost finished, too. It will need a couple of details and some detail painting and touch ups before it can be installed. But I did some black washing for it to get it looking a bit more realistic. I don't know if I succeeded in it or not though. And then I of course installed all of the parts that the kit offers. Somehow that engine doesn't look as good as it does in person...

Very nice looking Comet! Looks like you did a great job on painting this model. Decals seem to fit perfectly on place, too. This build has the correct look and feel, even if Jo-Hans inner fenders and that empty area in front of the radiator might not be perfectly right if compared to real car. But the work that you did is outstanding. Where are those red things on top of the carburetors from (Don't exactly know what they are called in English....)?

I guess there should be someone in Norway who makes his own calendars. Here in Finland we have many different kinds of calenders for sale and I bought one that includes American Cars Burning Rubber. There are also Hot Rod, Drag Racing and Abandoned Gas Station calendars and some more that I'm not sure about. I bet someone makes them in Norway as well... Well what I got on Christmas... Lots of cool things for example a couple of Go Getters' CDs, that Calendar what I mentioned earlier, some tools, chocolate, etc. Then I got also our new Team Shirt! Then I got this: And of course these: That Nova can be seen in Drag Racing Models. The Impala will be a Junior Stocker, matching 1961 NHRA Rules.

I guess I'll paint my valve covers black and that's why I started removing paint from them yesterday. Once they are in bare plastic, I can continue the engine. I did something, though. The bellhousing was painted earlier with a mixture made of Humbrol brown and red paints and then it was clear coated with a flat clear. Yesterday I painted the transmission with Humbrol Gun Metal. Just a fast little update to show that this is not forgotten yet!

Thanks Carl och tack Stefan! I got the seats sprayed with flat clear. After that I went ahead and painted the silver areas with a brush with the help of Tamiya Masking Tape. Also the dashboard is primered and painted with that same Metallic Red as the chassis. Door panels were painted with the same color as the seats, though I forgot to take a picture of them... Some other minor things I've done are painting some engine parts to get the engine done and engine bay is painted as well. I should get the dash and door panels clear coated tomorrow. Dash with gloss and door panels with flat clear. And I hope to get the engine pretty much done tomorrow.

I have a big bunch of projects on my bench, '62 Impala is waiting for the second clear coat to dry, '50 and '61 Oldsmobile Customs are waiting for paint to dry in the interior parts and then there is a '60 Fury Mild Custom on my bench as well. But this just had to get going. Santa brought this Yesterday and since it is '60s Stocker I started it immediately by searching reference material about this car. I found more information that usually when building something from this era, so I could start building right away. As I already posted on Car Kit Reviews section, my kit (as well as many others) had one Racemaster and one Good Year slick tire. I sanded the tire texts away with a 400 grit sandpaper. Then I sanded the tires up to 1,000 grit and they looked pretty good. I might finish them with 2,000 grit paper, but I'll have to think about that... Then I moved on to the engine. After some sanding and removing mold flash, I glued the block halves together. With some Liquid Glue by Tamiya and sanding, I got the seam smoothed out and then I painted the block and other parts with Humbrol's orange. The wheels were also painted with Humbrol Polished Aluminium. Here are Pictures of the parts trees... Here the first picture shows one sanded tire and other one as it came from the box. The other one shows both tires sanded smooth. Engine and Wheels. And last... One picture of the real car.

Very Nice Chevy Nova. This year Novas are really nice cars and they look good as AWBs, too. You did an excellent job with this one, and it sure came out fast. Everything looks just spot on.