Chad Shapiro

Very cool. Also, its even cooler that you didnt call it a "rat rod"! Thank you!

you mean this old wreck?

Cool!!

the peep mirror looks like one of the ones I made like 5-6 years back.

Hey Cruz, you mean this old wreck?

Those are the replicas & miniatures ones. It just takes a ton of test fitting, filing, test fitting, sanding, etc. it takes a while to get them to fit. I cut away most of the "extra" material around them (you'll understand what Im talking about when you have them in front of you), and id say I spent a few weeks of work to get them to fit, and they still may need some more tweaking. It was definately ther most frustrating part of building the model so far. I can post some pics of the step by step buildup of the surround that it fits into if you'd like.

Sure, I know they did (well, in what I would concider the "golden era" of customs, real Appleton 112's and 552's were what were used pretty much exclusively), but still, if you look at your photo, they are mounted in a way that the actual body of the spotlight faces in the same position (towards the windhsield/cowl) as a "real" spot would face in its resting position. The bracket is mounted just below the windshield stainless trim, not on the fender with the lense of the spotlight facing down in the opposite position, looking onto the hood and upper fender. If they were mounted a little closer to the corner of the windshield (moved outward just a few inches) on that car in your picture, they'd look even more convincing. Dummy's were put out in the mid 50's to work on cars that didnt allow the space and layout for the real deal with a handle passing through. The dummy's (with the exception of the Kustom Kraft appleton 112 knock offs) have always been much smaller, and more "egg" shaped than real spots, and never quite had the look that the real Appleton's gave to the early 50's customs. In fact on Richard Glymphs 1:1 1959(?) T bird he recently built, he took the handles off of a set of real Appleton 112's so he could have the real deal on a later body style, as the dummy's just look, well, "dummy". Im not trying to be rude or start a pissing match, but Im a spotlight fanatic. Ever since I got my first real (i.e. 1:1 scale) Appleton 112, spots are one of the first thing I look at on a custom (after the lines of course). You see very few cars these days with the real thing (its very hard to put real appletons on a mid 50's mercury, and if you can find the right brackts, the right hand one sells for $1500, just for the bracket! but they do exist), but the dummy ones can at least be placed in a location where they look somewhat convincing.

This is my first project after returning to modeling after a 5-6 year break. I started on it almost a year ago, and hope to finnish it this winter. So far the folowing has been done: -top chopped a scale 4" -roof split lengthwise to align A pillars -trailing edge of trunk cut off and molded to body to form the cowl that never existed -trunk recessed 4" along with top to keep proper contour -trunk narrowed to follow contour of roof lines -rear quarters stretched and 56 packard taillights fitted -rear fenders widened 1.5 scale inches to mimick 54 chevy fenders -front wheel opening flared -B posts angled -doors lengthened 3 scale inches -headlights frenched with buckets/trim rings I turned from aluminum -hood lengthened and peaked -front grill area formed from brass and styrene -new windshield frame formed so glass snaps in from behind All beltline trim and drip rails will be replaced once the bodywork is complete. I feel that most cars look like blobs without drip rails (shaved drip rails are an excuse to not complete the job!), so flowing drip rails and beltline trim I feel will greatly add to the lines of the car. The interior is all scratchbuilt traditional 50's tuck and roll, Ill post some of that later. Im still on the fence about the Caddy dagmars. If I keep them, they will need some major reqorking. Rear bumper is a 55 chevy mounted upside down thats not in the pics. No decision on color yet, but something cool from House Of Kolor, any ideas?

Interesting location for the spotlights. If they were real, and had handles, would you reach under the dash to use the spots? Spotlights and a foreward rake, and I was hoping to forget that the early 1990's ever happened! .........and I figured some kid coming back from the war in the late 40's invented "the rake". Oh well, guess I was wrong.

clean and sexy!............................ Just like the Cruz man himself!!!!!!!!!

Id be honored Lylye, lets hope its a long long time before we have to worry about that. Your not that old (well, maybe compared to me, your kinda up there). The older I get, the younger you seem. So in reality, maybe your getting younger? Steve Garrison builds a lot of neat hot rods. He also has a real (i.e. big) 29 Ford roadster. I dont believe he's on any of the internet forums.

The Orange Crate based model is being built by Steve Garrison

Thanks Bill and Chris. Wow, this is a cool place. My biggest gripe about the "other" board was all the silly code names people had. You never really knew who you were talking too. After reading the only real rule listed here, I see your required to have your real name in your signature, if its not your user ID. Very Cool! Here are some other little machine work things. This is a little Model A engine I made when I got my first milling machine when I was 15. I was mainly copying kit parts, and its not the most detailed or accurate, and the fit of the parts is off, but it was my first exercise ever on the mill. This is a pair of 1/8th scale bee hive oil filters. I made them in 2 pieces to make the machining process easier, and besides, its fun to unscrew the top! Im planning a scratchbuilt 1/8th 32 ford chassis(with a nailhead!), but Im not happy with the contour of these pieces, so they wont be used. This is a project Im doing with Jeff Sauber. Its a dodge lancer style wheel cover. There are 2 different center bar inserts, an alternate version with a bullet in the center. I did the metalwork, Jeff did the plastic bars. Eventually, they will be cast in resin.

I know this post is from a few months back. I just saw it today. Not to be critical, but in attempt to maybe make things easier, I'll jump in. Right off the bat, there is something wrong with either your sherline or the cutting tool. The surface finnish can be much much better than that with minimal effort if everything is set up correctly. Judging by that picture, it is not setup correctly. There could be excessive play in the machine, but with a sherline, its doubtful. The berings in the headstock shouldnt really go bad on a sherline for a LONG long time. Really excessive wear on the ways is also kind of doubtful. It looks to me like a cutting tool problem. Either it is dull, isnt cut right, or isnt on center. Also the aluminum may not be the right alloy. If its the "mystery alloy" stuff you get at a hardware store like home depot, that stuff is not easy to cut smoothly. It gums up and leaves a poor finnish. 6061 alloy cuts great, and is very easy to find. Post some pics of the cutting tools you are using. You will find that a properly cut and setup tool will make the cuts go much smoother, and leave a great surface finnish with little effort.

Just joined the board after several of my friends from MAMA told me this place was cool. After having a pretty sour taste in my mouth from another message board, this place seems pretty neat. For those that dont know me, I started building car models when i was around 11-12, and have known many of the guys on this board since I was about 13. I left modeling at around age 16. I have always been into 50's cars and hot rods, and during my time away from modeling, got into 50's style customs. I still love hot rods too, but not the high tech stuff I was into when I was in my teens. I returned to modeling a year ago, and usualy only get time to work on models when im not working on my big cars. Here are some past projects of mine: Black and Gold 32 This was an idea of mine that I had to try out. I made all of the brass parts from bar and round stock. I was about 14 when I built this. Hemi for a 32 vicky project. I built this engine for a 32 ford vicky I started, but never finished. The heads are milled with the guidance of Norman Veber. The spark plug boots I mastered in brass, and they were duplicated in resin by Norman (They are in the RMCoM line). Headers are made from solder, aluminum tubing, and turned aluminum. 50 Chevy Fastback This is my current project. Its chopped, hood reshaped, grill opening reshaped, rear quarters extended. 56 packard taillights, flush fit glass. Every pannel has been cut up. I'll post more pics of it later.