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Tim I remember this one as well. It was a jaw dropper then, just as it is now. That paint has held up beautifully.

Nice job, those are some pretty simple kits. They respond really well to a bit of imaginative detailing and scratch building. Like what you did with the shirt. I've seen Weldon's work on his versions of Mother's Worry and others, they're nice in their own sort of way. Like yours because you added your own details. Looks great! I've got two Mother's Worry on the bench right now, that I'm building for my nephew. First one is a first issue,it is built stock with the exception of plug wires and a mural on the back of the shirt. I wanted to build it like a well built 60's model. Second one is from the last release, which is being built with some additions, 389 heads from AMT original '36 Ford, blower from same or '40 Ford (parts given to me from late uncles stash), interior will be flocked, dropped front (resin) axle, scratch built quick change rear end, added bed from '56 Ford Pick Up not sure what vintage that part was, it is being painted with acrylic (Wicked Colors) will get a clear coat of polished future. Both models ride on stock wheels and tires. I've built quite a few of the Roth Kits, didn't realize they were accepted here as legit models or I would have posted one or three. A lot of people look down on them and Weird Ohs, probably because they are so simple that they never got built by anyone other than kids. Really hope that Ed Roth's widow would quit being so weird with releasing the rights to Ed's stuff. She is actively going after anyone who sells anything remotely related to Ed Roth's artwork, models or slogans, she wants money. She is the reason why Jimmy Flintstone quit selling his "original" mastered Ed Roth items. She wasn't even around Ed when he was doing his thing, she even discouraged Ed from doing his artwork, which is why after they moved to Utah that he only built a few "cars" and trikes. Too bad, there were a lot of interesting things that came from Ed's mind.

Spraying acrylic paints is sort of a learning curve for those of us who have sprayed toxic anything onto our models and other stuff for years. Lacquer used to be kind of fun until the "lacquer buzz" turned into the "lacquer headache"! One of the automotive Art magazines I subscribe to has a monthly column on materials safety, seems a whole lot of us Old farts are getting sensitized to the chemicals we've used for many years. I've been pretty careful over the years, I got laughed at once or twice for wearing respirators while painting even with rattle cans, I've had a Paasche spray booth for a long time. I've noticed the weird side effects of using many of the paints was lessened just by using a few simple safety items and techniques some as easy as reading labels.

I've always made a template to transfer one side to the other. If I dont I never get them to match. I use the methods mentioned above, drum sander, sandpaper wrapped around the tire. The only thing that you have to watch with sandpaper around tire or other round object is remember to allow for enough clearance.

jb, Joseph's description of "Reducer" is spot on with my understanding what it is. The term goes back farther than Acrylic and water based paints, it probably came about when paint manufacturers went to "paint Systems" I.e. Using same and or recommend thinners from the paint manufacturer. It may refer to the fact that there is a thinning agent only versus a thinning agent with an accelerator or retarder. Hobby Lobby (other dealers probably too) sells a DVD along with the Wicked Colors which gives some pretty good application tips. One which probably would have helped your first paint job would be to "roughen" the surface with something like a Scotchbrite pad to give it a little tooth. This probably is the reason you got a pilled effect where the paint beaded up on the surface. They go into reducing and the use of non-pigmented acrylic base mixed in with the paint itself as well as some basic manipulation of the air pressure. I would recommend picking up the DVD for anyone new to acrylic painting as well as watching Chris Chapman's Acrylic Tutorials here in the Tips, Tricks section. I currently thin the Wicked Colors with their Reducer right around 1:1, air pressure set at 20 - 25 psi, so far I have only shot through a gravity feed airbrush, it may need adjusted a bit for siphon feed. I haven't had a surface that I didn't do some bodywork on yet so I haven't just scuffed the surface and sprayed, it works on their DVD so I'm sure it will work on a models surface as well.

What a nice looking T Coupe, great color choice. W-Head motor is another cool choice, lakes style headers are perfect length. Notice that you did a bunch of great looking work to the frame, round tune crossmember updates the T-Bucket frame to current practices. Totally believable Hot Rod, (one of those things I always check out on most any model, is it plausible? This one definitely is.)

Actually supercharging is easier than turbocharging a Mini. Judson made one which I believe was the same blower as used on Aircooled VW motors. Recently a company called Minimania minimania.com here in the states and Minispares in UK have marketed a supercharger kit for the Mini targeting the 1275 cc engine. (for a model there is very little if any noticeable differences between an 850 through 1275 cc engines.). The attached pic shows a blown Classic Mini, one of the members of the Mini Club that I belong to has a Clubman GT Wagon (Traveler) with a blower on it, very quick Mini, Clubman had a squared off front end. His is almost the same color as this one he runs early Cooper S wheels. It's regularly thrashed on the local Auto-X circuits, no garage queen. Hope this gives you some ideas. The blower in the picture wouldn't be all that hard to model it could probably be scratch built out of evergreen or Plastruct shapes without too much difficulty. Sits on top of a stock type downdraft intake.

1965 Pontiac GTO, first car I bought and owned myself, right during the early '70's gas crunch, gas went up to a dollar overnight. Couldn't afford to feed the Goat on a daily basis, so it became a weekend cruiser. Enter a '57 Oval Window VW Bug complete with oil bleeding 36 fire breathing horses! Got better gas mileage, until I discovered Volks motors could be Hot Rodded 36 hp banished to a far corner of the garage in went a stroker big bore motor and all the other go fast goodies,,, soon learned to build a transaxle that didn't explode, next it was axles... I'm pretty sure I shoulda just left that leaky old 36 hp motor where it was in the first place. Then there was a ride in a real Mk II Austin Mini Cooper (it wasn't an "S" not all Coopers were S models), speeding around those narrow twisty Scottish Lanes. What a thrill! That memory stuck with me through my adult driving days, through Hot Rods, Camaro's and other cool cars. I kept going back to that little Mini how fun it was, how it made me smile, how it felt like you were doing 90 even though you were zipping along at 25 MPH! How it felt like a go kart! In 2000 I realized that memory, all those same goofy feelings rushed back, I get the same silly grin every time I drive it! My neighbors look at me like I'm nuts, or speeding through the neighborhood at 10 MPH! As silly as it sounds it's one of the most fun and eye catching cars I've ever owned, no ones a stranger, lots of people have Mini stories embellished or not! Kids think it's the coolest car they've ever seen, even a five year old claims he could drive it and he probably could! Lots of people remember the Mini's Ralley Days, winning the Monte Carlo, being cheated out of it for tons of modifications or other reasons besides the real one. It's non-stock headlights, which caused it to be disqualified. One guy with a strong Brit accent told me where he was from there were Mini's all over, well Duh and just how many of 'em have you seen here in the U.S.? Er uhm.... To say this funny little car made an impression on me would be an understatement! Edited to correct stupid alternate words inserted by IOS8's autocorrect, what will they give us next!

You should be proud of that one, very realistic clean model. '60 Ford Starliner is a favorite, don't see that many around.

Like your Irish flag idea for the colour. Rode in my first Mini a Mk II Cooper (non "S") while spending the summer in Scotland with friends from the States, buddy's dad was transferred over there for three years. His dad bought a Mini and a Daimler Limo while they were there the Limo was their family car! They shipped the Limo back and sold the Mini because it was a bit rusty. The Daimler had the coolest looking engine, I believe it was like a 289 ci, but it had valve covers that looked like a Chrysler Hemi. That first ride in a Mini got me hooked, years later I have one in the garage. Didn't notice until it was pointed out about the rather large weave pattern of the med tape, it sorta looks a bit upscale especially on something as small as a Mini. 1.). Turbos are pretty much of a pain on a Mini, reason being the exhaust and intake are both up against the firewall bulkhead. 2.). You might try a little darker 1 - 2 shades or so on the Minilites, normally the spokes are painted and rims are clear coat over natural machined finish. Otherwise you're off to a great start.

I've been using the Wicked Colors for a little while, use their reducer. It lays down really well, shoot it through my Harborfreight DeLuxe airbrush. Use future for clear coat polished out with Novus plastic polish. This system gives a very good shine without a bunch of toxic fumes in the Hobby Room. There wasn't much of a learning curve (for me) getting the system to work. Still use decanted rattlecan primer to "anchor" the bodywork.

That's one of the scenes from the original "Itallian Job". One of those movies that you just gotta watch. Used to be listed in the ten greatest chase scenes, though I'm sure that it's probably not anymore there have been a few others that have come along maybe not as plausible.

Nice work! Even better building period correct stock. Hard to resist building something without modifying it just a little bit. I think this is also the first one I've seen built as a Bobtail version looks good too! The other thing I like is that you polished out the Red Plastic, a whole lot of them were built this way, I remember seeing something about using "toothpaste" to polish out the plastic to look like paint, might have even been in the instructions. Little T was one of Monogram's best Hot Rods they got it spot on without being overly fiddly with the pose-able steering. Brings back a lot of memories, I built several when I was a kid, wish that this one would be re-released in its stock form with all the possible variations, Bobtail, Turtle Deck, Pick Up. When I see this kit now, I see an easy way to build a reasonable copy of T.V. Tommy Ivo's T-Bucket, drop in a Nailhead and you're almost there.

Yep, a few times actually, I have a 1/32 scale split window VW in the slot car section.

jb, I already knew the "Secret Source"! Thanks for the ideas, keep 'em Rollin' in!

What's a good source for 1/25th scale motorcycles, vintage or new bikes, dirt bikes, baggers , choppers, road racers? The old Revell 1/25th motorcycles are practically unobtainium price wise there have to be some cool 1/25th scale bikes out there. Looking for something to display in the back of a pickup or something. I've seen some die cast bikes on eBay but without seeing them in person it's a little hard to know if they are worth the bother or not. There has to be something out there, I'm probably not the only one with this question. If you've got'em lets see'em!

Really like the direction that you are taking this one, not using the Wimbledon White is another good styling breakaway from the restoration crowd. This one should be a real stunner when finished! Go with a couple metal doughnuts around the exhaust outlets, would look good with a pair of cut out plugs on the outlets then run some sort of exhaust beneath the car. Idea two - when I first saw this outlets I first thought, twin side pipes; there was a Mercedes of the era that ran a similar setup. Throttle bodies - Like the setup you have already but, an improvement could be triple Webber 48's being used as throttle bodies, Kinsler and a few others make a conversion for them. Other thoughts - 1. AMT's '51 Bel Aire came with a Wayne cross flow head for its six, these cross flow heads were a hot setup in their day. Visually would create balance under the hood. 2. Headlight Bucket Screens - How about a plexiglass covers ala XKE Jag? Use the stock screened buckets to make a mold of the lens area, then cast lens area in resin include the bezel, smooth out the screen by filling with Bondo, Vacuum form the covers over the resin copies using clear plastic sheet.

Are you going to give it panel sides or leave it open? Either way this kit builds a really nice C Cab, I built a couple of these back in the day. Hmmmm need to build a couple more!

Styrene/plastic model bodies are like rubbing a balloon building static as you go. Part of the issue is the buildup of static within or around the body itself, from doing bodywork, sanding removing the sanding debris all contribute to the buildup of static. Atmospheric conditions are another contributing factor, most of us don't paint when it's muggy, but we do bodywork. Models are too small to utilize a static bleed off strap, so static must be removed by rinsing or washing the body. Using damp wiped down cloth helps minimize static buildup to a point. Doing the prep for sign writing and pinstriping on plexiglass and fiberglass panels builds so much static that the paint literally jumps an inch or more off the brush, creating a spiderwebbing effect. I have read in more than one source where Ed Roth used to spit water on the surface to dissipate the static, I was taught to spray the backside of the panel with a spray bottle of water it's always worked for me. Model bodies are too small to spray the backside so you pretty much have to rely on washing and air drying. The only wipe down after the body is dry should be don't with a Tack Rag with he minimum amount of wiping possible.

A guy in the Mini Club that I belong to had one for a while, I believe that it made its way to the states via South Africa. When he sold it it went to Minnesota, then Ontario (to a guy who deals in classic Mini's) last I heard was in Florida. For a camper it was really small, it had the pop up top too, almost more room in a teardrop trailer! Would make a great subject to model.

A frame and correct engine or the upper sheet metal to add to some of the existing VW engines currently available would be nice. I hope that someone will design us a proper VW engine using 3D printing, Please... (He begs with a whiny voice.) I can see where a resin caster might use this technology to make a master, which if the material is difficult to paint May be a good fix while technology and materials refine to a point where it is as easy to finish as styrene or resin.

I picked up a couple of models off of eBay and at Garage Sales only to discover lacquer burn after stripping. In most cases the original builder's fix was to lay the paint over the burned plastic really thick, not a very good fix. How do you go about repairing lacquer burn? Obviously the first steps would be strip then sand out the burn... In the past when I've had this issue it bled back through the paint after strip and sand. Anyone successfully repaired this issue?

I've ordered from them several times. Quality is very good. Service is great.

I remember hearing that term referring to the BB Chev, I also remember seeing Semi-Hemi on cars in a few of the old Hot Rod magazines. I have the March 1966 issue of Hot Rod, the article referenced is pretty interesting. I always wondered if the AMT AWB Chevy II was loosely based on the Bill Mitchell Kit. The article shows them unbolting and rolling the entire Chevy II front end rolling it away from the rest of the car. That was back when Hot Rod was filled with great articles from cover to cover.

That's a totally plausible Woody, something Ford might have actually done either as a concept or a production vehicle. The blue and wood look stunning together.