MrObsessive

Lookin' Good Bruce! Good choice of color for the floor pan other than your basic black!

Good God!! That thing IS huge!! You'd need to have that thing in it's own room just for display! Not that much into buses............but I DO like that! Larry do you know if that has engine detail (not much can be seen I'm sure) or is it a curbside?

Whoops!! It actually is a Country Sedan! I had Squire on my mind when I typed the heading. I did change the title. No, I don't care for the fake wood on this particular wagon.............some it looks good on, some it doesn't. If I had a wagon and that special lady, the only wood I wanna see is..........................No nevermind! Because.......errr.........No I can't say that either!

Here's the rear bumper that's given............It was modified to suit the wagon which is very different from the sedan. And a shot of the taillights which I think were scratchbuilt also as I've not seen these on any model before. Nice set of wheels and tires here...........although I'm not sure these wheels came on the standard Country Squire. These appear to be more LTD like, but I guess thay could have been ordered from Ford. You Ford guys out there would know! The chassis appears to fit fairly well...........I don't like the empty look of the wheelwells, so when I get around to building this-----some filling in is in order! I'd imagine that some reshaping of the exhaust would be needed to as most wagons I've seen, have their exhaust exiting out the side as opposed to out of the rear due to the possibilty of exhaust fumes coming through the open rear window. Here's an excellent example of how nice this one can be built! I got these pics off eBay-------it was built by Paul Hettick (eBay handle: Robbbbbb57). His I notice has different wheelcovers than what Modelhaus gives you. I'm not sure what kit his wheelcovers are from, I kinda like his better than the ones in the transkit. His model is what inspired me to buy this kit! Price for the kit in case you're wondering, is $50+S&H plus whatever the base kit costs if you don't have it. I give this one a Highly Recommended rating especially for us guys who are into the "Mainstreamers".

Well, I got a pleasant surprise by my postman as I got the latest and greatest from The Modelhaus! I had bought this around the end of the year and had almost forgotten about it 'til this box shows up on my doorstep. I have to give kudos to Don and Carol as the turnaround time was very quick and the model is excellent as always! Here are some pics to show whatcha get.............. First you'll need this or its reissue to build the transkit........... I've had this kit for over 10 years............and wasn't that crazy about it------in fact was about to get rid of it until I seen this........ As you can see, very little cleanup is needed to make things go smoothly. Whoever did the master knows their stuff as the conversion is dead on accurate IMO to the 1:1. Here's the rear section interior tub............some filing may be in order to get it to fit squarely in the interior. Here's the glass they give you...... I gotta admit, I'm not too crazy about the glass------when I build this one (probably later this year), I'm going to replace all the glass including the windshield, with clear stencil sheet (acetate). Some more to come!

Brian, who makes this kit? You've GOT to finish one of Ferrari's finest!!

Hmmmm..............I think that song was one of those records that came out near the end of the year and into the next. Here in Central PA, that song was being played very heavily on our local radio during April/May '74. One reason I remember, is because I was very sick for about 2 weeks back then and all I could do is lie in bed and listen to the radio. I swear that song was played it seemed every 90 minutes! I got nosy and checked out that song on Wikipedia and they list it as a '73 and '74 single. Nevertheless, a GREAT song just the same and probably one of the top driving tunes out there!

If you read between the lines Bob, that sentence says more than you know!! .............So does "Easy Off" work days and will she take a check? Gonna be another nice one from you Bob! '74's aren't often seen on the show tables anywhere. That's a neat idea of putting "Donk" wheels on one side and not permanent. Now if I can just get that '74 tune "Radar Love" outta my head!

As always, neat stuff to see Mike! I'd like to get back over there again, especially as the weather gets nicer. Is that a '68 California Special Mustang I see peeking in the corner of the pic here next to the T-Bird??................One of my favorites!

Harry, our local Ford dealer has a 1:1 car show every year (Mostly Mustang but other Fords too), and they have an outdoor model contest. It's held in the summer around August, but they're all under a well secured tent..............here in PA it can get super-duper hot. I've been to the show a number of times, but I've never seen anything like that! I'm not crazy about entering outdoor shows for the simple reason that at any moment a sudden strong breeze can come up..................wiping your model out in a matter of seconds. I'd be forever sick if something like that happened considering how long it takes me to build a model!

OH NO!! Looks like the sun got the best of that! That was a sharp looking model! Where was the contest held where it would get so hot this time of year?? Edit: Okay I see you're in Southern California.............they had all the models out in the sun like that or was it under a tent? YIKES!!

Excellent bodywork Colin!! The sides both look symmetrical to me! Not always an easy task especially with curves involved. Fujimi did the same thing BTW with their '69 GT-40 Gulf cars................the 1:1's have very "bulged" front and rear fenders that to my eyes seem a little flat on the kit. It appears that they used basically the same body as the earlier 427 cars I guess to save on tooling costs. For us purists though, it's a real pain in the tush to make 'em accurate! I've got a 1/24 Lemans Miniatures '69 Gulf GT-40 that I started a few years ago but gave up on because the resin was giving me trouble. I should start that one again sometime since now I have some resin experience under my belt. Keep us posted on the progress!

OK, you GM guys answer me this..................Will that '69 442 chassis work for GM intermediates after '72? I'm thinking of a detailed project down the road which'll involve turning the just released '75 Chevy Laguna S-3 stocker into a street car. Were the wheelbases and frame rails the same for the '73-'77 cars?

If you have a food dehydrator, that'll loosen 'em up also. Set it for 110°+ for a few minutes and it should twist right off with ease.

HA! That's the same thing I was a thinking when I saw my mug there! Just to tease the one's that think they can pose as me...............here ya go!..........full size with a face only a mother could love!

Yeah, I have some of the pie pan aluminum........but it dented too easily for me when I tried to hold it to drill something when working on projects in the past. The cat food can aluminum is not that hard to cut and drill.............the hobby shop stuff definitely is! I had no trouble drilling it through, as I have my drill bits still intact. I was going to make working springs and shackles--------but I'm trying to push things along a bit since the chassis is pretty much static. Not to mention, '55's have kind of a weird shackle shape that might not have held up well even with the aluminum I use. As the pic below shows............blackened brass (about .020-.030") would be better suited for something like that, especially if I were to make it functional.

Super Gorgeous Chris! I like this color better than Ferrari Red because it's so classy looking for this car!

Hi Tim and welcome! Mostly what I use to get rid of chrome effectively is Easy Off Oven Cleaner. It's as near as your local grocery store. Make sure you get the kind in the yellow can and NOT the "Fume Free" stuff! That ###### is pure junk and won't take off the chrome. Some others may mention using ammonia or CSC Super Clean which will work also, but it won't take off the lacquer coating underneath the chrome which will definitely show when you began to paint. This is particularly true of the ammonia...............while the CSC will do so, but it can take a loooooong time to take off the lacquer undercoat. The oven cleaner had the chrome stripped in a matter of minutes.......while the lacquer base was off within the hour. As always when using oven cleaners, be sure to wear rubber gloves as this can be some nasty stuff on bare hands! Hope this helps!

In a word.....Magic! No seriously, I use very sharp scissors to cut the aluminum. The aluminum is soft enough without dulling them, but its pliability is limited..............bend it too many times and it's toast. As far as holding them............mainly with my fingertips (along with fingernails I have left), and a steady hand.

Here's the original thread by Peter Lepold.............some of the finished pics are missing unfortunately, but the bodywork pics that he did are still there. This should give you an idea of what it takes to make that car look right!

I work for an electronics company where our primary job is cables and electronic connectors. The interesting thing about where I work is that our building is an R&D building where the eventual long run production ends up in China. I mainly run solder production and I'm the guy that gets to train folks in micro soldering, and I have the fun job of giving folks the boot if they're not up to snuff. Just had to do that recently.............a young lady I was training just couldn't hack it after two whole weeks of training. The company didn't fire her (she works for a temp agency), but needless to say she won't be touching any solder irons in my section anytime soon! I also from time to time teach a class in soldering requirements according to industry standards (IPC-620)..........that can be a real cliffhanger as I either pass or fail people in the course. I've gotten more than an earful from employees that failed and have to retest.................especially from folks on another shift------I work third shift BTW, which is nice because there's nowhere near the drama as daylight shift can have!

The "horseshoe" that the cable runs out of I made by bending H channel brass. I needed to solder some bead wire to the horseshoe, so I got out my vice and set the horseshoe in it................... Here's the horseshoe with the beadwire now soldered on......... BTW, here's the kind of solder I use.........just regular 'ol Radio Shack silver bearing lead solder. Now here's the emergency brake setup with all the "v" clip made by pinching the wires together and running a bead of solder....... I then scratchbuilt a swivel arm out of brass..........dipped it in Blacken It, and then attached it to the frame........... While the epoxy on the swivel arm was drying, I next needed to make the rear part of the emergency brake cable which'll go into the brake "drums". I took a larger size of bead wire and wrapped coax cable shielding wire around it to simulate the shielding that is seen on a lot of emergency brake cables.............. And here's a pic of the whole works together......... I need to touch up the swivel arm a little more with some flat black paint...........particularly where the little "bolts" are holding the arm of the horseshoe. Now here's the pic of the "almost" completed chassis! I say almost because there are some tiny details I'd like to add such as the floor bolts, and some tiny detail painting. BTW, the mufflers were semi scratchbuilt out of the mufflers that were originally cut away...............just some sheet plastic was added to make them more "whole". The front exhausts are bent solder------which was easier to manipulate with all the bends, while the rear exhausts are bent aluminum rod. Note also the muffler clamps which are Detail Master items........... Well that's all she wrote for now! I still need to do a crossover brake line for the front, and some other minor details which might not be seen later. Now it's on to the interior which I swiped out of the diecast-------this'll require some repainting and probably reshaping as they are two different scales. Stay tuned!

Sorry for the long delay with the update! Between working third shift and trying to get other things done, I don't have the ambition most days to sit still long enough to compose what's been done besides building the model itself. I like to do more than just show pics..............I try to give a step by step look of what's been done so that those that are interested can maybe refer to this down the line for another build. Here's the latest......... The rear end of the car was just too plain for my tastes, so I needed to kinda dress things up a bit. Leaf springed cars incorporate spring clips which attach to the axle.................Most cars that have leaf springs have a similar setup so I didn't try to get to the exact nut and bolt shape, just a reasonable fascimile of what it looks like. The springs were painted with Alclad Steel, while the axle is a basic acrylic gloss black toned down a scooch. The spring plates are aluminum made from...............Yup! Cat food can aluminum! A drain plug was added too.................just some brass bolts I have which was dipped in a solution called "Blacken It". One thing I forgot to take a pic of but it's definitely there, is the crossover brake line which runs out of a T that sits on top of the axle. I thought I took a pic of it but no dice........I forgot to take it! I next need to run a fuel line before the axle gets set into place-------I drilled a slight channel through a couple of the frame railings for the lines (brake and fuel) and according to pics of the 1:1 I have, they run side by side to the front of the car. I had a hard time seeing where the fuel tank line exits in the rear, so I had to kinda guess where the logical location would be............... I added a couple of hold down clamps per the 1:1........... Next, it was time to make an emergency brake cable-------I got some nice undercar shots from a '55 on eBay, which showed a nice pic of this........... More to come.................

We had a great turnout for the meeting today, and for once I remembered to bring my camera! Forgive the blurriness of a few of the pics-----depending on where the model was sitting and the lighting, the camera didn't want to cooperate! Here's a sample of what was there......... An absolute stunner from Cruz! Folks you've got to see this '49 in person! Not sure of the builder of this one...............but a super incredible job just the same! Another excellent '32 in the works from Lyle Willits! Wanna see more?.................just click here!