James Haines (dryplastic)

Beautiful craftsmanship and artwork on wheels!

Thank you Gene! I made the roof from the existing one that came from the kit. I "welded" the front section that flops down to the rest of the roof, and then I cut the rear section off.

Thank you Sam! That 1950's diner your working on looks sweet!

Thanks Chuck! When I opened up the kit and checked it over I realized there was no way it was going to turn out nice. I was originally going to go for a four door hardtop, but decided to go a little nuts with my hot knife and see what would happen.

Thank you Mark!

Thank you very much Harry!

This Ranchero began as a 1/25 scale 1959 Ford Galaxie 500 Skyliner retractable hardtop from Revell. The body of this car is not from a resin body that is available, it was made using the original multi-piece styrene plastic body from the Revell kit. The bed and everything behind the back of the roof was made from scratch. The body has been two-tone painted in the factory offered colors of Colonial White and Grenadier Red with a silver insert in the chrome trim along the sides. The interior has been tri-toned in white, red, and black using 1959 Ford factory interior color combination swatches as a guide. The floor has been covered in plush dark red carpeting. All other chrome trim inside and out was done using bare metal foil. Some of the modifications that were made; 1 - The front and rear bumpers were stripped of chrome, I removed of all casting seams and had them re-chromed along with the fender ornaments. 2 - Chrome trim was added all the way around the edge of the bed to the top of the rear window and around the back window. 3 - The correct number of ribs and indentations for the screws in the bed and on the inside of the tailgate were added. 4 - The tires, white walls, and 1959 Ford hubcaps are from Modelhaus. The old Revell kit only supplied custom 1950's fiesta style hubcaps. 5 - Brushed aluminum panels were added on the bottom of the rear quarter panels. 6 - The 352cu V8 has been painted in the standard Ford blue with spark plug wires, coil wire, copper fuel line, and two red heater hoses were added. 7 - Red, white, blue, and gold colors have been added to the emblems, and the birds on the re-chromed fender ornaments were color detailed too. 8 - A tailgate latch was made from scratch. 9 - A rear emblem was made from scratch and added to the tailgate. 10 - A rear view mirror was added. 11 - A steel antenna was added. 12 - A side view mirror was added. 13 - The rear window was made from scratch. 14- The fuel filler door was moved from behind the drivers side door rearward and down to the correct position for a Ranchero. 15 - The rear section of the undercarriage was been modified to accommodate becoming a pick-up.

Thank you Gary!

Thank you Charlie!

Thanks Randy!

Thanks Kurt! The Caprice Cruiser you made looks like the actual car instead of a model, very nice !

Thank you Harry!

Thanks Jeff!

Thanks Mark! Sorry I didn't take any photos before or during the build. There was an inch of resin dust everywhere from all of the filing and sanding with gravel and I didn't want to damage my camera. I saw your Aston Martin, very sharp looking!

Thanks Jeff! I really like the '48 Lincoln you made, that took a lot of work just getting the body to fit together smoothly.

The 1946 Buick Model 76C Roadmaster is one of the rarest postwar Buick convertibles. Out of 2,587 produced, only four are known to remain. The real car weighs in at 4345 pounds, has a 129-inch wheelbase and sold new for $2,347. It was powered by a 320 cubic inch straight-eight overhead valve engine, making 144 horsepower with a three-speed manual transmission. From 1946 through 1957 Roadmasters were the most elegant and prestigious automobiles that Buick sold. (The information in this paragraph was derived from the © 1998-2008 Conceptcarz.com web site.) This car started its life as a TKM resin 1948 Buick convertible. If you are familiar with TKM models, they are offerings that are unique in the modeling field but are extremely rough in detailing and finish. The body has been completely reshaped. All of the trim, door handles, headlights, taillights, and emblems were shaved off of the body and replaced with styrene parts that were hand sculpted from scratch using new blank styrene plastic. The original interior was cut out and discarded as well as the original sheet metal "chassis". The bumpers were originally part of the one piece casting of the body. They were cut off, re-sculpted then reattached. The poorly shaped original 1948 grille was cut out and discarded. A new 1946 grille was hand fabricated and attached. The dashboard was originally part of the one piece body casting. It has been cut away from the body, re-sculpted and detailed, then reattached. The entire underside and the inside of this car has been hand cut, formed, sculpted from new blank styrene plastic except for the dashboard. All of the interior trim, door handles, window cranks, power window switches, ashtrays, lines in the seats, grab handles on the back of the front seat, etc. are all hand sculpted. The steering wheel was created from several different steering wheels and reworked. The poorly cast one piece resin tires and rims have been heavily modified. The tire part was cut away leaving only the hub caps and white walls. New vinyl tires with an extra large opening for white walls have been modified and then re-assembled. Other special interest areas to note on this model are; 1. Paint is the factory offered color of metallic Sienna Rust. 2. Hand made "bomb sight" hood ornament with steel center "sight". 3. Steel antenna in the folded down position in the center of the windshield. 4. Hand made windshield wipers. 5. Color detailed Buick hood and trunk emblems. 6. Two-toned color coordinated interior 7. Color coordinated carpeting. 8. Shifter arm and turn signal arm on steering column (note that the turn signal arm is mounted in front of the shifter arm). 9. A convertible boot was made from scratch using new blank styrene plastic and has been formed for an extremely snug fit to the body and interior. 10. Rear view mirror. 11. Outside door locks. 12. Gas pedal, brake pedal, and clutch pedal. 13. Brake pedal. 14. Clutch pedal. 15. Sun visors. 16. Custom made 1946 Virginia license plates. There is no chrome plating on this model. Everything else has been painstakingly detailed using Bare Metal Foil, highly polished and sealed with clear coating. Approximate build time - about three months.