GTMust

You're very welcome Mike. I can't wait to see the next progrees pics. Tony

As you already have a flat roof, that could represent the inside "ceiling". A couple of pieces of 3/16" foam core board cut at a triangle shape would represnt the gable ends. Remember that a standard roof pitch is 4:12, that is four high to twelve long. So if your model is 12" from front to back, the centre of the triangle would be 6" inches from each wall. Using the 4:12 rule, the top of the triangle (the "ridge" line of the roof) would be 2" high (half of 4"). Hope this makes sense. The surface of the gable end walls could be covered with very thin 1/32" basswood to look like plywood or scored to look like old siding boards, and stained to appear weathered over the years. Then use more foamcore board to make the two roof slopes, allowing about a 3/16" or 1/4" minimum overhang around the building, add some basswood strip or thick cardboard fascia boards around the foamcore exposed edges and then cover the foamcore with your metal roofing allowing it to overhang the fascia by about 1/16". Along the ridge line at the top of the roof, bend pieces of 1/2" wide thin card and glue them lengthwise over the point where the front and rear roofs meet, to cover the gap. Adding bent or broken eavestrough made from old drinking straws cut in half lengthways and styrene rod for downpipes could then add to the realism... but not absolutely necessary. The whole roof structure can be built independent of the walls and can easily be lifted off. If you want to go this route but are unclear about any of the suggestions I made, feel free to ask. Tony

Hey Mike, you're doing a neat building job there. I'm gonna stick my nose in again on a reality issue that may be worth noting for future builds. Metal ribbed roofing is only used on a sloping roof... not a flat one. The seams between the individual sheets would buckle and the roof would leak like a sieve! And there would be no runoff to keep the water from laying in the low spots on the roof and causing more leaks. Plus it wouldn't be strong enough to support the weight of a person without buckling badly. A flat roof would probably be tar and gravel, and this can easily be modelled with a coarse grit wet and dry paper... maybe 80 grit or lower, real cheap at the hardware store. The edge of the roof would have at least a 9" high parapet with a flashing over it and angled down to the roof to direct the rain water. Sometimes, on some structures, an opening would be made through the parapet at various locations around the roof and the water allowed to spill out into a hopper and then a downspout to the ground. Other times, a central drain would be located on the roof and the downpipe carried inside the roof structure to an outside wall, where it would turn and go down into the floor and out to the sewer. However, having said all that (!), in your particular scenario of an old run down garage in the woods, most likely the building would have a pitched roof with old framing timbers cut down from the trees around the area. Just a few details that may help on this or future builds. Hope you don't mind these suggestions from a retired architect. Great job on the trees and bushes, etc. Looks very realistic. Tony

I can't stand the suspense any longer!!!! It's been two months now........ any more progress? Tony

Some very nice cuttin' and fittin' work goin' on there! I'm going to be watching this one as well. Tony

Great start.... even at this very early stage, I can see the design coming together. The Bugatti influence is obvious and looks right in period. Excellent beginning for a 1930's custom and really in keeping with the era. Are you going to scratchbuild the V16 or use one of the Johan Cadillac ones? Looking forward to following this one. Tony

You've done a fantastic build job on this......... but, man, what a shame to customize such a rare and desirable model! I know...... it's yours and you can do what you want with it, but........ I would have loved that original for my collection of antiques and classics. Oh well.... looks good though! Edit: I just took a closer look and it appears that it may be a diecast. IS it? Tony

It's great to see these kits built up stock and not customized. The seats look interesting though.... what is the finish on them? Nicely built!! Thanks for showing this and I hope you have more to show. Tony

I also use a Kodak Easy Share digital camera. Mine is a simple 8.2 meg pixs 3x zoom. I'm not a camera guru by any stretch of the imagination, but I found it works great for what I need, which is basically close up shots for forum posting. One thing I did discover was that when I got too close to the subject, even on the close up setting, I couldn't get things in focus, similar to your second shot of the engine compartment. By bringing the camera away from the subject and then using the zoom to bring the subject back to fill the frame before focusing, even the very closest pictures were crisp and sharp. If you run into that problem, experimenting between the camera to subject distance and using a suitable zoom setting may be the answer for you too. Apart from that, I find this camera very simple and easy to use and, judging by your pictures, you do to. Hope this helps... if you need it! Tony

You guys are killing me.... it took me a whole bunch of time to get that white paint on the car without screwin' it up.......... and now you want me to cover it up? Is there no justice in the world? And the driver figure..... I think he turned a "whiter shade of pale".... when he figured out how fast that monster would go!!!! Seriously though... I use that driver figure in many of my builds to give it a sense of scale. Without him, you might not realise how big that car actually was. A little different to today's Indy cars, eh? He's sat in a whole bunch of different vintage cars in his time...... he's even driven a 1910 London Transport double decker bus! That's why I never painted him.... his clothing wouldn't suit all the time periods and vehicles he's exposed to! Tony T: That Pyro/Life Like 1910(?) Buick kit is very difficult to find and pretty rare. I've been looking for one on Ebay for a long time to add to my collection and they haven't shown up at any price that I've seen.

Neat info Skip....... A pity they don't produce these in 1/32 or 1/25 scale..... they are beautiful models. BTW... I found out more about the glue bomb I have of the #23 Bowes Seal Fast Special". This model is apparently one of six Indy car racers put out by a company called Best in 1955. When they went out of business a couple of years later, Aurora purchased the rights and produced them until the mid sixties. They were listed as 1/25 scale but they're a mix of 1/25 and 1/32 scales, so somewhat innacurate. I drafted a complete thread on these models, listing each one with pictures that I actually got from the Scale Auto Mag Forum (Pepper my tongue and slap my hand for mentioning that!) but when I hit the 'add reply' button, it disappeared into cyber space. Serves me right for checking out another web site and almost plaguerizing it! Anyway, this is obviously a historical kit, yet I was able to order a complete set of new decals for it from http://www.indycals.net/ . Unfortunately when checking out what I have against the (other forum) description, I see I'm missing the seperate rubber tires and the wheel backs to hold them in place. They look about the same size as some Pyro 1/32 scale wheels and tires I have in my parts supply, so I may be OK. Anyway if I do get around to restoring it I'll post all the relevant info and the rebuild on a seperate WIP thread.

I think I took the picture before the race started, while it was still nice and shiny..... hahaha.... but I get your point. I don't know of any models of real early vintage Indy race cars currently available....... especially in 1/32 scale, but there probably are some early kits out there from the 1950's that I'm not aware of. If there are, I love to hear about them. I do have an early "glue bomb" kit of car #23 "Bowes Seal Fast Special" driven to a win in the 1931 Indy by Louis Schneider which I believe was Miller powered.... but I still have a lot of research to do on this car before I start to restore it. It looks to be about 1/32 scale, but is very basic with no engine or interior, simplified suspension, and wire wheels that are way, way out of scale. I'm surprised that no company ever modelled the Miller or the Marmon Wasp, as both were histically significant race cars.

I'm still scratching my head to figure out how you scatchbuild so fast, so accurately and with so much detail. Pretty soon I'll need one of those hair transplant deals you see on TV! Incredible! Tony

This is the finished version of the 1911 Lozier driven to 2nd place in the 1911 (first) Indianapolis 500 race..... For detail of this race and the finishing controversy, go to the 1/32 scale progress build thread. If you followed the build on this car, you'll know that I ran into a problem trying to figure out how the car looked in the actual race rather than the posed photo. I finally decided to finish the car as the racing version, omitting the spare wheels, side tanks and headlights. (Check out the pictures on the build thread.) I've added the oil pump (hand pumped by the riding mechanic), the steering column and steering wheel and the hand activated brake cable. I would like to add more detail, but I have little information to guide me in that direction..... like guages, foot pedals, external lines and cables, etc.) So here it is with a couple of my other early race cars that I've already posted before. (Mercer and Stutz.) Big monster, wasn't it? Whoops... I missed the radiator cap and the gas filler caps..... why do I always forget something?? Maybe old age is creeping up! Have more detail work to do on the Stutz and have to check and see what other kits I can turn into early racers...........

Mike....... you have my greatest respect! To work with this body shows will power, courage, endurance and stamina.... as well as a little stubborn streak, I suspect? Stay with it my friend, from what I've seen so far, I'm sure the finished product will amaze us all and show what a true craftsman can do (even though I know from your previous comments on this and other builds, that you don't consider yourself one). Tony

A nice build Jeff. Was there an actual Gulf sponsored IMSA Mustang or is this a phantom? Certainly looks very nice and very realistic in the Gulf colors. Sorry you lost interest in the pace car. I would have liked to see it finished. BTW..... We have to thank whale392 (Brad) for starting this, not me. Being a big Mustang fan, I for one, am very glad he did. Thanks Brad, Tony

Whoops..... sorry guys....... I should have checked before sticking my foot in my mouth. My apologies. Tony

This also happened to our local model railroad club, whose layout had been built over many, many years in the unused baggage building alongside our local CN station. When CN decided to increase the # of tracks and build a brand new, much larger station beside it, the baggage building became history and the club has been forced to find a new home. The original historical station has been preserved and will be used as a ????, but despite pleas from the club, CN refused to allow them space in the old historical building. Personally, I think the layout would have made a great display for passengers to view while waiting for their train, especially as the building will have an unused basement. I'm not involved with the club, but I have seen the amount of work and detail they have put into the excellent layout. What a waste! I guess CN just don't give a "hoot". (Sorry for the pun!) Tony

The way the kit is designed it will be a bit of a problem. Perhaps just thickening the front wall and the interior wall would help. Once the roof is on, you won't notice the thickness of the other three exterior walls so much. You may want to consider cutting out the doors and setting them back behind the wall to give them a recessed look, as well. Don't mean to be a "buttinski"..... just a couple of things I noticed. Cheers, Tony

I think I see what you mean. If the cab sits down on the frame, then the hood would also sit lower and the gap would disappear. It that case, I'll try to find one for myself. Thanks for clarifying that for me Denis. Tony

Just a thought Mike, but had you considered giving some thickness to the walls...... especially the section around the two openings? Concrete block walls would be at least 10" and more likely 12" thick on a building like this..... but even 3/16" thick foamboard would give it more reality although underscale. You probably have already considered this, but I'm just curious. Tony

Well guys.... deadline time on the original build is here......... and I have to admit I'm disappointed. Without going back through 28 pages I believe (and correct me if I'm wrong) that only Tony T and myself actually completed a build. Don't get me wrong! This is not a criticism. I know we're all up to our noses in projects and it's not always easy to keep track of deadlines for CBP's....... and that life gets in the way of the best intentions, etc. etc.. My disappointment is not with any of you guys out there......... I just wanted to see lots of Foxes on these pages, of all types and descriptions. But there is a chance for redemption! Now the build is open ended..... get back to these projects and let's see a few more completed. BTW..... please read these comments knowing that I had my tongue in my cheek while writing them. Lol.... Tony

This is a kit that I keep looking at to buy, but keep putting it off for some reason. I had heard that the fit of the hood to the firewall and front fenders wasn't very good. Looking at the pictures of yours I think I can see what they meant. Is it just the picture or is the kit really bad in this area? I know AMT had a similar issue with the hood on their '40 Ford kits. I would appreciate your critique on this issue with the kit. BTW... I also like where you're going with this, so I'll be following along. Thanks, Tony

I think you could get very close with a very watered down acrylic blue paint (almost no color at all) touched to the top of each header tube and alowed run down, if you started with a very small amount and gradually built it up to get the deapest color close to the engine block. I'd probably try to hold it almost horizonal when touching the paint to the plastic and roll the model around as the paint runs down the pipe. I wouldn't try to brush it on though, just let the liquid finds it's own way from the top down. If you look closely at the "blueing" effect you will see a trace of a copper color in there as well. Once you were satisfied with the appearance (use John's pictures as a reference) and after it was dry, applying a gloss clear over the headers would be close, I think. Bear in mind...... I'm only guessing, never tried it but a little experiment on a spare bit of sprue beforehand would tell you if it would work or not. If the worst comes to the worst and you're not staisfied with the appearance just paint over it and start again. My theory in life.... nothing ventured... nothing gained! Experiment! Tony

Man, those Corvette side scoops really work on the El Camino body!!! Great concept. I'm surprised someone hasn't done this in a 1:1 build. Overall, a great design...... keep it coming. (But how do you access the bed?) Tony