old gearhead

I don't know how many of you guys have built Hiro kits, but looking at this build you'd have no idea how relatively crude they are and how much work has gone into this build to get it to this level. This Ferrari is truly outstanding. Beautiful work!

I'm looking forward to purchasing this kit. I'd love to see this kitted as the 4-door sedan; to me one of the cooler 4-door sedans from any era. The lines were so well integrated it seems that they designed to the 4-door body style first. Great subject, nonetheless, and it looks like a great kit. Can't wait to see the '55 300 - I often wished that someone would have done a kit of this car. What an outrageous subject; a great compliment to the AMT '57, eh? And then bookend it with the Johan '62, if you can find one for less-than-ridiculous money. Have great weekend everyone. PB.

Hang in there Terry; I'm in Ridgefield and got my power back yesterday around noon (lost it Sunday around 3:00 AM). In as that 67% of the town is still dark, we're pretty lucky; now I can pump out my basement, including my cave (model room!). Allan, that looks like your work room. Of course the tree came in right there! Good thing you weren't under it. As the others have mentioned, it's just stuff and you and your family are safe. I know how you feel, though: In February 2009 a fire broke out in, of course, my cave (the model room) and fortunately was confined to that room and an adjacent portion of the basement. The "cave" was competely gutted and I lost my stash of 300+ unbuilts, some dating back to the late '50s. In recent years my collection had migrated from mostly 1/25 domestic kits to a majority of 1/24 more exotic classic, sports/sports racing and racing cars. I lost a large stash of Tamiya, Fujimi ("Enthusiast" Porsches and Ferraris and a 917 to which I had added an HRM engine transkit), Heller and Italeri "conventional" kits, along with 8 MFH Ferraris, a Finecast Bugatti Type 59, an HRM Daytona Coupe, an LM GT40, an Etzel's Miller 91, etc. Most of my tools, and all of my paint, was lost, although my compressor and a couple of airbrushes survived. All of my builts were immolated except for one: an Etzels 1925 Indy Duesenberg. Funny thing, too, because it was right next to a puddle that had been a Tamiya GT1. Here's another one: I'm a NYC-based graphic designer/artist/illustrator. For 17 years my office was in 2 WTC, first on the 93rd floor, then on the 91st. I kept my whole portfolio and two full-size flat files with 20 years worth of original architectural renderings, drawings and illustrations in my office, not to mention all the digital media I had backed up on CDs. Well, I don't have to tell anyone what happened to all of that stuff 10 years ago. All just stuff. I got out of that office 4 minutes before the second plane hit. Thirteen of my colleagues, who had stayed, were killed. The house will get fixed, and you'll get back to modelling. Good luck! Oh, I was able to find another Etzel's Miller, BTW, and am keeping the collection to 1/25 scale - gotta watch the spending these days... Best regards. PB.

I'm preparing to start on the convertible. Picked up an open/complete kit (I know, always risky) on eBay for about $20.00, including shipping (I always consider S/H as part of the whole price). It was advertised complete and with the replacement chrome sprue and came just as described, except someone glommed the full-hubcap wheels from the "matte" chrome tree. Wheels I was planning to use of course; I'll just matte clear-coat the shiny ones. I know all about the issues with this kit, but I like the rarity/novelty of the subject and my mother had a black convertible w/red Morrocan leather interior and black top that my dad bought directly from GM when they were finished displaying it on the International Automobile Show circuit in 1960. Dad flew with a guy during WWII who went on to become General Manager of Cadillac and he arranged the purchase. When the car was ready, dad dead-headed (pilot flying as passenger) out to Detroit, picked up the car and drove it back to Connecticut. Must've been a great trip! For this build I'm planning on using the windshield and up-top from a spare Monogram '59 Eldo I have laying around; I have Uniroyals w/narrow WWs from Modelhaus; and, yeah, the scripts are almost non-existent, so I picked up the MCW PE set. I don't what I'm going to do about the engine, yet.

Funny, one of the things Henry Ford himself advised against was over-carburetion...

Yeah, it can be a real pain in the neck scraping in the tight areas. Pre-assemble as much as you can to get around this, as Jim has mentioned in his post. You're still always going to have to scrape things like engine and tranny mounts, however. Funny...when I started building a zillion years ago (the '60s), the kit manufacturers would recommend that all parts be painted before removing them from the sprues. I guess after a year of scraping and touching up everything, I finally figured out this really wasn't the way to go (around the same time I started using X-Acto blades rather than old steak knives), and started pre-assembling engines, chassis/suspension units, etc., filling (if needed) and sanding the seams, and then painting - with a lot less touch-up. Of course, this is what the manufacturers now recommend. I paint small stuff like starters, sway bars, shocks, etc., while still on the sprue, though. Keep an open mind - no two builds are ever the same. PB.

Ah hah, there it is. Thanks Gregg.

Hey Charlie, nice color combo on that '56. Can't wait to see it foiled! If you laid the paint on real heavy on the chassis, and components, etc., it will indeed take up space and things won't fit as well as when you mocked up the parts naked. However, you need to scrape the paint off of both mating surfaces in order for them to adhere to each other, anyway, especially if your using good old "cement for styrene." The solvents in the cement need to be able to melt the plastic so that you get a "weld;" or, at least, a good strong bond. Paint (and chrome) create a barrier and will not allow the cement to attack and soften the plastic to create a proper bond. Even when using epoxy or CA it's a good idea to remove paint and chrome from the mating surfaces of whatever material you're joining, at least for load-bearing assemblies (PE script, etal, excluded here - you'll make a mess, ruin a paint job, etc.), in as that you want the adhesive to be holding things together and not the layer of paint (or chrome plating) that may be between the adhesive and the material. Good luck with the rest of the build! PB.

Funny...the box art depicts a car with the "roadster" tonneau cover, but it doesn't look as though it's been included with the kit.

Lot of detail here and coming together well. Looks like you're having a lot of fun with this build. PB.

Now yer talkin'! That is some really fine wood grain there, Gramps. I'd have to say that's best I've ever seen painted on. Nice woodies. Is the cream-colored one the AMT '41? How is that kit? PB.

I have a 10-year-old Aztec double-action. It has survived a fire, being stepped on several times, etc., and still works like new.

Yep, 4# test fishing line is what I use. Photo-etch is faster, but my kid's college tuitions and $4.30-a-gallon gas means reliance on old skills these days. And, you get round spokes rather than flat. In most cases, my method is relatively fast (everything is "eye-balled" rather than jigged and measured) and yields a reasonably accurate and robust wheel. If I can find an ounce of time between working/travelling and keeping my high-mileage 1/1s on the road these days, I'll try to KO and post a quick tutorial. PB.

Geez, that truck is cool. So is the dragster; I've always liked that car. I think I might have to find me one of those kits. Although irrelevant to your project now, the font axle from the Hippie Hemi / Garlit's Wynn's Jammer kit would probably do the trick. Well, now I'm inspired to start my planned SoCal Speed Shop '53 Ford PU / '34 Coupe w/trailer project. Good luck with the rest of the build.

Great model! It looks like you had a lot fun with this one.

I built this kit when I was a teen-ager. It went together pretty well. I used the Rudge K-Os from the AMT 330 SL kit with some narrow vinyl tires (they may have been Continentals from a VW kit; I don't remember). Painted it two-tone; light metallic green on top w/dark green scallops, black interior w/light green piping. I guess it was kind of lurid now that I think of it. PB.

I built that kit in 1965. I was never a fan of the "Square Bird," but I do remember that it was a really great kit. I think I (my mother for me, actually) bought it mostly because it had opening doors.

Who's Mark Moore?

Funny thing about clear plastic. I often use Duplicolor Universal Primer and have never had a problem with that until I applied it to a clear plastic top on an AMT C5 Corvette Coupe (the top and windshield are one piece). It didn't attack the masking, but it did shrivel up the unmasked plastic and slightly fogged the windshield underneath the masking. I went ahead with the color coat to see if I could polish it smooth. No dice, it burned through to the high spots the primer created but I was able to sand it just smooth enough and color coat it again without any problems; there was still enough paint on there to protect the plastic. The windshield polished right out with Novus.

I gave up on BMF a long time ago. Too expensive. I've been using household foil for several years and getting excellent results. The trick is to buy cheap, light-weight store-brand foil. It's durable, retains all the fine detail, will cover a 1/48 B-29 for a few cents (I build aircraft occasionally), and you get "chrome" on one side of the sheet, and "aluminum" on the other. I'll post some pics if I ever find the time to photograph some of my stuff. PB.'s

The show host Irwin "Sonny" Fox, mentioned in the article attached to this post, went on to host another kid show; "The Sonny Fox Show," in the early '60s. Does anybody remember "Wonderama?" This was another kid's variety show, hosted by Sandy Becker, who also played a comical charactor on the show named "Norton Nork." There was another personality on the show who was popular in the movie monster/sci fi fanzines of the day: a vampire kinda guy I believe they called "Zacharly." I think Chuck McCann replaced Sandy Becker on Wonderama. Just thought I'd share some useless, non-model-car-building information. PB.

The color insert on the bumper was an option on the '70 Coronet/Super Bees. It was applied as a body-colored applique. Nice build of a very cool car.