mr moto

Again, thanks to everyone for the kind words. It's good to be appreciated! Well, not exactly. The real thing is supposed to hover when parked with no landing gear involved. My version is held up by three short pieces of clear lucite plastic rod - hopefully, out of sight. The rods fit into little pockets in the base so it won't move around when it's docked but it can be removed.

Many thank you's to everybody for the great comments. I really appreciate it! While the "Bugsport" comic isn't widely known, it was a huge hit in the Studebaker world which is actually still a large and active community of enthusiasts. No new 'toons have been posted in years. Ted Bastien had to concentrate on other projects that actually generate income (like Paw Patrol). If you'd like to look at Bugsport here's a link: http://tedsstudio.com/bugsport/?page0001 Yes, the interior is built stock but not totally out-of-the-box. The AMT kit depicts a transitional 1963/64 car with the 813 BKV interior option - basically a 1964 interior installed in a 1963 car and only available in black. Since the original "postcard" car is definitely an early production '63, I back-dated the interior with a few slight changes. It's done in a popular color scheme for 1963 cars of elk and fawn with black carpet (designated as color scheme no. 2). BTW, the body is painted in factory Avanti Gold from MCW Finishes. The driver is cobbled together from a 1/32 scale Ulrich Mini-Man with head and hands from a Pegasus alien.

Super nice job! Shows what can be done with a very basic kit.

I doubt that too many onthis forum are familiar with the on-line comic strip called Bugsport so here's a little history to get you ready for what I built. Back in 1963, Studebaker created a series of picture postcards to help their dealers promote the new models on the lot. This was one of the Avanti promotional postcards: Then around 2004 or so cartoonist Ted Bastien created the fictional town of Bugsport. It's inhabited by a mix of aliens and humans and the aliens are just regular citizens like everybody else. They're in the Masons, they work at the lumber mill, the book store, etc. However, their means of transportation is a little unusual. They use Studebakers that incorporate alien technology. This is how Ted Bastien saw the postcard scene: Well, I figured if I don't do it nobody else will so here it is:

As mentioned above, card stock is great for making templates, patterns and mock-ups but I would use styrene for the actual construction. I used Evergreen strips (don't remember the size) to adapt a resin Studebaker bullet nose to an AMT Speed Boat hull. It worked great.

That's amazing! Really original and great work.

All Model Master products have been discontinued. If you find any of what you want buy it now because it is no longer available.

I always use laquer clear coat over my BMF. It protects it from damage over time and has no bad effects. My models tend to be transported a lot to contests and displays and it prevents future repairs.

I have an Auto World catalog from 1961 and it shows Pyro kits of the Harley with and without the sidecar and also a BMW. A black and white version of the sidecar hog artwork is shown and it's the same as the ITC box art. So Pyro may be the original source of all that tooling. There's no word on a scale but it says approx. 9 1/2" long.

Laquer thinner. It removes any kind of paint - usually even if it dried on the brush.

Great work as always! So good to hear from you again.

You have a resin cast of the Revell hood. Mark is saying that the MPC hood should fit.

You get extra points for great presentation!

Thanks to everyone for all the kind words. Looking at all the builds on display in the "Under Glass" section right now I'm reminded of the awesome amount of talent in this community. It's an honor to be included, let alone appreciated.

Holy Moly! That's amazing. I don't know if l should be inspired or scared☺️. That's brilliant work.

Beautiful job. That's a handsome beast from a different time.

That's a superb piece of work! It's hard to believe it's your first time opening doors. Those would be a challenge even for the very best - I think you belong up in that category. Great job!

I've never done this before - put up an annual recap, that is. Don't know why but all the cool kids are doin' it so why not. It looks like I got five done this year and here they are in no particular order. AMT '32 Ford Phaeton: 1934 Ford pickup: Aurora Maserati 3500 GTi: 1963 Plymouth Melrose Missile III: And last but not least, my '57 T-Bird tribute to Mexican wrestler "Blue Demon": I hope you enjoy my five and happy building to everyone in 2021!

The other boat kit offered by Round2 that comes from Lindberg tooling (and actually, Lindberg got it from Palmer) is the 1959 Century Coronado. It's not a very good kit but I picked one up not long ago and it seems it could made into something pretty good without too much extra work. The Coronado was a really flashy 50's style heavily chromed "dream boat" that was billed as the "Cadillac of boats". It's amazing they didn't sink from the weight of all that chrome. It was designed by mid-century modernist designer Richard Arbib. He was a really interesting guy. Probably worth your time to look him up. BTW, the kit comes with a poorly detailed V8 engine that looks something like a Chrysler hemi except that it only has six spark plugs! Most of the real boats actually were powered by Chrysler Firepower hemi marine conversions so there are lots of sources for a more correct replacement piece. Round2 has also released the AMT 3 in 1 boat kit that was first issued in 1959. Don't know if that's anything that you might be interested in but you could check it out and see. They're readily available.

Truly excellent build. It may even inspire me to build the one I've had hanging around for years. Never imagined it could turn out like that. Great job!

Wow! You sure took that ancient kit to the next level. Great work.

That's a great story, Tom, and a great looking build. A Johan 62 Lark was also the first model I built when I returned to the hobby and I painted it white but with a blue interior. I'm a lifelong Stude enthusiast and also built the first release of that kit back in 1962. It got painted red that time.

I'm very glad your 1963 vintage build has survived! That's true old style model customizing and I love it. Looks like a great candidate for a restoration.

Here's my contribution. It's a Vicky that was heavily cross-pollinated with an Ala Kart. I'm planning to build another Vicky soon with a more conventional street rod look. The great looking models in this thread has already been a source of inspiration for that future build so show us some more!

It's doll house carpet. See my earlier response up above for a little more info.l