Challenger29

Lookin' good! As the others have remarked, you do have an eye for getting the era correct look. You know guys I built that AMT '36 Ford Kit back in the day. Might still have the pieces. I think I was 12 years old. It was molded in gray. -Jer:>)

It looks awesome Bernard! You have got the "Sixties Look" down pat. Great job as usual! -Jerry:>)

Looking great as usual Bernard! Just checking in to see what you are up to. "Challenger" the 1/1 red '29 Ford Hot Rod is doing better than ever, just rebuilt the top half of the engine. Right now the 4 piece aluminum hood is off, but it will be back on as soon as I clean-up the steering box that looks horrible compared to the rest of the engine bay. Folks say leave the hood off but it just wouldn't be the DEUCE OF SPADES rival's car if I did. I replaced the deep dish rims you saw in the film and put 1950's era 15 Ford Rims on the front and 1940's era 16" Merc rims in the back. Hubcaps are now era correct '47-'48 Ford. So the 1/1 car is running and looking better than ever. Anyways, keep up the fine work and great attention to detail. I love what all of you are doing here at Model Cars Mag. Reminds me so much of my days growing up in the Fifties & early Sixties! -Jerry:>)

Great Bernie! Looking forward to seeing those photos from NNL!! Please see my Personal Message to you, and contact me directly. I have a special gift I want to send to you as a rememberance of this project. And thank you EVERYONE for your nice comments about the car and DEUCE OF SPADES. I literally put 2 years of my life volunteering on that film, day and night, long hours, making & donating props, designing/building sets, getting cars, finding locations, big jobs and small, loaning $$$, anything to get the movie completed and out to DVD. My garage is Faith's garage in the film. My garage is also Monk's Den. And my living room is modern Tommy's place. I personally filmed the Sandstorm scene (no CGI) and parts of the junkyard scenes. I'm the Detective and the "big mouthed" Judge. And in the background several times. I was there for 66% or more of what you see on the screen and it was a fantastic experience, meeting so many great people along the way. This build has been another part of that positive experience. Thank you Bernie and all the rest of you modelers out there! God Bless you all! -Jerry:>)

All I can say Bernie is WOW!!!! You have scratch-built a fantasticly detailed interpretation of my car, Challenger. It has been so much fun following you along on this build. I'm so glad I discovered your thread, just as you were starting it. As I said in earlier posts, I'm surprised that you have found photos of my car I had never seen before. You fans amaze me! I only wish it wasn't a 900 mile round trip drive to Santa Clara, thru the rain, because I'd love to be there when Mini-Challenger is revealed. Please take lots of photos of you and the car, and the fans too if you can. Love to see them. I know Faith and the entire Deuce Of Spades Team are very proud of the movie masterpiece we created and the impact it has had on our many fans worldwide. I'm glad it inspired you to create this model and perhaps others to model cars from the film. Very cool! All my best, Jerry:>)

All I can say Bernie is WOW!!!! You have scratch-built a fantasticly detailed interpretation of my car, Challenger. It has been so much fun following you along on this build. I'm so glad I discovered your thread, just as you were starting it. As I said in earlier posts, I'm surprised that you have found photos of my car I had never seen before. You fans amaze me! I only wish it wasn't a 900 mile round trip drive to Santa Clara, thru the rain, because I'd love to be there when Mini-Challenger is revealed. Please take lots of photos of you and the car, and the fans too if you can. Love to see them. I know Faith and the entire Deuce Of Spades Team are very proud of the movie masterpiece we created and the impact it has had on our many fans worldwide. I'm glad it inspired you to create this model and perhaps others to model cars from the film. Very cool! All my best, Jerry:>)

I wish I could drive up to Santa Clara from Los Angeles and see the car in person. Too long a drive I'm afraid. Sure would be fun to meet you folks and see Mini-Challenger!! -Jerry:>)

Bernie, Challenger's little clone is really looking GREAT! I'm totally impressed with the ingenuity you are doing to approximate the real car. You know, I still have almost all my old 1/25th cars in pieces, that I built in the late Fifties & Sixties. Like the Ala Kart, and the 3 in 1 Deuce kit. I have cigar boxes full of tires, engines, misc parts. Actually, come to think of it, I still have a few models (cars & military vehicles) left that are still assembled. They were some of the later models I built, most notably the blue Stone Woods & Cook Willys and the yellow '34 Willys Sedan Delivery. You might remember those kits. All this reminds me of all those memorable hours I had building my own car collection. Nothing like you guys do today, but it was fun and educational. One of my family friends remarked about 30 years ago "You know Jerry, now you are building full sized model cars." Come to think of it, she was right! Keep up the great job Bernie!!! We are all dying to see the completed car.

It just gets better and better!!! Super job Bernie!!!! -Jerry:>)

Hi Rudy! Thank you for your kind words! I'd love to see that model you are building too. As you can imagine I'm a BIG fan of Traditional Style Hot Rods. As a matter of fact I'm honored to be in charge of this year's HOT ROD LEGENDS CLASS at the Palos Verdes Concours D'Elegance. I'm putting together a Class of about 10 of the best known Hot Rods of the Forties & Fifties. The Show is September 18th. I just got started and so far I've got several. One you might be aware of is Vic Edelbrock Sr's black '32 Ford Roadster. That might be a cool ride to model? -Jerry:>)

Yep that's me!!! Serously I can't believe the photos you have found, some I've never seen. We were just about 25 feet from the Red Carpet, where Frank hopped out and I took over the wheel. I took Challenger around the block and picked up Jane Evans (Modern day "Sandy") to bring her up to the Red Carpet. It was a pretty cool time with about 350 people cheering us on and snapping photos.

Looks like it's coming along Bernie! Any new updates? BTW, the new HOT ROD DELUXE magazine has a neat 3 page photo article on the movie's Premier. There's a rear shot of Challenger with Frank O'Leary (FRESNO) driving and me in the passenger seat, as we drive up to the Red Carpet. Very fun day! -Jerry

Looking good Bernie!!! Very exciting to see how it's progressing. I still haven't set-up the Photo service we discussed to upload photos and not exceed the 1.95 Mb limit. Need to do that! Just too busy driving Challenger around the South Bay area of L.A.. For the past few days it's been "Great Roadster weather!" as Zip says in the film. 80 degrees two days in a row. But cold at night. We are all looking forward to your latest successes! -Jerry:>)

"It occurs to me that some enterprising scale model company should make a Deuce of Spades double kit of the Challenger and DOS. It would sell like hotcakes! There are no decent traditional roadster kits of either the Model A or Deuce. The best, the Revell '32 Ford Roadster, is very nice but definitely a 90's style ride with small block Ford, automatic transmission, air conditioning, tubular front axle and (argh!) airbags. There's a major aftermarket industry for conversion parts to build traditional A-V8 and Deuce roadsters." From your post to Revell's ears... Or some other enterprising Model Company. I hope they do! I have been telling Faith about the idea of making models of our cars available for nearly 2 years. Now would be a very good time for them to talk, as the film is being seen by more and more enthusiasts around the globe. I'm sure they would sell. -Jerry:>)

Those colors and glossiness or non-glossiness of the two paints are very nice. Once again, your interpretation of Challenger, not necessarily an exact match. It will be beautiful! Not sure what color you will be painting the engine block, but Challenger's is a red, similar to the body color. Not Chevy Orange. Techically a Chrysler Red Engine Color, which is a pretty good match for the color of '56 Chevy V8's (a one year color for Chevrolet). I should look into a Photo uploading service tomorrow, as you suggested. I'd like to be free to post more cool photos here at MCM. Right now, I'm tapped out at about 1.85 Mb.

Having seen the real car at SEMA, Barrett-Jackson last year where it was sold and at the 2010 Grand National Roadster Show, I can tell you this model is an AWESOME representation of the real car!!!! Great job John!!!! I wonder if the new owner of the car has seen this? Words do not do it justice!! -Jerry:>)

For those of you who have the Deuce Of Spades DVD, check out the FRANK O'LEARY INTERVIEW under the EXTRAS tab on the MENU. Frank (who plays "Fresno") talks about his experience on the film and you'll see some pretty cool video clips of Challenger. The tall guy driving the car out of the semi-trailer, is Don Cox, the fellow I bought the car from. He's a tall guy so he really sits up high in the car! I'm 5'-11" and I think that's about the tallest height that would fit this car "comfortably". These '29 Hot Rods are not very spacious! The Deuce has about 2"-3" more of leg room. Anyways, that Interview looks like an Advertisement for my car. Very cool! -Jer:>)

Hi Bernie- Earlier you mentioned the color of the tuck & roll. It's a burgundy, but it does sort of match the exterior color. I should take more photos, without any flash just to clarify things. As for the exterior color a Duplicolor Torch Red might be good. The carpet is also sort of a Burgundy, not really a full red. The dash board is in need of a repaint badly. It will be a semi-gloss black after I strip it down and massage a small dent out of it. We kid about my Hot Rod being a Hot Rod that has EVERYTHING: No bumpers, No fenders. No radio, No Heater, No wipers, No directionals, No A/C, No power steering, No power anything, etc. I love that it's such a contrast to my 2010 modern car that really does have everything. Wouldn't change either one! Each have their fun qualities. I must admit driving Challenger on the Freeways at 11 pm at 65 mph can be a fun experience! Jerry:>)

Great stuff Bernie!! It's really shaping up! While LUCKILY I wasn't there to watch my soon to be purchased Hot Rod hoisted up by 4 straps, I was even more shocked to notice that the flywheel/Torque Converter and Alternator pulley were a blur! There was no good reason to leave the engine running except that maybe they were afraid the Battery was too low to restart it later. Keep in mind that my Hot Rod was stored in the back of a 40' Semi-Trailer, for months at a time. And it's a remote location, just 1000' west of El Mirage Drylake Bed. The trailer is about 100' from the big metal walled Hot Rod Shop, which you saw Faith walking thru in the film. Hooking up a Battery Charger was a pain I'm sure. The underside of the car was a mess. It's getting better all the time. I've cleaned up and painted many parts, replaced the chrome pan with a new one, added a restored oil filter cannister, replaced the NAPA Alternator with a chrome one, re-routed lines, emergency brake cables, etc. BTW, I'm having problems locating a Torque Converter Cover for that tranny. I've bought two, and neither fit at all. So much for all Aluminum Powerglides being the same! I'll keep searching...

Awesome collection Bernie! I love them all. Now Challenger will be one of your Class of 2011 builds!! Keep up the fantastic work. I'm going to share this thread on another website www.stillrunnin.com They appreciate cool models like these. -Jerry:>)

Here are a few more detail shots that might help Bernie or someone else who might decide to model Challenger. The steering wheel shot shows the tilt wheel lever (I hate that tilt steering wheel column; very non-era correct looking), the headlight switch knob and ignition switch. No idea what year or make that tilt wheel set-up came from, but I do know the steering box is a 1967 Mustang. Note that the steering wheel is a slightly dished track style wheel. Like you, I'm eager to see how Bernie is progressing!

Thank you Matt! Glad to be contributing to this project of Bernies. One of our primary reasons for doing the DEUCE OF SPADES Movie was to help re-kindle the interest in Traditional Style Hot Rods from the Forties and Fifties. "Bring back the Jalopies" as Faith would say. The film along with various car magazines and the HD Theater show AMERICAN ICON: THE HOT ROD are also helping in this resurgence. I'm hoping others will want to make their own copies of the Challenger for their collections, and maybe even The Deuce and Tommy's '35 Ford Pickup. We know that three individual modelers are making large 1/8th scale versions of the three cars. I'm hoping they will connect with this Blog too. We'd all love to see how they are progressing. If you have any questions about the making of the film, or the cars, I can answer most of them as I was there for 2/3's of the filming. Two years of my life. I'm the Detective and The "big mouth" Judge (watch the film and you'll know what I mean), and in the background about 8-9 times. I made many of the props and sets. Worked night and day with Faith and the Team. Many many hours, but alot of fun, and many lifetime friendships were made. It's one of my greatest accomplishments and I'm proud to share it with all of you! P.S.- My garage is Faith's Garage in the film. The rear portion of my garage, is Monk's train room. Insider info: the brown wall in the back is really a heavy canvas tarp used temporarily to separate the 1100 sq ft garage into two parts. The same tarp was used to cover The Deuce in the first part of the film. The eyelets on the tarp were spaced perfectly so we could use the existing bolts on the beam to hold it up. A DOS Miracle!

Hi Bernie! I just fixed Entry #16 on Page One and added a few more photos you might like. Note how the horizontal break on the tuck & rolled seat back matches the door panels. A continous line. Need any more photos? I have many in my files and the car is sitting in my garage you know. Hah! Sorry about some of the low res photos. I ran out of allowed file space! -Jerry:>)

I can't tell you how honored and impressed I am that you are building this model of Challenger. You are doing such a fantastic tribute to the car and our film! It's amazing what you are creating. Way to go Bernie! I'm posting a few more detail shots that might help you or others who might want to tackle this project. Probably way too much detail, but you never know what might help. The gauge cluster that hangs under the dash is a unique piece and I think can be seen in the film, or at least in the Promo Shots taken by Peter Torres visible at the DEUCE OF SPADES website, under Faith's Blog postings. Anyways, it is a vintage bracket with an old hand pump used to pressurize a gas tank for racing, back in the day. They were usually used for small gas tanks, that didn't have an adaquate fuel pump or none at all. It also has the Stewart-Warner AMP and GAS Gauges in it. The knob on the left is a remote idle speed throttle control. The stock Model A Gauge cluster has been modified to hold the Stewart-Warner TEMP and OIL PRESSURE Gauges. The button with the red ring in the middle is the Horn Button.

And don't forget the dirt and grease! Hah!!! I've spent a few hours cleaning up that mess, re-doing the hard brake lines, modifying the gas lines, new driveshaft, adding a stealth 4-link suspension, etc. Much safer now, but I have more to do. More photos soon....