gasser59

How in the heck did they shoehorn that in there?

This is really cool. I may be able to help you with reference for the interior. Give me a couple days and I'll see what I can find. In the meantime, check out my vintage travel trailer thread. Mind you, my build doesn't have nearly the cool factor as yours and I started from the inside and am working my way out. I'll be following this one very closely as I LOVE vintage trailers of all kinds. I even own a 1:1 1959 Airstream TradeWind. www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=48138&hl=&fromsearch=1

Yeah, I'm really pumped up. I also like the spokes but will await my decision until I get the rims from Jim. Hopefully mid next week.

Thanks for the comments Chris, Greg, Tyrone and Niko. Appreciate your input. A bit of exciting news to share. Jim has been really busy working on Bart's wheels as well as my own. I'm so stoked up and can't wait to get these on the Fiat. He just needs to finish up the brake rotors and he'll send them my way. I'm dancin' right now!!

Greg - the spokes are temporary until my machined rims come from Jim. I sent one front wheel and tire along with one of each for the rear as welI and I needed to something to hold the frame in the correct ride height so I could make the wheelie wheels. I agree the spokes look right at home on the front but we'll see what Jim comes up with. I'm sure you'll like them better.

Thank you all for the compliments. It is much appreciated and really boosts me to keep at this. I have a nasty habit of getting about 90% done with my builds before they get shelved and onto the next build. I promise this one will get 100% completed though. Some updates to share with you guys but first a confession: I LOVE alclad. Never done it before or even used an airbrush on models in the past and I'm now a convert. I painted the headers with two light coats of alclad gloss black and then chrome. Its unbelievable how this finish looks. Spent a considerable amount of time trying to figure out my wheelie wheels and framing structure; how they were going to mount to the frame and the overall shape. I decided to go old school and configured them with steel rod, aluminum tubing and one more orange Gatorade cap wheel and aluminum wheel mount. For now, these just slip into holes in the chassis until I get my wheels and brake rotors in from Jim at MicroNitro so I can still get my fingers and tools in there to plumb my brakes. I must say, I'm really happy how they turned out. That's today's update. Again, thanks for following along.

Nicely done Chris. Looking amazing as usual.

Exceptional as usual Chris. Very well documented with both your question and the accompanying photos. IMHO, I think they'd serve their purpose better behind the timing cover plate and I'll tell you why. There would be a ton of stress on these at full throttle and they were only held on by just the heads of the bolts, I would think they'd be prone to shearing off. If they, on the other hand, were underneath the timing cover, more than the bolt heads would be holding them in. I guess what I'm trying to say is if they're on the outside, just the small surface area of the backside of the bolt heads, which is minimal, would be holding the mounting brackets on. I realize it would be a bit more intricate work to put them behind but it would look better and they wouldn't have as much visual prominence as in the front. On another note, are you planning on having two frame brackets per side or just the one? Can you tell on the 1:1 car if there's one or two per side?

Lovin' this lil' thing from across the pond. Nicely done on all counts. The color combination looks great. Really looking forward to you getting this buttoned up.

That black chrome is stunning as is the entire build so far. I just can't imagine what you're going to stun us with next on this one. That Pancho is one lucky dude.

Thanks Bart. I know ScaleNut does custom decal printing but his equipment isn't set up at the moment and he's not sure when he'll be up and running. Plus the fact that when he's back up, he's got a bunch of orders to fill. Joseph at Fireball was recommended and he responded to my email inquiry quickly. I'll let you know what happens on this thread when I get back in touch with him and send him my file. Creating the artwork isn't a problem for me, just need quality decals printed up.

With a inquiry in a new thread, I found Joseph at Fireball Modelworks who will be able to print my custom decals. Now I just got to figure out the final design on the body but primarily it will be painted HOK Tangelo with a cream vintage insert for the name decal in orange as shown earlier in this thread. Wish I could have this completed for the upcoming Southwest Goodguy's show next weekend but I'm sure that's wishful thinking. I'm getting close but not that close.

I'm really looking forward to this and am trying to coerce Mooneyz into coming along. Will be there both Saturday and Sunday.

Unbelievably cool Chris. That hub is outstanding. I can't wait to see a rolling chassis on this and I'm sure can't either. Keep at it.

Thanks for the replies everyone. Too bad you're not set up at the moment ScaleNut, I'd have loved to have partnered with you on this one. Let me now when you get back up and running. If its soon, maybe we can get this one done. I shot an email inquiry to Joseph at Fireball modelworks so we'll see what happens.

This has really turned out fantastic and its still not done. Love how the carbs show through the scoop. Here's a mock-up of the gold or black bead locks and I personally like the gold if the there are going to be colorful decals to accentuate the gold beadlock, other wise, I'd stay with the black and not introduce a new single-use color. In the long run though, its your build, your choice Tyrone. Either way, I'm sure it'll be perfect.

Indescribable!!! I don't know what else to say.

As I progress towards the final stages of my Fiat build and the decal artwork, I need someone with an ALPS printer who can print them for me. I would LOVE to find someone local but its not necessary. Who have you guys used in the past that you were happy with the service and results? Thanks so much for any input provided.

Now that's beautiful. It was almost to the point of being a rolling billboard before, I like this much better. Nice touch with the red windows and the red tinted headlights. A great looking Willys.

This build is progressing very nicely and all we've seen is the engine. I'll be keeping an eye on this. Really liking it.

Thanks so much guys. Glad to be back at the bench. I've got my machined wheels order into Jim at MicroNitro and cant wait to get this chassis all buttoned up so I can move onto paint. I've got a bit of research to do to source a place to print my decals that I still need to finish up. Any suggestions?

Yes that is a nice touch. Where did the figure come from?

That's saying alot.

That came out beautiful. I really like it. How about a picture showing the rear?

A bit of progress to report. I have long been planning to cover my frame side panels with aluminum sheet since the paint was starting to come off from all of the handling and as said earlier, nothing simulates metal like metal. I had planned on drilling out the holes for the Dzus fasteners and putting in the head of a small brass rivet but after drilling one hole indentation, I may just leave it the way it is. A few decals were added under the engine to liven things up. Now its onto the firewall and steering arm(s). I also got my order in to Jim @ MicroNitro for the wheels and I'm really stoked about seeing what he comes up with and getting them on board. Thanks for following along.