Clutch

Oh yeah, that's cool as! Very neat project.

I remember building this kit, pretty sure I built a nice lookin' glue bomb out of it! Yours looks awesome, nice work!

That's cool, very original.

Now that I know the interior, undercarrige and engine fit, I've started on the paint job. After something different, a month ago or so I was looking through some of the builds here on mcm for insperation and I found I paint job that I really liked. I can't remember the builders name but I'm pretty sure it was a '53 Chevy. He marbled the roof and dashboard using smoke, from burning sprue in a candle. Then he used clear orange overtop. I thought it looked amazing and wasn't that hard to do. So I gave it a go. But instead of going for a bright clear colour which makes the effect really stand out, I tried to blend it all together using different shades of grey, more of a suttle look. Base colour is light gun metal with a silver fade, along the bottom of each sides, nose and rear. Didn't really like the nose fade so I taped off the body and hit the roof and fenderds with silver. With the base colour down and body taped, I burnt some sprue in a candle and held the body in the black smoke. The soot from the smoke lightly sticks to the body and leaves a marble effect. I only wanted this on the roof and front fenders. A light clear coat to seal it in. At this stage, if I was to have sprayed clear red or blue overtop the marble, it would've really popped. But I'm after more of a dark horse and I went with Tamiya clear smoke overtop the whole body, blending it all together. Once it dries, I'll give it a layer of clear pearl for some dazzle and then a few good clear coats. I want this thing to look like liquid. Thanks for looking, all comments welcome!

Thanks! You're right Lunajammer, the one piece floor makes it hard to customize the body. It's because the rear fenders don't line up. The only way I could see around that was to cut the floor out and glue the fenders to the body before painting. Progress; I've made a 3 link suspension to replace the rear leaf springs.

That's a super nice colour for a Tbird. Clear and polish will make it pop even more.

Hey Tim! That's how the Boner Shaker should look.

That's a mean lookin bike. Not really into the CF thing but it works so well on this beast. Looks like a weapon not to be messed with! Awesome detailing too!

Nice work with the interior, also interested in where the speakers came from.

Threaded coilovers, now I've seen everything! Lovin the build.

Very cool, I don't think I'd ever chop into a die-cast. I know it would've been quite difficult to do but you made it look easy, well done.

Thanks guys! Glad you like it so far. Hey Tim thanks man, good to see you over here too. Small update, Just completed my first RHD dash convertion. Well almost finished, still need to figure out a steering wheel and clean it up a bit but I'm very happy with how it turned out.

Wicked build man, the paint job is outstanding. Gets right up in your face,love the mods too. Great build.

Holy smokers!!! You're skills are breathtaking! I love everything on this build.

The interior is almost finished, need arm reats and window/door handles. -I first made cardboard temples using the cardboard from Evergreen packaging, then traced the shape on to 0.5mm styrene. -Used 1.0mm half rod for the rolled pannel and 0.5mm rod for some trim. -The chrome strip along the back is styrene covered in bmf and the decal is from Revell's '41 Chevy Pickup kit. - Painted flat black and black flocking. Now working on channeling the floor. I added 4mm blocks to lift the body.

Well I should apologise for not repliying sooner, no other reason than too busy building! Thanks for the comments guys, glad you like the direction. Definitely not one of the better kits and the 37-39 Chevy coupe isn't that desirable either (imo). That's why I thought it would be a good kit to build, as Foxer said, "from frog to princess". Yes, she'll be on the ground, as close as I can get it. Cheers Steven, I looked up the '39 at RMR, I like it! Didnt know there was a custom 39 on the market. Progress; I've made side windows, with pillars and front quarter glass. I used packaging plastic for the windows, coverd both sides in tape and glued 0.5mm rod directly to the tape. Once dried, I carefully cut out the tape. modified a pair of 55 Chevy skirts and added some body trim and roof trim using 0.5mm rod and 1.0mm half rod. Made new side steps from mahogeny veener and some chrome bars for the skirts. The front end has been extended to the ground, lights sunken, trim piece added and cut down grille.

Haha. yes you're right, I should be building RHD models since I'm an Aussie! The Skyline is RHD but the others are LHD. I'm actually about to try my first dash convertion so we'll see how that turns out. Thanks for your comments guys and cheers Chevy!!! I have another thread up there in the Under Glass section, if you wanted to see the rest of my builds, it's titled "New Guy", but I'm not sure how to post that here as a link. In this thread the builds are mainly box stock and the New Guy thread has my modified builds. Cheers!

What you are doing here is simply "Model Art" at it's best! There's not one thing I don't like on this build, every little piece amazes me!

Excellent looking camper, Congrats on your first kitbash!

That is a great colour, goes perfectly with those wheels.

Thanks Rommel! Yes I did follow your Nova, excellent work and very imformative. There's lots of tips I could use like using aluminium panels to create dents and the turbo set up looks awesome. Then there's your big rig with lights!!! Very cool work......

G'day all, In late March, a well known Australian custom car builder, John 'Chopper' Katsanis, passed away. As apart of my Australian model car club, we're having a tribute build off in his honor. Rules are build anything pre '67, must be customized from mild to wild. I'm using this Monogram '39 Chevy coupe that I previously built, 20 years ago! I don't completely understand the ins and outs of the Hot Rodding world but I'm eager to learn and I'm enjoying trying out some body modifications. To start it off, after stripping the body, I gave it a forward facing 4mm pie-chop, sectioned the roof to lean it forward, removed the floor so I can channel it later and I removed the running boards. Widened the rear fenders by 3mm and extended the rear section to the ground. Drilled out and molded in the tailight openings and the third hole will be for the tailpipes. Also sunk and boxed the number plate. I had to redo the roof as it sat too high. The front has had a 3mm chop and the rear section of the roof is from a '57 Chevy funny car. Before and after, I'm still working on the roof, needs a rear window etc. I've just started working on the front, sunk the headlights and gave them eyebrows. It looks very messy now but it won't forever! All comments, suggestions welcome!

That's a really nice colour, love the purple specks. This is a fantastic build, so much detail!!

G'day Brett, great to see you're still stooting out these Doorslammers. Paint jobs look really smooth and the decals suit each build well. Their gonna look great all lined up once finished, have you thought of using a spooky backdrop for the completed pics?

What in the world is this! How can a human being build something so small, to look so big. I'm completely amazed at your skills John, I haven't gone through the whole build but I have bookmarked this thread for further study. This is art in the making....