Modelmartin

That is fugly! Maybe the owner was heir to the Popsicle fortune! Remember when the auction shysters painted the Ethel Mars Duesey limo a bright red? That was very sad. It has been repainted since. I was annoyed when Ralph Lauren had the old Pope T57SC Atlantic restored in black. It had been French blue for most of it's life. It acquired chrome wires in the US at one point. But at least he restored it to the way it looked when it was new. Same story on the Williamson Atlantic. It had been orange for decades but he had it restored to what it looked like new. I have gotten to the point that chrome wires and wide whites might as well be donks to me! There is a Murphy bodied Bentley at the Blackhawk Museum that used to have chrome wires, WWWs, and a bright silver paintjob! Someone rescued it and it looks quite nice now. The black fenders toned it down a lot. I still would like to see painted wires on it. But it is very much improved!

That Rolls is the only car I know of with round doors. It is quite unique that way. This car has been around in different colors so perhaps that is throwing you off. I think it was shown in an off-white color previously. The present look in black is one I don't like. Sometimes people who have enough money to play with these expensive toys don't have a lot of knowledge and taste when they (over)restore them. If it was one of 50 cars ,go ahead and change the color, but when they are actually a unique car like that they should be restored to original.

I think it is pretty safe to say that I would be the Bugatti expert on this board. I have over 35 books on Bugatti, endless photos, magazine articles, saw the Schlumpf Collection on my honeymoon,etc. and can not say that I have seen a round door Bugatti, much less a T57. There certainly were some unusual bodies mounted on Bugatti chassis but I can not recall anything like the Jonkheere. The Atlantics have the central fin and the Atalantes have a very rounded top half of the door. There could be something out there. Bugatti built over 9000 cars with an estimated 2000 surviving, and there are bound to be a few I haven't seen.

Methinks he was referring to the crosswalk at Abbey Road. Substitute "there" and "you are" for "their" and "your". English is a terrible thing to waste!

Ahem! Beatles.

Mark Gustavson?

Those doors are almost as long as the doors on Mark Gustavson's abortive Riviera custom of a few years back!!!

The 6-wheeled Indy Car was called the Clancy Special, I believe. Don's car is a 1903 Ford Model A. Here's one for you guys.

R&R has a 56 Golden Hawk and a 52 Convert for the pace car. I believe All-American had a few Studeys back in the day. I know he did have a Hawk of some sort. In 1/43rd Provence Moulage did a 51 Starlight, a Business coupe and a convert. Resin Realm, in addition to selling R&R kits, produces a few kits like 53 and 54 Commander coupes and also a 54 Conestoga!

Here is my bullet! The name is Darth Baker. Yes it is backwards and it won the Klingon Kruiser award at GSL back when I can't remember! I made it from a resin copy of an old promo. It was pretty rough. The driveline is from a Heller Renault F1 car, Interior and wheels from a Fiero and pro/street rear tires. I only scribed in panel lines but it would have gullwing doors. I also did the masters for Jimmy Flintstone for his Bullet-nose Funny car body and dragster! I definitely have bitten the bullet!(har, har)

Cool model and nice build. I like the sponsor "Argentine Meat"!!!

Very cool! I like it.

I was involved in 1/43rd kits for many years beginning in about 1979 when Record and Starter kits ran about $20-25!!! Aside from the usual "what's it worth to you" - I would add that some 1/43rd models ,especially factory built by quality outfits, are good investments. They rarely lose value so if ever necessary you can usually get your investment back. I bought a Fadini Speed record car for $45.00 and sold it for over $400. Of course here and there I took a bath on something common or underwhelming. If you can afford the factory built BBR I would say get it. If you need to practice building 1/43rds try some Heller or old AMT plastic kits - they are cheap! Anther interesting quirk about 1/43rds is that they gain value when they are built well. They are worth more than the unbuilt kit which is opposite plastic kits in 99% of the cases.

Sign me up! For the riding part, that is. I can control my bodily functions just fine, thank you. You might need a sandblaster to get the grin off my face, though!

Most automotive lacquer primers go on plastic just fine. I have used PPG, Dupont, etc. for years. Test on some scrap parts or the underside of the body or interior. If you using spray can primer, let it dry for a week or so before color coats. Sometimes if you prime and paint right away you will get cracks in the paint a year later . I buy unthinned quarts of primer and thin it down for my airbrush. Good luck.

Great Idea for a car. I would suggest a Lincoln Flathead V12 from the Monogram kit. Keep it in the family! There is a guy in Iowa who has a 46-48 Continental coupe that has a 427 SOHC motor in it. That would be a very cool modern motor.

It was big shock to me when I learned of Steve's death a few days after it happened. It was in a single car accident. His wife was driving and lost control. Their SUV went off the interstate and rolled down a hill and hit a tree. Steve was wearing his seat belt. His wife sustained minor injuries. He is also survived by a 15 year old son. He was a member of my club - RPM(Racing Plastic Models) in the Twin Cities. He obviously was a very talented builder but I enjoyed him personally too. He was a very generous guy. He was always ready to help anyone who asked for building tips or where to source some detail parts. He was a very competitive builder too. He loved contests! I was talking to him about trying to make it to GSL this year. He would have loved it. One day we were talking about past glories and we discovered we had both been entering MPC contests in St. Paul and Minneapolis back in the 70s!!! One day we both brought in the same models we had entered (and won our classes with) back then. We both still had them. I miss him.

Scott, This a very cool project you have here. I have really enjoyed watching it progress and am looking forward to seeing it completed. For your next project at this level may I suggest brass! Your roll cage troubles wouldn't have occurred if you had used brass. It doesn't spring back, it takes a mighty force to break anything, and as soon as the solder cools you are good - no glue issues. With a clean tip, some flux and some clay to use a s a heatsink and flexible jig it is EASIER than using plastic. Yes, I said easier. Anyway, keep up the great work. I hope you do well at GSL with it.

I thought I read somewhere that John got it up to 180+ which I am sure took some guts. Of course everyone else with a conventional driveline was running over 200 at the time. I think Art Malone built a sidewinder dragster at about the same time but he had the axle running through the engine's valley! You have to love the wierd and wild designs that people have come up with over the years.

Isn't that the car that Jack Chrisman built and was featured on the cover of Hot Rod?

Almost right! Jowett Jupiter.

Dave, thanks for the pics of the Heb Hiboy. Very cool! I am thinking hard of doing it! Thanks for the kind words, Fernando. I am glad you liked the New Heb. I will try to get the New Split molded soon. It is almost ready. It will cost less since only the body is needed.

The value is not very high. These are common kits - take a look on Ebay. It isn't worth fussing over too much. I would try selling it for parts on Ebay or htorod it with some 1/20 parts.

Rubber rulers have always been a problem for the kit manufacturers. The Monogram Mercedes 540K is about 1/22 scale! I remember trying to stretch a Vega body for a funny car in the 70s. The AMT was 1/4 inch wider than the MPC! Then there is the Revell Henry J which has a wheelbase 7 scale inches too short so it would fit their generic and awful gasser chassis. I have never been much of a scale bigot myself. If it looks good and it's in the neighborhood I am fine with it. I try not to display my Monogram and Jo-han 540Ks together, though!!

Some of the resin from the 70s and early 80s were pretty foul smelling. I don't know if they were more toxic or not. As Brendan has said, it is the dust that gets in your lungs and sinuses that is harmful. It doesn't matter what kind of dust it is.