James W

Wow! nice work. Did you modify the intake or did it all fit under the hood?

Is that the new Merc kit in the background? That is very well done. I like the box.

Nice work on the BMF. Not an easy kit to foil. Good job with the paint as well. Hope to see more of your stuff here.

Very nice build. Very clean. I'd like to find that car today. If the motor is shot, I'd drop in a 500 inch caddy. Otherwise just a set of wide steelies as some thick swaybars. The motor probably still runs.

I like the welding set up just because of the contrast of height. The record collection is cool too. The fuel tank set up matches my level of imagination.

Jairus asked me to fill in some details from our twin builds Thanks for posting those shots Jairus, I forgot that you had those in progress pictures. The height of my rod, Stray Dog, was established by the tall chev 6. It was to stand proud of the cowl. To accomplish this a frame was scratch built with lots of Z and the front axle on the same level as the front of the frame. The floor 'board' is mounted under the frame rails, torque tube through the passenger compartment. The updraft carbs also emphasize the tall engine. Manifold, carbs and throttle linkage were built on a jig separate from the engine and mounted as an assembly when finished. The driver will have to operate the choke at the carbs. The triple exhaust pipes were a favorite theme. The center pipes run siamesed cylinders, the outside headpipes join to a single exhaust. If you know the firing order of a six you know what I was going for. Jairus was right about the trophy. I think my rod could beat his. The often overlooked detail is the smaller trophy lying on the floor board. Mr. goatee is a proud racer, only as good as his latest accomplishment. This was a kick butt build for Jairus and I. We fed off each other and got together often while building to compare notes and plastic. Jairus built a skeleton that he was going to leave out when he found out I had one going. He did not want to upstage me. What a swell guy. We had GSL '05 as a goal and debuted them together there. It was lots of fun to build together and then show them that way. Highly recommended.

Interior is looking good, lots of details. One suggestion on the steering wheel...necker knob. This build up is way cool. You are nailling the illustration.

Hey Bill, could it be that the year info at the website were not typos but that the production years were different? Maybe they shipped off the dies from Dearborn to produce the next years Aussie cars?

Nice to see some different views of this now famous model. Thanks for posting them. Rob, I think those might be the 60 Ford hubcaps, I once built a 32 rod just to use them.

I like the stance. The shop in the background is very cool too. Good job.

I stored away the container of real rust to use on my models. Still have it. A little goes a long way. Sorry it was getting late and

I have noticed the different tones as well, so I use lots of brown, orange and yellow paints, few of which have the word 'rust' in the name. Reference photos help. For a base color I use red oxide primer. From there I build a finish by assembling many layers. Try starting with oil base colors washed over the base, then move to water base finishes. Finally use pastel chalks and if you like, real rust. If you have a flat finish the powders hold up well even when handling. You can use a fixative made for chalk art, but I've never used them. A clear coat of paint over powders will erase them, voice of experience. Have reference photos in front of you as you work If problems arise along the way, you can wash off the water base work and the oil base finsh will still be there. But usually you can salvage the job by cleaning portions of it and building more layers following your references. I had a can of nails that I let sit for a long time, adding water occasionally. I stirred it up and poured it into a clear jar and let the rust settle. Then I poured off the clear water until I only had mud. This I put in a pan to evaporate and then scrapped the rust into a container

Looking good man! Can't wait to see how the paint works out. You are right about the low stress of a build like this. Lots of experimentation. If it dosen't work out you can adjust. It is good that you are documenting like this. Next time you can refer to pix to see what you did. I never remember.

Hey Jairus, just trying to throw some work your way. Two thoughts on Letraset, if I may, You can apply the letters to a clear decal sheet then apply the whole thing at once to the body or... Paint the door the letter color, apply the Letraset letters individually as a mask, then paint the final body color and remove the Letraset with tape and/or a pick. Either way you can then finish off by dry brushing the lettering to give a worn look. Tikki looks good, is that like a standard toothpick, you must have some tiny hammers and chisels.

Pay Jairus to make you two sets, use one and offer the other for sale. Then they are just commercially available decals.

Welcome! Looks like you have this posting thing licked. Came through nicely. Beautiful lake rod. Leaving the running boards on is a nice touch. (early street/strip?) Don't believe Jairus comment about mileage, gas was cheap in the 30's anyway.

You do top notch weathering. I like the 'junk in the trunk'on the tan truck, very convincing. It was Terry Jessee's Cowboy Cadillac that got me to think of building worn out vehicles from the start instead of weathering already built models. SAE 46, I about wore that mag out. Keep going man, you are on a roll. You might be able to scan the original art and print it onto decal paper or even hand letter onto decal paper. just a thought.

I like the subject matter. My two cents for the bean counters.

The green paint looks awsome.

I built a custom '50 a few years back. I see you have lines drawn on the front fenders. I removed 1/8 inch from the bottom of the fenders starting at the back and following the radius of the wheel opening. At the front of the fender I blended it to the grill opening. This gave the fender a much needed lighter feel. One other thing I suggest is to mock up the truck as true as possible. Take the time to create possitive mounting points that won't change throughout the build. When you have established these mounting points you can see what the thing will really look like. Then set it in front of you and just look. This way you will see the little proportion changes that make huge differences in the end. I always thought the rear fenders looked like AC Cobra pieces... well you did ask what we thought. Keep going, your headed in the right direction.

One of the hardest things to do is abandon the first attempt and start over. I think you made the right call on the body and you won't regret it. Besides you got to practice your welding again Your build looks really good so far. I will have to stay close to my computer this weekend.

Thanks Manuel, I could not remember the coupe. Now I'll have to look for one.

Good looking stuff so far. With those fins, you don't really need stake sides. btw, I don't remember a '59 coupe. Who's kit is that?

Great idea to just get-it-running and back on the street. Just like 1:1 You could start a new trend at model shows, freshen up old builds. Some of these old models are quirky, but they do bring back great memories!

Nice work, but the 21 on the 'boot' looks a little cock eyed to me. How long will you let the decals set up before you clearcoat them? Do you use a dehumidifier?