James W

Thanks for all the nice remarks. I seem to be riding an alternative engine wave right now. v8's are just so... common. Marcus, I will look for your Fordoni on the forum, how about a link on this thread? Steve, I am leaning toward dirty right now, how about we just say it will be a driver. I'm still working through the back story on this one. Everything is old technology, say 1955. There will be some patina but I'm not sure if this was just pulled out of a barn or if it's a 60's rod. Been working some more today but no pictures, I found the Johan 31 Caddy wire wheels fit the rear tires so I'm using them. Rear suspension is goingto be a challenge to 'imagineer'. I want to bring this to the Portland Model Fest in about a month. It won't be done but I'lll bring what I have. Thanks for watching

Some work done today. Made transaxle mounting brackets. I think I will mount a transverse spring across the top of the axle and make lower swing arms for the rear suspension. Still planning on inboard Buick brakes. Bottom of engine. Two pans were used, the lower reservoir was eliminated. Two posts are for twin distributors. These castings are made from masters out of the AMT 60 chev pickup. I joined the intakes to a plate under the blower. Not sure about the carbs, maybe fuel injection is in the future. Cooling will be a nightmare, intake hoses mount at extreme left and right. Returns near the center are not a problem. Comments, criteques, condemnations?

First let me say I hesitate to post in-progress because I tend to jump around on my builds. But my employment has been slow and I have been building more than usual, so I may stick to this one. Plus, maybe, watching eyes will keep me on track. I have cast a few extra blocks to play with, so I put them together crank to crank. I should not have staggered the cylinders. It would use dual ended connecting rods instead of a redesigned crank, but I glued it that way so I will live with it now. The front engine covers were cast in JB Weld, blocks are casting resin. I have created a one piece intake since taking this picture. Transaxle was a brainstorm. Driveshaft passes to the quick change at the back, into a Mopar automatic, then to the pinion and ring gear. Buick drum brakes will mount inboard of the axles. Might be IRS. Frame is taking shape now. Front axle will mount via torsion rods inside the frame tubes. This is it, so far. I sectioned the cab as a building exercise and just liked it. I thought about mounting this drivetrain in some different cars including a gasser style Corvair, but came back to this truck for visual impact. It needed to be a Chevy with a narrow hood to show it off. This is why I like to work in plastic. As long as it is visually reasonable, the engineering can be overcome in the imagination. Any attempt at practicallity is strictly implied!

Interesting that only one of the cars you listed was rear wheel drive, there were other rear drive turbo cars at that time, and all were relatively low horsepower cars. They pre-date other 'tuner' cars. They are not muscle cars, in the classic sence. I believe they are their own group in between. Like the 55 chev, not a muslce car but superior to it's common contemporaries, these cars must be treated on there own. I've seen people with two or three Shelby Daytonas in their yard waiting to be revived. I would love to play around with a Chevy Sprint turbo or Suzuki Swift 16 valve. If they don't completely rot out and disappear they will be back on the street some day, but don't expect much aftermarket help on the restoration.

Nice build!! I like the engine details, very clean. As a side note, some pictures are very clear others are out of focus. See if your camera has a macro setting and be sure you have lots of light. Anyhow, looks like your work space is clean and organized. Thats a good way to turn out clean builds. Keep it up!

You should be able to find that image on the internet to create a decal or even paint it on. Good to have you on the forum. I think there are some others from your neck-of-the-woods (The Netherlands) on the forum too. Post some pictures of the dragster when it's done.

Shop the paint isle of the local auto parts store. There's all kinds of paints fo duplicating different finishes.

An impressive project. I like the building detail. Thanks for showing all the in progress stuff.

Fun!!! I like to get small once in a while too. Are you sure those aren't snow flakes? Looks like the ground is covered.

Go to Radio Shack and check out their system for circuit boards. Check price of materials and availability on the spot, see if it is worth the bother. Like was said before, the key is the artwork.

Don't take me wrong, I think they are cool too!! I was in a doctors office once looking a old National Geographics from the 30's. It did not hit me how old they were until I found an add for a Graham sedan on the back page. Old adds can be very cool. I'm glad you like them enough to buy them.

For chassis color, start with a base of red oxide primer, then some washes of light brown for dirt build-up. The muffler(s)would be more rusty less dirty so use a wash of rusty brown/orange. The engine region of the frame would be oily black for all the engine leaks. Google some old car frames for inspiration.

I'd buy the expensive kit with every intention of building it up right, collecting parts to correct it, then leave it on the shelf 'cause I'm too busy building cheap kits.

These were probably made in the early 70's. People would mount magazine cut outs on a trimmed board, cover it with shellac and hang them as wall decor. They were popular because you could use anything that struck your fancy. Man these bring back memories. Other than that, not much value in them unless you have some old bean bag chairs, a lava lamp and want to do a theme room in your house.

That's a neat project. I'm looking forward to seeing progress. No presure though.

Happy Birthday Gregg!!! An even four dozen!

A couple ideas. First for decals, just use a gloss paint before application followed by flat afterward. That way the decals have a smooth surface to adhere to. Second, get a couple shades of the same color primer. This would lend itself to different primers being used at different times. Third if you don't have an air brush, make a mask from cardstock paper and a hole punch and hold it just off the surface of the model to confine the spray pattern to a small area. Effectively this will make it look like a scale spray can was used. Forth, and you have already started this, create a story line in your head of what work occured in what order. What logical repairs happened and when. If the hood came from another truck, give it a different color scheme and then paint the fenders with primer like it was repaired before it was mounted. You are on your own for what damage a zombie will do to the truck.

Demolition Derby Car!!! Seriously I'd build it low with some fat tires, not 20's but maybe Corvette rims and a pair of 4 inch tail pipes. I can see what you mean about those scripts. Dose anybody do photo etch Olds scripts, then you could repair the body and replace them.

Thanks for posting this. I have seen paper models from many years ago and had no idea anybody still did them. How long have you done this sort of thing ? It's really cool.

Thanks, always good to hear about products like that.

Sell it quick before it needs something else!!!! I got to drive one of these a couple years ago and can see the appeal. Nice car.

I suggest you keep going! It looks great!!

Very nice! Good details, the grill is excellent! Almost real

AMT 62 Pontiac would have a nice Chassis to work with. Seperate floor and frame. AMT 69 442 has a very nice engine but you would want to get an automatic trans from something else.

Get yourself a variety of colors to work with from brown to orange. Red Oxide makes a great starting base, that is the old rust. The fresher rust will be brighter, like bright orange. You can dry brush brighter colors over your base for good effect. Stay away from gloss colors. Sometimes solvents make paint glossy when you creat a wash. Use a flat clear to get rid of glossy areas. Then finish with pastel chalks, again in autumn colors. The Rust All system is fine but you can follow the steps with your own products to get great results.