mrm

I met Big Daddy in Chicago at a hobby show. The real Beatnik Bandit II was there and there were Revell kits for purchasing. I bought one and had it authographed by him. Later I gave it to a good friend we used to go to model shows together. many years ago I have built the Beatnik Bandit I and II , but the models are long gone. I have however the original Beatnik Bandit in 1:18 Diecast.

This thing is crazy. Very cool and great work so far. I will also be following this for sure.

I started dissambling everything and then ideas started popping in my head. So now the build is going to follow the same guide lines, but it is getting different. Engine, frame, body, interior, wheels stay the same. I just thought that it needs more 'POP' so I decided to sharpen the contrast. So, now the engine, frame and lower body are still going to be green, but a much "louder" green and the upper part will be blain jet black instead of metallic. As a challenge I want to make the build a rattle can job, but I substituted the one touch cans for Tamiya ones. The interior will stay untouched, except some seatbelts may be added. I also am thinking of dechroming the grille and making it black also. I would like a second opinion on this from everyone. Thank you

Thank you guys. I was thinking to save the Vicky and I started to sand some of the nasty fish eyes on the black paint. Then I noticed some more on the green too and at one point I realized, that it would be considerably easier to just take the thing apart, reuse what I can and build the rest from square one, as I have few kits like this. So, I will make the identical thing, but just build in a better way.

Hi guys. Maybe someone on here can help me with some questions. I have made molds before. When I tryed it for the first time, the only place that was selling supplies for making resin parts were MicroMark. I have used their products with mixed results. There RTV sylicone worked fine for some applications in the past and not so well for others. Their tire making rubber never worked for me. Some of their resins were fine and some not. Then someone pointed me in the direction of Alumilite. I have used them for some time as I found them to be supperior to MicroMark's product for most applications. Now somone was telling me that Smooth-on is better yet than the Alumilite product. Someone also mentioned that MicroMark does not make any of their product, but rather has Smooth-on product repackaged for them. So, can someone shed some light on the subject please? Is microMark and smooth-on the same product? Also what experiences does anyone have with smooth-on vs. alumilite? Which one is better and what makes it so? Any input is more than welcome. Thank you

This model was started somewhere in the middle of last year, right after I decided to return to plastic kit building. Long story short, it was used as test bed for few different things. First I really wanted to see how an almost completely dechromed modern Deuce would look like in the flesh. Then I wanted to try the then-somewhat-new one toush paint from Testors straight out of the can (well it sucks MHO) Last but not least I wanted to see the front suspention with a particular size wheel/tire without modifying it or the frame/body/grille (not very happy with that either) So here is my little guinea pig, which is still not finished. So far it has Alumacoupe wheels, brakes and tires, photoetched gauge panel,pedals, door handles and steering wheel and a dual pipe intake machined from aluminum. It still needs the upper portion of the body to be repainted (in the same metallic black) front lights hood and supports installed windshield installed rear taillights and licence plate installed. It does not seem like a lot, but considering that for some reasons unknown to me, apparently I have decided back when I did the car so far, to actually glue everything together. So now, I have to very carefully mask the model while it is assembled to do any painting on it. And I assure you, I am not happy with the paintjob on it. Stay tuned and thanks for looking.

Well the effect of the finish is really realistic because.....it is real. The model has been touched so many times with oily fingers, dirty hands and it has been collecting dust and catching sunlight for some time now. I don't think I can replicate the finish even if I tried. LOL

thank you. I knew it looked way too good to be a Revival kit. MFH make great stuff, but are pricey and not easy to get. I am a Ferrari guy through and true, but I hade to vote for that fantastic Deuce.

Rdkingjay, the answer to your question is vynil, no tape. Making it contour to the fenders is definitely a test to anyone's patience.

The flames are paint guys. No decals. The whole model was sprayed Duplicolor acryl flat black and then the masked off flames were sprayed white primer, gloss white, two different yellows, orange and red in that order. All the flames colors are Tamiya spray cans through an airbrush. Everything is then sealed under PPG polyurethane clear and when cured it is wetsanded and buffed and polished. Next there are going to be a pair of fenderless Deuces- one coupe and one roadster that are also going to be flamed, but are going to be like yin and yeng. One silver with purple flames and the other purple with silver flames. They are definitely not going to be box stock however.

Here is what will probably be my second finished model of the year. It should have been in last year's list, as it has been sitting just like you see it for months. I think it is time to complete it. I saw an identical rod at a little car gathering last summer. I was blown away from the cool looks of the front bumper in the weeds and the contrast between the shiny chrome of the wheels and engine and the plain green primer. I did not ask the owner if it was in the process of being finished or he was going toleave it just in green primer, but I loved it and the same day I knew I was making it in scale. Since I have just rediscovered the joy of just building models for the overall look of them, I decided to build this pretty much box stock, with maybe just kitbashing some parts, like the engine, but making no modifications and no aftermarket whatsoever. In my other thread I mentioned that made something like a challenge to myself, to build only Deuces, that would qualify for as many different classes at a contest as possible. So I gues this one puts a check mark on the "modified out of box" class.

I have to agree wholeheartedly. This thing deserves a furry dash and some bright neon graphics under a shiny coat.

That would be me, but I have to admit, that I still have to learn quite a bit to get to John's level

This is just too cool.

What model is the Ferrari based on and what scale is it? 1:20?

Thanks again everyone. Espo, That was exactly how I fell. This model has great detail straight out of the box. Photoetched grilles and wires and hoses are all cool, but this thing is plenty good even without them. Maybe just add a wired distributor and some hardware on the doors inside, as they forgot to put anything. There are no armrests, window cranks or door handles of any sort. This is probably the only gripe I have about the model. (and maybe the lack of third member on the rear end)

I understand. And this is what I love about your idea. But don't you think that wider fenders, lower stance, agressive intakes, race hood, open headlights and rear diffuser make this point clear? You can plant the entire interior tube from the regular car in your custom body to match the "waterfall" between the seats and then put nice racing seats and accent everything with Carbon Fiber. Nothing visually screams racing more than racing buckets with 4/5 point harness surrounded by CF.

Glad you like it guys. I need some advice here. I want to tackle the suspension next, but I am undecided because the ideas I have all involve methods I have never tried before. I need to make a new entire front suspention. This means scratchbuilding upper and lower controll arms and shocks, with corresponding attachment points on the frame. The Vicky's front setup would be fine for a full fendered rod, but I don't like it for a fenderless car. Scratchbuilding tubular Aarms is not really hard, but I want to have them in chrome. So here is the issue I need an advice with, which goes for both front and rear components. OPTION I - weld the pieces from brass tubing, but I have no experience with soldering. It will be strong, but there is still issue with chrome finish, which can be either sent to Chrome tech USA or painted with Alclad. It gets pricey tho. OPTION II - make all the pieces from styrene tubing. It will be way easier and faster and I have experience with it. The chrome solutions are identical to option I but parts will not be as strong and is going to be just as pricey. OPTION III - make the parts from whatever and then make molds (I have experience with that) and cast them from white metal. This way they can be strong and polished to look like aluminum. The issue is that it is going to be hell to polish the little bits and is also pricey. The good part is that this way I would be able to use the same front end on other projects in the future. The other issue I need a second opinion on is the front setup itself. The way it is now there is not much space left between the engine and the radiator. That is not a problem as on this engine all the pulleys are enclosed. But I was thinking that if this car is inspired by Boyd's creation and has all modern look, then it could be set up with inboard shocks to keep the outside clean. As far as making components for it, there is no problem any different than the ones already mentioned. The issue is the space. I can stretch the front a little, which would mean making new hoods. Firs off I am not sure if it is not going to mess up the look of the car if I stretch the nose and then do you guys think it is worth the trouble just to clean up the front end from the shocks. Please, all opinions are welcome and if you had experience with any of the described operations, please share them. Thank you

Really cool idea. I love Vettes and owned few in my past. I even wrapped one around a poll with about 120 and lived to tell the story. I think it will be one hell of a model that Vert, but since it has no roof I would loose the wing. Big wings never look cool on convertibles. Mabe make a little lip at the end of the tail or a really low profile wing, but that huge thing will look odd at best. Just my two cents. I will definitely be following this build. My kind of stuff.

Wonderfull work on display here. So many cool ideas. However, I think it would be cool if a couple a words are written about each engiine. This thread is like a library for one's project, but for people like me who have been away from the hobby for a wile and are not familiar with which kit comes with what parts it is very confusing. I see people putting "55Chevy" on top of a picture of a Pontiac engine, which is not helpful. I know you can stuff that engine in just about anything, but the real question that would be helpful to everyone is where it came from. So please, I don't think it is too much to ask, put what and where from the engines are, instead of what they are in. For example "Revell's '32 engine with scratchbuild intake" or " whatever kit's flathead with Reps&Min. intake and blower" etc.

I have few projects involving stuffing a Ferrari engine in '30s street rods. Here is one of them

This is going to be my first major project for 2012. The idea started probably years ago and it was simple. Build a nice modern Phaeton with clean lines. The inspiration was the Boyd Coddington Built car for Bob Kolmos. So even these years ago some things were clear. It was going to be yellow, two door, clean, low, fenderless and with modern high performance drivetrain. Some things were started back then, like the frame and even believe I had some sort of engine picked up for it. And then.........it was forgotten in some box. Recently during some crazy decision of organizing the dusty pile of kits in the garage it was redescovered. And then new ideas flew and one things led to another and so on and so forth. So now I am picking up the project for like the third or fourth time. It is still going to have all the elements of the original idea, but just a little more complicated. The body is from the old AMT phaeton kit, but the doors have been filled in and new ones have been scraped. Then the firewall and cowl from the much newer AMT Phantom Vicky have been grafted on. The top is just slightly modified from the same kit as the body. The entire floor and interior will be most likely scratchbuild The frame so far is thefront portion of the Phantom Vicky one whith highly modified rear section from a prowler with elements from a Ferrari 612. Most likely the front suspention of the Vicky will give way to a new more high tech one, which will have to be scratchbuild too. I can try to see if I like soldering stuff as I am not familiar with it. Things got kind of complicated when I decided that it would be totally fine to fit the Ferrari V12 from the 612 Scaglieti together with the rear transaxle. There is still more work on this chassis alone than I would like to even think about, but so far I managed to fit everything quite well actually Thank you for looking and stay tuned

Thank you guys. I had a lot fun building this and it made me realize again how much fun it is building something out of the box just for the fun of it. Here are some more pictures Thank you for looking

This thing was painted some time ago, mostly as a painting exersize, trying masking flames. I had big plans for it, like superdetailing the engine and the chassis, plus making a custom interior for it. Then I got the itch to build it "right now" and went online and looked at the different parts I would need. I ordered them just few days ago and they are still on the way. But looking at the painted body got me somewhat aggrevated and made me think. This hobby is for my pleasure and relaxation, not the opposite. So I decided to sit down and make the model absolutely 100% box stock. Everything is exactly per the instructions and nothing from outside the box has been used. Not even a single decal, even the ones provided in the box. Everything is just the kit and paint. The idea for the car itself was to build what I would have as a daily driver if I could afford anything I wanted. So I wanted a very traditional, yet very modern Deuce, that could haul my whole family of four in any weather. I don't think anything says Street rod more than a chopped '32 with flames over black rolling on american 5 spokes with small block Ford under the hood. Since it is a daily driver everything under the hood has been dechromed and color matched to the rest of the car. Same goes for the chassis. The finished model is EXACTLY what I would love to drive if I could afford one. And I believe it is a great testament to what an exceptional kit Revell's '32 series is. I may still add the license plate at the rear, but have not decided yet.