1320wayne

Yeah, one off creations that were going to be cast but determined to be too fragile. Just getting to where I'm at I had numerous areas come apart that had to be repaired.

Sharp looking Merc. Color and stance look great.

Rear end and wheelie bars are pretty much done. I added and painted the brake lines along with the wheelie bars. The small nuts and bolts are not the easiest thing to work with but look good when complete. I still need to add the wheels to the wheelie bars but those can be added later. The next step now is to build some rear shocks/springs and get the rear differential attached to the chassis.

It's called Daytona Racing and Collectibles. Still in the same shop that you described although it's on the end of the strip now. Great selection of model kits (old and new) and diecast/Nascar collectibles.

The one in Pinellas Park is Phil's Hobby. Not a bad shop either.

Looks good Roger. You have the same mentality on this as I do. I have all the makings for this car but since it has been done so many times I have never gotten around to doing it.

I know you asked about resin but the best one I have ever seen and worked with, proportionally, is a machined aluminum piece from Scale Repros. You would have to create your own butterflys and linkage but it looks the best.

Colonial Photo and Hobby is still there and going strong. One of the best hobby shops in Florida.

Absolutely fantastic paint job.

Lou, that second Vette is from 2003, which puts the body style right around the beginning of 2000-2003. By this point the car was a Jim Oddy/Fred Hahn driven car, not Bill Kuhlmann.

Terry, I do have a complete set of generic chassis plans that Chris from Top End Minitures created a few years back but I seldom ever use them. It's good just to see where basic bars should be but as you hinted at each body will have it's own unique needs and fit issues. I do use a lot of real photos of cars with up close shots of different sections of the chassis for reference which helps a great deal. It's not a perfect science either because after the build is complete there's a lot of sections of the chassis that won't be seen. And I am by no means a master at this as this is really only the third homemade chassis that I have done and just like everything else in model building you learn from your mistakes and try to make things better on the next build. Thanks for looking in.

I use a few different sizes and types throughout the chassis. The three most common are Evergreen #212, .080 rod, #213, .100 rod and #223, 3/32" tube. Here are a few more small updates. The chassis has paint along with the seat. I still have to add the padding to the seat before it's ready for belts and final installation. At the same time I am working more on the Lenco, which will be installed next now that the chassis is painted.

I went ahead and dug out the resin body that I spoke of above and took a few shots so that anyone interested in finding one could see what it looks like. As well, if anyone knows any background on this body like who originally created it, I'm sure some folks here would be interested in knowing. As you can see, it wouldn't take much to duplicate this body as it appears that the original creator simply added a relatively tame (for pro mod standards) rear wing and raised the tops of the front wheelwells. It's a decent casting with only minor pinholes needing attention.

I think this reasoning is probably why most builders have so many ongoing projects at the same time. They loose perspective on what they are doing so they put it away and start on something new for a new perspective until that one starts to go away. And so on and so on. Eventually something gets finished but sometimes you have to take the long road to get there.

Not to sound too harsh against your suggestion but this is the kind of mentatlity that I have been fighting against for years, ever since I started designing masters for resin casters. Some other caster comes along, makes minor changes to my design and decides to call it their own. I don't agree with this practice and I won't ever become one of those people.

It's not my design to cast and resell.

Yeah Lou, the body styles shown are early to mid 90's. Ironically I purchased just such a resin body on Ebay about three months ago that matches the first Summit picture perfectly. I have no idea who did the casting nor did the seller and the body has no identifying markings on it that would identify that either. It's the first and only time that I had ever seen that resin body done up in a pro mod style so I had to have it.

Fred, here is one more, although I think this is an after the fact picture as it does not apper to be Glidden's name on the window.

Here's a few more from the 80's.

The closest ref. pics. I have from this era would be these shots of the Reher and Morrison Bruce Allen Beretta from the late 80's.

No photo-etch is made to stand up to a lot of beating and banging but the stuff from Dirtmodelor is pretty sturdy. I am very pleased with it and I am confident that it will go together with minimal to no problems. Bart, I'm glad you got the package. Hopefully you can put the parts to good use on future projects.

Out of all of my research data for Glidden this is the only image that I had. I did an added search and nothing else showed up. It's probably going to be hard to find any good research material for this car as it didn't accomplish much due to this being near the end of his career.

Excellent job Jim. That is some serious firepower.

Moving right along. I'm thinking that I almost have the chassis ready for paint. All of the nice Dirtmodelor photo-etch brackets are in place for the suspensions. I added rails for the seat and the floorboards are done. The rear differential is assembled and painted and ready for some added detail like brake lines. I went with resin brake rotors and calipers because once the tires and wheels are in place you won't see most of this part of the assembly.

Look back on page 1 and you will see Vanishing Point mentioned. My two personal favorites are Smokey and the Bandit and, even though it's not car related, Spaceballs. The opening scene with the space ship that never ends and the music that struggles to keep going is hilarious.