Harry P.

Everyone knows Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks"... How many of you know that it was originally written and released in 1927 by Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy?

Man, I am learning so much about songs that I never knew! I had no idea that "Burning Love" was a cover.

Yep, heard that. Good to see that the NFL sees cheating as cheating, not "gaining a competitive advantage," as some of you have tried to justify it.

Correctamundo... Also a favorite of mine back in the day...

I knew about the Leaves' version, but seriously... Hendrix's version is so cool and so bluesy and so perfect...

Pretty much every Linda Rondstadt hit song was a cover. And I never knew that "Piece of My Heart" by Janis Joplin was a cover! I am so familiar with Janis' version (and I love it!) that hearing that song done by someone else sounds weird to me. But I have to admit, Erma Franklin's take on it sounds good...

You don't even have to buy into the Lucas-Coppola version of the story... the details of the case against Tucker and the trial are a matter of public record. And it wasn't just Sen. Homer Ferguson of Michigan running interference for his local "Big Three." The Big Three also put the squeeze on their steel suppliers and "suggested" that they might want to make it hard for the Tucker Corp. to buy steel. So Tucker's production was affected by their inability to get enough steel to stamp out enough body panels. It was a case of the little guy going against the big boys... and the big boys did not like the competition... so they killed it. BTW... if any of you out there have never seen the move "Tucker: The Man and His Dream," do yourself a favor and see it! No car guy can go through life not having seen this movie. Jeff Bridges is terrific as Preston Tucker.

Come on, John... keep trying. You can do it...

Thanks, Skip. Yep, I've planked many a hull in my day...

I expect some springback once the clamps come off, but the basic shape will hold. I'll use CA to glue this piece to the fender surface, I don't see any problem forcing a thin piece like this to snug down to the fenders. I'll glue the front end first, let it dry, then use clamps to hold the rest in place as I flow CA into the joint from the inside. I don't see any problems. The good news is, these two pieces are the only ones that need serious bending, everything else will be pretty much straight pieces... unless I decide to put an arc into the roofline from front to back. I'm still debating a curved roofline vs. a straight shot. I like the look of a curved roofline, but I also like the simplicity of a straight line. Not to mention how much easier it would be to make it straight rather than arced!

Here is a sneak preview of what's to come. The yellow area of the wheel cover is painted... it's almost the exact same shade as the unpainted fenders: I think I've decided on yellow fenders (sorry, Skip... ). Well, maybe 90% sure. I do like the idea of the black running board tread area and black wheel covers contrasting with the yellow fenders, and I like the contrast between the pale yellow and the wood of the body. I can picture the car in my mind... it looks good. But maybe black fenders is the way to go. Hmmm... I'll have to think about this...

Pale yellow has already been approved by my design committee. The only question is matching fenders or black fenders? I think you'll like it when you see the finished car.

No green, I don't like green RRs. I was thinking gray with black fenders... then pale yellow with black fenders and black wheel covers. That's where I'm going. I think the light and dark woods will look great against pale yellow "sheetmetal" and black fenders. Black seats, black door panels, black "rubber" floor. No frills inside.

While the wood is drying I'll jump around to other things. The Phantom III kit that I'm converting to a woody comes with spoked wheels, but I wanted full wheel covers. I got a set of covers from another RR kit I have lying around... When I eventually build this model, I'll just use the unused spoked wheels from the Phantom III. Here are the Phantom III tires and WW inserts with the Phantom II full wheel cover components. The covers fit the Phantom III tires perfectly...

The woodworking begins! You can't see it here under all the clamps, but there are pieces of 1/8" square basswood rods being formed to shape. The wood was soaked overnight to soften it and allow me to bend it around the fairly tight radius of the fenders without snapping. The strips of cardboard are there to protect the soft wet wood from clamp marks. Once these two pieces dry completely they will hold the shape and I can start building the body. BTW... I filled the holes in the fenders with sheet styrene. Those holes are for the stock taillights, which won't be used on the woody body. And besides, they would wind up being on the inside of the body walls, so I couldn't have used those stock taillight positions anyway...

At this point I glued the firewall to the cowl, because I need to temporarily put the cowl in place on the fenders in order to get the exact angle for the front edges of the front doors. The cowl alone didn't have enough area on the bottom to sit steady and flat on the fenders, so I glued the firewall to the cowl to give me more flat bottom edges to sit solidly on the fenders. I also removed the top of the windshield frame, the new roof will cover that. And I also reinforced the joint between cowl and firewall with square styrene rod for extra strength.

Balsa is no good, it has a very prominent grain that would be totally out of scale on this model. For the framework I'll use basswood, which is a very light colored wood (almost white), with no visible grain pattern. I can stain it to look like any species, and there is no out-of-scale grain to look at. For the flat panels I'll be using 1/64" birch veneer, which I will also stain.

Remember, don't post any hints or answers here. PM me with year, make, and model. The answer: 1958 Opel Kapitän.

Joe, another cover that I didn't know was a cover! I'm learning stuff here, guys...

I second that.

Goofymobiles. The perfect word for them...

Way to go, Ray! I love seeing a classic built, You're doing great so far, I'm liking it!

How many of you knew that the big Nazareth hit "Love Hurts" from the '70s was a cover of an old Everly Bros. song?

Really? I didn't know that! Geez, the things you learn on a model car forum...