Harry P.

A man after my own heart...

That's an impressive collection of kitbashing and scratchbuilding... but you have the side stripes crossing over the door panel lines!

It's in the works...

And here is the rear end of the chassis. You can see how the leaf springs and shackles are mounted correctly now. I also drilled lightening holes in the control levers, per my reference photos.

Here's the assembled front end of the chassis... typical of the era. You can see the friction shocks installed here...

Notice the red circled items in the instruction book page above. They show the rear springs hanging from the shackles, while the upper ends of the shackles are screwed to the frame rails. This was typically how rear springs of cars of this era were attached, so I thought nothing of it and built and installed the rear springs as shown in the instructions. But when it came time to add the radius rods/chain guard assemblies, I was getting interference between parts, and the tops of the chain guards were on a weird angle that just didn't look right. Something was definitely wrong, but I couldn't figure out what. I checked and re-checked to see that I had built and installed the rear springs as shown in the instructions... and that was the problem! The instructions are wrong. On the real car, the rear leaf springs do not hang down from the shackles as shown in the instructions... the shackles are mounted the opposite way, as this photo of the real car shows... Luckily, the rear springs and shackles in this kit are all assembled with screws, not glue, so it was easy to just unscrew everything and mount the springs and shackles the right way. Now I no longer had any parts interfering with other parts. But a pretty stupid mistake in the instructions of a $200 kit if you ask me.

I've put the engine aside for the time being and started on the chassis. It builds up like any other typical '20s-'30s chassis... open channel frame rails and various crossmembers. Nothing unusual here. The chassis also includes eight friction shocks (two per wheel), which assemble pretty much like real ones... individual leaves sandwiched between an outer disk and a metal "star." These shocks were adjusted by either loosening or tightening the star, to control the damping rate. Here you can see how they look when assembled...

Yup! Most I ever paid for one kit was $1,200 for a first-edition Pocher Bugatti (the version that has all the separate gears in the gearbox, later editions omitted all those pieces), opened box but complete and unstarted.

That's the stereotype, at least. So what is the most you have ever paid for a single kit? Not including paint, supplies, aftermarket stuff, etc... just the kit itself.

The engine looks real good!

Looks real good, but not a fan of the brown vinyl roof. I would have gone with black.

Same reason why some people think Ford is better than Chevy, or Plymouth is better than both. Personal preference.

Pretty sure that plastic hot rod sweethearts don't have a cherry...

More examples of Spaz Stix... the wheels on this Mercedes... The grille shell on this Bentley... Grille shell on this SS Jaguar...

Testors gloss black enamel spray.

Over the years, BMF has had all sorts of problems with their foils not sticking, especially the "black chrome," which would literally not stick at all and just fall off. I assume they have worked out those problems by now... so besides the product sticking or not sticking, the basic difference between the "regular" chrome foil and the "Ultra" is that the ultra is shinier and looks more like chrome.

Rather unusual steering wheel position...

I've been going to physical therapy sessions 2x a week, but the pain is not getting any better. If anything, I'm hurting more now than before, probably because the guy is a sadist and twists and stretches me in ways the human body was never designed for. And the icing on the cake: now my physical therapist told me I need to use a cane when I walk, because he believes there is compression of my lower spine, and walking with a cane will relieve some of that compression and hopefully relieve some of the sciatic pain. So today I bought a cane. Sigh.... still only in my 50s and I now need a cane. This keeps getting better and better... But I guess if there is an upside to this, it's that I can now get one of those nifty handicapped placards and get "executive parking" everywhere I go!

Looks darn good to me!

If the topic is fast food chains and not individual, independent "fast food" joints, I like Wendy's, Burger King, Subway, Jimmy John's, and Steak and Shake. I also like Portillo's. Never tried Culver's, Chick Fil-a, or Sonic, so no opinion. Not a fan of Taco Bell. But of course, here in metro Chicago we have tons of individual hot dog stands that sell "Chicago style" hot dogs, which are the best hot dogs in the world. They are generally all independent, not chains.

Works for me too. And the stuff looks pretty good in the photos. But I assume it comes in a bottle with a brush applicator, which means you have to decant it, thin it, and airbrush it. Too much of a hassle for me. I've found Spaz Stix to be a great alternative. It comes in a spray can, so no messing with an airbrush... and the chrome effect is about the best I have seen. All the chrome parts on this model were messed up... flaking, and sort of a satin finish rather than shiny chrome. So the chrome trees were stripped, and all the chrome on this model is Spaz Stix. Judge for yourself...

White Castle was also the very first fast food chain, long before McDonald's ever came along. They opened their first one in either Wichita or Topeka, Kansas (can't remember which) in 1921, I think. I also think they're still only a regional chain (midwest, mostly). We have a ton of 'em here in the metro Chicago area.

Here ya go...

I have built it, but for some reason I can't access PB right now. I'll try later.

I guess I'm in the minority, but I totally don't see the appeal of crap like this. It's so silly and juvenile... it wouldn't hold my attention for 30 seconds. But like I said, I know I'm in the minority.