regular guy

Does the General Lee 1/16th inch version have a full frame? Just a comment on Tweedy Bird Big Daddy Ed Roth showcar. That's a bobbed T roadster. Guess there are others but a lot of T kits have the pickup bed. Not many have the '27 T turtle deck though.

Decided to use 1/8 scale engine dirvetrain and supension parts I already have. Put them on a board in the right relationship to each other and start doing some visualizing. Come up with a design to get started on. Will post pictures of putting together parts first.

Here's the link to gee how about that? A Model Car Magazine forum post. I like the nosecone but I'd do the body different. I like the way he got the firewall/cowl down low. Then the wide tires and wheels point to handling. I'm going to file these ideas away. Most bucket T's are straight line only. Looks like he sectioned it.Cut out a horizontal section of T body and put it back together. Anyhow it's the right idea. Futuristic space race restyling of a Bucket T.

You can add the Lindberg Serpent to the list. It's coming out in May. That's the kind of car I'm talking about exactly. Custom nosecone and custom body. That leaves the engine open. That was a whole approach to building custom cars. The other way was 'full body'. The roadster type really hits me where I live. You can put some style in the nosecone and body plus the engine compartment's open to show off engine (plus workability on engine). Good job Lindberg. Might be made in USA too.

No need to 'pick up your marbles and go home'. How was I supposed to know what sulfur means? I'm not going to be making anything worth taking a mold from for awhile. Might as well use the sulphur clay. Like that gray color. Like those olf AMT kits. Has a 'Design Studio' look.

Okay. I'll watch them. You're talking to someone that owns Y2K, Auto Style and 525 Chavant clays. What's 525 clay? The original GM Craftsman's Guild Contest clay. How cool is that? I'm strangely drawn to this Amaco clay. http://www.hobbylinc.com/american-art-clay-x33-brown-permoplast-clay-1lb-clay-art-kit-90056g I was surprised when it turned out to be hard like Chavant. I want to try the grey clay. I know everybody works in brown. The grey is like the old Amt kits color. I think there's something to it.

Thanks Ace! Here's the beginner light box from Walmart. Link was huge. Good ole' Walmart. It's a Darice 6"x9" for crocheting or something. Here's the link for sculpting tool set from Hobblinc. http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/aac/aac11035m.htm I always start small and build. Do tend to end up with extra stuff that way though! Anybody else reading this: You have to heat this kind of clay. Ace can explain why better than I can probably. So it becomes hard basiclly. To seal and take molds off of. That's about all I've figured out about that.

That 'tracing' idea in General Motors Guild Booklet looks like a good idea for anybody else starting out in this. To find one to get search 'light box'.Amazon has a ton of them. I'd rather have one with a wall power adapter instead of USB powered. I was sitting on the fence about the Amaco sculpting tool kit but now that's a slam dunk. Already have Amaco clay craft oven(you'll need one of those) it will smell up girlfriend's/wife's oven). So just moving along here.

We use 1/16, 1/8, 1/4 and 1/2 scale to test shapes before building full scale. Right now have some Chavant clay and some Amoco clay. Need to test them and see how they stick to foam. Probalby build a simple body part to get warmed up. That's about what's going on. Looking into tracing table. The kind with the light under it.

To keep it simple. A frame that narrows at the front to leave room for independent front suspension. Wide for the rear suspension and passenger compartment. Low two seater Open engine compartment. Design a body and nose cone to make it all look good. We're going to build ours racecar space frame like sprint cars so underhood won't look as clean as Bucket T;s. Add in a big block. The only way to fly!

Plan is to make Bucket T replacement bodies and matching noses/grill shells. Then some bodies for big block Lotus 7 type chassis/racecar. 1/4 scale seems like the way to go. It's a little big for full bodied cars but just right for these projects. Might do some 1/8 scale's first.

Pulled the trigger last night and bought a General Motors Craftsman's Guild Contest booklet off of Ebay. That made me read the .PDF of one I had on the computer again. Figured out the using tracing paper to draw pictures from magazines trick. Caught on to the using templates to get both sides of clay model to look the same. Anybody else making custom car clay models?

That picture of car and William Shatner is probably the one. Well AMT and MPC put out Star Trek kits so there we go. They can come out with the Jupiter 8 with a little bonus figure of Captain Kirk included. Probably better to use the real name of showcar, whatever it was. We want the XR6! That's one of the coolest cars AMT ever made. There must be more forgotten showcars from AMT or MPC or even Lindberg around.

We used to talk to the guy that retired from operating the big crane at Long Beach Naval Yard. The largest crane in the world that was taken from Germany as war repayment. So is he a cruise ship captain? I'm not a good guesser. AMT is probably bringing out that XR8 since they've brought back the Silhoette. The Lindberg Diamond Duster would be great! Anybody know the original name of it? It was a lot better.

Maybe he's a heavy equipment operator.Union in Chicago.:) He's got a point.Customized heavy equipment models are far and few between. Anyhow Big 3 Design Studio like Futuristic show cars are a nice little niche in model making. Keeps you from buying anything and everything. The Deora isn't bad looking. Good example of 'Space Race' styling.Clean taut surfaces. The MPC Transporter and AMTronic are like that. Then AMT built the Piranha with same styiling so they knew what was going on. 'To boldly go where no man has gone before!'

Never heard of it. How about a picture Mark? We were watching Star Trek and they had a futuristic show car in it. You had to look quick to see it. It was the episode where it's a modern Roman Empire planet. Season two. Car was called the Jupiter 8 for the show. I saw the name for that kind of styling but I forgot. It's clean but complex.. Like the Eldon Invader and the Piranha. The Virgil Exner Modern Classics would work for me. They're not really like the individual show cars though. Round2/AMT could probably get the rights to those. That kind of styling went from the 50's into the early and mid 60's. There were a few 'last gasps' in the early 70's but the s[ace/futuristic look went bye-bye. Will post some good pic's in the 1:1 section here.

This may me Round2/AMT/MPC starting to open the flood gate for releasing their showcars. It would be topped by the crown jewel the 1/12 scale Lindberg 'Diamond Duster'. That's sort of a lame name. I think early versions of that have a zippier name. The Silhouette ranks in the top of showcars that have been made into models. 'Big Daddy' Ed Roth rules that title though. Nearly every kid that built car models had a 'Big Daddy' car kit. Then the figures like Ratfink were huge too. The Silhouette is a standout with the clean styling. That was a whole class of showcars. They battled with the Styling studios at the Big Three to top each other Very cool kit.

This showed up on Autoworld New Releases/Auto Kits https://www.autoworldstore.com/product_p/amt1045.htm. That's very cool. Wonder if it includes decals for paint job on cover? Think that used to be called scallops. Kind of beyond pinstripes.

Certainly does look like a lethargy here regarding 50's early 60's Go Go custom show cars. Oh well. "I got me a policy. I let people do what they want to do."-Hondo I myself am getting busy building custom car bodies. Is cool that AMT is reissuing Silhouette. Owned a Devin rolling chassis right after high school so this isn't something new to me.

Update. Going to saw off piece of Woodland Scenics foam and test sand it and use a rasp on it. Should find out right away how sandable it is. Will order Amaco Sandable Foam sample soon. Going to get some Bondo Wood Filler too. I've seen that work for sculping.

This one: http://www.spotlighthobbies.com/amt19foga50012.html The '61 Styline and this '63 1/2 Advanced Customizing go together and the this '60 Starliner and the '64 Marauder go together. So two pair of early '60's Fords. While you have the 'more enterprising modelers ' you have the 'discriminating buyers' too. They buy kits that work with a theme or have a reason to buy kit. So if I was into early 60's Ford kit's I'd get these. Well back to planning the 'putty customizing studio'.

'more enterprising modelers' I like that! Grouping them together is because of subject. Year and make. So the Styline is all show no go because it's based on curbside. That's okay with me. I'll take any Advanced Customizing or Styline. That reminds me. We can through in the Advanced Customizing Ford kit with these.It was a Galaxie or something. That makes four early 60's Ford sedans.

Looks like you can put a 427 in the Marauder. Maybe it comes with one. I have not gone over the kit with a fine tooth comb. 427 engine configurations and applicationsLow-riser intake, 4V10.9:1 — 390 horsepower (290 kW) at 5600 rpm and 460 lb·ft (620 N·m) at 3200 rpm1968 Mercury Cougar GT-E only (it was to be offered in the Ford Mustang, according to early press releases, but there are no records or verification of any factory 427 Mustangs). In the spring of 1968, the 428 Cobra Jet officially replaced the 427; however, leftover 427s were installed until late June of that year, when stocks were depleted.11.6:1 — 410 horsepower (310 kW) at 5600 rpm and 476 lb·ft (645 N·m) at 3400 rpm1963–1964 Ford1963–1964 MercuryLow-riser intake, 2x4V12:1 — 425 horsepower (317 kW) at 6000 rpm and 480 lb·ft (650 N·m) at 3700 rpm1963 Ford, Mercury11.6:1 — 425 horsepower (317 kW) at 6000 rpm and 480 lb·ft (650 N·m) at 3700 rpm1964 Ford, Fairlane, MercuryThat makes it a fun kit to build.That's probably why they put the rollcage in the kit. See wikipedia FE article for good explanation of 427 overhead cammer. Bet the Ford's were real mad about Nascar saying forget it after all that engine development.

Here's the kit I was thinking of. http://www.modelroundup.com/product-p/amt-6022.htm Mercury Marauder.Box looks like Starliner box. So that makes them sister kits. Styline Ford came out about the same time so that would make a trio. Sort of starter set of early Ford sedans.

Thank you for heads up on Silhouette. That is a great example of a Futuristic custom show car. My apologies to you if minor factual errors irritate you. Like in Hollywood. I'm a story man. I'm not a screenwriter. Idea man.Conceptualist. Other people contribute to finish project. Anyhow I will post pictures of any cool show cars in this 1:1 section. I guess that's one way to do it.