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We're have a big fireworks display put on by our home owners association for the Fourth of July. We are required by the Fire Department to have a licensed and insured person put on the show. This is the same person that does the cities fireworks also. This means we get our show on July 3. This works out well because we have our show followed by the cities show, and all the neighbors are shooting off stuff till about 10 or 11 at night. We don't have to spend a dime since everyone else is dropping a small fortune on fireworks. We usually start hearing some firecrackers around the first and each night it increases. After the show on the 3rd the neighbors were putting on big rocket shows till late into the night. Even last night, the 6th, we're still seeing everyone blowing up their money. Now that the local sales tents are closed by law it should get a little comer by the first of the week.

Beautiful job on this Midget, and perfect tow vehicle. The detailing of the Midget is so well done it looks very realistic. The Ford pick up is perfect as a stock work horse.

Hopefully you'll be able to post pictures for those of use unable to attend.

Like everyone else, I like how you used the license plates much like others have done on 1:1 cars and trucks. The paint treatment is very realistic looking and not overdone. The NASCAR chassis is perfect for this build.

You may be correct. Thanks for the heads up. I have owned a couple of 1:1 '57 Fords and some '51's but never tried to combine them in any way. I had mentioned the AMT '56 Ford kit as a possible donor and that may cover any frame issues, but I see know reason that the suspension parts couldn't be made to fit.

Looks like it has been ridden hard and put away wet as they say. Well built.

Great looking start. Many of these base trucks had painted bumper and grills anyway, so it is very much in keeping with the era. I have this same model on my work bench, but going in a different direction. I think it's a great kit to work with and will buy another soon.

Lots of Exotics, I like the old Detroit Iron myself. The black late model GTO reminds me of my '05 GTO. Really wish I had hung on to that but my back and neck was making it to hard to get in and out.

Very nice looking Cadillac. The Vinyl Roof goes well for this model.

Considering the condition of the body on this when you started it looks great.

Looks perfectly '50 ish. Nice color and finish the interior has a good contrast to the exterior color. I like the period modified engine setup.

What kit are you looking at ? That's a lot of money, at least in my mind. The only other kit that may be of help would be the AMT '56 Ford Crown Victoria and it has been reissued often enough that it shouldn't be any where near that price.

This is a very good example of a car in the edge of the two styles. I was fortunate enough to own a '57 T-Bird when it was still considered just another old used car. In the early '60's mine had no fender skirts and that was fine for me. This gave me more clearance for the "Pie Crust Slicks" I was using. There were some GM cars like the mid '50's Oldsmobile and Cadillacs that had rear fenders cut in such a way they had to have skirts. My personal preference has always been toward open wheel wells, but I realize many others prefer skirts and that's fine.

This is why I love dogs. They are just out there and have no shame, if it feels good just do it. We had a Lab. and I don't doubt he would have done the same thing.

The Pinto along with the Vega both were rather poor offerings from major automotive manufactures as a quick fix for gas prices that were going up fast along with some big economy problems of the day. The could of and should of done better but they went the cheep route and buyers suffered because of it. A true story while driving to work one morning in about 1975, I was listening to the "morning drive channel" on the AM radio, remember those ? Anyway the DJ had his mouth going about a 100 MPH and his brain was still parked. This is when everyone had their shorts in a bunch with Pinto's catching fire when rear ended and Firestone 500 tires coming apart at freeway speed. So the DJ goes into some sort of dialog about the bravest person in town had just run the light at the main part of town in a new Pinto with Firestone 500 tires. Remember his brain is in park. The story goes that his main sponsor was the local Ford dealer who called the radio station and withdrew his sponsorship. The truth of the matter was that if some yokel didn't plow into a Pinto driving a full size sedan there was no problem. As for the Firestone tires?, well when was the last time you checked your tire pressure ? Both cases of pilot error. Sometimes we can't be saved from our selves.

Even with the fitment issues you mentioned your build looks very nice. This was the first '57 Chevrolet kit I got to build years ago and I have always liked it. The only thing that really bothered me was the way AMT got the body side moldings wrong. I would still build one tomorrow since everything else just looks correct to me.

All of your extra effort on detailing really paid off. Looks great.

Beautiful looking Karmann Ghia. You didn't often see the convertibles, mostly the hardtops. I looked at your WIP also.

Very creative body work. I can see some kit bashing coming on. These look to kool not to build.

"Glass" rear fenders ? From the looks of the rear wheel off set he's going to need to keep an eye on the rear wheel bearings. I remember when every hot VW used spacers to open the top of their rear decks to catch additional air for cooling.

The Air Cleaner might just be one of the easiest parts to find since several casters offer these. The body may be somewhat of a problem. AMT offered a '56 Ford Victoria that even included the Crown option. The problem is the shape of a hardtop roof is very different from a tudoor post roof. I'm sure some casters offer the '55 - '56 tudoor bodies. The Revell '57 Ford kits with the Gasser build option would make a perfect chassis donor. AMT has offered several nice big block Ford engines thru the years. While there are many more the ones that come to my mind would be the '60 Ford Starliner and the '65 Ford Galaxy with all of the NASCAR and Drag Racing engine options. The bucket seats almost look like a Mopar seat from the shape and pattern of the covering. The interior would just depend on if your going for an exact reproduction, which wouldn't be a bad idea, or just use this as an inspiration for your own ideas. Again I think there are many who would like to see this done, expect copy cats.

I can see it now. What a shame about the paint issues, but it really isn't all that noticeable unless you're looking for it. Very creative body work especially the roof and tail lights. The doors look like they're hung perfectly with no misalignment. I like the paint treatment, I will steal that idea in the future.

Unfortunately far to many think its about Fireworks, cold Beer, and a Burger or two. We all have much to be thankful for and the sad part is we are unable to thank too many who made it all possible. So honor those that you can and pray for those you can't.

That was a quick build and it looks great.

I like seeing the "Big Truck" theme of this build. While I don't build this style my self I still learn from and enjoy watching how these conversions are done.