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Very nice finish on the body. I like the after market red sway bars.

I am also not a fan of the two part mirrors. They are hard to glue and always have problems with the way they point after they dry. I have tried drilling a small hole in the stand through which I use part of a staple to pass thru and a very shallow hole in the back side of the mirror. While it works it is a real pain.

Great looking Kustom. I like how the new roof really changes the over all look of the Buick.

They look great.

Great looking build on this gasser Vette. Gramps 46mentioned the front fender scoops and I think it was after the '56 or '57 model year that they did away with the scoops. As for the rear shackles I think that most sanctioning bodies would not allow them. I remember two different approaches that guys used way back when. One would be to drill the shackles half way between the top and bottom and add a small diameter tube or pipe through which and additional bolt could be added giving additional rigidity. This was also used by some Jeep guys before commercial Lift Kits were common . This would keep the rear end from shifting when you turn. The more common way they some of the Gassers were lifted in the rear as to mount the differential under the leaf springs much like a pick up truck. This would give you the lift needed without up setting the rear suspension. Just ideas. The rear quarter window on the 1:1 Corvettes were never used in the original kits and I always wondered why.

A kit that might offer the wrecker parts would be the AMT/Lindberg '34 Ford pick-up kit. The older issues had the option of a small wrecker boom that mounted inside the bed. The kit also had a flat steak bed version that could be used. There have been a few Chevrolet truck kits issued with the wrecker boom. I think most of them are based on the old Billy Carter kit. Billy Carter was the brother of our President Jimmy Carter. Lets just say they were very different than one another.

I was going to suggest you use a #11 blade and scrape the chrome of the part you want to paint. As Snake pointed out this would be the perfect time to remove any imperfections on the bumper and maybe even remove the bolt heads so the bumper is smooth. If you're building a drag type model you could make the bumper represent a Fiber Glass one.

Thanks for the info. I'll have to look around for the Brat model locally.

Thanks, I'll remember to look the next time I'm in there. I have been using the Tamiya Q-tips up until now.

Your "wide eye" front end was the most common that I remember. The deep set hood on your 1:1 was not something I recall, but there were a lot of variations of this theme and I remember many different combinations. The main thing was what you could find and use. The flare of the rear fender in the picture pretty much matches what I had. The shorter front fenders had the stock turn signals mounted on the top of the front fenders. Mine was a '67 type one with a metal sun roof. This was in the mid seventies and I had an apartment on 13th street about a block off the main strett running to Hwy 101. The nose and hood would be of great assistance for my plan to build a model of the Baja I had, maybe we can work out a trade for something you may need. The wheels on mine were from Empi and they were a solid painted center. I had 15x8 rears with 10.00x15 ribbed implement tires. The fronts were 14x5 and I finally settled on 6.95x14 tires after much experimentation with different sizes. As I mentioned the front end would not bit into the sand and let you turn when I had the wider tires. I also drove it on the street and with the modified engine it would dust most any other V'db that I would meet. I'll be looking over your shoulder on this build, you have me wanting to jump into my own.

Very clean looking build. I like how you used very realistic surfaces for the interior and the bed details.

That is an extensive chopped top. The color really stands out so I'm thinking someone named Elly had something to do with that. Nothing like a fire breathing Hemi for motivation. The wide whites and chromes look perfect.

Great looking model, and I purchased several of the Custom Cases and find it interesting that you were so involved in them. A 308 pizza delivery car. That would be when you know you're paying to much for a pizza. When these cars were first were brought to market we used to call the "Doctor Killers". Seems the only people who could afford them at the time were Doctors with limited driving abilities.

I followed your build on this and as Dann pointed out "where do you start"? besides all the amazing details, I'm impressed by the opening front door and the steering arms moving with the door. All of the changes you made to the wheels and tires and the custom paint work just all works together so well.

My compliments on the nose for your Baja. I had a Baja with this same front end years ago. I lived at Grover City next to Pismo Beach at the time. You got the front deck lid dead on also. There were several different Fiber Glass kits for this conversion at the time and they had different versions of the fenders and the rear engine cover. I'll try and find any pictures I might have if you think they would be of any help. The rear fender treatment you are showing was the most common, as mine was an earlier kit. The difference being the fender ended a little higher up on the arch and then had a flat rear facing surface with Bus type Tail lights. The engine cover was something like a scoop air intake that directed air off the roof toward the firewall side of the engine. This also had a raised area in the center that housed the License Plate and cleared the Air Filter. The picture of the blue and white Bug shows the later style that was more common and offered better protection of the engine in inclement weather. It sounds like you're going for a true sand/beach type build. If you have not already experienced driving such a vehicle in the very lose sand you need to stay with very skinny front tires as using even a 70 series tire causes the front end to just skip over the sand, at least that was something I had to change. I will enjoy watching your build and if you cast the front end I would like to work something out with you for the front end anyway.

I saw something interesting today on this subject. I was driving into the area were I live yesterday and there was a Buick model that looked just like the one in the picture. This was the first time I recall seeing one of these without Hub Caps or some type of Alloy Wheel. This car didn't have any Hub Caps on it and the wheels look just like this Buicks left rear, so there's that. So in view of how this owner has taken care of his fine ride a missing Hub Cap would be in keeping with his fastidious vehicle maintenance.

In that same section you should be able to find some manicure type scissors both straight and curved. The cutting portion is very small and works great for getting in all the tight places to minimize the size of the decal.

Up until now I never considered the Brat a subject I would be interested in, now I'm thinking I'll have to get one. I see they are going to offer the old AMT Nova SS and '55 Chevrolet. While many have po po'd these two in the past for inaccuracies but I have always liked them and wonder what all may have been done to enhance them or if they are just a straight reissue. I'm sure they are going to offer their newer line of tires and decals. The Police van has a lot of possibilities and the Prowler might be fun also.

I see what you mean about the tail lights, they really look more like what they used on the Monza coupes. While I liked the rear window treatment that went into production this one would have worked as well and much better than the treatment they went with on the '80's era Impala and Caprices. I'm a regular reader of Collectible Automobile magazine and the new issue has coverage from the design studios of the "big three" from the '60's. Very interesting information as well as pictures. They will often have such articles and it's always interesting to see what the designers were suggesting. Some really look strange and others you can see how some elements show up on later models.

Need to add a wench to the front grill guard. I like the way you're building this.

Great looking panel. I like the colors and the signage you used. Great back drop for your photos.

I have never seen the TR before that I can recall. This looks like a very clean build. The Nova looks great as a day 2 car. Is that an AMT kit ?

I kept looking back and forth from the pictures of the 1:1 and your model and it is easy to get lost in between. You have an amazing number of scale tools and extra parts for display. I have always thought these were a handsome looking little cars, and I watch a lot of the classic rallying on You Tube and these are outstanding performers.

Great looking big rig of a car. I agree with stevez on the white wall tires. The yellowing was a common problem in that era. You could not replicate that finish if you were trying to. You got it the same way they did back in the day, that's just the way they aged.

Beautiful looking build. I'd love to have that in 1:1 for a week end driver.