espo

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.

Looks great. I see what you mean about the hood. It looks like the hood could be hitting the wipers keeping it from closing. Maybe a little sanding of the wipers if that's the case and a dab if black and you would never know. Great paint finish.

I like the deep blue color and the wheels look good also.

Very nice paint work. With all the extra parts you are gathering it should be an interesting build.

I really like the way you did the body panels.

I like the looks of the Americans. A thought on the tires. The Good Year Polyglass tires in the new '68 Chevelle would look good, or if you have them the tires from the Round 2 '62 Pontiac are also nice.

Good looking wheels. They look bare, no trim rings, that would look good without hub caps and just paint them.

I have never built this kit, but the body proportions look good. The light package seems overdone but somewhat close to what was used when this kit was first released. Your decal issues more than likely had to do with the age of the decals that may not of been the best quality even when new.

Great looking build. Very clean and looking show room fresh. AS for Revell and their low rider reissues, they can be reversed to build a show room model with very little work.

I do like it. Very aggressive looking. Unusual hood scoop, is it opened in front ?

The blue color almost has a candy look to it in the pictures. I'm partial to blue paint colors and this one looks great. This should really pop when you add the chrome body trim.

Maybe someone should remind this guy that he has front wheel drive.

I also just picked up this kit. It is from Round 2 and they usually do a straight reissue of what AMT offered at the time. This should explain the body inaccuracies and the primitive nature of the gas tank and suspension. You are correct on the kits tires as I also find them very nice. The slicks almost look oversized but like you said this is for fun and it should make a great looking Bracket Racer. See my comment on you post of the bed.

I like the idea of making this a race car hauler. From the photo the bed looks almost to wide based on the area between the cars tires and the exterior edge of the ramps. This may just be because it isn't centered on the ramps. The beds wheel openings suggest it could even have tandem wheels or duel rear wheels. A lot of possibilities on this build.

I never noticed before, but since the renewed interest in this car I noticed the driver's rear tire and wheel. Is that a space saver spare or just what the stock wheel looks like with out the hub cap ?