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Glade to hear that your on the mend. Nice looking hood hinges. What do you feel up to do next ?

Justin, Bill has offered you some very good ideas on how to lower your pick up. You might look at some of the magazines on the news stands for additional ideas, but now it seems that everyone goes with an air bag type suspension. This could work or if you want to stay an earlier time period you might want to try the way it was done in the "old days". With a little cutting you could make a dropped front axle out of the kits stock axle, that would bring the front done a scale 3" to 4". I built this same model a few years ago as a push truck/hauler for the Revell 1/4 Midget. I lowered the front suspension as described and the rear not as much by the repositioning of the spring mounts that Bill mentioned. This put the top of the white wall tires I used even with the top of the wheel openings. This would be very realistic for the street on a 1:1 truck. As an aside on this kit. The lower valance does not have a very good mounting to the upper fenders. I would suggest you either glue them together before painting or create some small mounting tabs to go inside of the mounting for these two parts. It wouldn't take very much and I don't think it would ever be noticed after assembly. I hope you post your build I'd enjoy seeing how it turns out.

They are decals only, but I have used Scale Motorsports before and they worked great. Not sure what type of "cloth" you're looking for but they offer a decal that looks like a Mexican Blanket and they also have a Leopard and Zebra pattern if that's what your after.

I have managed to mess up the lettering while gluing the tires and wheels together. I was using Model Master liquid cement and just I drop got out on the tire. This dislodged the lettering and while whipping it away it left no traces of the glue but the lettering was gone. Not the best method for sure but it might be a fall back if any of the other suggestions don't work.

You might check with the dealership's parts department to see if they have it in spray cans. Also Duplicolor paints at parts stores may have it. Be sure to test it on a spare spruce from the kit, some of these paints are a little "hot" to use on plastic.

Your build looks fantastic. You mentioned using Alclad paint for the bumpers. I have also been using their paint but have a problem with the "chrome" coming off the bumpers when I handle them to mount to the model. Is there a clear to put over it or is there something else that you do ?

Being somewhat older than most there was only planes and boats and the medium was wood. I always was fascinated by the automobile , 1:1 scale. When I was about 7 or 8 they began to offer a kit that resembled a Ford roadster. Just an oblong block of wood with two thin pieces of Balsa wood to glue to the sides and then sand to blend into the body. A couple of sticks for axles and four tires with nails in them to attach to the axles. The first model in plastic that I can remember was a then new '53 or '54 Ford. Not even as nice as the later dealer promos. Things go better fast after that with Revell and SMP and AMT bringing better detailed kits every year in coupes and convertibles. I was in high school when AMT brought the '32 Ford three window and roadster to market. Then their '40 Ford coupe and then the '39/'40 sedan. This was also at a time that young ladies seemed more interesting than models and of course real cars, jobs to pay for all this and such. After having two sons, one of which builds models when last checked, and many years of work and now retired. Now I'm that "Troll" in the basement building models when not working in the yard or running errands. With the models of today I'm having the time of my life with so many choices it is now hard to figure out what to build next.

I have seen articles before profiling his work. Phantom drivers aside I still enjoy seeing his photography and its settings.

Great looking build, especially the color.

The truly amazing thing about this engine is some of the detail built into it. I think it would stand up to the current Revell Oldsmobile engine but with extra detailing that may never be seen. Just think about how long ago this was created and it just makes you wonder where this attention to detail went.

Amen

The model looks great, if Jr. went drag racing if the NASCAR thing doesn't work out. Mountain Dew green ? Budweiser colors are red, just saying.

The chassis looks nice. Are you wanting to leave engraving on the floor pan ? You mentioned the axle issues and wanting the wheels to turn. That's alright if that's what you want, but there is always the possibility that the model could roll off the shelf if the wheels can turn. Usually they are glued in place to prevent that from happening.

I also think it looks better without the stripes. When I built one I had to use two decal sets to get the stripes right. They just don't want to work on the hood and spoiler and the white will let the darker body color show thru anyway.

the paint and wood decals look really great. If the decals on the passenger door don't settle down you might use some Solvaset and you may even have to gently poke a small hole with a pin if air is trapped underneath. The bumpers and grill look great.

I built the '58 Plymouth a few years ago to represent a car a high school buddy drove. John may be a little harsh on this model, remember it was done several years ago, and the quality expected now is so much higher. I used the 2-4s from the AMT Chrysler 300 kit and used the laid down air cleaners. This would be incorrect if you are trying to do a show room type build, but it was the only way to get the air cleaners to fit under the hood. I used a prewired distributer and mounted it in the correct location at the front leaning toward the passenger side. I can't find the instruction sheet any longer so I can't remember what the kit called for. For me the biggest issue was the body side moldings that go to the rear with an odd bow to them. Other than that and the fact it sits like a dog getting ready to hike it's leg it's as close as you are going to get for a '50's Plymouth.

Looks great so far. And to think at one time the '37 was called the "Ugly Duckling" of Fords.

You might consider cutting the rod and mounting a piece to each wheel. Then use that to glue the rear wheels to the rear axle. Unless the axle housing hole is to large, then you could either bush the axle with hollow plastic tubing or drill the wheels for a larger diameter metal axel to match the housing.

Very striking color, it looks like there may be a little metal fleck in the paint.

I agree with the others here on the color. I liked it so much I found I was painting everything in this and Tamiya Orange Mt.

Great looking build. Really like what you are doing with the chassis. I agree the grill should be lowered and maybe even chopped a little. If you just lower it enough to have the top align with the cowl then the bottom would be to low to the ground. Really like the look of your build.

Wait until you start blending parts from a couple of different kits together to create what ever your thinking of. That is when the fun begins.

I would think there could be a problem on a night with high cross winds.

I was all ready to buy this yesterday at Hobby Lobby. I had my 40% coupon in hand, looked it over and was heading to the checkout when I noticed the price, $39.99, really!! After I returned it to the shelf I got to looking at the price of all the other kits. A $29.99 kit that was $23 at the hobby shop and they all were priced like this. Even the special price kits that they had in the close out area were priced at 30% off of their list price that was already $4 to $5 more than the hobby shops in the area. It would seem that they are no longer a good buy even with their coupon since they mark them up so much going in.

Great looking custom. I like how you did the roof. The grill looks almost OEM if you didn't know better.