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I'm finishing an interior now where I used a light tan base on the steering wheel and brown on the strip on the dashboard then covered with clear orange. This works fine on very small areas. On larger areas such as a '49 Mercury Woody I did I used a light tan for a base and used art pencils to create a wood grain appearance. I then used clear yellow on the outer wood and clear orange on the inner panels. It was all cleared when the body was also cleared. The Sharpie idea is something I'll definitely try the next time, It looks much simpler.

Nice build very showroom looking. Foil can be very frustrating and takes a lot of patience, I'm still working on the patience part.

Very interesting. I am finishing a build now that is a model of a '67 El Camino that I owned from 1967 until 1974. I used the front clip, frame, firewall and drive train and interior from the Revell '67 Chevelle SS kit #7145. The body from the firewall back is from the Revell #85-7648 '66 El Camino kit. The differences are far more than you would think. The shape of the back edge of the hood opening is different along with the shape of the leading edge of the door opening. The height of the cowl ( between the windshield and the hood opening ) is also different. This is from the same company. These are challenges that can be overcome but are still hard to understand. Like Bill Engwer said " artistic corrections and interpretations " . I know in the real world this same thing can be done, and have seen this done years ago when a friend wrecked his El Camino.

On the rattle can paint, you might try setting the can in warm water covering the can about 50%. Try shaking it for a good five minutes or more before trying to spray. Get some plastic spoons to test the spray. You might get lucky.

I like the removal of the hood "Gun Sights" and did just that on a build in the past. Did you use extra spruce from the kit or just body filler ? For my self I have had body modifications like this in the past and had the putty shrink or start cracking later.

Rob, I really like the way you went on the bed. It doesn't look like you will need much plastic to blend the bed with the body. How well does the chassis clear the bed floor? It looks like it should just fit.

Outstanding build. I'll apologies now because I'm going to use your fold down arm rest on my next big car build.

Let us know when you get this casted so I could buy one. Your conversion looks very smooth and accurate.

Appreciate all of the insight on the '61 Ventura. This is my next build also so I'm along for the ride.

Been watching for a while and think the chassis work is outstanding. A thought on interior color. I see a beautiful blue colored inner fender and if that is going to be the final body color you might think about a more neutral interior color in a light to medium beige-tan or a couple of light blue colors to complement the exterior. I agree it would look better in something other than black or white. This will help show off all the work you have done on the interior. It will look more like a tudor Viper .

Just a thought if you haven't already cut the body. Depending on what look you're going for. You could leave the rear fenders on the body and using the bed as a guide you could gauge just how far the bed is to go into the body or just extending the bed beyond the rear bumper. This could give it some what of a Fleetside look. GM at one time offered a kit for the early Chevrolets where the trunk lid was removed and a pickup bed was inserted into that area. With your concern about the wheel base consider placing the bed where you want it and aligning the wheel base before cutting the body. Maybe an El Camino look or if you want to stay with the "Rat Look" place the entire bed, fenders and all where it needs to be, then cut the body where ever that lines up and build a flat bulkhead for the rear of the cab and maybe even include the stock rear window or an open screen rear window. This looks like it will be a fun build, wish I had thought of it.

Looks like something out of the new car sales catalog.

Maybe someone from Ohio can provide you with the exact color of Silver they use, but it may just be the standard Silver Mt. from Dodge. If you have some clear plastic lenses for your safety lights I would think that Tamiya X-23 Clear Blue would work fine. You may have to use a couple light coats to get the desired effect. I would use the brush rather that the spray and paint on the inside of the lens rather than the outside.

Never had that problem with our 110 Lb. Yellow Lab. Always made sure he had lots of those rawhide chew sticks from Pets Smart. Dogs are just like a five year old trapped in those furry little bodies.

Looks like you're off to a good start. I'm sure you're test fitting all of the body panels, but on the ones I have built the grill shell and the hood sometimes are difficult to line up with the front fenders and the body. Depending on the era of your build, most of the early builds still had the bench seat in the pictures I've seen. Just before and after WWII there just was not a lot of money and every thing was cobbled together with what ever you could find. You might Google the " Salt Flats " or even " Land Speed Racing " just to see if there is any pictures that may give you ideas.

Well it seems that I may be wrong on this.

On one hand this is not a bad idea if you are looking for one another. On the other hand I was under the impression that the reason for not having any builder recognition on the display info was to keep the judging impartial. Maybe a board where you could post your presence at the show and contact information like a cell phone number. Then you could see if someone is present or not.

The six cylinder is a pleasant surprise and the colors work well. I understand you were trying to make a 210 rather than a Bel Air. The trim differences between the too is that the 210 didn't have the chrome trim on the front fenders and doors. Also the Bel Air lettering behind the door on the quarter panel would not be there. The interior would not be as nice either. And has been pointed out the V-8 emblems under the tail lights would be gone on a 6 cylinder model. Beyond all that it is a great looking model and you should be proud of your build.

I have had very good luck with Tamiya primers. The white is a little thin but does cover. If you want to get a very fine primer you might look at Mr. Surfacer primers. While a little more expensive they come in different ratings. I'll use the 1200 for a final prep before the first coat of color.

Great detailing thru out. Beautiful build.

Are you going to have room for the radiator in front of the engine with the hood closed ? Many years ago I saw a 1:1 Bug that someone put a small block Chevy in. Just some thoughts that you may use. The builder had it very stock looking from the outside with little more than some larger passenger car tires on the rear. The car was a very dark green and you almost didn't notice some narrow (about 1" to 1 1/2") wide slots in the hood. This allowed enough air to get to the radiator mounted where the stock spare tire would have been. He had a Muncie 4-speed and a narrowed Chevy rear end. He had stock VW hub caps and trim rings on the wheels and narrow white wall tires all around. This was in the mid 60's so that was not out of place at the time.

Nice build. A thought on the paint issue. You might want to strip the paint and start over. Try and stay with one brand of paint products to minimize any future issues there. On lowering, the method that has worked best for myself is to try and use the same methods that 1:1 builds follow. You can take the front spindles and move the wheel attachment point up almost to the top of the upright. The attachment in the kit I believe is smaller than the wheels you are using anyway and this would be an easy way to adapt the two together. It looks like you may be getting into a personalized "Christine" and if this is the way you're going you might look at changing the rear wheel openings. With the model sitting so low you almost don't see the rear wheels. Consider making a paper or tape template of the rear wheel opening and move it up to just under the side moldings. Using the stock shape with the raised opening you would see the rear wheels and tires without loss of the OEM look.

That would work, how much ?

Perfect "day two" car from that era. I have to agree with the others these just looked over done with the bumper guards. Great paint with just the right stance.

Wow. I didn't know that kit could be built to look that good.