TooOld

Sharp group of Falcons , the Comet and '58 are cool too !

Excellent work on them all Michael , you had a very good year ! Really like the 328 GTS , that red paint really grabs your attention !

Great collection Zack and some nice photography too ! That Chevy Van really stands out to me !

Great variety of subjects Bob , you had an excellent year ! I've only seen a handful of these before but I like them all . . . Silly Surfers , a Schwinn , motorcycles , and Show Rods . And the Hawaiian and the K&K Dodge have been favorites of mine since I was a kid , well done !

I know we can be our own worst critics but that looks very very nice to me , well done Tom !

Well done Joe , that's a beautiful Cutlass ! Back in '64 I probably wouldn't have liked that color either (our '60 Dodge was bright red !) but now that pale blue looks really nice .

Maybe only two but boy those are two great builds , well done Ken !

All beautiful builds Phil , you had a very good year ! Really like that Ranchero but I'm a bit biased .

I like your subjects Matt , they're all very well done ! That 1/43rd XK-E is really cool !

Well done Joe , both the Mustang and the Camaro are beautiful ! I also spend most of my time on one or two builds and don't have time for anything else , your two just prove that quality always wins over quantity .

Well done Oliver , you had a very good year !

Great year Aaron ! I'm an old Chevy guy so I'm partial to the Chevelle and Camaro but the all are great !

That's pretty cool , great work !

When I saw that Salvino's JR Models was tooling an all new body for this kit I immediately pre-ordered one ! My kit was delivered just before Thanksgiving and after spending the long weekend looking it over I had a game plan in mind . I haven't built a NASCAR kit since the early 70's when I built all of the MPC kits and I'm no expert so the plan is to build it out of the box , add some details where I can , and see what happens . I still have the MPC Petty Plymouth I built way back when and the similarities between the chassis' are obvious but it always looked good to me so I won't be making any changes . To start I assembled the roll cage and related parts using the chassis plate as a fixture . The rear suspension was also assembled so the alignment to the body wheel openings could be checked . My roll cage was "short-shot" on the front driver's side bar so some putty was used to make repairs . Nothing is glued to the chassis at this point , only test fitting everything . After the two piece chassis was glued per the instructions I filled the resulting gaps with plastic . I also added some extra details to the floorboard including an upright brace for the ignition boxes and seat mounting brackets . Here's another shot with the cage set in place . A brace was also added from the front crossbar to the tunnel and a mounting bracket behind the seat . I fabricated a new seat using .030" sheet using online photos as a guide . Next bottom and rear seat mounting brackets were added . Here's a couple shots with the seat in place . The rear mounting bracket wasn't added yet when I took these . The finished seat will consist of three pieces . . . the seat shell , an upholstered insert , and the seat cushion . The next task is the hood and trunk hinges . The hood hinge is fabricated from .020" brass rod and .062" brass tubing and glued to the underside of the firewall/dash . Once the glue dried I formed the rest of the hinge by hand . One thing I always do when making hinges is to pinch the length of brass tubing in the center , this puts pressure on the brass rod and will hold the hood open when the model is finished . Something to pay attention to is where the firewall meets the inner flanges of the front fenders . This must fit with no gaps for the wheels to line up properly in the body openings , if this fits every time you slip the chassis into the body everything will line up . While I was pre-fitting my chassis and roll cage it wouldn't go forward enough to fit flush because the roll cage was hitting the A-pillar on the driver's side . Turns out that "short-shot" I fixed earlier wasn't one at all , it was molded in to clear the A-pillar ! Lesson learned . To fix it I just moved the bar down slightly and it all cleared . Here's photos with the hood installed After cutting the trunk open and adding a flange I fabricated a trunk hinge and glued it to the inside of the body . At this point I decided to add some detail to the underside of the hood and trunk . The hood will eventually get some more thickness added along the sides and front . In this photo I've already drilled it for hood pins . Here's the finished trunk . Back to the chassis . . . I added a 1/8" strip to the rear edge to fill the gap between the chassis and the rear valence on the body . I also added a strip along the top of the rear bulkhead but of course it interferes with the trunk hinge so I removed the center section . Turns out this strip wasn't even necessary since the gap between the bulkhead and the body can't really be seen when everything is assembled . Another lesson learned . Here's a photo with the chassis installed in the body , everything fits nicely ! You can clearly see the strip I added to fill the gap at the rear of the chassis . And here's some photos showing the hood and trunk in the closed and opened positions . After four weeks that's where I'm at as of today , next I need to work on mounting the hood & trunk pins . Once that's figured out I can move on to the engine , suspension , and interior details . It will probably be next year before it's ready for some paint . I'm a slow builder so I'll add updates when I can . Thanks for looking , any comments and/or suggestions are welcome !

Love those colors and the stance looks perfect ! Your extra details are gonna make this one a real winner !

Looks great Stephen ! Glad you finally got to give it a try , congrats !

Beautiful GTO John and a gorgeous color ! You don't need all of the extra super detailing when it's built this nice , great job !

Very sharp little VW and some great detailing !

Thanks much Carl !

Thanks Chris ! Thanks very much Pat ! Thanks Andy !

Built it in 2012 and packed it away . I would unbox it every year at Christmas time but not the last few years , maybe 2023 will be the year !

Very cool tug and great looking engine ! I also remember these tugs while in the USAF , thanks for the memories !

Beautiful work , it looks awesome ! Love the paint finish and the Buick side trim .

Great looking Gremlin , sharp paint color and wheels & tires !

Looks great Greg ! I always liked the look of this dune buggy and it has a good looking engine .