TooOld

Well done Mike , love that Emerald Green !

Thanks much for the comments guys ! A couple of weeks ago I was considering leaving the stock El Camino bed in place so I could finish the project in a reasonable time , now that the Ranchero bed is about done I'm really glad I gave it a shot .

Well done Bernard and congrats on your first diecast renovation !

Beautiful ! Love that color !

Well done , nicest Kyote I've seen !

I was determined to finish the bed so I worked a couple hours last night and then again early this morning . Added some detail to the wheelhouses and ribs to the floor and tailgate . Still some clean up needed before assembly and paint but they're pretty much finished . I taped the parts together for these photos . Going to need some fine tuning to get every thing to fit just right but I'm happy with the results .

It's .020" sheet styrene . I have some predrilled left that I bought on line years ago but I've also cut my own sheets , also have a good supply of original Mattel sheets in different colors but no white .

That's one super nice Mustang JC , don't know how I missed it ! Probably the nicest I've seen in a long time , looking forward to your next one !

Thanks David ! It does okay considering what it is , a toy from 1962 . I've had mine for years and only use it occasionally for simple parts like these . I did use it to make a L-88 hood scoop once using a Chevelle hood as the buck , that worked really good .

Thanks JC !

Thanks David ! Thanks Greg ! Thanks Bucky ! Thanks much Carl ! Quick update on my progress over the weekend . The plan was to start working on the new pieces for the bed , before doing that I had to remove the sides and tailgate from the body . Very tricky and I cleaned it up as best I could . The sides were first , each side was Vac-U-Formed in two pieces because of their length . After the two parts were joined and they were trimmed to the proper size the stock wheelhouses were added . Between cutting out the old bed and making these parts my bench time was pretty much ate up , only other thing I was able to accomplish was cutting a piece for the tailgate and drawing the floor onto a sheet of plastic . Was really hoping to get the new bed finished but you know how that goes .

Well done , that's one pretty Meteor ! I did a Fairlane a couple years ago molded that same color .

Love the look of the '68 Impala and yours looks gorgeous in that Turquoise paint ! I remember your original post with the custom wheels , I like the stock look much better .

Great looking 3-Window ! Very well done !

Wow that Poppy red is gorgeous , well done !!

Beautifully done Roger ! Much cleaner looking than an Eleanor and a beautiful color , that engine looks great too !

You should be very proud of this one Jason , that's one gorgeous Lincoln !

Great job on this one Jason ! There's nothing wrong with these early MPC kits , they build up nice and easy and look great on the shelf .

COOL !! Great colors and love the license plate !

Looks cool to me , the way it was meant to be built ! Much cleaner with no scoop and those wheels & tires are perfect for it!

A very fiddly and difficult kit to get right . . . Excellent job on both of them , glad you stuck to it and finished them ! I built one way back in the early 70's and it didn't go well . . . still have a couple "Surf Rod" versions that I may try one day .

Started working on the rear window opening last night , the Ranchero is larger than the El Camino . The left half has been enlarged using a small file . After some more work here's the result . Another advantage is this also moves the window out so it's closer to flush with the body . I've also removed the front wall of the bed so it can be replaced . For the front wall I made a buck and used a Vac-U-Form to make the new one . New front wall temporarily in place , I also made a pattern for the window . The opening needs to be a bit larger and the window isn't as flush as it should be . Doing any more work is going to be tricky since there's not a lot of strength left in the window area , and removing the bed side walls will make everything pretty flimsy . Before proceeding any further it's time to glue the body together . As soon as that sets up completely I can continue . Thanks for looking !

Absolutely , after sleeping on it I'm going with them !

Thanks for the offer Bill , I appreciate it but I've got it covered !

Thanks for those pics Robert , those are really nice looking wheels too ! The trim ring is definitely thicker but not objectionable like AMT Torino wheels . Since I have the Cougar wheels I'm going to use them and make some GT decals for them .