Steve_L

1959 Ford 300 4-Door These are pictures of the tenth in a build theme series of "Models of Cars I Used to Own/Drive." In 1959, my Dad took a job as an over-the-road salesman. For that job, he bought a plain-jane 1959 Ford 300 4-door. The only things it had going for it were a radio and a 292 V8 motor with stick and overdrive. I found out that combination would do an honest 110 mph. When he bought another more upscale car, the '59 became the family vehicle. My mom didn't like to drive a standard transmission, so it became pretty much my car. I used a resin kit to build this stock curbside. I painted it with Duplicolor black primer, Tamiya TS-14 black color coat and Kilz Klearcoat. I polished it with polishing pads and Novus polish. I used Bare Metal Foil for the chrome. It's not that great of a build; I ran into issues with warping resin, a non-fitting interior (It's actually for a 2-door), non-fitting front and rear glass and a chassis that did not position the wheels in the fenders very well. During the early part of final assemby, I had the cover to my trash can open, but decided to carry through the build and put the completed model at the back of the shelf. Enjoy!

That is both an innovative and excellent build! Congratulations on your achievement and well-deserved awards!

That is really sweet! Moebius will be proud...

Here are the pictures you asked for, taken with my own camera. The quality of these is not quite as good as the professional camera used for the other five pictures.

These are pictures of the model I built for the Revell Gearz Model Car Contest. My build theme was "A muscle car with custom features." I started with the Revell 1966 El Camino kit and made a lot of changes to suit the vision I had for the completed project. I changed the 396 375 H.P. motor and 4-speed transmission for a 505 H.P. Z06 motor and 6-Speed gearbox. I scratch built the exhaust system and used mufflers and exhaust tips from a 1996 Corvette ZR-1 kit. I lowered the car front and rear and it rides on deep chrome reverse "smoothie" wheels. I used custom parts from two 1961 Ford kits to create matching custom front and rear ends. I reshaped a lot of body panels to get a smoother look. I airbrushed Duplicolor Corvette Torch Red paint and covered that with Kilz Clear Coat. I polished the body with 3200, 4000, 6000, 8000 and 12000 grade polishing pads. I further polished the paint with Novus 3, 2 and 1 polish. It was a fun project. Enjoy!

These are pictures of a 1932 Ford Roadster that I call AlumaDeuce. The project began in 2004 and became stalled for almost 8 years. Some encouragement from ACME club members helped me finish the project for the “Deuce” theme at the recent Magic City Modelers “Birmingham Classic” car show. I started with an R/M 1932 Ford Highboy kit and made many modifications to arrive at the original vision I had for the car. I removed portions of the front of the frame and deeply Z’ed the front. I deeply C’ed the rear of the frame and fabricated a new rear cross member. I modified the body to resemble a roadster pickup. I added a full air bag suspension. I installed a flathead motor with Ardun Heads driving a T56 six speed transmission. The motor features adapted Corvette LS1 fuel injection. Here are some “under construction" photos of the project: As the first picture shows, I built the project in modules to make final assembly easier. I added pins to allow me to mock up various parts. I also used white glue and “Fun Tack” to position parts for mocking up. I put about 125 hours into the project. I used a lot of aftermarket detailing parts from Arrowhead Aluminum, Detail Master, Machined Aluminum Specialties, Model Car Garage, Replicas and Miniatures of Maryland and Scale Repro’s Plus. Duplicolor primer, color and clear coat paint gave me the finish I wanted. I used polishing pads and Novus to finish the paint. This was the most complex and challenging and detailed project I have completed, so far. Enjoy!

Instead of using a donor kit, I fabricated brackets and glued them to the underside of the body to attach the wheels and axles. Thanks for the feedback.

These are pictures of my recently completed "Badillac" project. I have always really liked the styling of the 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz. When I saw Jimmy Flintstone's new "Badillac" resin kit, I knew I wanted to build one. The kit is barebones, with only the body and headlights. That made it an easy decision to build it as a slammer. I carefully removed all of the resin flash and then filled some small gouges around the window areas. I enlarged both side windows because of what I perceived to be an "overchopped" appearance. I prepared the body by sanding it with 600, 800 and 1000 grit sandpaper. Since no grille was provided, I found one in my parts box that perfectly filled the opening. I also used taillights from my parts box. I slammed the car to the ground and Pegasus Chrome 23's gave me the look I wanted. I primed it with Duplicolor white primer, followed by color coats of Tamiya Pearl White paint. I topped that off with Kilz Clear Coat. I used 3200, 4000, 6000, 8000 and 12000 polishing pads to smooth and shine the paint. I finished the polishing process with Novus 3, 2 and 1. It wasn't a detailed build, but it was a fun project. Enjoy!

By all measures, a superb build! Congratulations on your achievement.

Custom 2000 Concord These are pictures of an update to a build I originally completed in 2001. I started with an AMT Slammer kit and added a Jimmy Flintstone resin 2-Dr body. I enjoyed the original build, but with one disappointment. The Krylon Purple paint didn't produce a very vivid hue. At that time, I was not in the habit of trying out paint jobs on scrap bodies, so I didn't see that coming. I recently took a look at this build and decided there were things I could do to improve it. I polished the paint to a high gloss with 4000, 6000, 8,000 and 12,000 polishing pads and Novus 3, 2 and 1. The wheels and tires from the original AMT kit were cartoon-like, so I replaced them with disc brake calipers and the primo mag wheels from the 1963 Corvette Roadster snap kit. I added some Bare Metal Foil and repainted the tail light lenses with Stop Light red paint. This build is more to my liking now, and I had fun doing the update. Enjoy!

Here is how you can easily find resin model car kits on the EBay auction site: 1. Sign on to EBay . 2. Starting in the Categories option, navigate to: Toys & Hobbies / Models & Kits / Automotive. 3. Type in the following search parameters. resin -decal* -figure -plaskit -hood -"model car parts" -1/24 -1/87 -1/43 -1/20 -1/12 -1/8 -1/16 -1/32 -funny The search terms that are preceded by a "-" will be eliminated from the search results. This is, of course, my own personal search. You can modify it as desired. 4. Click on the Save Search option to keep the search for future use.

These are pictures of my recently reworked 1958 Pontiac Bonneville. I took it from the back of the bottom shelf and decided I could upgrade it to be more to my liking. The original build was completed in 2000 when I resumed the hobby. It was a milestone for me -- it was my first resin kit, my first candy apple paint job and my first use of Bare Metal Foil. (It was also the last time I used Plastic Wood for major body work! LOL!) I started with a 1958 Bonneville resin kit from the Modelhaus. I decided to make it a custom car. I molded in the front and rear bumpers and drilled six holes in each, for a styling touch. I removed the door handles and emblems. I painted it Pactra Candy Apple Red over Pactra Gold. I covered that with Pactra Clear. The original paint was not polished and was colorful, but the surface was rough. Here comes the "You love it or you hate it" part. I wanted the car to be low, and for a novelty, I channeled it over a Hoppin' Hydros chassis. For the upgrade, I polished the paint with 4000, 6000, 8000 and 12000 pads and followed that up with Novus 3, 2 and 1. I touched up and polished the Bare Metal Foil. I replaced the headlights and taillights and added rear view mirrors and spotlights. Now this build can be found near the front of an upper shelf, when my granddaughters are not making it hop. Enjoy!

Now, that's a grabber! Excellent work!

S-w-e-e-t! That's my kind of custom!

1997 Dodge Ram Sport Pickup These are pictures of a long-stalled project built to my theme of "Vehicles I Used to Drive." From 1997 to 2006, I drove a tricked out 1997 Dodge Ram Sport 1500. I custom ordered it with the 5.9L engine, a leather interior, an upgraded stereo system and a 3.92 Limited Slip Rear end. I added an aftermarket performance air intake, a Jet chip, headers, a high flow catalytic converter, a Flowmaster high performance exhaust and a ram air fiberglass hood. I had custom-made smoothie wheels shipped from California. I started this project in 2003 with a Maisto 1/24 Die Cast and stripped all of the paint. I fabricated a scoop for the hood and added smoothie wheels and tires from my parts box. I primered and painted the body and that's when the project stalled. The paint work was really substandard. After stripping that paint job, the project went on the shelf. For 2012, I'm concentrating on finishing as many of my stalled projects as I can. I hired fellow ACME Club Bob Downie to help me rescue this one. He provided the finish body work for the hood and a jam up paint job. Many thanks, Bob! I painted the interior Duplicolor Interior Desert Sand to match the 1:1 and detailed painted it, too. I installed dual exhaust pipes and covered the tips with Bare Metal Foil. I created the Sport, Ram 1500, Magnum V8 and Dodge decals on my computer. I don't do a lot of Die Casts, but I made this one look as much like my 1:1 Dodge Ram 1500 as I could. It was a fun project at the end. Enjoy!

From Old to New This PT Coupe project from 2001 was one of my first resin builds. It was successful, but I always hated the wheels that I put on it. The other morning, I took it down from the shelf and decided to put new wheels on it. I used some Pegasus slotted mag wheels and I'm much happier with them. In 2001, I did not know about polishing pads and other polishing products. The candy red paint looked much better in pictures than it did up close. I looked at it and decided I could polish the paint. After courses of 4000, 6000, 8000 and 12000 polishing pads, I finished up with Novus 3, 2 and 1 polish. I am very happy with how it looks now. Then I saw that some of the trim needed Bare Metal Foil. Out came the BMF, my Exacto knife and my burnishing tool. Detail was lacking so I decided to add some detail painting and finish it up with photo etched emblems. A simple wheel swap had escalated into a full day's investment of my time. Has something like that ever happened to you?

These are pictures of my 1976 Caprice Custom that was part of an ACME club group build. The car is extensively customized. I removed the trim and grafted custom parts from the 1963 Ford Galaxie to the front and rear ends. I hinged the hood at the front. I used Evercoat Polyester Glazing Putty for the body work. The drive train is a Chevy LS motor and six speed transmission from the 2002 Camaro kit. I used a lot of aftermarket parts, including a radiator cap, oil filer cap and engine pulleys. I installed valve stems in the parts box mag wheels. The low profile tires are also from my parts box. The interior is stock except for a Hurst shifter (It actually has the word Hurst on the stalk) and extensive detailing with Bare Metal foil. The primer is Duplicolor Filler primer with airbrushed Model Master Guards Red acrylic and airbrushed Kilz Clear Coat. I polished the paint with 4000, 6000, 8000 and 12000 LMG polishing pads. I followed that up with Novus Number 3, 2 and 1 polish . There were some glitches along the way, but it was a fun build. Enjoy!

This build represents two firsts for me. (1) I built a JADA kit (Concept Camaro) for the first time. (2) I air brushed Acryl paint for the first time. The JADA kit contains high quality castings of high quality plastic. It assembled quite well except for the issue of the "cartoon" style wheels and tires. I solved that minor dilemma by substituting Pegasus 21" five spoke wheels and parts box big and little tires for those in the JADA kit. The decals are high quality and applied quite well with no drama. I thinned the Pactra Acryl Candy Purple 50% and sprayed it at about 20 PSI with no drama. The clear coat is two mist coats of Kilz Casual Colors Clear Coat followed by three wet coats. I polished the Acryl paint before applying the clear and I am pleased with the results. The clear was also polished with 4000, 6000, 8000 and 12000 grit pads followed by a rub down with Meguiar's Scratch-X. The interior was sprayed with Duplicolor Vinyl Upholstery Desert Sand paint and paint detailed. Enjoy!

Duplicate post -- sorry about that...

This is a model of my friend Chet Palumbo's 1:1 1968 Buick Skylark. I started with a resin kit from R and R Resin that I won in an EBay Auction. The resin kit was originally a 1968 GS 400 so I modified it to more closely resemble Chet's Skylark. I used a plastic kit of a 1969 Oldsmobile 442 as a donor. It provided the chassis and interior. The front wheels are turnable. The engine is from a 1969 Buick Rivera with a turbo 350 transmission from a 1969 Nova kit. The rest of the drive train is from the 1969 442 kit. The Cragar wheels are from my stash of wheels and hubcaps. I modified the interior to look less like a 442 and more like a Skylark. I hand cast the front arm rests, door handles and window and vent window handles from resin. I used styrene plastic half round strips to make the side trim. It and the rest of the chrome trim is covered with Bare Metal Foil. I found the paint code (13514 – Teal Blue Mist Poly) on the Internet and had it custom mixed at a local auto paint store. It is a urethane base coat that is covered with a clear coat of Future floor wax. I polished the paint with model car polishing pads and shined it with Meguiars Scratch-X polish. I created the Buick, Skylark and three bar trim pieces on my computer and printed them out as decals. I made the license tags on my computer, too. I had a lot of fun with this project and some of the things I did were a stretch. Enjoy!

Here are pictures of my latest successful build. It was put together for the 2008 ACME Southern Nationals NNL show. I wanted something for the "Mopar" theme, but with a "dare to be different" approach. The result is "PT Bruiser," a phantom PT Cruiser coupe with a distinct gasser flavor. I started with a PT Coupe resin kit from Resin Werks and opened the hood and trunk. I decided to use the complete gasser chassis and drive train from the R/M Stone Woods Cook kit. (Yeah, I know, I've built two other projects on the same platform, but it looks neat and saves a whole lot of fabrication...) I quickly determined that the top mounted blower wouldn't work, so I fabricated a front mounted blower configuration. The body, chassis and engine are all painted Duplicolor Corvette Torch Red over Duplicolor white primer. I used Kilz Casual Colors for the clear coat and polished the paint with three grades of Tamiya polish. The build features details such as ignition wires, fuel lines, brake lines and the electric wires from the trunk mounted racing battery. Enjoy!

Since I wasn't sure whether it was lacquer, acrylic or enamel, I thinned it 50% with lacquer thinner. It worked well for me.

These are pictures of a 2002 Corvette that I built for my good friend, John Bushwack. The goal was to make it as much like his 1:1 Corvette as I could. I started it two weeks before his birhday and was able to finish it the day before the event. The biggest issue was a source for the GM Torch Red paint. The color had to be exact -- no "close enough" shade would do. The solution was as close as a local auto parts store. On the rack, I found Duplicolor Scratch Fix 2in1 touch up paint. With the necessary thinning, one bottle of this stuff was enough to produce the air brushed finish you see in these pictures. Enjoy!

Thanks for pointing out some dried Tamiya polishing compound that I quickly removed once I was aware of it.

These are pictures of my recently completed 1949 Chevy Coupe. This project was built in the theme of "cars I used to own." To create the coupe body, I combined the top of a Model Car World 1951 Chevy resin kit with the body of a Perry's Resin 1949 Chevy Convertible. I used an AMT/Ertl 1951 Chevy plastic kit as a donor. The interior was done with two shades of Duplicolor Vinyl Spray Paint and the rest of it was paint-detailed. The exterior is painted with Kilz Casual Colors Burgundy. For this build, I did not use a clear coat, but rather polished the paint with Micro-Mark polishing pads. I tried Tamiya polishing compound for the first time and I think it turned out well. I really dug the 1:1 car -- I learned to drive in it and had some big plans for it until it came to an untimely end when hit by a drunk driver. Enjoy!