Ace-Garageguy

Opened the rear deck for access to the water tank. Some cars like this of the period didn't run radiators, choosing to block off the grille for cleaner aerodynamics (as will this car). Some kind of cooling system was still necessary, so the solution was to run a water tank somewhere, often in the rear, with the water pumps circulating cool water from the tank through the engine. Even Mickey Thompson's 406 MPH 4-engined LSR streamliner used this system. Made up a louvered decklid from a Revell 5-window '32 part. No, it doesn't fit. Had to change the curvature, widen it, and shorten it at the top and bottom. The bomber seat will show through the hole in the hard tonneau. Made a match for the other side of the rear bellypan. I'm really getting to like the overall look of this thing, and it's coming out pretty much exactly as I'd envisioned it in the beginning. The old Ford wheels from Joker and vintage AMT tires are perfect for the front.

Only 5 digits, and only base 10 (though the software to run it is still pretty impressive, even in a petabyte world). And actually, that IS the lefthanded version. I apply the paint with my left hand.

It is from Johnny Dark. Very good. It's actually an old fiberglass kit-car from the early '50s. Called a Woodill Wildfire, it could be built on many different chassis.

Pretty car, but not at all Corvette-like to my eyes. More like the child of a '60s Maserati Ghibli and an Avanti...and that rising character line on the rear of the door showed up later on the Fiat 124 Spider...

Close. The Long Long Trailer Yup...one of McQueen's real-life personal cars.

This is one of the parts of modeling I love the best...to see a real custom that has a lot of good ideas, but just doesn't quite make it all the way (in my opinion, anyway) and to be able to rework it in model form into what I would have preferred the original to be. I agree that with the wheelbase as short as it is on the silver car, a light sectioning of the lower body would benefit the proportions. No, but there are a ton of attempts at "improving" this car that miss by a mile...

I agree entirely, and that's why I said this one works "better than most.". Where the less-than-entirely-successful proportions come from on this particular car is the shortening of the wheelbase (through the quarter panels) to make it a "roadster", and the unfortunate new door cut-line. Put your thumb over the cut-line and imagine it with a just-slightly longer wheelbase, and just slightly smaller rear tires, and it's quite good. (Enough of an inspiration for me to put photos and notes in the "someday" build list, anyway.)

Warm enough to work outside on my old '89 GMC longbed. Might get her to at least fire today.

Real-car body-shop supply and paint stores have filters designed specifically for this. They used to give you as many as you wanted with every purchase of other materials. Home improvement stores usually have filters too, but the mesh screen is looser for house-paint than it is for car / model paint. I've also used material from discarded stockings / pantyhose (helps to have a female around) as a paint-filter medium. Nylon doesn't disintegrate in most solvents...but try it first before you commit to using it.

Raymond Loewy's '53 Studebaker design is so good, so all-of-a-piece, that the vast majority of attempts to "improve" it as customs fall short, and usually make a beautiful car into an ugly mess. This one looks pretty good to me. Not entirely my taste, but respect for the purity of the original design is what makes this one work better than most. More here... http://www.barrett-jackson.com/Archive/Event/Item/1953-STUDEBAKER-CHAMPION-CUSTOM-ROADSTER-112604

Just like you section a real one...very carefully.

The real car comparisons and Art's dimensional references are helpful. The slightly-off proportions of the model and the many minor but obvious errors are what prompted me to build the thing as a custom rather than trying to go stock. I'm also using Revellogram '59 Caddy chassis and guts. If you look at the rear comparison shots, you'll notice the real decklid tucks under a little, while the model slopes to the rear. The model's Dagmars are too big and not pointy enough. The rear window is wrong, especially the corners being sharp on the model and round on the real car. Side glass appears to be slightly too tall. And somehow, the tail of the model looks to me more Plymouth than the iconic Cadillacness the real car represents. The shape of the top of the rear wheel arches is flat on the real car, rounded on the model. Etc. I also think the model body could benefit from a minor sectioning job just over the line of the front chrome side spear. That built blue model looks awfully good though. Methinks I'm needing a few more of these for rocketship customs. And now that I've figured out how to do a durable brushed-metal finish (for the Caddy roof) I just MAY have to build one of these as a stocker.

Corvette "Rondine" built by Pininfarina around '63.

So....ummm...how do you get a straight line with the liquid mask without using masking tape to get it? My fine-line painting skills certainly are not up to that task, and probably never will be.

Trying to do 4 full customs with a lot of heavy mods in one build thread is a large undertaking, but you're making good progress. Like eating the proverbial elephant, one bite at a time gets the job done...eventually. On the other hand, if you see more custom mods in your imagination, I say go for it. A lot of of the best customs in the real world are no longer recognizable, at all, as what they started out as, but became entirely the realization of the builders vision. Enough is never enough. And your original intention and vision doesn't have to be carved in stone...even on a real car build.

Now that's funny. We have snow in the forecast for tomorrow night / Monday, and the grocery store parking lots are already filled to capacity.

The V8-60 represented in the Migdet kit is indeed a small engine, but it CAN look good in a small car. One recent AMBR winning '26 T track-nose car ran an Ardun-headed version, and it looks pretty good to me. The parts in this new Revell kit should supply a lot of goodies for building something like this.

This is mine. Not spring loaded, but came with software that allows it to be infinitely adjustable, and adaptable to just about any model car body. Easy to clean too, if you put a disposable glove on it.

I'm still watching too. As I've said before, you have a good eye for proportions and mods that flow well. Lots of original and unusual ideas here.

So far today I haven't had to talk to a single idiot.

I forgot entirely until I read it here. OMG OMG OMG !!!!!!! I BETTER PREPARE FOR DISASTER !!!! OMG OMG OMG !!!!!!

I'm building one as a chopped custom. All the remarks so far are accurate. It's definitely NOT a shake-the-box-self-assembling kit, but with skill and patience, it will make a beautiful model. It's very short on detail though, so depending on what you want from it, a lot of kitbashing may be required. I haven't measured it out, but I think the wheelbase and rear doors may be a little short. It also has hard plastic tires.