Eric Macleod

I finally got back on this one. Today the job was fitting the windshield. I now have to make a header but I think I have the shape fairly close.

It's a work of art.

You learn something new every day. Clearly I have not been on the lookout for any of these. Do I hear Matador 4 door?

What? Nothing from AMC? Gotta add a Gremlin or Hornet in there.

You are building the diorama of the century my friend.

I like where you are going with this model. I am envious of anyone who can get within a mile of their first car. Mine was a '47 Nash 4 door. The chances of that appearing in either kit or resin form are nil.

I think I have the front wheels figured out. I'm using some backing plates from the Monogram Mercedes 540 K and a metal front axle. It is simple and will be strong enough to hold all that resin and putty.

It worked! Not perfectly, but well enough given that this surface is going to be underneath the windshield, a piece of molding and behind the windshield. I am pleased.

I had a very similar problem with the exhaust system of my Cord. The solution was to use some soldier which worked great, even with a ton of curves.

This is exactly how I did the same job on my Duesenberg racer. Get it done and you, Pat and I can have fast Classic beach racers day!

It has indeed fought me every step of the way but seems a little more cooperative of late. I suspect every model project has a few "I'll get to it later" items. I have hit a point where one of them is now unavoidable. The top of the cowl has had a jagged, line I created with some inept dremel work. Today I took the first step toward repairing the damage. I started looking for something with a straight edge to make the line work. What to use that could be removed? Yup...old X-acto blade. Hope it works.

This is so....cool!

Wow! This is some amazing work and a great use for that tub of an Auburn.

Other than engineering a way to connect the front wheels and installing the rear axle, the chassis is pretty much done. I figure while this is a long way from factory correct, it has some visual interest. Besides, when you figure I started out thinking about nothing but a flar plate, something is better than nothing. Here is what I came up with.

I am not typically into modified cars but this thing is really cool.

That has been the popular view of the car hobby for a long time, yet in practice that view has not been borne out, as evidenced by the resurgence of the brass era cars in the hobby. Personally I never found cars from 1973 on particularly interesting but my family always had an antique car or two around. I dug through old Hemmings Motor News and fantasized about cars from the '20s and '30s. It's what I liked as a kid, and what I like now, though my interests have expanded dow to about 1905 and up to about 1948. Back to the topic at hand, yes, i will be buying a couple of these. Can't wait.

So today was a major milestone. I have started adding color to the car. Honestly, I wondered if I would ever get there. As you can see, this is a decidedly unorthodox way to assemble the model but was necessary because of the way the body and chassis needed to be assembled. More to come soon.

Thanks. This should give me some inspiration.

I am still working on the front wheel problem. I'm going to have to sleep on it a bit. In the meantime I received the fabulous Pico Elgin 3d printed instrument panel from Shapeways. I put a light coat of primer on it. I think it will be an aesthetic delight.

I built this kit perhaps 20 years ago and found it is not for the feint of heart. You have done a masterful job with it.

Thanks Pat. It's coming... Today I added the rod for the hood hinge and the cowl band. The latter looked too heavy to me but I had nothing smaller. Fortunately Plastruct has a small half round styrene available in .30 which should look the part. That slows the body progress thus I am moving to other parts next.. like how do I get the wheels to stay on?

Wow. Just wow.

I agree with the others about the color choice. This will be impressive done.

If this is the halfway point, and it has been on the bench for 37 years, I won't live long enough to finish it. Nope...done by the end of March.

This is one of the most drop dead fabulous builds I have seen. Great work on a most worthy subject.