CabDriver Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 (edited) So, I saw this kit on eBay and thought 'oh cool!'. I've always liked 32s, I like oval cars, this kit seemed like a must-buy. Those dirt tyres, the ironwork, those wheels - awesome! Disapointment when it arrived though - its the standard Vicky kit with basically NONE of the cool parts on the box. Not the tyres, the wheels, the ironwork, those cool exhausts...the instruction sheet directs you to use styrene and resin parts to complete the build as on the box. What the.... It's LITERALLY impossible to build to look like the picture out of the box. To add insult to injury, my sealed kit didn't even have a grill shell . Anyway, not to be deterred, I'm going to build it anyway, and make some kinda clean simple 60s showcar/drag car/hot rod out of it. I dug out some parts I had and found a grille shell (not the correct one, but its for a 32 anyway...) and some wheels from an Orange Crate that I picked up for spares (the kit wheels included are pretty terrible) and before I know it we had a battleplan! I'm going with the kit flathead, and it'll be pretty much out of box aside from the missing bits and the stuff that I can't bring myself to use. Add a little detail, use the kit Flathead, focus on my paint skills and have a nice (relatively simple) build. Famous last words... Edited March 2, 2017 by CabDriver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afx Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 Yea Dirtrack Racecars pulled the ultimate bait & switch on these kits. I refuse to by any of them for that reason. Look forward to seeing what you do with your. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spex84 Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 Man, I would have bought the Vicky "dirt track" kit if I'd known it was just the regular kit inside I had no idea the box was so misleading. That MUST break some "truth in advertising" laws. Absolutely unacceptable. I don't know how they got away with it! Maybe they didn't in the end... Anyway, the mockup looks good and no doubt the kit will make for a great 60s style rod! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted February 18, 2017 Author Share Posted February 18, 2017 (edited) At least they did a decent job with the instructions for the parts that you dont get One thing you do get is a couple front axles, and I picked this tube axle arrangement (bottom) over the stock axle (top) as it dropped the front a scale inch or so... I mocked up the kit flathead ready for for some detailing: The new bits in place (I found a correct grille for it in my stash!) And a mockup with the new bits: Off to work on the engine some more and research early Flatheads! Edited February 19, 2017 by CabDriver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted February 25, 2017 Author Share Posted February 25, 2017 Made some more progress on this build in the past week - lots of little bits and pieces, but I'm excited to get close to paint so I can start laying some colour down on this thing! First up, I shaved all this funky detail off the firewall and made it nice and smooth and attached it to the body so I could get that sanded and ready for primer The molded-in detail on the interior tub is pretty minimal to say the least, so I sanded it off... ...and started adding some detail to make it look a little better. I'm going for a relatively simple design along the lines of the stock 32 door cards which had a cool 'pouch' build into them which I need to fabricate Peg City over here putting the seats and rear axle together. These little mini pegs are SUPER useful - theyre just the right size to hold the two axle halves together perfectly and keep it aligned whilst I glue it Whilst they were drying I worked on getting the framerails nice and smooth - there was a small plastic stub on the drivers side to mount the steering box, but to make sanding easier I removed that and replaced it with a little piece of aluminum rod. I still need to fill that little low spot right behind it before I can prime the chassis and paint it, although it's nearly invisible when the body is in place Last up, I used the same metal tube to make some plug wire sleeves like the car would have had from the factory and got holes drilled for plug wires so that the engine's ready for some color Ohhh, and the paint arrived too - we're going with a nice bright Tamiya Italian Red, probably with a tan interior (maybe basball mitt color), and a red engine with some chrome detail to break up all the color. More progress as I make it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted February 25, 2017 Author Share Posted February 25, 2017 Got the door pockets made, inspired by the ones on a stock 32 Theyre kinda hard to see with the seats in place, but I figure they would be on the 1:1 too Whilst I was working on the tub I added some laminated styrene strips to the outside to fill a gap that's visible beween the frame and body when viewed from underneath And I laid down some red on the block - I want to clear over it I think to get it really shiny Now to find some taillights so I can figure out where I'll mount them on the body and get the body ready for primer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 Wish I had the confidence, skill and spares box to take on something like this. I feel I will learn a lot just by following it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted February 25, 2017 Author Share Posted February 25, 2017 Wish I had the confidence, skill and spares box to take on something like this. I feel I will learn a lot just by following it.Having seen your MG build Graham, I would think you'd be able to do what I'm doing here easily! The only non-kit parts so far are the wheels, and everything else is made from styrene sheet or bar mostly. No special tools, just a hobby knife and a scriber. You can do it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted February 28, 2017 Author Share Posted February 28, 2017 A couple of small updates, seeing as I didn't get chance to get any paint laid down today...made some simple pipes... They need a little filler to hide the kinks (solid bar would have been better but I didnt have any), and after a couple of days of thinking I worked out a solution to adding a taillight to the rear. I didnt want to put them on the bodywork, so I modified the kit license plate / single light and affixed a pin so it can mount to the bottom of the frame right at the rear Hopefully I'll get chance to lay some paint down tomorrow - the engine block needs a couple more coats of clear to get it as glossy as I'd like, and the body and grille are ready to go having painted the inside of the body over the weekend, cleared it and carefully masked it back up again. More progress soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James2 Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 That is Fred Sudlow 's model with his resin parts added. FRW was the company but I don't think he is selling any more. It's a shame to he had the best stuff!This kit got me back into the hobby about 18 yr ago. I even ordered some wheels and tires from him to build a short track car. Made a few friends on his site too. Your doing a good job with it, keep going... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted March 1, 2017 Author Share Posted March 1, 2017 That is Fred Sudlow 's model with his resin parts added. FRW was the company but I don't think he is selling any more. It's a shame to he had the best stuff! This kit got me back into the hobby about 18 yr ago. I even ordered some wheels and tires from him to build a short track car. Made a few friends on his site too. Your doing a good job with it, keep going... Thanks James! Slow progress here - I've been waiting for the weather to be half decent to lay some paint down. Managed to get three mist coats on the body and grilleshell today, let it sit for three or four hours, sanded out a few imperfections and then laid down a thicker coat...doesn't look too bad so far! I'll let the lacquer harden for 24 hours, smooth it down one more time and then put some hi-gloss clear over the top to make it all shiny and pretty It looks prety orange-peely on the roof there but that's the texture on the moulded in fabric roof - the rest looks pretty shiny so far! Fingers crossed it dries that shiny! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Pugh Posted March 2, 2017 Share Posted March 2, 2017 I've always liked AMT's Vicky kit! Good memories for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted March 2, 2017 Author Share Posted March 2, 2017 I've always liked AMT's Vicky kit! Good memories for me.I've never built one before - but I've been collecting some different 32 kits for a series of builds that I've been thinking of and this seemed a fun one to start with! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted March 5, 2017 Author Share Posted March 5, 2017 It's been a bit cold for painting here this week, but I colorsanded the paint I'd laid down already, got it super smooth and laid down a couple of mist coats of clear and three thick coats - hopefully it stays as smooth as it looks here! Meanwhile, I prepped all the bits that will be either a chrome or metal finish ...airbrushed on Alclad black... ...and laid down some Alclad steel, aluminium and chrome on the various bits. I really need to get the chassis painted so I can start assembling this thing, but once the Alclad has dried on the engine I can start getting that put together and detailed anyway! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayne swayze Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 I like it! That red is beautiful ( and shiny!), and I like your wheel choice. Keep 'er goin'!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted March 6, 2017 Author Share Posted March 6, 2017 I like it! That red is beautiful ( and shiny!), and I like your wheel choice. Keep 'er goin'!! Thanks Wayne! After letting the engine sit for a while (having Alclad'd the bits that needed it) I peeled the masking off and was pretty pleased to find no runs or anything horrible under the tape. The Alclad black base is pretty thin, so i was worried about having it leak under the tape, but no probs there. With that, I got the intake and the plug wire sheaths in place, ready to start plumbing and wiring Before that though, I picked out the bolt detail on the engine with this silver gel rollerball pen that I found at the art store - worked pretty well! I'm looking forward to the plumbing a LOT more that the wiring, I can see the wiring being fiddly, so I'll tackle that next. I ws going to go with red plug wires, but I think there's gonna be a lot of red on this car already so I'm kinda thinking more of black now...more progress when I make some! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin NJ Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 Keep going with the red, what wheels are you planning on using? Maybe red steelies with baby moons? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted March 6, 2017 Author Share Posted March 6, 2017 Keep going with the red, what wheels are you planning on using? Maybe red steelies with baby moons? I kinda like these, from the Revell Orage Crate: Meanwhile - got those fiddly awkward to install plug wires in, secured with a tiny bit of Elmer's glue - plus I'd picked up some red fuel line to use for this porject so I got one of the two fuel lines in place (the other one will need to be added when the engine is in the chassis) Need to work on the pulleys next, and figure out what to do with the radiator hoses that dont fit even remotely... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted March 18, 2017 Author Share Posted March 18, 2017 A tiny bit of progress, because I had to have surgery and was stuck in bed for over a week...managed to get the roof masked out and the fabric insert sprayed flat black Just need to tidy those edges up, although annoyingly thery're only visible in photos and not so much with my eye. Whilst I had the flat black paint out I painted these edges on the underside of the interior tub - there's some nasty gaps between the chassis and the body when viewed from underneath so these flat black edges are intended to try and draw the eye away from them and make them less obvious. Hopefully it'll look like shadow, or at least make them less obvious... And I spent a few hours with the polishing cloths to try and shine that clearcoat up some on the body - came out pretty nice! I'll spend some time waxing it too to get it as perfect as I can, but I'm pretty pleased so far! I clearcoated the chassis too, and once that's set I can paint the floor of the interior (which is just the top of the chassis in this kit) and then work on the tan leather color that I want to use for the interior and the seats. More soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted March 19, 2017 Author Share Posted March 19, 2017 Small update - started to get the chassis assembled. Exciting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggon Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 Very clean workmanship! Might want to consider painting the front shocks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmvw guy Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 Love seeing your progress. I have built the kit many times and still love it and all the AMT '32 offering. When it was first introduced in about 1964 the chassis was the best of all the AMT '32s. I used it on several coupes and roadsters. Not great by today's standards but, still a great offering for the time. Nice paint work on yours and the engine looks spot on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob29579 Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 Wow. Coming along great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted March 21, 2017 Author Share Posted March 21, 2017 Very clean workmanship! Might want to consider painting the front shocks The friction shocks? I had a REAL dilemma with them. I wanted this build to have a lot of color coded parts, plenty of red - and I did some research into the real friction shocks of this era and found that they were often painted black. I reasoned that if I was building this in 1:1, I'd want to prime and paint them the same color as the frame. Then I reasoned, if I DON'T paint them seperately, it looks like I didnt bother painting them. I'm still not 100% decided... Love seeing your progress. I have built the kit many times and still love it and all the AMT '32 offering. When it was first introduced in about 1964 the chassis was the best of all the AMT '32s. I used it on several coupes and roadsters. Not great by today's standards but, still a great offering for the time. Nice paint work on yours and the engine looks spot on. I've never built one of these before, but it's a fun little kit! And sadly it seems to be mostly forgotten about in favour of the better Revell kits, but it is kinda sweet in it's own way Wow. Coming along great. Thanks Greg! Meanwhile, I decided I wanted to paint the interior a kind of baseball mitt dark tan brown - I found a similar color in a feature in that OTHER magazine, and set about mixing some yellow, brown and clear red Tamiya acrylic to match the shade I wanted Ready to airbrush... Chassis tub, seats and steering wheel painted. I HATE this base color, looks like baby poop - but I'm hoping that a little shading with the airbrush and some drybrushing make it look a lot better. I'm keeping the faith for now Just waiting for my Micro Mart dry brushing brush to arrive in the mail, once the snow here stops making the USPS have such a backlog... I mixed up some semi gloss clear too to knock the shine off - not sure whether to apply that before or after the drybrushing with the pastels I have. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James2 Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 (edited) Looking good. The clear will make everything have the same sheen but seals the weathering. Doing the weathering last creates more contrast. IMHO Edited March 22, 2017 by James2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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