Lowlife ! ! Posted November 5, 2019 Posted November 5, 2019 Been after one of these for a while, I absolutely love the car and was looking forward to building a detailed kit of it . Originally it was the Testors Boyd Coddington version , not sure how Lindberg can produce one and not mention Boyd but there you go.... Unfortunately i was really disapointed with it, Ive just been dry fitting bits and theres very vague instructions, and hardly anything fits `together`, almost feels like im building it from seperate spares box parts. That and there seems to be gaps everywhere, you can see through the model in several places.... Anyway i`ll try and get it together, hopefully i can fill a few gaps and get it looking ok... the worst comes to the worst i`ll probably try a 40 Ford body or something similar, as the running gear looks really good ! Wish me luck eh !
randyc Posted November 5, 2019 Posted November 5, 2019 (edited) I know it's tough to believe, but it turns out okay. I have built TWO of them. First by choice and second by request for a friend. I have my yellow one on ebay right now. The purple one will go to it's recipient soon. And it is not the sharpest tooling out there for sure. The yellow one is the first issue of the kit when it was new. Purple is the boxing that you posted. Not much difference. Nothing better or worse in the 20 years? or so between then and now. Good luck - you'll get there. Oh yeah, the chrome in my newer version was quite spotty. I used a molotow pen to dot in the spots on the chrome and the chrome on the grille and side sweeps on mine is foiled. It was quite bad. And the kit was still shrinkwrapped so I know the previous owner didn't sell it knowing that. Edited November 5, 2019 by randyc
Lowlife ! ! Posted November 5, 2019 Author Posted November 5, 2019 Thank you for posting these Randy, two very nice examples for sure. I seem to have wide gaps around the chassis, and floorpan, the only part that lines up well is the bonnet, ( or hood ) No idea where the dash or firewall fits too, it's very vague ! But yours looks a lot better, so I'll go for it and see now.... Thanks again, I'm certainly more determined now to build it as is !
Claude Thibodeau Posted November 5, 2019 Posted November 5, 2019 Hi! Some issues with the fit of hood, grille & windshield glass are to be expected. Nothing you couldn't deal with, I guess. Here's a Highboy variation. Have fun! CT
Lowlife ! ! Posted November 5, 2019 Author Posted November 5, 2019 (edited) Thanks Claude, and I love your version, that looks really good !I No WIP for either of these i suppose ? If anyone else wants to post there builds of this car, feel free I'd love to see them ! Edited November 5, 2019 by Lowlife ! !
Koellefornia Kid Posted November 5, 2019 Posted November 5, 2019 Always liked the Smoothster, it´s my most favourite Boyd Coddington build! Still have an untouched Testors kit...
Brudda Posted November 5, 2019 Posted November 5, 2019 1 hour ago, Lowlife ! ! said: Thanks Claude, and I love your version, that looks really good !I No WIP for either of these i suppose ? If anyone else wants to post there builds of this car, feel free I'd love to see them ! I really like this kit. Has some issues but works ok. I love the wheels and have used them on other builds. Here is another version of the high boy. The cuda has the smoothster wheels
mrm Posted November 5, 2019 Posted November 5, 2019 I always liked the Smoothster. Both the real car and the model of it. Altho I have bought the kit countless times and used parts of it, I have never actually built a Smoothster. It is definitely on my list.
Claude Thibodeau Posted November 5, 2019 Posted November 5, 2019 1 hour ago, Brudda said: I really like this kit. Has some issues but works ok. I love the wheels and have used them on other builds. Here is another version of the high boy. The cuda has the smoothster wheels Hi! Nice cars! In all honesty, your very highboy on the gallery of another well known forum gave me the kick-start to do mine. Thanks! CT
Brudda Posted November 7, 2019 Posted November 7, 2019 On 11/5/2019 at 12:25 PM, Claude Thibodeau said: Hi! Nice cars! In all honesty, your very highboy on the gallery of another well known forum gave me the kick-start to do mine. Thanks! CT Thank you sir.
Lowlife ! ! Posted November 7, 2019 Author Posted November 7, 2019 Wow another cool hi-boy, love the paint Bruce ! Made a start on the bodywork , rubbing out mold lines etc. The rear panel with the exhaust cut-outs fitted badly so ive blended this in . Also under the running boards had sink marks etc so i made smooth panels from 0.5mm plastic card and blended thses in too. As the hood fitted well i taped this in place and glued the dash/windscreen surround in so it lines up. Will be adding a front hinged hood so i might fill a couple of gaps where the hinges go too ! I like the look of it laying on the floor so it may get lowered with airbags, but first a smooth firewall is on the way, more sanding then its primer time !
Brudda Posted November 7, 2019 Posted November 7, 2019 2 hours ago, Lowlife ! ! said: Wow another cool hi-boy, love the paint Bruce ! Made a start on the bodywork , rubbing out mold lines etc. The rear panel with the exhaust cut-outs fitted badly so ive blended this in . Also under the running boards had sink marks etc so i made smooth panels from 0.5mm plastic card and blended thses in too. As the hood fitted well i taped this in place and glued the dash/windscreen surround in so it lines up. Will be adding a front hinged hood so i might fill a couple of gaps where the hinges go too ! I like the look of it laying on the floor so it may get lowered with airbags, but first a smooth firewall is on the way, more sanding then its primer time ! Looking great!!! It’s a good looking model. The lines flow . Did Chip Foose do this for Boyd? When he worked for him? Cannot remember.
Claude Thibodeau Posted November 8, 2019 Posted November 8, 2019 11 hours ago, Brudda said: Looking great!!! It’s a good looking model. The lines flow . Did Chip Foose do this for Boyd? When he worked for him? Cannot remember. Hi! Actually, the car was drawn by Larry Erickson (now at MAGNA Industries - an OEM supplier), and before completion, Mr. Foose made some adjustments, mostly to the hood sides and grille. The body was hand formed at Boyd's, by the great Craig Naff, an extraordinary craftsman, who now works out of Virginia, if I remember well. That design inspired "clones" in the fiberglass cars business, such as: Coast to Coast, Wild Rod and OZE rod shop. Truly a great design. CT
Lowlife ! ! Posted November 10, 2019 Author Posted November 10, 2019 Seen some amazing drawings from Larry Erickson, but Chip is still my favourite ! Still smoothing out bits on this ! Think every part of the kit so far ive smoothed, im getting obsessed with it ! Engine basics together, there was a hole where you could see past the starter motor and into the gearbox, so ive plated this with sheet. The sump and gearbox pan have had the nuts and bolts smoothed out and im currently smoothing out the firewall ! Not sure about engine design yet, i`ll add the heads and intake when ive decided on the look im after !
Lowlife ! ! Posted November 12, 2019 Author Posted November 12, 2019 So not much else to show at the moment, its too cold to paint outside (cant do any indoors!) so im still smoothing things out, for a change ! Wasnt going to use the air cleaner but im trying it out, i cut a groove in the end which i`ll fill with mesh for an air cleaner, and smoothed all the detail off of it. The rocker covers are corvette, and, er, smoothed ! If i carry on smoothing like this, im going to produce an egg on wheels !
mustang1989 Posted November 12, 2019 Posted November 12, 2019 LOL! An egg on wheels! Progress is looking good so far Martin.
Claude Thibodeau Posted November 12, 2019 Posted November 12, 2019 2 hours ago, Lowlife ! ! said: So not much else to show at the moment, its too cold to paint outside (cant do any indoors!) so im still smoothing things out, for a change ! Wasnt going to use the air cleaner but im trying it out, i cut a groove in the end which i`ll fill with mesh for an air cleaner, and smoothed all the detail off of it. The rocker covers are corvette, and, er, smoothed ! If i carry on smoothing like this, im going to produce an egg on wheels ! Hi! Great build. To your "egg" comment: back then, when Mr. Coddington introduced the Aluma Coupe (another Erickson design!), a famous magazine editor called it the "Fabergé Egg on wheels". It's a small world... CT
Lowlife ! ! Posted November 20, 2019 Author Posted November 20, 2019 (edited) Thankyou for the comments... Too cold here in the UK for painting ( i cant spray indoors! ) so thought id start on the interior ! I did paint it all matt white, and was going all white, but it was too bland, so i added a light grey, ( looks a bit green in the pics? ) then out came the foil.. The centre console and door panels were foiled , ( with a pin shifter ! ) Then i added a chrome strip to the carpet edges to seperate them ! Back of the seats was just a hole, so i filled it with fur ! Seems i cant do an interior without adding fur and chrome ! Then came p/e speaker grills for the doors, and a chrome strip round the back of the interior to tie in with the door chrome ! Spent ages making door handles, a p/e piece with slices of plastic tube behind and thinner solid pieces for the actual handle ! Oh and p/e seat adjusters on each seat ! More soon ! Edited November 20, 2019 by Lowlife ! !
Lowlife ! ! Posted November 29, 2019 Author Posted November 29, 2019 Im still playing with this, thought id start on the chassis next. Only a slight adjustment to the ride height, its subtle, so nothing too low this time ... I wanted the top of the tyres to sit just inside the arches, back was easy but the front a bit more complicated. Ive always liked the look of just plain metal, like the rods you see with just a clear coat. So im trying it on the chassis, lots of details to add yet but its a start ! Im happy with this stance now too....
mrm Posted November 30, 2019 Posted November 30, 2019 (edited) Nothing too low?!?! It couldn’t be any lower! ? and just to give you heads up. Those “plates” sticking out on top of the frame by the front suspension need to be body color. So, if you are painting the body in different color than the chassis, you may want to address this now, before you go any further on the chassis. ? Edited November 30, 2019 by mrm
LL3 Model Worx Posted November 30, 2019 Posted November 30, 2019 I snagged 4 of these are Ollie's over the past few weeks... I think they averaged out to about $8 a peice... If nothing else its well worth it for the wheels tires/ drivetrain.
Lowlife ! ! Posted November 30, 2019 Author Posted November 30, 2019 Michael, thanks for the advice, not quite sure on body colours yet but I'll try and remember that when it comes to paint ! And Leroy you should build one at least, they are nice kits if you take your time with them !
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