RancheroSteve Posted December 3, 2020 Posted December 3, 2020 A little back story on this build: a few years ago I started getting fascinated with the cars of Frank Kurtis and discovered that the Los Angeles Public Library had this now out of print book in their system. Inside, I came across this photo of a midget driven by Sam Hanks at Milwaukee in 1950. Some of you might be aware that I've also been working on a replica of the Kurtis Sport Car (yes, I know - for ages). It was around this time (1950) that Earl "Madman" Muntz https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madman_Muntz purchased the rights from Kurtis for what later became the Muntz Jet, so that probably explains the sponsorship connection. Anyway, with the Revell Midget kit on the bench, I began trying to build a near replica of the Hanks driven Midget as depicted. Decals had to be made, of course, so using my mediocre Photoshop skills, the scan of the photo above, and a few images found online, I was able to print out the Muntz lettering, logo and the number one on inkjet decal paper (both white and clear). The few contingency decals under Hanks' hand had to be guessed at and approximated (apart from the Champion spark plug logo) and came from a variety of sheets I had on hand. Other modifications include reshaping the cowl and adding louvers, making a windshield, adding the bubble over the intake trumpets, adding the rear nerf bars, modifying the front bumper, converting the three-eared rear knock-offs to two-eared, and re-working the steering link. Since I was working from a black & white photo, the colors are my best guess. For a better look at some of what went into it, "work in progress" thread here: Thanks for checking it out - comments and questions welcome.
Phildaupho Posted December 3, 2020 Posted December 3, 2020 Superb replica of a great looking historic racing car
Justin Porter Posted December 3, 2020 Posted December 3, 2020 It looks superb. I really like seeing all the small changes made to match the model better to the subject.
Venom Posted December 4, 2020 Posted December 4, 2020 Steve, that is absolutely AWESOME! ...Great work man!
TonyK Posted December 4, 2020 Posted December 4, 2020 I'm a huge fan of Midgets and I really like this one! I just keep looking at your pictures and really enjoy your model. Great work!
Silver Foxx Posted December 4, 2020 Posted December 4, 2020 A great looking build , a lot of nice work in this , built a couple of Revell midgets myself , great little kits .
Andrew McD Posted December 5, 2020 Posted December 5, 2020 A superb rendition of an interesting bit of racing lore!
Earl Marischal Posted December 5, 2020 Posted December 5, 2020 A fine build of a fascinating subject. steve
Art Laski Posted December 14, 2020 Posted December 14, 2020 Hi Steve, I absolutely love it. I met Sam Hanks on a few occasions, as he and his wife Alice were family friends. While Sam has long passed, Alice is still around and keeps in touch with my family. On my first trip to the Indy 500 in 1990 , I had the pleasure having breakfast with Sam on the morning of Carb Day at the Speedway Motel, where I was introduced to Mario Andretti (but that's another story). That was an such an incredible memory, for sure, and Sam was such a nice, humble man. I have had that book forever, too. It's a great one. On page 20 is "Grandpa" Ted Halibrand from his days working with Kurtis. The midget looks fantastic. Art
RancheroSteve Posted December 15, 2020 Author Posted December 15, 2020 Much appreciated, Art - and thanks for sharing that story.
DustyMojave Posted December 15, 2020 Posted December 15, 2020 Ain't it interesting and fun to find a picture of an LA area racer, in a San Fernando Valley built car, sponsored by a San Fernando Valley business, racing 2,100 miles away in Milwaukee Wisconsin? I have a vague memory of meeting Sam Hanks when I was a little kid in the company of my dad. IIRC, it was at an event for other than circle track racing. I think at a sports car race. Sam and my dad were old acquaintances/friends from racing midgets and such back in the day. As I said in the build thread, I love this model. It came out great and the graphics, in particular are impressive.
tim boyd Posted December 20, 2020 Posted December 20, 2020 Steve....great job on your scale replica of the real car. You took an excellent kit and really elevated it to the next level. Also very much enjoyed seeing your "Work in Process" images and dialogue in the other thread you posted a link to above. My own belief is that the 2 Revell Midget kits are certainly the most undersung and underappreciated kits of the last twenty years, and yes, in my view, among the very best 1/24th-1/25th scale kits to come from any kit manufacturer over the last 20 years. Many will see this differently, and they (you) are welcome to your own views here, but if the subject matter interests you, my recommendation is that you should without a doubt find a copy of this kit, and yes, build it! Thanks Steve for bringing this kit front and center once again, for sharing your build, and for the excellent results you achieved! Cheers....TIM
RancheroSteve Posted December 20, 2020 Author Posted December 20, 2020 1 hour ago, tim boyd said: Thanks Steve for bringing this kit front and center once again, for sharing your build, and for the excellent results you achieved! Cheers....TIM Wow, thanks, Tim - your words mean a lot! I had your SA article near at hand while I built this; very helpful and inspiring. Agreed, it's a great little kit with all kinds of potential for added detail or customization, but goes together very well right out of the box and only has a few minor discrepancies - the often-mentioned lack of nerf bars on the rear radius rods being the only really obvious one. The only reason I can suspect for the lack of appreciation for this kit would be due to the subject matter - midget racers of this type had their heyday long before most of us were born, I guess, but that shouldn't stop some of us from digging them. BTW, the trailer is done - I'm just waiting for a set of tires from Reps & Mins to balance the thing out, then I'll post some photos of that.
foghorn62 Posted December 20, 2020 Posted December 20, 2020 2 hours ago, tim boyd said: My own belief is that the 2 Revell Midget kits are certainly the most undersung and underappreciated kits of the last twenty years, and yes, in my view, among the very best 1/24th-1/25th scale kits to come from any kit manufacturer over the last 20 years. And it comes with a very nice little trailer too.
RancheroSteve Posted February 5, 2021 Author Posted February 5, 2021 Now with trailer! Finished the trailer a while ago, but was waiting for some R&M tires to balance it out.
alan barton Posted February 7, 2021 Posted February 7, 2021 A beautiful conversion on a legendary kit. The attention to detail really brings this one to life. It is such a great canvas for a seemingly endless list of racers and , yes, we had a bunch of them over here in Australia as well. Tim mentioned the lack of radius rod nerf bars - for me, I would have loved to have seen a chromed rollbar included so that the model could have been updated to a sixties or seventies racer. The nerfs are easy to scratchbuild but getting a smooth symmetrical rollbar ( I am using TIG wire for mine) is very challenging. I don't want to be a negative Nellie but with the way things have panned out in the corporate world, the Kurtis and Model A kits may just have been the last time that we see this calibre of model engineering in topics near and dear to our hearts. I'm glad I grabbed six of each but I can see the day when I will want more! Thanks again for showing us your work Steve, those last shots sitting on the trailer are awesome! Cheers Alan
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