CLIFF INMAN-INSPIRED KUSTOM.......

[Alan Barton]

One of the most well-scaled fade-aways I've ever seen painted! Bravo!

Cheers

Alan

[Jay Whittaker]

hanks SO much for all the compliments folks!

Sorry I haven't updated this thread lately, as I have been hammerin' hynee to get this to a "presentable" stage for the ACME Southern Nats this past weekend. I'm happy to report that it did make a VERY respectable showing, ending up in apparently what was a multi-vehicle tie for the theme class it was entered in. With the Nats now being in the history books, I wanted my first order of business to be bringing y'all up to date on this, so without further ado, here we go.....

Well the inserts have been painted, car cleared, and set to bake for the evening. One more wet sand and one more clear and she’s done.

[Can-Con]

Looks fantastic, Jay. Gene would have been proud.

[Kanada Kustoms]

Looks great in clear coat... The fade looks fantastic!

[Jay Whittaker]

Thanks guys!

[MeatMan]

Awesome!

[Jay Whittaker]

[Dtimmerman89]

I really like where this build is going. 

[Kanada Kustoms]

Those seats look great… Really nice work!

[Jay Whittaker]

I appreciate the kind words folks!

[Jay Whittaker]

Diving a little deeper into the construction of the seat inserts as I didn’t realize it hadn’t posted it!.....


Start by rough-cutting out the molded-in inserts from the kit seats then carefully trim to its edges. You can do this either with a Dremel, X-acto, or both (that’s what I did). Be mindful to thin the surrounding edges from the back side as well so the fabric isn’t sunken down into the seat, taking away from the realism.

[Jay Whittaker]

Next up comes the construction of the inserts themselves. I start with a relatively thin piece of Evergreen (.010-.015) and cut it to just under the size of the opening. You don’t want to go too small as that’ll allow gaps between the seat and the insert. Go too big and you’re going to have problems on the back side. Once you have the base cut to size, cut out a piece of paper towel twice the height of the insert and fold in half.

[Jay Whittaker]

I’ve been noticing the Testors orange tube glue getting a bad rap around the hobby lately, but it has served me well for 45 years. Although it’s not by any means my main go-to, it still has a solid place on my bench for application when building, and always will as far as I’m concerned. For this particular area it is THE perfect adhesive, both for securing the paper towel to the base, adhering it to itself after fastening to the base and folding it, as well as for adhering the chosen fabric to the base. Once you have got the paper towel secured, trim to fit the base.

[Jay Whittaker]

Trim a piece of the fabric with a bit extra on every side. Adjust the grain of the material and pattern so it’s straight and level, then fasten the top (or front) first. Cut a notch on each side to save the material bunching-up (saving troubles for the back side) then carefully attach one side at a time, diagonally cutting off the excess at the far end to make room for the next side.

 

[Jay Whittaker]

Just for that little extra, I trimmed down the head on a straight pin to a rectangle, drilled a hole in the base and inserted it for a decorative button. You can apply this in whatever design you wish, or none at all. I just did one, mainly to emphasize the cushioned aspect of the insert without going overboard.

[Jay Whittaker]

Now that the insert is completed, test-fit to be sure there are no gaps and carefully secure it to the seat. You can lightly glue it, but be careful not to soak-through the material’s edge on the front side. I chose to cut strips of Evergreen, superglue then acrylic filler them as well as the insert itself. (These puppies aren’t going anywhere!)
The final result compliments the body color beautifully!

[BK9300]

On 10/28/2025 at 3:08 PM, Jay Whittaker said:

 

 

Your upholstery upgrade is pretty slick - great work on this detail (and the amazing paint job, too!)

 

Edited yesterday at 06:26 AM by BK9300

[Jay Whittaker]

We got things done on the interior without incident, and even had the opportunity to get in some fine detail painting on the dash and steering wheel center. After two-toning the wheel in pearl White and light Turquoise I masked the rim and prepped the center and spokes for the Gin San powder and got that applied. The center features Red/White/Blue sections and a finish drop of 5-minute epoxy to seal. I also painted the non-existent “Chrysler” script next to the radio and gave that a burial in epoxy. The crowning touch was the rear view mirror, of which the kit piece desperately needed updating as it was dinky at best. Luckily I had a photo etch detail set from a Mercury Comet that still had its rear view mirror and bezel, so I polished it with my Dremel, shaped a piece of .030” Evergreen, epoxied the P/E to it, shaped a .005” clear Evergreen for the “glass effect” then installed the bezel and attached it to the pod. BIG improvement, and it reflects quite nicely!

[Jay Whittaker]

Body is polished to perfection so the next step is to start scratching-up the side trim. I started with a strip cut from .005” Evergreen sheet for a foundation, then cut an even thinner strip of gold foil taken from an old hard pack cigarette box for the insert. The top strip of stainless is made from 21ga half-round Wizart wire, the bottom from a piece of 24ga half-round Wizart wire. I made the end piece from a piece of .060” Evergreen to tie the upper and lower together, and a front spear will be made to tie in the front end as well. the bottom curved stainless is fashioned from 18ga half-round Wizart wire

[Jay Whittaker]

Wrapped up the trim just in time to make it presentable for the ACME Southern Nationals this past weekend…
WHATTA SHOW!!…. She did real respectable for her debut, but we’re not finished just yet…. We got a Hemi to detail out, not to mention fuel and brake lines to run on the chassis… Stay tuned!

[Dtimmerman89]

This is looking gorgeous.  I am excited to see it completed, yet sad to see it go at the same time.  Phenomenal build, good sir.  

 

[Jay Whittaker]

3 minutes ago, Dtimmerman89 said:

This is looking gorgeous.  I am excited to see it completed, yet sad to see it go at the same time.  Phenomenal build, good sir.  

 

We're not quite done yet... But soon. Thanks SO much for the kind words!

[Kanada Kustoms]

That interior looks awesome…. The whole build is dynamite!

[Mr. Metallic]

It made me nervous just looking at pictures of you installing the trim on top of finished paint. But you nailed it. Looking great!

[rickcaps55]

WOW ! that is awesome really beautiful the colors are perfect and the seats that is the first time i have ever seen anyone do that beautiful.!