Don Garlits Swamp Rat 1-R

[FoMoCo66]

This is a model that I finally decide to rebuild, and about time, it was practically disintegrating. I built this thing a little more than 2 years ago when I was just getting into building models. One fatal flaw I made on this model was I painted EVERYTHING separately and assembled it with CA glue. This means it fell apart on the shelf but this also means that it was easy as pie to take apart. I don't really want to redo the body on this because I don't have the decals for the car, but I know it needs it because it has a whole bunch of mold lines and the paint is all scratched ( if any of you guys have a set that your willing to part with, let me know). I first started by completely taking the model apart, but that wasn't much work because my CA to paint bond gave way pretty quickly. I then stripped all the paint and chrome from the kit with easy off so I had a fresh template to start with. I then assembled the big sub-assemblies to the frame and motor. I also sanded those big rear slicks to have more of a crown of the top like the real ones, that is something that always bugged me about unsanded slicks, the lack of a crown to the top profile. I also went ahead and made the front axle steerable, more of the linkage to come. Eventually I want to make some wire wheels with copper pipe and wire and solder it all together as found in this topic. 

 Here is the model as I originally built it:

Here it is with all the work I did to it.

Thanks for looking, and all of you drag racing nuts that have a comment or critique, PLEASE do so!

Elliot

[Straightliner59]

I like the treatment for the slicks. I'd never even thought about that. I'm not sure if there are aftermarket decals for this car, but, I have never cared for the decals in the earlier versions of the kit. The ones in the retro version box are nice, though. Sorry I can't help you with the decals!

[dragcarz]

Wow Ace, I love what your doing here! I built this kit when it first came out in 1971 or 1972. The car was very new and controversial at the time and was thought to be ugly compared to the Front engined dragster’s. Some how I managed to hang on to my build all these years. Even after giving all my models away to a kid that lived upstairs from me when I got into real car’s. My original kit had poorly registered decals and I built it without the rear wing as I thought it looked hokey. Fast forward to 1987 and I came across a partial decal sheet and decided to rebuild it. Here’s a couple photos, by the way send me your address, I have decals for you.