RatRod Posted December 5, 2007 Posted December 5, 2007 Here's a build that's almost ten years old!!! I did this one back in 1998, and was without a doubt one of the most trying builds I have ever tackled. This started out as Revells Thom Taylor designed '34 Cabriolet, and anyone who has ever built this, or any of Monograms '34 coupes, knows that these kits aren't that great. About the time this kit came out Scale Auto had a sketchpad done by Mr Taylor, and had a drawing of a highboy version done in black w/red steelies, and the narrowed '37 P-up grille & shell. Not wanting to do it in those standard hotrod colors, I chose Dupli-Color Forest Green, and Krylon yellow as the main colors. It would take a day to type all that was done to this kit to finish it, so I will just let the pics do that, but I can say that I'm glad I stuck with it!!! When it was finished, I e-mailed pictures to Mr Taylor, and he was very impressed!!! That was a great feeling, kinda like Virgil's build of Jauris's "Frankie".
dub Posted December 5, 2007 Posted December 5, 2007 Beautiful! I can tell that is 10 years old because no one did "dirty" traditionals back then. It seems that they were all shiny ones. Doesn't make me like it any less, though. I picked up a few old SAE mags over the weekend and one of them is from '98. It has a truckster on the cover that is just as shiny as yours. I think I am going to build it as a 10yr old barn find one of these days...
Raul_Perez Posted December 5, 2007 Posted December 5, 2007 John, Great looking model!! I remember seeing this one for sale on eBay several months ago, but I don't remember if anyone hit your reserve price. Did you ever sell it?
Lyle Willits Posted December 5, 2007 Posted December 5, 2007 ######!!! That is fantastic. I love this car. I am familiar with the kit and I can see how much work went into it. Just beautiful!!!!
Dr. Cranky Posted December 5, 2007 Posted December 5, 2007 No only a cool, sweet model, but some great photography skills too! Double congrats!
RatRod Posted December 5, 2007 Author Posted December 5, 2007 Paul....Actually, I still have it!! My reserve was so ridiculously high that I new it wouldn't go, but it did get bids...lol. I think I have sold most of my award winners, but I better keep this one. I might not ever get up the guts to do another of this caliber...lol. Thanks for the compliments.
RatRod Posted December 6, 2007 Author Posted December 6, 2007 Thanks again for the compliments!!! I spent at least 400 hours in about 4 months getting this one done for a big contest, one that I had won 1st place in the coveted HotRod class two strait years prior....Yep, I was kinda dumb founded that this one did the Hat Trick, but really excited too!!! That year there were three full tables in the class, and all were great builds, so the competition was tough.
Paul Payne Posted December 6, 2007 Posted December 6, 2007 Fantastic build-I love it! more pix, more pix, I'm still not satisfied......
RodBurNeR Posted December 6, 2007 Posted December 6, 2007 VERY NICE! it looks all tradtional to me! great photos and a heck of a build!
RatRod Posted December 6, 2007 Author Posted December 6, 2007 Ok, but this is the only pic I have left....lol.
Raul_Perez Posted December 6, 2007 Posted December 6, 2007 I completely understand not wanting to sell that one. I have a couple of models in my collection that I put just as much work into, and could not ever get back in $$$ the time and energy that went into making them. One in particular is the 57 Chevy Pro-Touring pickup that I built for the '07 Santa Clara NNL. It's the one I currently use as my avatar. 6 different kits and several hours went into building it. Then there are the others that I purposely build to sell in order to support my styrene habit. I am curious, what was your reserve for the '34? Raul
Randy Kern Posted December 6, 2007 Posted December 6, 2007 Wow John, that is classy cool! I remember seeing this on e-bay also, thinking that is the nicest built rod I've seen on there yet. I love to see a really well detailed model, not overdone, and you nailed it. Everything clicks and looks right, too. I wouldn't be able to let that go, either!
ajulia Posted December 7, 2007 Posted December 7, 2007 hello there friend jus wanted to say that must look even better in person. The colors are perfect' n the top- untouchable!! Keep on with the keepin on!! Peace AJulia
RodBurNeR Posted December 7, 2007 Posted December 7, 2007 dayum John! looks like you did a lot of work to it. i really dig it! it's TRaK material all around!
Paul Payne Posted December 7, 2007 Posted December 7, 2007 Forgot to ask- did the kit come with the grille and surround, or did you adapt the 1937 Ford pickup frnt end?
RatRod Posted December 7, 2007 Author Posted December 7, 2007 (edited) Forgot to ask- did the kit come with the grille and surround, or did you adapt the 1937 Ford pickup frnt end? Paul, I used the grille & shell from the '37 Ford pick-up with a 1/8" section cut out of the center. A few other things done were channeling the body slightly, cutting the interior down, lowering the seat, scratch building the rear pan w/notch for the quick change, widening the frame rails to fit the body, and building blisters under the hood sides. The front suspension was built using an R&D Unique white metal axle (made to steer). All for shocks were made from aluminum tubing & straight pins. I made all the bolt heads using straight pins ground flat, with hexagon shapes, then turned in a dremel using a a sanding stick. I also made the hairpins from aluminum rod & tubing. The engine was a build in itself.....I used several aftermarket aluminum pieces, air cleaners, pulleys, and oil filter. The four radiator hoses were a complete weekend project alone!!! The carbs have fuel lines, and throttle linkage, and a throttle cable that goes to the foot pedal. This was a project that took complete determination ( I wanted to box it up many times!!) but, the end results were well worth the effort (many awards, plus 3 Best of Shows) Back then there was a lot of competition, but nowadays I see so many great masterful builders on here, and in the magazines, which is the greatest (they say this hobby is dying!!) I'm glad I'm not so competitive these days....lol Edited December 7, 2007 by RatRod
Gray Smith Posted December 7, 2007 Posted December 7, 2007 I love this car..I saw it way back when and liked it then. Excellent build, it has just the right look that was proper for when it was built, and even more so for now.. Please post more of these if you have em. Gray
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