Old Coyote Posted August 17, 2014 Posted August 17, 2014 (edited) ......... a few years ago I read a post by Walter Frey in which he referred to the Jawbreaker as needing to be renamed the Ballbreaker ............. I have to agree with him, as the John Milner dragster from More American Graffiti is just the Jawbreaker with a dragster body replacing the Bantam coupe body This old kit pulled the "warping" thing which I expected, but also surprised me with a decal issue I had never seen in 55 years of modeling .............. I coated the decals with Testors Bonder because of their age (as I have done with many sheets in the past with no issues) ............. however, the backing paper refused to release from the decal film even after 5 minutes in warm water ......... the backing paper was two ply, and the two plies separated from each other, but the upper paper ply still refused to release from the back of the decal ............ it took a lot of pulling with needle nose tweezers and slicing with a scalpel to finally get some of the decal to release from the final layer of paper ............ of course the thin stripes on the decals could not withstand that type of treatment The basic kit was painted with Tamiya Chrome Yellow (the first two coats went on great, but the final coat fish-eyed and had to go into the purple pond .......... and that caused the plastic to craze) ................ after much sanding the three coat sequence was repeated ........... this time with no major problems ........... I replaced the kit engine (which to me was a joke) with a small block Chevrolet from the AMT engine parts pack ................. the rest of the kit was assembled as best as could be per the kit instructions ............... I believe you Walter ............ this thing can be a Ball-Breaker Edited August 17, 2014 by Old Coyote
wayne swayze Posted August 17, 2014 Posted August 17, 2014 What a beauty! Nice save also. That looks just great! Two thumbs up John!
slusher Posted August 17, 2014 Posted August 17, 2014 (edited) Impressive build. Very sharp.. Edited August 17, 2014 by slusher
Daddyfink Posted August 17, 2014 Posted August 17, 2014 Very nice! I was very tempted to use the kit decals when i was building mine, but, decided to go with the ones my friend Skip made, looks like I save myself a lot of trouble!! And great move on the engine! Both more correct and way better looking than the kits lump!
Truck parts Posted August 18, 2014 Posted August 18, 2014 Nice build,and thanks for the tip on the decals.
vintagedragcrazy Posted August 18, 2014 Posted August 18, 2014 i bought a resin body and decals from rat nasty (chuck naylor) very nice and a fair price if your interested in building one. vince
Force Posted August 18, 2014 Posted August 18, 2014 (edited) Nice build. I picked up one of these at ebay recently and I got a set of aftermarket decals for mine as I don't trust old decals. You are right, the engine needs to be changed as Milner had a small block in the dragster in the movie...narrower rear tires would also be more correct to the movie car, AMT Parts Pack 11.75 X 16 M&H tires are more suitable for the time the car was supposed to be from. Edited August 18, 2014 by Force
Daddyfink Posted August 18, 2014 Posted August 18, 2014 Yes, smaller tires also make a big difference. Here is my build with some Revell Miss Deal slicks
am73grand Posted August 19, 2014 Posted August 19, 2014 I've always loved this car. You pulled off a fantastic build!
brett Posted August 19, 2014 Posted August 19, 2014 if anyone could pull this off with the troubles you had it would be you John, never disappointed with your clean building style
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