Winter 2024 Model Contest

Well done everyone!!

Got this finished Sunday but hoped for good enough weather to photograph outside, but that didn't happen. Shot these this morning before heading out the door so not exactly Ansel Adams quality.

First thing: yeah it doesn't have outside mirrors. I couldn't get the things to sit right with the tiny base and the more I fiddled with the drivers side, the bigger mess it made and I knew I was going to snap it off the very first time I moved the car. So they're not there. It's pretty typical for my builds to be missing stuff (Bluetooth radiator hoses, random exhaust parts under the car, etc) so this is just par for the course.

I was pleasantly surprised that nothing went SPROING when mating body to chassis, though it did snap the radiator support panel between the radiator and front bumper off (it's a tight fit).

Super late in the game I found an online listing for a black 1986 El Camino SS that would have made for awesome source material, except that my car was already 80% built at that point. That car had a maroon interior, which I would have liked better than the gray I did go with.

I started putting the decals on, but they were not behaving (30+ years old) and didn't look right. The margins weren't drying clear, which can kinda be seen on the rear license plate, so I wound up removing them all.

Overall this was a nice way to get a build in on short notice after not thinking I was going to build anything since last winter. I'll have to pay better attention to this forum next winter to get in when the next one starts and not when it's almost over.

Interior coming together.

I was able to use model master clear parts cement to make the glass over the gauges.

So I noticed the brake and clutch pedal were too far to the right and covering the gas pedal. Ugh. Very poor instruction sheet. Didn't notice till I dropped it in the interior.

Aren't we supposed to vote for a winner?

In reply to ddavidv :

No one is in charge! The wonder of the internet. I made my vote though, see a previous post. In the mean time I have continued to improve the Ford Econobox with a bonnet prop, mesh in  the extra grill openings and an interior mirror.

I'm finally  back at least in Florida.   Went from Ohio,  got sent to Dallas (missed the 2k challenge which sucks), then Houston, now Orlando, and I'll be heading back home tomorrow after class.  My vote for outside is 911gtcs because that Ford looks real, Turner has hands down the best interior with the cage and carpet, vwcovette for the engine because the triple carb setup is the stuff my dreams are made of.  Soooooo much talent in you guys and it's awesome to see it come together.   Thay being said......we doing this again?  I hit a hobby shop here in Orlando (Graves Hobby) because I wanted another kit and I was told this place had some stuff.    I went for one kit.....lol

Gonna try my hand at a diorama.  I'm thinking the original gone in 60 seconds so I got the mustang and a 70 Ford because it's as close as I can find to the mercury undercover car from the move.  I have a dodge coronet kit I'm gonna modify to be one of the marked police cars.  The hard part is gonna be me trying to damage the cars to make it look like a scene from the movie.  Bought the Caddy because I may try to do the scene at the dealer.  Glad to be back, hope everyone is well.

In reply to RonnieFnD :

I'm curious about the Atlantis Cadillac. I've never seen it built. It would look grand in TS60 green pearl over white if the mold is good. As for more build series on here we all tapered off spring '22 when full scale opened up all the way again. I have continued, and will because my full scale racing stopped 10 years ago after 38 years with some competition license, from 3/4 midgets to CSR road racers, and of late my night life has dwindled for similar reasons...Some of my high detail work is less fine now as well. Those license plates are computer prints, I used to be able to do them by hand down to 1/43 scale. No more, not for quite a while...We actually have an ancient model cars thread that got swamped by the Covid build series. Read back, there were some gems. Often linked on the right side bar if you are on a computer, don't know if the links are there on mobil. 

TurnerX19 said:

In reply to RonnieFnD :

I'm curious about the Atlantis Cadillac. I've never seen it built. It would look grand in TS60 green pearl over white if the mold is good. As for more build series on here we all tapered off spring '22 when full scale opened up all the way again. I have continued, and will because my full scale racing stopped 10 years ago after 38 years with some competition license, from 3/4 midgets to CSR road racers, and of late my night life has dwindled for similar reasons...Some of my high detail work is less fine now as well. Those license plates are computer prints, I used to be able to do them by hand down to 1/43 scale. No more, not for quite a while...We actually have an ancient model cars thread that got swamped by the Covid build series. Read back, there were some gems. Often linked on the right side bar if you are on a computer, don't know if the links are there on mobil. 

The Atlantis kit is super light, noticeable when you pick it up.  Thr 67 mercury kit is really heavy.  The 66 mercury kit is going to be my first go at taking a normal kit and building a gasser with some parts I've bought and some parts I've 3d printed myself, should be fun. 

In reply to RonnieFnD :

That Mercury/Ford kit has been around since it was a new car annual release. Very seldom gets run through a production cycle, watch for corrosion damage, it makes the high spots you sand off on large flat areas, of which the Merc has plenty. The wall thickness on the body is massive. Low detail on the early releases. The Round Two people who now own the molds have been restoring and adding details, but the original body shapes were spot on externally with the entire interior shrunken to fit the thick panels. That they can't fettle out in the future. 

The AMT Mustang is really the MPC kit. Round2 did a disservice when they repackaged that old POS as an AMT kit. You may want to use it as 'practice' for a beat-up Halicki Mustang. Revell recently came out with a new tool of the 'big' Mustang that will be wildly better. AMT did make a model of that Mustang but you can't build it stock anymore.

I had thought of trying to build a real Eleanor myself. Someone did make the regular flat hood in resin last I heard. It might be possible to use heat to inflict damage but kit bodies are kind of thick and it will be a challenge. I was going to experiment with using aluminum foil pressed over the stock part and then wrinkle as needed. 

In reply to ddavidv :

I think Auto World released a 73 Mustang model with the flat hood recently. 

And don't use regular tin foil, get the thick foil used on wine bottles. It looks more realistic and stays in shape. 

In reply to DasAuto :

This is for everyone. The discussion about wrinkled fenders made me look at McMaster Carr. Full soft aluminum .002"x 6"x 100' $35.00. 50 square feet to play with.  I'm going to try this.   https://www.mcmaster.com/9060K64       

In reply to vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) :

I have that exact kit and the windshield is cracked. I've been looking for a windshield for a few years. I'm not starting the kit until I find it.

In reply to 67LS1 :

Swap meet eyes alerted..

Carl Heideman said:

BenB said:

TurnerX19 said:

New Revell (revell germany et. al.) molds are 1/24. Also quite a number of very old Revell were 1/24, including the '59 Corvette, the VW Bus, and Porsche Speedster. Then they did an E Type Jag that is more like 1/25.4 , which is 1mm=1", and the queer origin of 1/25 scale. Put the caliper to a big dimension on an early AMT kit. I think they started the trend, but I'm not certain. That was the "official" story when my father inquired, he spotted how small the E Type looked next to a Merit D type. I'll get a pic later of an original Revell E Type nose from the parts box against the 2022 release shown earlier. Also some of the re-releases are not labeled correctly. Keep your caliper at hand folks!

Bob Johnson, formerly of Monogram and Accurate Miniatures, posted a good history on the Model Cars Magazine forum a while back (Link to thread). Here's what he said about why we have both 1/24 and 1/25 scale car kits:

"MPC and AMT (and Revell) had auto kit lines created in 1/25th scale...  that scale came from AMT obtaining 1/10th scale four-view car drawings from the "Big 3" and them making a 1/10th scale pattern model. That would yield tooling casts in the same size taken from the 1/10th pattern model.. set the reducing pantograph to "2.5" and you get "1/25th scale"...

 1/24th is an engineering scale.. 1" = 24".... create a 1/12th scale model and reduce it by setting the pantograph at "2.0"... instant 1/24th scale..  so, we created these in 1/24th scale..."

 

We have at least three customers named Bob Johnson at Eclectic Motorworks. One of them stores his cool classic car with us. He's told us he used to work for Monogram. Must be the same person. I haven't talked to him in awhile but I'll see if he has more stories to share. 

Resurrecting this from page 3--I talked with our customer Bob Johnson awhile back and he is the Bob Johnson from Monogram etc.. He has a ton of great stories. Sometime in the next month or so, I'm going invite him and some other customers who are into models to an evening at the shop to hear more stories. I've also talked with David Wallens and he thinks there may be some good story fodder for Classic Motorsports if Bob is interested. So stay tuned--you'll all be the first to hear more.

Here's the 914 that Bob stores at Eclectic. He bought it new. It had a full restoration about 15 years ago by a prominent shop and it's very very nice.

Very interested, thank you.

Very interested, too!