Over the next week or so Im going to come up with some stuff. Its easier to make like 20 of one item, than one at a time, as once you have the tool set up to make a cut, you can cut many pieces with the same setup. I can really make anything thats cylindrical that anyone needs, so if you have a particular part, just send me a drawing or a pic of a plastic kit part you want replicated and we can take measurements. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of time to make these parts, so the prices may seem high, but compared to what it would cost to go to a machinist, it will be cheap. Take those wheel bullets for example. If I was to go into business, I would cut a special tool that cuts the whole basic shape in one quick cut. The tool could take many hours to make, just for one size bullet. Thats how those sombrero covers are cut. Those bullets were a scale 4" diameter in 1/25th scale. I have to cut them by making several angled cuts to make the rough shape, then file them to a round bullet shape on the lathe. The they have to have all machining and file marks sanded with several progressively finer grits, then polished and cut off the remaining stock. Id probably sell a set of 4 for $12. I know you can buy a whole plastic kit for that money, but by the time you do the machine work, and then polish them, it takes about 1.5-2 hours time to do 4. For some reason most of the aftermarket parts are not polished, these will come that way. Ill look into cutting some tools for those bullets this week to see if I can make them significantly cheaper, beaust if you wanted to do a while grill with them, it would looks very cool (smaller ones of course), but would have to be much more affordable. But I think $6 for a pair of bullets for the caddy sombrero's (assuming you have full skirts on the rear) is worth it for the look it gets. I will keep you updated.
Here's some of mine. The '53 Ford is the model I've used to test all my customizing ideas on before I went to the real car. My real car will be finished long before the model will. The Tangerine "S.O.H.C Rod" won best of show at the Ventura Primer Nats and was signed by Gene Winfield. The '60 Ford has a reworked '69 Torino roof on it and '59 Chevy rear wheel arches. KK
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Your cars are all beautiful. Hard to believe how much thought and talent have gone into your cars. I especially like the fastback Chev. I hope you guys, and others continue to post your cars. I'm 60 years old and too impatient to work with something this small, so I'm eating my heart out. Keep up the good work....Mike
i ordered mine from fantastic plastic he lives close to me so shipping is fast and cheap. Ordered my kit and had it in about 30 hours after i ordered it. there also all over ebay right now to. LINK TO FANTASTIC PLASTIC KEITH
..........one thing you have to remember about Mark is......he's a LAWYER! Pompous ass, long winded and overbearing all come with the territory. He IS also, one of the brightest, kindest and most knowledgeable people I have ever met. He puts on THE model contest, Greater Salt Lake Model Car Challenge or GSLMCC and is the creator and curator of the National Model Car Museum. He is THE scale historian and has done much to advance the quality of scale models. If you have never met him, it would be easy to get the wrong impression of him. "To know him is to love him!" He can take it as well as dish it out. Several years ago, Ken Hamilton of NJ did a diorama called the "Ambulance Chaser." It portrayed Mark flying down the road on a skateboard with papers streaming out of his briefcase, racing to get to a crash site to "represent" the victim. Mark rolled..........
Hey Fidgiter, where did you get those injection stacks on your 5-window 'A? For my next project I started a wrecked lakes '29 roadster, powered by the ultimate 4-banger (4x2 Riley Port). Looks like it flipped once out at Muroc. it should be done by next Sunday, so I'll wait till' then for pics. After that it'll be on to a primered, radiused '51 Chevy fastback, powered by a 6 carb Cadillac mill. -Dean
How big are those sombreros? And how tall is the tire? Did you get the whitewalls from the model car garage too?
The sombrero's are .600" (600 thousanths of an inch). They come with photoetched round caddy crests to paint and glue in the centers, but I chose to make bullets for them, as many 1:1 customs have. The tires are from Modelhaus, but I dont know what part number they are. They came with a teardrop trailor kit I baught over 10 years ago from them. Im sure they still have them, along with many other tire sets. The tires are about 1.125" in diameter. the tread is about .225" diameter, about 1/4". The sombrero's also fit the whitewalls from the Lindverg 53 ford kit.
Well, after a long time grinding a special tool today to cut a 1/25th scale 4x3.25" bullet, that will fit the center of the MCG sombrero's, I made the first set of 4. These measure .162" dia X .135 tall. This size will be usefull for more custom treatments than just the MCG Sombrero's, and I may make some other cool wheel covers that they will work with. Over the next few weeks, I will be cutting tools to make several size bullets, probably around 4 sizes in all, a few that will be perfect for custom grills, and can be used in conjunction with the photoetch screen materials made by MCG and Detail Master. This size will come as a set of 4 for $7. By next week, I should have some smaller ones going. If anyone would like a set of these to start off, either PM me, or email me at cmshapiro@aol.com, it will be about a week before I will accept any money, so I have enough time to make enough for any HAMBers, as well as to have some to take to the next MAMA club meeting, but If I know how many I will need to make in advance, I know how hard I'll have to be working. Hopefuly this isnt concidered Spam or a violation of the HAMB.
OK ok ok its pretty late for a sunday....but i wont b around next sunday so here is the finished A tudor. As you know, the cowl, fenders, hood and grille are AMT 29 Roadster, while the rest of the body is Revell 31 Tudor. The end result came out ok, i didnt change the Visor nor try make the doors look like Early versions. Because of all the little changes allready, i decided to keep it unchopped, just let the lines of the car talk really. Motor is a 283 oru of the AMT 55 chevy kit with a finned y block air cleaner
Uh.....where exactly is she planning on putting that gasoline? Nice car! Aus....the sedan turned out great! I like it better with the later visor.
I'm building that same car right now but leaving it a '31. I'm going with those same front tires.......what did you use for a chasiss and front end? I'm assuming the the rearend is from the '32 kit?
Hey, stupid question... Where can I buy a '30-'31 Coupe body? I want to build a few up, and can't find any!!
Somebody probably does coupes in resin, but the last one in plastic was in the late eighties from Monogram in 1/24 scale. I got mine for $15.00 last year at a swap meet, and started in on this one, which is on hold right now.
The frame/front end is from the 31 kit, stepped at the rear though. The rearend is form the 55 chevy kit too i think. Will take some better photos for next week. Sean
That is killer. HE HE I like your A coupe too. I like the greens on both cars. A buddy did the a coupe in resin last year with a chop. I think I know how I am going to do it now. THANKS
It was a REAL Funny Car from late 67(?)-early 68 owned by Sheldon Konblett, who started all the "Service Center" speed shops in SoCal. Fairly famous operation. I remember as a kid that it stood out in the crowd as being an import while Funny Cars were so much in their infancy. It was cool then, but imports as Funny Cars SUCKS today!
Funny Cars suck today, period. They all look like suppository-shaped bilboards anyway. I knew the Snoopy was a real car, but I just dig that you have a model built of it in your case. You've got all the cool shit. The guy that built/capaigned the "Phony Pony" Mustang (with Hemi, and single and DUAL Ford small-block power) worked for my buddy's father. He built and worked on it in his CAR PORT in the valley. For not being a hardcore car guy, my friend's father had a lot of car guys working for him, including Ken Howard.
It's a Monogram "Bad Medicine" show rod kit - I whacked the front off, wedge-chopped the roof a little and sanded the bottom of the body at an angle until it had the right "attitude".
Groucho, do you have any close-ups of your gasser models that you could post? Especially the 60's cars.
That's COOL! You sure will NEVER see a Pro car being worked on in a carport by some neighborhood buddies ever again. Todays Funny Cars, like you say, i can't tell a Toyota from a Mustang. Garbage. The most fun i've had a the drags recently was about a year ago in Vegas. PSCA (Pacific Street Car Ass.), and SCIFCA (SoCal Injected Funny Car Ass). It was like going back in time. No corporate names, all reckognizable body styles, and a lot of back bumper draggin action! Anyway, back to the models everyone.
The Jalopy Journal
