'81 Chevrolet El Camino

I have had a life long attraction to Chevrolet El Caminos. The whole car/truck concept has always intrigued me. While I like all versions, my favorite El Caminos were the fifth generation, produced from 1978 through 1987. I guess that is because I like the look of the Chevy Malibu, which is of the same time period. The El Camino shared the same front end sheet metal.

I have always wanted to build a model of a fifth generation Elky, but never liked any of the model kits that were produced at the time. One day I was looking around on Ebay and found this 1/25 scale, '81 Chevy El Camino promotional model (promo) that looked a little rough. It showed signs of wear, like it had been played with by a child. It had a broken bumper and the chrome plating was coming off the wheels. The sale price of $9.00, included the shipping charges. That was a great price! This Elky would be the perfect canidate for a restoration and the hot rod treatment I envisioned for it.

I completely disassembled the El Camino to clean and make repairs the body, in preparation for primer and then paint. I sprayed several coats of Testors One Coat Lacquer. Firey Orange was followed a week later, by numerous coats of Testors Wet Look Clear Lacquer.

All I can say is WOW! 

The one coat lacquers made such a difference to the quality of my paint job. This was one of my best painted model cars to date. If you take your time and remain patient as you paint, you will get outstanding results. Painting is fun again!

The door lines and the grille was highlighted with Pigma archival ink, and Bare Metal Foil was applied to the window trim and the rear side markers The turn signals, were painted with Tamiya clear red and orange. Pegasus 23" Phat Daddy wheels, along with brake rotors, and red painted calipers finished the look.

The interior and tonneau cover was painted with Rustoleum Sandstone enamel, and Detail Master brown flocking was used to simulate the carpeting.

This El Camino was definitely a blast to build and the experience I gained working with the Testors Lacquers will fuel my hunger to paint more cars and trucks.

Check out my other models at my Fotki photo sharing website. http://public.fotki.com/Wheels4ever/

           

'96 Chevy Tahoe Custom

AMT's Chevy Tahoe Snap together kit is a great starting point for the project I had in mind. I wanted to build a slightly lowered custom cruiser that the whole family could ride in.

Since this kit depicts a stock four wheel drive Tahoe, that meant I needed to make some slight modifications to the body. The first modification was to remove the running boards. I did this by using a razor saw and then after they were removed, a little sanding was required to clean up the bottom of the rocker panels. The rear roll pan, seen in the photo below, was added from an AMT Chevy Dually kit. The roll pan required a good bit of sanding to get the body work to look just right. In the end, I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. 

The hood came from the AMT Chevy Dually kit and the air dam came from an AMT Chevy 454SS kit. It was added to the bottom of the front bumper. I dechromed the Tahoe's front bumper using Castrol Super Clean. Then Tamiya primer was applied to all of the body parts before I shot Testors Gloss Yellow to the entire body. Wow, it looked like a school bus! That's not exactly what I was thinking of. I immediately made the decision to go with a two-tone scheme. After a few generous coats of Testors gloss black were applied, it looked so much better! Then a red stripe was applied using automotive pin striping. I detailed the grille for added realism. The Chevy emblem was painted with Tamiya gloss red.

I decided to with Pegasus 23" Chrome T's Mag wheels in addition to the Pegasus brake disc rotors. The rotors come chrome plated, so I sprayed the discs with Testors Dullcote to give them a more realistic look. The calipers were painted red. I lowered the suspension all the way around, with a slight downhill rake to the front, for just the right stance.

It was a fun project to build and is among one of my favorite models.

Check out my other models at my Fotki photo sharing website. http://public.fotki.com/Wheels4ever/

 

Model Building: A Hobby In Good Times and Bad

I built this '53 Ford F-100 Pickup model built in 1993.
Photographed and displayed in the November '93 issue of Car Modeler Magazine.

I would like to share a little bit about my past and how model building was an outlet for me in good times and bad. When your world is turned upside down, I believe most people tend to gravitate toward those things in their life that bring them comfort or help them feel safe and secure. In one of the darkest times in my life, I found comfort in family, friends and model car building. In 1974, our home wasn't happy place to be. My dad and mom were having marital problems that only seem to be getting worse. My parents decided to separate and my mom moved my sister and I to Aurora, Illinois in December 1974. We hated it there, and to this day, I never understood why we moved there. My dad moved us back at the beginning of January 1975.

After moving us back home, things weren't any better, things got even worse. On Friday, January 18, 1975, my dad left for West Virginia to go deer hunting and my mom left to go out with the girls from the bank. I remember as we walked over to the neighbors house for a sleepover, I turned back to see my mom closing the back door and then she walked off the back porch and vanished into the darkness. That was the last time I ever saw my mother. That night tragedy struck our family as my parents both died as a result of their marital problems. My mother had brought another man to our house. (My father never knew that according to the police report.) My father came home and my parents began to argue. My mother told my father that she didn't love him anymore. My father shot my mother and then he shot himself. My sister and I no longer had parents. If that wasn't bad enough, the puppy my father bought for me got out and was hit by a car. That was a very traumatic experience for our entire family.

Looking back, I can honestly say that I am very thankful to God for all of my relatives and friends who loved and cared for us during that time. My grandparents took us into their home and life slowly started to move forward. The one place I found peace during those times was building model cars. It took me away from reality for a while. I remember my uncles and grandfather sitting down, talking with me as we worked on models. We talked about my parents and other things. Talking about what happened was great therapy for me. I always felt better after working on models and I'll always cherish those moments because they helped me through a very rough time in my life. Model car building has always been a great stress reducer for me. It allows me time to think about things and I always feel better afterward. Today, I enjoy model building with my wife and kids and we have a great time doing it together. It is a great hobby to be involved in! I love to share my love of this hobby with anyone whom God allows to cross my path. 

I have built models in good times and in bad times and I plan to continue doing it for years to come!

My First Memory of Model Building

I remember when I was about five or six years old, my father sitting at a card table that he set up in the living room. I said, What are you doing daddy? He replied, that he was going to build a model ship. I was fascinated at the concept, even though I had no idea what a model was at the time. I gazed in wonder as he open the box to reveal all the parts. I was amazed as he started gluing the ship's hull together. I thought it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen! Everything was going along just fine and the model ship was coming to life before my very eyes. I really enjoyed talking to my father as he worked on this model. Then  one evening, things took a turn for the worst as he attempted to attach the rigging. He became frustrated, and then mad and then he got up and left the table. When he returned he seemed ready to try it again. After a couple minutes his frustration returned. The next thing I know he was cussing at that model ship and then he threw it in the trash can and that was the end of that!

Unfortunately for my father, he picked a kit that was too hard for him and sadly, he never built another model again. To this day, I have never built a model ship! I turned to model cars and trucks as the subject manner that I enjoy building. The valuable lesson I learned from that day was to start out with an easy model and work you way up to the harder kits as your skills improve. When you do that you will build confidence to try harder kits and you will fall in love with the hobby! Model building is supposed to be an enjoyable diversion from the stress of daily living. Keep it simple and have fun! Go ahead and start building!!

The oldest model in my collection, 1970 Plymouth GTX

Check out my other models at my Fotki photo sharing website. http://public.fotki.com/Wheels4ever/

It All Started With A Corvette!

When I was a kid, my Uncle Jim had a blue book shelf in the corner of his bedroom and on the top shelf was a row of model cars. In fact, they were all Chevrolet Corvettes. He had a model for every year through the 50's and 60's. I was amazed at how beautiful they were. I would go up to his room and stare at them everyday. I admired the details of each model and how well my uncle had put them together. This may also be the first time I can remember giving into temptation. I had been told not to touch the Corvettes by my uncle. One day it was too much handle and I picked up one of his models. It was a '57 Corvette and I started playing with it. Before I knew it, parts started falling off of it and then the front wheel fell off! Oh no, I had done it now. I placed it back on the shelf hoping my uncle wouldn't notice, but I knew he would and that I was going to be in big trouble! The lesson learned that day was don't touch what isn't yours. My uncle was mad at me. I received two spankings that day, one from my grandmother and other from my dad! I guess that's what made that day so memorable. It's funny when you look back and see how the events of one day can change your life forever. That day was the moment I decided I wanted to build model cars!

Check out my other models at my Fotki photo sharing website. http://public.fotki.com/Wheels4ever/

Dodge Ram 3500 Service Truck

My family and I have worked in the the construction field for years in one form or another. I started working on heavy equipment when I worked for Genstar Stone Products Company back in the mid eighties. I have always wanted to build a model of a mechanic's service truck. I decided to start with an AMT Dodge Ram 3500 Dually Snapfast Plus kit. I added a laptop to the cab's interior and I modified the seat so that the center storage section was in the lowered position for additional workspace.

Here's the first mock-up of the utility body.

A resin utility body from Modelhaus was added and then I started adding other accesories including an air compressor with gas engine, a hose reel made from a sewing machine bobbin, impact gun, a water cooler, fire extinguisher, a vise on the rear bumper, chain, tool box, gas can and a hydraulic cylinder from the AMT Cat D8 Bulldozer.

Duplicolor saddle tan paint was used. The utility body interior was painted with flat black to simulate a spray on bedliner. The decals came from AMT's Autocar dump truck kit. The chrome wheels were stripped and painted gray black center caps with and I weathered the tires with real mud! This is one of my favorite models because it was so much fun to build. I was very happy with the results. I have also won a couple trophies with it at different model shows. That's what it all about, having fun!

Check out my other models at my Fotki photo sharing website. http://public.fotki.com/Wheels4ever/

2003 Jeep Rubicon Ocean Lifeguard Unit

I wanted to build a model of a Lifeguard unit that you might see on a beach somewhere. My first thoughts were of the lifeguard rigs on the TV show Baywatch. There were other cool things to check out besides watching Pamela Anderson run down the beach in that red bathing suit! I noticed these cool looking rigs on the beach. This Jeep Rubicon Ocean Lifeguard Unit is my version of one of those rigs you might find here on the East Coast beaches using the Jeep Rubicon as the basis for the build. This has turned out to be one of my favorite models. It was so much fun to build! 

The starting point was Revell's Lara Croft Tomb Raider Jeep Rubicon.

(A full plastic version of this kit will be coming soon!)

The rear seat was left out and a treadplate floor covered with Bare Metal Foil was added. The kit off-road lights were cut down from four lights to three and turned into an emergency light and mounted to the hood. That turned out pretty cool.

I started by scratchbuilding a new roll cage using Plaststruct tubing. Then various accessories were added such as a resin surfboard, flippers, stokes basket,whip antenna and radio.

I found the decals and some of lifeguard accesories in this kit that I purchased on ebay. It only cost me $3.00. When I received it there truck wasn't in it. I contacted the seller and he ended up sending my money and told me to keep the kit. What a bargin!

Great looking surfboard from my friend Norm Veber at Replica & Miniatures Company of Maryland. I've been told that the only missing is a scale version of Pamela Anderson!

Check out my other models at my Fotki photo sharing website. http://public.fotki.com/Wheels4ever/