I will try to present the models in chronological order as best as I can remember when I built some of them.  Amazingly most of my car models survived either "The Firecrackers" or my mother deciding I wouldn’t be interested in them any more and sending them off to Deseret Industries, the local charity thrift shop.

CHRYSLER TURBINE CAR, JO-HAN, 1/25

1965 Chrysler Turbine Car; 1/25 scale model by Jo-Han.  I wanted this model as soon as it came out and I started on it on November 22, 1965 while I was listening to the boxing match featuring Floyd Patterson vs. Cassius Clay (before he became Muhammad Ali).  Yep, I enjoyed listening to the heavyweight fights on the radio back in those days when I was twelve years old.  The Jo-Han model had a lot of working parts which I was not the best at executing back then, although except for one door, I was successful with this model.  I liked the color of the plastic so I only painted the black roof, the engine and the interior, along with some exterior details that got a little silver paint. 

There were two versions of the Jo-Han Chrysler Turbine Car.  This one was fully detailed with opening hood, trunk, doors, and a nicely appointed engine compartment with the unusual turbine engine that was touted as being able to run on just about any volatile liquid including whiskey and perfume.  Efficiency, noise, and emissions were just some of the concerns that shelved the idea for a production car.

Here's a comparison of the original model with my more recent effort, the curbside version of the Turbine Car, which had a limited re-release some time in the early 2000's.  The original concept was a joint effort between Chrysler and the Italian design studio Ghia.  I thought it was a really cool looking car, especially from the back.

Dick's modern iteration of the Turbine Car utilized leftover paint from his Li'l Coffin project, which you'll see later in this presentation.

FORD GT, IMC, 1/25

1965 Ford GT Racer; 1/25 scale model by IMC.  I liked building these race car models and did bother to paint the front part with metallic blue paint.   It looks like I did a decent job masking it.  Many of these kits had opening body panels and positionable front wheels, which was pretty cool at the time.

​I also painted the interior and engine, mostly with black paint, and did a decent job with the decals, which are now yellowed and faded.  I was not great at installing the windows, but give me a break; I only used Revell or Testors tube glue and was twelve years old.  I never did try to sniff it, though.  I probably built this one in late 1966 or early winter in 1967.

FORD J CAR, IMC, 1/25

Ford GTP "J" Car; 1/25 scale model, by IMC.  This was a “visible” car model with a clear body that was also foldable to reveal the interior and engine, etc.  I got mixed up and painted the wrong side of the body first so I had to remove the paint the best I could and paint the other side.  I did not know how to sand away the paint and polish up the clear plastic then!  Oh, well. 

I did a lot of detail painting with multiple colors of enamel paint brushed on as the pictures show.  I would have used spray can paint for the body as I had the sense then to know that to get a nice smooth finish I could not brush the paint on!  The "breadvan" rear end turned out to be dicey on the track and this design was not carried forward.  Fans of 1/64 diecast cars will recall the Ford J-Car as one of the debut cars in the original 1968 Hot Wheels line.

DETOUR AHEAD:  LET'S TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT THE IMC FORD GTP J-CAR, SHALL WE?

Mr. Editor Bill found one of these on eBay a few years ago.  It was pricey.  The thrashed box provided a little discount, but this is a rare kit.  Dem Brudders wonder:  Who has the tooling to this kit and why can't it be re-released???  

The entire box was very artsy.  Note that this is the regular non-visible version.

Breakdown of the kit is quite different than the conventional car model.

The chrome tree has some niceties such as gorgeous wheels and separate disc brakes.  Engine, suspension components, and lights round out the contents.

We'd bet these mid-1960's vintage decals will shatter if put in water.  Gotta love that IMC logo, one for each side of the car.

Body components.  The bottom of these cars was smooth to help aerodynamics.

Box end #1:  The layout guys probably rankled the artist by cutting off the side of the car painting in this image so that everyone would know that this is an advanced kit--not for beginners.  Artsy.

Box sides were identical!  We didn't know that IMC stands for "Industro-Motive Corporation!"  Sounds like a company that makes robots.  Unfortunately, they don't make robots or model kits any more.  Lindberg Models re-released a few former IMC kits.  Maybe Round2 Models has these molds or knows where they are!

Box end #2 shows 2/3 of the back end of the car.  Artsy!

​1965 LOTUS 38 FORMULA 1 RACER, IMC, 1/25

Jimmy Clark’s first Indy Car, a 1965 Lotus 38  powered by Ford.  1/25 scale model by IMC.  I liked the molded-in-color green, so I did no painting to speak of on this model, so no yellow trim on the nose, etc.  I liked these Indy racers because they could be built quickly and looked decent when built right out of the box.  I remember building this one in Summer 1968 with my friend Brian Jensen who also had a similar model.  We had talked about kit bashing but not with these models as we decided to go with replicas of the actual car.  I didn't do a very clean job with glue and the wind screen, unfortunately.

Wings and spoilers were still on the horizon when these cars were racing.  Note the comparison with a vintage Matchbox car from the era.

1964 BRM P262, IMC, 1/25.

This racer was designed and built by the British Racing Motors (BRM) team. This model was built after I finished the Jimmy Clark racer in 1968. I obviously worked to make it cleaner and better, particularly when installing the windshield. But like the other, I did not add any paint trim to the body and left the green plastic as is without trying to paint it.

This was the last racer I built before I turned my youthful attention to building a fastback model car collection, which included a 1966 AMC Marlin and a 1967 Dodge Charger, among others. None of those models survived either firecrackers or our mother's purges (scroll down a ways for a look at the Jo-Han Marlin kit).  In addition to the Lotus 38, Lesney also produced a BRM racer Matchbox car.

Rolls Royce Roadster, Monogram, 1/24

Classic Rolls Royce Roadster; 1/24 scale kit by Monogram.  I loved these classic car kits and built this one in late 1966-early 1967.  I did not bother to paint the body, but had to paint the roof and leather interior.  Unfortunately I didn't always pay attention to what should be painted with flat vs glossy paint. Somehow over the years, the front bumper on this model was lost.

These Monogram classic car kits were well-detailed and built into very nice models without a lot of work.  Note that the engine was molded in silver plastic.

1937 CORD PHAETON SEDAN CONVERTIBLE, MONOGRAM, 1/24

Classic 1937 Cord Phaeton Sedan Convertible; 1/24 scale kit by Monogram.  I liked the fact that these kits went together well with minimum painting and plenty of ready-to-go chrome parts.  I remember working on this model while watching news reports about the Apollo I fire on January 27, 1967.  I was really into the space program and the loss of the first three Apollo astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee was very upsetting to me.  Building the Cord helped take my mind off the tragedy.

1966 CADILLAC AMBULANCE, JO-HAN, 1/25

1966 Cadillac Ambulance; 1/25 scale kit by Jo-Han.  I had to get this kit as soon as I saw it either at our neighborhood Rexall Drugs, which had a good selection of model kits in the 1960s, or on a rare trip by bus to Douglas Models downtown.  I had to know what I was doing a little bit by then, because it was a complex model with lots of working parts.  It also included a stretcher and jump-seat. 

I had to mask below the beltline and use a spray can with metallic red paint.  Of course I did not bother to paint the roof since it was already white.  Good luck trying to get this kit nowadays at anything but a premium price.  As of 6/14/2020, you could buy one on eBay at the low, low price of $100-200.

Roddy Redshirt Reports he's Recovered from his Recent Review and is Ready for a Rerun.  Actually, I could not help posing the model with the skeleton I customized to go with the Li’l Coffin, which will appear later in this essay on your walk through the mists of the past into the present as far as model building.

1966 OLDSMOBILE TORONADO, JO-HAN, 1/25

1966 Oldsmobile Toronado; 1/25 scale kit by Jo-Han.  I thought the Toronado was one of the coolest cars ever made and bought this model as soon as it came out.  It was one of the last car models I built as a kid and I put some effort into it to make sure it turned out decent. 

I used the same metallic red rattle-can paint as I put on the Ambulance, so it was built around the same time in 1968.  The kit came with a sheet of chrome foil I put on the model; my first and last effort doing that until decades later.  I even painted the bottom of the kit, which I did not normally bother to do in those days. 

Ahead of its time:  This bottoms-up view shows the Toronado's FWD architecture of the 1960's, a precursor of the FWD hardware that became common beginning in the 1980's.  I have not seen any of these kits for sale at any model show lately.  I could not see any available on eBay, either.  Good luck tracking this one down!  You’ll just have to enjoy my pictures or check out the model forum at Model Cars Magazine.

1935 Dusenberg Town Car, Monogram, 1/24

Dusenberg Model SJ with Murphy Body; classic car kit by Monogram.  In 1979, I was doing a dental externship for several weeks at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City and living with my parents that summer with nothing to do at night, so I went and bought this kit.  

I did paint part of the model with a slightly darker green shade and also painted the roof white.  A little aluminum paint here and there covered some engine parts and the floorboards were painted as well.   I may have hidden the model safe and sound at my parent’s house until I came back in 1981 to establish my dental practice.  It deserves an award for evading our mother's tendency to "donate" our built models to the thrift store when we weren't around.  There's a "doozy!"

1936 MODEL 54O MERCEDES COUPE, MONOGRAM, 1/24

Mercedes 540 Coupe; another in Monogram's exceptional collection of classic cars.  In 1981, I was doing my dental residency in Detroit, and had time at night to work on models again after my then two-year-old son was asleep, if I was not on-call.  So I worked on a series of various models including this Monogram kit I bought in Detroit. ​

I didn’t have to do much painting on it; just a little silver trim here and there.  It turned out pretty well and it has even placed in contests even though I did not paint the body since it was "molded in color."   Later, though, I brought that "natural plastic finish" to a nice shine with some plastic polish.

1949 MERCURY COUPE, AMT, 1/25

1949 Mercury Club Coupe; 1/25 scale AMT/Ertl kit.  Welcome to the modern era!  I strictly built aircraft models from the time I finished the Mercedes coupe until the late 1990s when NUSMA (Northern Utah Scale Modeler's. Association) in Ogden decided to hold a Wings and Wheels contest with the Utah Model Car Association.  The car guys were supposed to build aircraft models, and aircraft builders were supposed to build a car.  I thought, “Heh, heh, this will be easy for me to win something” so I bought this model at Hammond toys and got right to work on it.  As I recall (as usual then), I did not finish it in time for that contest, but had it done by June 2003.

I built it straight out of the box and painted it with Testors Gloss Black paint that I polished to a nice finish.  I had trouble with the fit of the back trunk lid which I left open, but the model was good enough otherwise to win a First Place at the 2003 IPMS Region X/Gathering contest in the stock box category.  The fun part of the kit was the set of tiny 1/25 scale tools that I painted up and finished and kept in the trunk of the model.  I have been tempted to enter each tool in the miscellaneous category of a contest some day…. (Mr. Editor Bill says they should be entered in the Collections Category since you have five).

LI'L COFFIN, MONOGRAM (REVELL), 1/24

The Li’l Coffin was the next model I built in the “modern” era.  The 1932 custom car with a DeSoto V-8 Hemi engine is the 1/24 scale Monogram kit based on the former Company’s owned Custom Car with DeSoto Engine.  I bought this model at Hammond Toys for $9.00 and started it originally in 2003.

Certain aspects of the build were dicey including not-such-great-fit of many articulated parts.  GSL founder Mark Gustavson came to the rescue, generously replacing some warped parts and providing valuable guidance on paint (Dupont Candy Red).  The skeleton figure was originally standing upright, and he has been modified to sit and gesture to drivers-by.

The model has done well at local and regional contests and won an out-of-box award at the IPMS/USA Nationals in Kansas City, MO in 2006.

1966 MUSTANG COUPE, AMT/ERTL, 1/25

Next on the list was the 1966 Ford Mustang; 1/25 scale kit by AMT/Ertl.  By this time, Dem Brudders were members of Mark Gustavson’s invitational club UMAG – Utah Miniature Automotive Guild, a club intended for builders with meetings held where building takes place.  They had an “initiation ritual” where you are blindfolded and expected to complete several steps on a model at the annual Christmas party.  While you fumble, the laughing spectators quietly substitute parts from different kits.  So in December 2006, I was given this Ford Mustang model, and got the windows glued into the roof with tube glue and was fortunate not to mess it up too much.  Perhaps you Mustang fans can tell us if there happens to be any parts to other kits that don't belong on this model.

On the flipside:  This is vintage AMT tooling.  Note the molded-in exhaust, axle, diff, and shocks.  Dick masked and painted those details

We had one of these cars growing up, which I drove often.  I planned on eventually building a model of it, so here was my chance.  I went ahead and built the model straight out of the box, but had to add a lot of putty to the roof as the excess glue used at the blind-build event caused the roof to sink in spots.  Mark Gustavson graciously mixed some green Dupont paint, which matched the metallic green of our own car and the end result was good as the model was finished in May 2008.  The model has won awards at local and regional contests.


CHRYSLER TURBINE CAR (CURBSIDE), JO-HAN, 1/25

This model is built from the Curbside Version of the Jo-Han Chrysler Turbine Car that I bought at the erstwhile Don’s Hobbies in Greeley, CO on September 30, 2005.   Dem Brudders were on our way to Loveland, CO to compete in the regional contest there.  I spent $9.80 to buy the discounted model, which actually retailed for $16.79.  I got to work on it not long after I bought it and of course assembly was very straightforward since it was the curbside version and I had already built the fully detailed version--40 years previously.

I spent a little more time painting the interior this time around and decided to try an entirely different scheme from the standard copper/bronze finish with the black roof.  Instead, I painted the roof white, and used my leftover candy red paint from the Li’l Coffin project on the main body.  I used some chrome bare metal foil to add the chrome details and finished the model on 11/30/08.  It has won awards at local and regional contests.

1965 meets 2005 on Brudder Dick's model shelf.  
​
THE MUNSTER KOACH, AMT, 1/25

The Munster Koach; 1/25 scale AMT kit from 1964 with lots of details and changes.  I built this kit as a kid when The Munsters was on TV and probably only painted the interior red.  I remembered that the kit had an undersized engine and was not that hard to slam together.  It met an untimely end, but I can’t remember how.  (Mr. Editor Bill has to come clean and admit that he might have had some level of involvement with the demise of this model).  Anyway, when it was reissued I had to get one so I went to Douglas Models in July 2002 and bought it for $10.80 with my club discount; normal asking price was $12.00.  As usual, the model languished in my unbuilt collection for several years but I finally got going on it in in 2009.

I looked the kit over and decided that it would need a lot of changing and detailing to make it look decent.  The first item of business was to put in a better engine.  The mill it comes with looks like it belongs in a 1/32 scale kit.  Bill had an extra 1966 AMT/Ertl Ford Mustang and he donated the 1/25-scale 289 cu. inch V-8 engine from that kit.  I had to make a few cuts in the body to get it to fit, etc. but it worked out well. 

I had decided to try to get my efforts published in Model Cars Magazine so I documented the project with a lot of pictures.  

If you want to read my detailed explanation of what I had to do to make the model a first-rate finished project, get a copy of the July 2011, #160 issue and go to page 30.  Below is a portion of that page.

I'm normally an out-of-box builder, but this time, I added some engine wiring and painted some of the chrome parts gold as they should be.  I had no pictures of the back of the central part of the car body that was supposed to be Grandpa’s lab for experiments, etc. so I decided to match the yellow fringe with tissue paper curtains with white glue added, etc.  They turned out OK considering they were a wild guess. 

I did a lot of detail work on the jump seat in the very back and had some minor paint problems but otherwise the project turned out to win a first place in the Custom Auto category at IPMS Nationals in South Carolina in 2016.  In case you are wondering, I never built Granpa’s Drag-U-La Coffin Car model as a kid and have no interest in building one now, so don’t try to sell me one (Mr. Editor Bill has two AMT "Graveyard Ghoul Duo" kits wagering that Dick will change his mind sooner or later.  When that happens, Brudder Bill will sell him one at a confiscatory price).

TOM DANIEL'S "THE PADDY WAGON," MONOGRAM, 1/24

Next up is The Paddy Wagon Show Car Designed by Tom Daniel; 1/24 Scale Monogram Kit.  I had never built any of these Tom Daniel designs as a kid since I was more interested in the fastback cars and airplanes when they first came out.   To the rescue was Mark Gustavson, who asked me to build one for the category featuring Tom Daniel models since Tom himself would attend the GSL convention and contest in 2011.  I had already bought the Paddy Wagon at Douglas Models in July 2006 for $15.25, so I had one on hand.  Of course I did not get the model finished in time for that contest.

Instead, I created a comic entry with Super Fuzz pulling the Paddy Wagon with a chain as shown.  Eventually I did finish the Paddy Wagon several months after GSL was over in February 2012.  As usual, I built it straight out of the box and used Gustavson-mixed Dupont dark metallic blue paint, which turned out well.  The decals were too faint and hardly show up on the model.  It won an Out-of-Box Award at IPMS Nationals in Orlando, FL in 2012 and now resides in the International Model Car Builders Museum as part of the Tom Daniel display there so I don’t have a series of pictures similar to the others in this set.  You will have to go to the museum to see it.  You can see Super Fuzz on our Weird ohs/Flypogger page.  Monogram had a good thing going with Stanley "The Mouse" Miller, but he was enticed away to the swingin' scene in San Francisco in late 1966 where he thrived on creating psychedelic art including no less than eight album covers for The Grateful Dead.
​
TOM DANIEL'S BEER WAGON, MONOGRAM, 1/24

Dick's Beer Wagon, Tom Daniel's first custom car he did for Monogram.  Tom Daniel came to GSL with Monogram's own Roger Harney in 2011.  In the group photo above, that's Roger on the left, master modeler Vince LaBosco center, and Tom Daniel on the right.  Sadly, we lost Roger Harney to cancer in 2014.  Roger was a supervisor at Monogram, and enjoyed Tom's drawings in Rod and Custom magazine.  He felt that Tom's artistry would combine well with a planned hot rod beer wagon based on a Mack Truck, and it was Roger who suggested to Monogram upper management to involve Tom Daniel in development of the kit.  Tom filled the void of cutting-edge artistic creativity at Monogram after Stanley "Mouse" Miller left.  The rest is history.

The Coors Light Beer Wagon Show Car Designed by Tom Daniel and modified by me for a Colorado contest.  In 2013 the IPMS/USA Nationals were in Loveland, Colorado and they had a special award for the best Colorado-related subject.  Since I had just purchased the model at IPMS Nationals in Omaha, it was on my mind and easy to paint in Coors Light colors.  I had been talked into trying out Alclad II chrome paint, and decided to experiment with it as the overall finish for the model.  I custom-made decals for it and assembly was pretty straightforward since I built it out of the box.  I finished it in August 2013 just in time for the Colorado "Thin Air" Nationals.

I also made a Denver Broncos fan in a Peyton Manning jersey to stand with the model.  I made decals for his jersey and hat.  I used the figure from the 1/24-scale Italeri Truck accessories kit that cost $35.45 at West Valley Hobbies.  OUCH!!!  I bought the kit just for the figure since it was the right scale.  The figure needed quite a bit of tweaking to give him a proper beer-gut, appropriate arm position, and a mini Coors Light beer can.  This high-dollar common man was a nice addition.  The final act was to create a clever base for the kit.

Being a non-drinker, I coerced (ha-ha) an old fraternity brother to buy a twelve-pack of Coors Light so I would have enough cans to finish what I had in mind.  His further instructions included drinking the beer, but leaving the empty cans and box as intact as possible.  In exchange for his trouble, I reimbursed him for his efforts, and made the base using the cans as turrets, like a castle.   

What's that in the hole?

It's an "easter egg" for the super-picky judge poking his flashlight into every crevice.

My Tom Daniel design poster, signed by Roger Harney.

One of the cans carefully had the top and bottom cut off, and it was flattened to use as a base on top of the box.  For a laugh, I made a shadow box effect by cutting out a beer bottle and placing it in the box with a peep hole that some desperate judge could look through with his flashlight.  Of course I did not win the award.  Perhaps the judges were neither Broncos fans, nor impressed by my efforts to incorporate not one, but TWO Colorado icons.  Instead, they gave it to a more conventional entry, an F-86 with markings from a Colorado air force base.  Still, I had fun putting the whole thing together.  The model with its unique base did eventually win an award in Phoenix Suns territory at the IPMS Nationals in Phoenix in 2018.​


2015 Mustang GT SnapTite, Revell, 1/25

2015 Mustang GT Curbside Version; 1/25 Scale Revell kit.  West Valley Hobby resident Plastic Model Building Expert Mike Sanches put together a little contest in September 2014 he called "Dirty Mike’s Pony Painting Party at West Valley Hobbies."  The idea was that you only be judged on your paint job, not on the model building.   So I thought, what the heck, bought the model from Mike for $10.15 and got right to work on it. 

The main trick was to try out the Alclad II chrome paint again but do a really clean job with it.  The Mustang was finished in two weeks and took second place so I guess the paint job worked!  It was also fun to get a model put together in a relatively short time.

1940 FORD, LINDBERG, 1/25

1940 Ford Coupe:  This is the 1/25 Scale Lindberg Kit.  The UMAG car club picked the 1940 Ford for a Group Build.  Even though I was underwhelmed with this choice, I recalled that I happened to have a Lindberg 1940 Ford Coupe model that I won at a raffle at either a Regional or IPMS Nationals contest.  I figured, what the heck; I’ll go for it and not tell the others about it until it is done, surprising them at the unveiling since it's not what I usually build. 

This one was cranked out with no frills, no engine detailing, no spark plug wires, etc. and finished in less than three months on November 12, 2015.  I painted the austere interior light tan and the exterior a solid blue color. I guess I did a good job on it because many modelers thought I just polished the plastic.  Not so!  I used Testors Model Master Blue Angel-Blue paint and did a decent job getting it painted with no orange peel and a good, smooth polishing effort.  ​

For fun, I posed the 1940 Ford with a couple of die cast trucks I ordered from Pepsi Cola featuring Pepsi and Mountain Dew.

1930 FORD TOURING CAR, MONOGRAM, 1/24

1930 Ford Touring Car, 1/24 Scale Monogram Kit.  This was another UMAG Group Build project.  As usual, it was a subject I would not have picked, but I looked at my stash, and there was the Monogram kit!  This was another one I got from a Raffle at the Region X Convention in Loveland, CO in September 2005.  It was sort-of one of these classic-car Monogram Kits I always enjoyed doing (this one has some modern-era accoutrements).  I thought I would build this Model A Ford rapidly, like I would have done as a youth. 

I did most of the work in six-hour blocks on Saturdays and Sundays early in April 2016 and wrapped it up within two weeks.  I finished it in 21 hours of building time which meant minimal painting.  

I left the body red plastic as-is except for polishing, but I did paint the roof flat black and the bottom simulated wood, etc.

To ensure it would never win a contest I left the prominent Monogram logo on the bottom of a floorboard. I also got the last laugh after grousing to other UMAG members about the choice of a subject I had little interest in.  I was the first one in the group to finish one!

1966 AMC (RAMBLER) MARLIN, JO-HAN, 1/25

1966 AMC (Rambler) Marlin; 1/25 Scale Jo-Han kit:  Back to a model I really wanted to build!  I dropped $40.00 to buy this one when I found it at the IPMS/USA Nationals in July 2003 in Oklahoma City, and then took my sweet time getting to it. 

I started it in August 2015, and set it aside to finish the two UMAG Group Build projects (above), but got into the project in earnest in 2016.  I decided to finish it out-of-the-box with no effort to detail the engine, etc. 

I had a number of pictures to help me with the interior colors, etc. and once I got to the body, I used Jameston Kroon’s Scalefinishes.com paint, specifically Chevrolet 53 Glacier Blue.  This closely matched the color I recall using when I first built one of these models as a youth for my fastback cars collection. 

The roof paint is Testors Model Master glossy-black and Bare Metal foil was used for the chrome trim, which was tricky due to all the curves.  I finally finished the model in September 2016, and was happy to see a picture of the model published in the April 2018 issue of Scale Auto magazine on page 32 in their model contest issue. 

"TWISTER" VEGA, MPC, 1/25

This looks like an MPC "Twister" Vega kit from 1981.  We believe this model depicts a car that is technically a 1978 Monza, which was a leftover '77 Vega hatchback body with a new Monza-like front clip.  By 1977, the "Vega" name was not exactly well regarded and GM terminated the nameplate that year.  However, some automotive legerdemain was needed to get rid of the leftover Vegas.  This was a previously-built model I pulled out of a Grab-Box that had been brought to a UMAG meeting where some poor modeler, either due to divorce or moving, had to part with several of his prized. 

The model was not in good shape, but I decided to modify it without totally tearing it apart.  The goal was to recreate a model that, without going into a lot of detail, was part of the reason I nearly totaled my own 1972 Pinto in an ill-fated outing in May, 1972.  In any event, I modified the hood and cleaned up the exterior.  I did not want to do anything to the interior and so I left it in place and also kept the clear parts as left without pulling them out to clean them up.  I also kept the kit slicks on there even though they were a little out of place.  Anyway, it was a fun, rapid project finished in October 2018 and a nice addition to my eclectic collection.  For fun, I have also thrown in an actual photo of my Pinto after its accident in the middle of nowhere in central Utah.  We have other family photos of wrecked Pintos.  Stay tuned.

PETERBILT 359 CONVENTIONAL, REVELL, 1/25

Here's a rare one (for me), Peterbilt 359 Conventional Tractor 1/25 scale Revell kit.  This Peterbuilt truck was originally produced in from 1967 to 1987 with the sleeper part being added in the middle of the production run.  I had mentioned at a UMAG meeting that I had never built a truck model so Jameston Kroon challenged to build one and gave me a kit he had barely started.  It was a nice gift since the kit retails for$25.99.   I started it in November 2016 and let it sit for a while while I finished up some airplane models and finally decided to go full bore on it in late 2018 and finished it the end of April 2019. 

The chassis and frame part was easy and fun to build and I learned what the inside of the camper looked like – about the size of a single mattress and that was it.  I used some Scale Finishes undercoat and metallic purple Testors enamel paint.  I had some issues with the paint cracking a little bit as I did not enough time for the undercoat to cure completely and then I was impatient putting gloss coat over the fancy decals but the finish was good enough to win first place in its category in Boise in September 2019 plus a Special Award for Best Heavy Commercial Truck from Classic Truck Modeler Magazine.

It barely fits in the display case I keep it in but it is one of the first models people notice in my collection due to the size and finish.  I also could not resist putting the extremely kitschy, chauvinistic female silhouette figures on the back wheel flaps along with the Peterbilt decals.

RED BARON CLASSIC SHOW ROD, REVELL, 1/24

The classic Red Baron Custom Show Car by Tom Daniel from the 1/24 scale Monogram kit.  I had had the desire to build this one for a while since I bought it at the Region X Contest, Denver, CO in September 2005 for $15.00.  However, I built the previous TD kits first for the contest themes as listed above.  I was also daunted by the chrome helmet, being told it was a challenge to have it look good after cutting it off the sprues, etc. Starting in July 2019, I just went for it!  The kit has some very fine parts and would have been tricky for a kid in the late 1960s to put together, but it was actually a rather fun project.   It was built right out of the box without anything added to the kit. 

I decided to paint the minimal body with Testors Candy Red paint, and the interior with semi-gloss black and Alclad II Chrome, which made it look good, I thought.  The kit helmet was carefully preserved, and with a little bit of clean-up it did not need to be re-chromed or painted. I carefully put the decals on it and a coat of Alclad clear gloss really made it shine.  It was finished in April 2020, and I also finished the 1/87 (HO scale!) Fokker Dr.1 that also came with the kit.

1948 TUCKER DIECAST, FRANKLIN MINT, 1/25

1948 Tucker Die Cast.  1/24 Scale Franklin Mint.   OK, I didn't built this one.  We finish this gallery with some off-the-shelf diecast cars.  I'm sure many car model builders also enjoy collecting at least a few diecast cars!  I don’t remember when I bought this or what I paid for it, but I wasn’t aware of any injection molded kit available to buy, so I bought this one.  It has several working parts and looks cool.  

I added a photo with some die cast 2001 PT Crusier die casts which were given to me when I had one from 2001 to 2011.  DEM BRUDDERS WHAT-DOES-IT-HAVE-TO-DO-WITH-MODEL-BUILDING TRIVIA FACT:  When you have a cool car, people give you diecast models of it.  The ramifications of this are that A) believe it or not, at one time the PT Cruiser was considered cool and B) somebody thought it was cool enough to make diecast models of it.  Let's not even get started with the  the SmartCar.  This one 1/35 scale, just perfect to use in your diorama with a 1/35 scale tank running over it.

1962 LINCOLN CONTINENTAL KENNEDY LIMOUSINE X-100 DIECAST, YAT MING, 1/24

This 1962 Lincoln Continental Kennedy Limousine X-100  is a 1/24 Scale die cast for which I paid $69.95 in June 2014.  It is a Presidential Series model by Yat Ming out of Hong Kong.  I bought this because I figured I would never be able to find an injection molded kit of this Midnight Blue classic and now infamous car where the Kennedys were riding in Dallas when Oswald shot JFK on November 22, 1963 when I was 10 years old.  We saw him in person several times up close when we lived in Washington DC in 1962.

Mr. Editor Bill says you could build one of these yourself using the AMT 1965 Lincoln Continental, which is easy to find nowadays.  The model would require a stretch, and a backdated grille, probably from one of the earlier Lincoln kits prior to 1965, when the car got a new grille different from the Kennedy limo.  Good luck finding that!  The kit would require a stretch ahead of and behind the rear door along with other scratchbuilt and modified parts as you can see in the above photos.  Maybe it is just easier to buy the already-built diecast version.

LINCOLN CONTINENTAL STRETCH-LIMO DIECAST, 1/24

​1999 Lincoln Continental Stretch Limo.  I bought this 1/24 die cast in September 2014 simply because I thought this was cool looking and would go well with the Kennedy Limo.

Mr Editor Bill Sez:  Believe it or not, Dick is not primarily a car modeler.  Check out his Large 1/72 Aircraft Gallery here!

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