Tabla de contenidos para October 2015 en Scale Auto

Most elements of a diorama combine to tell a story. Truck models, in particular, lend themselves to something like a rolling or baseless diorama. The key to these will be the use what my pal Rick Mark calls “eye candy.” Let’s take a look at a few examples to illustrate the point. Someone I consider to be the master of the rolling diorama is our own Ken Hamilton. Ken has a genius for adding a myriad of small details that add up to a wonderful picture. PHOTO 1 We see the front end of a boom truck or logging mule that Ken and Pat Covert built together. Pat built the superstructure and Ken did all the detailing. The seat is medical adhesive tape over cotton padding. The tape was torn…

Those who keep a toe in automotive and AFV (Armored Fighting Vehicle) modeling know that while there’s admirable precision and detail in today’s better car models, what goes on in aircraft and armor is often another matter entirely – enough that some of us wonder what an automotive kit designed to an AFV manufacturer’s modus operandi might be like. After some fiercely detailed 1/35 scale WWII-era cars blown up to slightly simplified 1/24 offerings, ICM now wades into the fold with its first dedicated 1/24 auto subject. For a subject so Spartan as a Model T, just over 100 parts can still manage a fair amount of detail. What quickly becomes apparent is that much of the kit is molded as close to scale as possible, including timing and throttle…

THERE HAVE been many 1934 Ford kits, but no single kit has fully captured the definitive hot rod persona of this famous vintage Ford in the way that Revell’s 1932 Ford series has done, and in the way its new Model A hot rod kits will do. But until one of the kitmakers decides to develop the definitive 1934 Ford kit series, there’s a surprisingly easy way to fill this hole in your hot rod model collection – particularly if you are looking for a chopped three-window body style. In “Builder’s Guide to 1932-1934 Ford Kits, Part Two,” Scale Auto, October 2012, I mentioned the Revell 1934 Ford Snap-Tite kit, noting its excellent and accurate recreation of the chopped three-window coupe. I also noted the poorly rendered, inaccurate grille and…

I am 52 years old and have been building models since I was eight years old. I was born and raised in the small town of Sterling, Colorado, which is east of Denver. My Dad has always been a car lover, and I became interested as well. This lead into the building of model cars. I enjoy customs, street rods, and a variety of race cars. I currently have 150 builds in my collection. I have 3,000 waiting to be built – a shedful, in fact. I usually work on my builds in my free time after work or on the weekends. My biggest challenge when I begin a build is deciding the color and the wheels I want to use. Most of my cars have a low stance, as…

THE “Rolling Fog Machine” was one of Tommy Ivo’s most famous 1960s exhibition drag cars. This kit was released in the early 1960s and has been put out several more times. I never had a chance to build one of the originals, so I’ll stick to how this version built up. I knew this was a tough kit to build, but I really wanted to give it a try. Everything I had heard was right! It is a fiddly, difficult kit to build, but there are some things that can be done to help make things go a bit smoother. The chassis and body pieces are easy to work with. The tough part comes in dealing with the four Buick engines. Follow the directions closely, because many parts look similar,…

Wes Salazar says that he likes the lines and flow of this Moebius 1952 Hudson Hornet. He lowered the suspension, detailed the engine, and used House of Kolor Cortez Blue and Ivory paint on the five-month build. WANT TO SUBMIT A PHOTO? It’s easy! Visit our contributor submission Web site at www.contribute.kalmbach.com and follow the step-by-step guide. Be sure to provide all the necessary information and details about your model! Rick Shepard loves 1970s Funny Cars, so he built this Toro Time 1972 Vega from a Revell kit. He wired the engine and used Chuck Bonner decals over House of Kolor paint. QUESTIONS? Send your Finish Line questions to SCALE AUTO, Finish Line 21027 Crossroads Circle, Box 1612, Waukesha WI 53187-1612 E-mail: jhaught@ScaleAutoMag.com…

Once again, frequent contributor Ed Maslin has gone one step farther with a technique that appeared in Scale Auto. Referring to the “Open ’em Up” article in the April 2015 issue, Ed came up with a clever way to paint doors, hoods, and trunk lids after the sleeves for the hinge pins have been glued to each of those parts. Here’s what he did: “After using your article to make hinges for the VW I’m working on, I wanted a way to hold the hood and truck so I could paint both sides at the same time. “After the epoxy dried on the 1⁄16" brass tubing sleeves that accept the hinge pins, I bent 1⁄32" brass rod to fit into the tubes. I put 90-degree bends in both ends and…

I’VE ALWAYS BEEN FASCINATED by the Charger 500 story (see sidebar) because it really was a pioneer in NASCAR aerodynamics, and with only 392 built, it is a pretty rare car on the streets. Naturally, I always wanted to build one for my collection, but the old AMT/MPC tool didn’t appeal to me when compared to Revell’s newer 1968/1969 Charger kits. I knew I wanted to kitbash a Charger 500, so I started gathering the required kits at swap meets to “Frankenstein” one together. Of course, I would use the Hemi engine, as only 52 Charger 500s came so equipped. The AMT Charger 500 kit was required for the flush grille, but Revell’s modern kits were used for everything else. It’s time to get started on a build of the…

This was one of the most difficult and complicated models I’ve ever attempted. After working almost exclusively in 1/24 scale my whole life, I decided to try a larger-scale model, but use the same techniques as I would in 1/24. With so many new products coming out for 1/16 scale drag cars, the time was right to try to build one. I started with the same drawings I would have done in the smaller scale, and built the chassis to fit the resin body. But this time I had to account for so much more than in 1/24. Every nut and bolt had to be present. The larger scale allows for so much more detail to be added and seen. It also allowed the opportunity to use much more brass…

AMT’s Checker Flag Series was to mark a new generation of precisely-scaled replicas of the best race cars of the day. The #98 Watson Roadster, driven by Parnelli Jones to Victory Lane at the Indy 500 in 1963, was the perfect subject. Inside the box, builders found a highly detailed, multipiece tube frame that included the option of a working front torsion-bar suspension. The Offenhauser engine was beautifully rendered, and would make for an impressive model display on its own. The body comprised multiple parts (rather than the typical “one-piece body” found in most AMT kits of that era). Newly tooled, one piece soft vinyl “big’n’little” tires were mated to Halibrand front-and-rear magnesium wheels. The decal sheet artwork was nicely executed, but as was typical for the era, omitted some…

ONE OF HONDA’S first forays into the two-seat sports-car market was the S600 – an upgraded version of the S500 introduced in 1962. The kit is what I would call a modified reissue of the S800 and S800 racing versions. In fact, it appears that a majority of the parts are identical, with just a new front grille and rear taillights being the only noticeable difference. Most of the virtually flash-free parts are molded in white, with the engine bits in metallic gray and a tree of chrome for the shiny bits. New are the self-adhesive photoetched scripts and decal sheet. The 11-piece engine assembly is unchanged from the S800 kit. The date stamp on the sprue is 1997, and it does show its age just a little. Some of…

AMTS’ FORD GALAXIE KIT has been around for many years, and reissued several times. Billed as a 3’n’1 kit, it includes a bunch of optional parts to make stock, racing, or custom versions. Parts are molded in white, with two trees of brightly plated chrome parts. Clear parts are separately bagged and optically good – not too thick. A colorful expanded decal sheet is also new. Pad-printed M&H drag slicks, stock whitewalls, and racing tires round out the parts list. Deciding which engine to build is your first task. The 427 can be built as the stock pushrod version or the OHC “cammer.” The instructions indicate building the Grand National engine using the OHC parts, but the engine was banned by NASCAR before ever making it to the track. There…

The Porsche 934 was introduced in 1976 for the FIA’s revised Group 4 class for GT cars. It was a huge success, winning the European GT championship and the German Sports Car Championship, as well as a class win at LeMans. It also won the TransAm championship over here in the US at the hands of George Follmer. Tamiya has released another version of its popular Porsche 934, this time with Vaillant markings instead of Jägermeister. These kits are beautiful, and assemble easily, with no need to modify anything to produce a nice shelf model. Now Studio 27 has released an extensive line of decals for these kits, which will enable you to build just about any 934 that ever raced. Tamiya’s kits replicate European race cars, and although the…

THE MERCEDES 300 SL was the first version of the SL-class grand touring car. It was the fastest production car of its day. It was introduced in 1954 as a twoseat coupe with gullwing doors. It features a full tubular frame, like its racing heritage. Later on, the 300 SL was offered as an open roadster. Tamiya has captured this beautiful automobile in 1/24 scale perfection. The kit features hinged functional gullwing doors; optional US or European-spec bumpers; and fine metal transfers for the Mercedes logos on the finished model. The kit is molded in white, black, and gray plastic. The tubular frame is reproduced to scale, and the entire bottom chassis plate is molded in clear plastic if one chooses to show off the distinctive frame. Lets face it:…

IF DARTH VADER needed personal transportation, or Batman needed a new Batmobile, the Lamborghini Veneno would fit the bill perfectly. This has to be the most radicallydesigned supercar to come out of the Lamborghini factory to date. With 750 horsepower, a 0-60 time of less than three seconds, and a top speed of 221 mph, the Veneno performs as outrageously as it looks. When Fujimi decided to produce a 1/24 scale replica, I knew I had to build it. Building it out-of-the-box was out of the question without adding the appropriate carbon-fiber detail. Let’s see how this model goes together with some carbon decal methods.…

HASEGAWA HAS CREATED another fine addition to its 1/12 scale motorcycle series lineup: the 1989 Honda NSR 500 World Grand Prix bike. The parts are molded in white, black, and dark grey plastic. The windscreen is clear, and there is a bag of hardware and real rubber racing slicks with hardly any mold seams. The decal sheet is beautifully done by Cartograf, although all the Rothmans verbiage is missing. The sheet provides all of the blue on the bike except the tank, which I found a bit odd. Rather than try to match all the blue on the sheet, I decided to paint all the blue and get as close to the blue on the Rothmans logos as I could. The sheet provides numbers for three riders: Eddie Lawson, Mick…

YES, LITTLE GTI, you do look so fine – and Revell’s new 1/24 scale kit captures those looks well. I was a little disappointed to find the grille lacking the characteristic foglights. And the steel wheels are accurate for the first edition of these cars, but lack the pizazz of the alloy wheels that came standard on the US cars when they debuted here in the early 1980s. But this is a European-spec car, which was available overseas beginning in 1976. So no catalytic converter, and though they’re included, the instructions ignore the side marker lights. This car is also equipped with metal bumpers, mounted tight to the body, unlike the US cars. The kit includes 116 parts, with options for right- or left-hand-drive, and four vinyl tires. The tires…