Table of contents for April 2016 in Scale Auto

BEFORE a new car is officially debuted – especially a new design, or one that has had a makeover – “mules” or preproduction versions are often tested on public roads. To disguise the look and features of the new cars from competitors, spies, and the simply curious, different forms of camouflage are utilized. In some cases – usually early in development – the car’s shape is physically altered with panels and tarps or other distractive means. Another common practice is to “wrap” the vehicle in vinyl, using patterns that confuse the shape and details of the car to the viewer. In some cases, the cars are not actually modified, just camouflaged. This is the general effect that will be applied to this model. Rather than try to replicate a specific…

I am a 53-year-old North Carolina native who lives in the Appalachian Mountains. I have been a gearhead since I was a young child. I started building models at the age of 8, when white plastic, mag wheels, and Te I graduated to doing figures and military models in my late twenties/early thirties, but always came back to building the cars I dreamed of owning. In 2009, I joined the South Carolina Modelers Association (SCMA) and the rest is history. I learned from each and every person I talked with, and started to go to shows and contests later that year. I had a photo published in Scale Auto, which unleashed a desire to build better with each model I would build from then on. Continuing to learn something new…

Nissan Sunny Truck Hasegawa No. 20267 Model Type: Sidebar Molded Colors: White, black, gray, clear Scale: 1/24 MSRP: $42.95 Pros: Fun to assemble; building options Cons: Additional tiedown hooks would be helpful WHEN I SAW the Nissan Sunny Truck’s cheery face, I thought I’d seen it before; then I realized a friend in high school drove a little sedan that looked the same. That’s as close as I’m likely ever to get to seeing one of these little pickups, though. Nissan never brought them to the United States. But Hasegawa has, and it’s a fun-toassemble little 1/24 scale curbside model. The box art calls this the long-bed early version, so perhaps there’s also a shortbed late version. There are 119 parts, molded in black, white and gray, plus a sprue…

It’s an imaginary Sox & Martin GTX,” says Leonard Poppe. He adapted a Revell Superbird nose and wing, “which was surprisingly close to a perfect fit,” he says. “The Hemi engine was modified to Sox & Martin’s color and configuration,” he added. The paint is Tamiya. 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! I grew up around lowriders in California,” says Wes Salazar about why he built this AMT 1970 Monte Carlo. He opened and hinged the trunk, wired the engine, installed a full hydro setup, and used seven colors of House of Kolor paint. QUESTIONS? Send your Finish Line questions to Scale Auto,…

Several readers have written in asking how to duplicate trim on a woody. Georgia modeler and ACME member Robert Sienko sent in his technique for doing just that. Here’s Robert: I usually use .015" to .018" basswood. I find this at craft stores, hobby shops, various Web sites, and also cigar wrappers. Basswood is stiffer then balsa, and takes stains and polyurethane well. You can also cut it with scissors, which is great for curves. Sand the wood to reduce the thickness. Otherwise, the wood might stick out too far from the body and look awkward. Use a brand-new #11 hobby blade to cut the pieces to fit the straight areas. Use super glue or E-6000 craft glue to bond the wood to the body. For the curved pieces, palce…

REAL-LIFE vehicles need a spaghetti bowl full of wires, lines, and hoses in order to run. As modelers, we have no such worries. We have the luxury of being able to add as much or as little detail to our builds as we want. There’s no denying the classic look of a well-executed box-stock model, but adding just a few wires under the hood or lines under the chassis can go a long way toward increasing its believability. Basic additions such as spark plug wires and fuel lines are a great and relatively easy place to start. But what about other things – such as vacuum lines, radiator and heater hoses, generator and battery wiring, brake lines, and assorted other details? Adding such detail to a vehicle requires at least…

MORE COVERAGE IN THE JUNE 2016 ISSUE!…

THE MONOGRAM Del Rio Wagon is the latest version of the 1957 Ford kit that was introduced a few years ago. This time it is a “2 in 1” with parts and decals to build a factory-stock version or a 1950s time-period police car. I opted to build mine factory-stock. Even though the instructions don’t mention it, there are also some parts left behind from the earlier version of the kit. With the extra parts, the engine can be built as the normal carburetor style, or with the supercharger from the race car kit. The kit goes together really well, with no real issues to speak of. The only thing I would do differently next time is to paint the whitewalls on the tires instead of using the supplied decals.…

Jinx Express Monogram No. 85-6899 Model Type: Injection-molded styrene Molded Colors: Silver, translucent green, black Scale: 1/24 MSRP: $22.95 Pros: Easy assembly; cool bank Cons: Instructions; poor parts locations THE JINX EXPRESS was introduced in 1971, and was later reproduced as the Fast Buck. This is one of the many Tom Daniel-designed kits produced in the early 1970s for Monogram. I built many of these kits as a child, and I found this kit to be a fun and challenging build. The kit is straightforward with no extra parts – a total of 81 pieces molded in silver and translucent green, with black vinyl tires. The engine has 13 pieces: the two block halves have the oil pan, oil filter, and starter molded in. The instructions show to add the…

MOEBIUS has released its nice 1965 Plymouth hardtop, so we can fill a void in our racing-car collections. The kit can be used as a basis for several Super Stock and A/FX drag racers. Several NASCAR teams ran this car in 1965, but with the ban on the Hemi after 1964, the cars weren’t competitive. Chrysler started playing with altering wheelbases for better weight transfer in drag racing in 1964, creating the first “funny cars,” but they really got serious in 1965. Chrysler radically altered its AF/X cars, bringing the rear wheels forward 15 inches and the front wheels 10 inches forward. The alterations were too radical, even for NHRA’s A/FX class; they were banned. Chrysler hurriedly prepared four cars, built to the allowed 1964 two-percent rules, for the 1965…

ALTHOUGH I’m an avid airbrush user, it took me more than 20 years to realize the benefits of decanting spray paints for use in my airbrushes. It finaly took one instance where I needed a color immediately, and all I had was a couple of spray cans of the appropriate colors to mix. I gave it a try, and it worked. There are quite a few model car builders who are perfectly happy using spray cans (only) for their models’ finishes – no airbrush required. They’re happy, and they don’t want the complications of learning, using, and cleaning an airbrush. That works well for them, but for those of us who value the benefits of using the airbrush as one of the tools in perfecting our finishes, using paint sprayed…

I enjoy putting my own spin on a new (or old) model. This time my desire was to make Monogram’s new 1957 Ford Del Rio into a sleeper. Like many a Baby Boomer, I have an affection for base or midlevel-trim cars with stock poverty cap or dog-dish hubcaps. Seeing modified cars with widened steelies and stock hubcaps has always been inspiring – a subtle nod to “there’s more here than meets the eye” – and that’s the look I desired here. I also enjoy seeing the 1:1 trend away from perfect miles-deep paint jobs, far better than the factory ever applied, and toward the realm of preserved survivor cars. It’s so popular that there is a subset of paint technique on 1:1 cars similar to model cars, where patina…

Starsky & Hutch Torino Revell No. 85-4023 Model Type: Injection-molded styrene Molded Colors: Black, red, clear, translucent red Scale: 1/25 MSRP: $24.95 Pros: Straightforward, troublefree assembly Cons: Molded body color too bright; decal issues REVELL HAS DONE A GOOD JOB of designing a kit that would be a good choice for anyone making the transition from snap kits to glue kits. The instructions are thorough and include not only a paint color guide, but also the names of all the parts. The assembly process is straightforward and frustration-free. At the same time, the kit is accurately proportioned and includes enough detail to make it appealing to more experienced modelers. Construction is simplified, but still retains a decent level of detail. The engine and transmission are molded in halves, split vertically.…

Honda Trail 70 MPC No. MPC833/12 Model Type: Injection-molded styrene Molded Colors: Red, black, Scale: 1/8 MSRP: $24.99 Pros: Good engine detail; fun to build; decal options Cons: Flash on many parts; issues with seat and wiring; no part numbers on trees THIS KIT offered multiple action parts that are not found in some kits. It has enough detail to be impressive, but is not overly complicated to build; and it’s a cool-looking machine. Each parts tree had more than average flash. One might attribute this to the age of the original dies used. The well-detailed engine fits together nicely. The bike seat, like the tires, was molded vinyl; a nice detail, but the packaging inside the box caused the bottom edges to flare out. The paint I chose was…