I couldn't agree more!

Thanks Neil. I am of a vintage where the Escort is legend in rallying terms. My best memory is of Ari Vatanen in a Escort up against the might of the strong Fiat Abarth works team in the 1977 NZ rally.
Cheers
Michael

What a great group of guys we have here. I'm proud to be a member, and honestly enjoy every min of my time here.

I have no doubt that 2020 will continue to see the growth continue to new highs, as well as our collective modeling standards.

Joel

Hi all!
Finally I have got my modeling back on track after a close family member passed away after a long and brave battle with brain cancer.

Here is an update on my build.



More to come!

Richard, I'm so sorry to hear of your loss, my condolences to you and your family. I had a life-long friend pass away after her second fight with cancer just a week ago, it really is a tough time for all concerned.

Great to see some progress on the Mustang. I hope that getting some time back at the bench will help ease the pain and stress.

Cheers, D

Thank you Damian.
Model making is a great stress reliever for what ever life throws our way.

Richard,
My sincerest condolences on the passing of your family member. Unfortunately, I know that feeling all to well.

Looking forward to having you once again hanging around with us, as well as seeing your Mustang cross the finish line.

Joel

Thank you Joel!
I am at the primer stage with the body and a few more details on the dash.

Richard, so sorry for your loss.

A textual update from me on the Bronco. I again have been on the road for the last two weeks, only home on the weekends so not a lot of time at the bench. This and the next week are travel as well, I'm currently in Duluth, Minnesota.

Body shell, interior and most all other parts were primed. Chassis, roll cage and suspension units are built and painted MM SG Black, Engine is mostly done except for the starter motor, oil pan and belt drive assy. Paint on it is a custom Ford Blue shade made from 60% MM Grabber Blue and 40% MM Ford and GM Engine Blue, really like how it came out.

The late model 5.0L upper and lower plenum from the Revell 5 Window Coupe fit almost perfectly in the valley with only a couple swipes of a file needed. The valve covers from the same kit needed the tops of the Bronco's heads shaved of the alignment ribs for the kit covers.

Had a small issue drilling out the distributor cap and ended up ordering and installing an AM one I got from Ted's Modeling Marketplace. Of course, the firing order is correct for a late model 5.0L and not the original 302 firing order. (The change to the 351 Windsor firing order smoothed out the idle helped torque through added scavenging.) I salvaged an MSD box from an old NASCAR dashboard with some filing so I won't be using a coil.

The interior will have a lot of the main body color to be painted still as does under the hood (bonnet to the rest of you). Seats and the door cards (door panels to us in North America) received a custom light ivory color blended from 30 drops MM Classic White with 4 drops of MM Gulf War Sand. The grill was hit with the same color.

On to the bad, I was mocking up the interior and added it into the shell, only to find that on the right side I removed material for the flare cutouts at the wrong angle and have exposed some of the wheel well side. Going to have to work on a fix for that prior to laying down color.


Due to the amount of travel I'm doing (including a possible trip to Japan in March), I've decided to scale back on the scratch building I was planning. The tire carrier, rock sliders, etc. are not going to happen on this build. I'm just hoping I'll have something to present by the end of March.

David,
Even with all your business travel, you sure have made a ton of progress. Can't wait to see all that detail on the big Ford Block including the color. I've always been envious of you guys that can fabricate a distributor cap with individual wires and then the correct ignition timing in 1/25-1/24 scales. Honestly, I'm lucky to just drill one hole and glue in the proper amount of wires.

It's hard for me to visualize the scope of the filing issue, but I've found that a two part epoxy putty that lets you basically smooth and contour it, should work just fine for your needs.

You've still got more then 1 1/2 months to finish your Bronco. I personally have complete confidence in you to get it across the finish line.

Joel

Joel, thanks for the vote of confidence. I rarely get a distributor to drill out correctly too. That why, when I failed miserably, I ordered the prewired ones from Ted's. They have a good selection of cap and wire colors to choose from. Went with a black cap with blue wires on this one and got a second that is gray with gray wires for future use. They come with material to make the sparkplug boots as well, an included piece of wire that you strip and save the outer plastic. cut to length and slip over the sparkplug wire.

I did manage to get the boots onto the wires, but I had to use a magnifier to see what I was doing.

Link to the distributors I used.

Ted's Modeling Marketplace Prewired Dist

Hi David.

Thanks for the link to Tom's, I will be ordering a few of those items for my pending builds. They look a lot better than any of my efforts to date which have all ended up in the bin!

It sounds like you have been making some good progress on your Bronco build, I'm looking forward to seeing some photos once your current chaos eases up!

Cheers, D

Happy to help D.

David,
Thanks so much for that link to Ted's.

Just spent some time there and I was amazed at what he has that I need and certainly can use. And his prices are fantastic. Going to put together an order today.

For once I now have a USA based site that actually has all the detail parts I need that up to now I had to have ordered from China, Japan, Brittan, and Europe ,where the postage killed me, and the lag time was weeks to months.

Joel

You're welcome Joel. I've only used Ted's the one time but had it bookmarked for years, shipping was quick too.

Why this car is automatic. It's systematic. It's hydromantic. Why it's Greased Lightning! Yup, calling her done. It' been a pleasurable build, and I think it came out alright.









One of the most challenging times I had with this kit was installing that rear view mirror!




Oh, no! It's that rainy day in Southern California!


Remember the story about this car from the movie. The car is a 1948 Ford Deluxe convertible that was purchased by Kenickie in the summer of 1957 as a real junker. Then the car was modified by the T-Birds in the Shop Class at Rydell High. Now, in talking to a friend of mine who is an auto mechanic, he said that a modification like this probably couldn't be done by a HS Shop Class in a semester in the real world; buy hey, since when has Hollywood ever been in the real world.

Jim

Jim,
Oh WOW!!

Boy did you nail this one. She looks just like she did in the movie. And congratulations on crossing the finish line. You've earned your ribbon for sure.

Joel

Thanks, Joel. It's not perfect, but I'm pleased with the results. Now, on to the next build: Revell 1969 Chevrolet Nova SS.

Jim

Beautiful build Jim, I love it! It’s an iconic TV car from a family favourite movie (with an Aussie star!) and still doing the rounds with live stage shows. You have brought back many memories with your reproduction here, well done!

Cheers, D

Thanks for the nice comments, D. I appreciate it.

Jim

Awesome build Jim. Not my favorite movie by a long shot, but it is my wife's. She loved it your build too.

thanks, David. Happy she liked it, too.

Jim

Yet another week gone, and some more excellent progress reports coming through including another beautifully finished build!

Running update on builds

6 weeks left to go, almost 27,000 views and over 570 posts
23 enlisted (two dropped out now - Pasi and Roman)
11 builds in progress (+1 still looking for decals)
8 builds completed

Aussiereg (Damian) - '36 Ford 5-Window Coupe - COMPLETED
Spruslayer (Mike) - '65 F-100 Service Truck - COMPLETED
TacFireGuru (Mike) - Louisville Delivery Truck - COMPLETED
Stickframe (Nick) - IMSA Mustang - COMPLETED
Joel_W (Joel) - '85 Mustang Roush Body - COMPLETED
bluebell914 (Patrick) - 66 GT40 COMPLETED
Cosimodo (Michael) Build 1 LHD - Escort RS1600 MkI 1973 RAC - COMPLETED
jimb (James) - '48 Deluxe Convertible "Greased Lightning" - COMPLETED

Szmann (Gabriel) - '66 F-100 Flareside - Paint Stage
PasiAhopelto (Pasi) - '57 "Fireball Roberts" NASCAR - Body Painted - withdrawn due to paint issues
md72 (Mark) - '51 Custom Coupe - Chassis and drive train completed, interior tub painted and assembled
Dixon66 (David) - 1st Generation Bronco - Undercarriage, drive train and roll cage completed, engine detailing underway and body primed
tinbanger (Richard) - '65 Mustang 2+2 Fastback - Interior complete, body painting underway
Cosimodo (Michael) Build 2 RHD - Escort RS1600 MkI 1973 RAC - Body painted, drive train assembly, interior detailing
Hwa-Rang (Jesper) - '65 Mustang 2+2 Fastback - Body Prep Work
forest1000 (David) - "Thunderbat" NASCAR - Painted, decals on, assembly pending
JClapp (Jonathan) - '15 Model T - Parts Prep
Merlin (Rowan) - '40 Standard Coupe - Chassis/Engine Painted, Decals AWOL
Merlin (Rowan) - '57 Del Rio Wagon - Reviewed and hit the bench, engine/chassis painted, body prepared
Delbert (Delbert) - '57 Fairlane 500 - Assembly and colour scheme tinkering underway
RedwingNev (Neil) - 2017 GT40 Le Mans - Interior @ 90%, shell primed

Littorio (Luciano) - '65 Falcon Ranchero or '60 Starliner - enlisted
Ray_from_SA (Ray) - WRC Escort, Focus or Fiesta (or all 3 ??) - enlisted
betheyn (Andy) - enlisted
heavyjagdpanzer (Bill) - Mustang "Blue Max" Funny Car - enlisted
IronOwl (Sascha) - enlisted

Cheers, D

Great piece of work James. Glad the kit has jo option to build the car, as it looks at the end, of the film

Thanks, Jesper. It can be built stock, too.

Jim