Plymouth Flopper

I've always been a fan of old funny cars, and no detailing project gets me quite so excited as a vintage drag car. The resin Roadrunner body shown above, coupled with a Revell Cop Out kit bought on holiday somewhere was the basis for another build of mine that's in no rush to be finished, but definitely still 'on the bench'. Check it out.

JB

Is it possible to have too much detail?

I've been busy with all kinds of 'real life' things lately, but on a rare check-in to the Scale Auto forum I saw an awesome thread by member 'MrKipling' (presumably not the same one who enjoys making those tasty cakes).

Entitled 'Is it possible to have too much detail?', it's an interesting four page debate on the merits of photo etch, resin aftermarket parts and all those little details that it's so tempting to add to every build just 'cos we can.

Personally, I'm of the 'learn to build well and THEN start slapping the extras on' school of thought, but I've been guilty of running before I can walk too.

Anyway, check it out, it's good food for thought.

JB

Tumbler

Having seen The Dark Night a couple of weeks ago and batman begins tonight (wrong order, I know) I've got a sudden urge to build a Tumbler to match the one in the film. Its not exactly a study in beauty and elegance, but it ticks all the right boxes - healthy V8 rumble, big Hoosiers and a matt black paint job.

Bandai makes a 1/35 kit of this model, which I first saw in Scale Auto a few months back, and a little digging found a whole bunch of beautiful builds of the kit in this thread. My usual stop at Wikipedia to find out more revealed that the whole design of the Tumbler owes more than a little to scale modelling techniques:

"Nathan Crowley, one of the production designers for Batman Begins, started the process of designing the Tumbler for the film by model bashing. One of the parts that Crowley used to create the vehicle was the nose cone of aP-38 Lightening model to serve as the chassis for the Tumbler's jet engine. Six models of the Tumbler were built to 1:12 scale in the course of four months. Following the scale model creation, a crew of over 30 people, including Crowley and engineers Chris Culvert and Annie Smith, carved a full-size replica of the Tumbler out of a large block of Styrofoam, which was a process that lasted two months.^"

Cool huh? Anyway, bit more inspiration here, if this has whetted your appetite. Chicks love the car.

JB

Note To Self

Note to self: must write a blog on the history of belly tanks. In the meantime, check out this cool WIP, found on SA's forum back in the summer of '07. Wish I knew where to get one of those tanks from, though rumour has it there's a resin belly tank kit out there now...

JB

Brown Primer and Louvrers

This there any more perfect combination? Possibly, but it's hard to beat on a Deuce three window...

JB

Rod AND Kustom

Who says ya can't have both? Photographer unknown.

JB

Speaking of The Odd Rod...

...here's another from the same builder (I suspect) of another classic hot rod. Most gorgeous build I've seen all year, just perfect.

JB

The Odd Rod

I saved this picture over a year ago, presumably because I thought it was cool. Flattie in the rear? Far out man. Only last week however, did I discover the history of the 1:1 - its a good read, as always, by the best hot-rod historian in the world today, Ryan from The Jalopy Journal. Peep it.

JB

Snoopy And His Bugatti

I definitely got some ties to Snoopy. As a kid at primary school, the first books I remember reading were Snoopy books. I didnt always get it, but those little paperback books are a fond memory for sure. Well, those and Choose Your Own Adventure, anyway.

Later in life, I met my wonderful girlfriend Sue (7 years and counting!) and she couldn't be any more obsessed with Snoopy I dont think. Well, except for her inexplicable attractions to helicopters, border collies and pinball. But she got the lot - Snoopy make -up bag, Snoopy figures on the windowsill, Snoopy snowcone maker...even Snoopy Monopoly.

Shortly after meeting Sue I met one of the coolest guys I know, and one whom I respect more than any other, Mr Dan Ball. He lives near the Mall Of America, which if I remember correctly has got all kinds of bigger-than-lifesize models of Snoopy and Friends scattered around the place in tribute to former-local Charles Schultz. Dan sent me some awesome pics of human-sized Charlie Browns and Linuses which I suspect Sue hid away somewhere in her collection, as I havent seen them for a while.

Anyway, luckily for me (to keep this blog very loosely on track) there exists the above 'Snoopy And His Bugatti' kit, which I'm, gonna hunt hard for until I have one for my collection. Also desirable is this surfing Snoopy, which actually bobs up and down with the waves. Leads much appreciated.

Watch out for the Red Baron!

JB

Deucerrari?

Looks like a perfect blend of American Iron and Italian Soul to me.

JB

Little Indy

Just found another snap to compliment the fortune teller in the post below. This stuff blows me away, so I had to post it...enjoy!

JB

Cross My Palm

Not immediately on topic, but I believe I snagged this pic from Sale Auto's forum so it's close enough for me...besides, these pair of miniature vintage arcade machines are TOO COOL not to feature here.

As I recall, the builder had made literally a whole arcade's worth of these beautiful old machines, and I regret not making a note of who the builder/photographer was so I could feature them properly here.

If you're inspired as I am to build a mini arade of one's own, check out these 1:1 vintage arcade games I snapped some pics of last summer.

JB