I have been busy building Tri-5’s just like I did in my youth, although these are smaller than the ones I used to build! It took me well over a week to finish these, a lot of which was accounted for by watching paint dry. Feast your eyes on these home made customs, both which are riding on Auto World Ultra G chassis and thus will join the muscle car racing fleet, or, more specifically, the “overstock” lot of the muscle car racing fleet! One certainly came out better than the other, but, lessons learned!
Part II: The Muscle Car Racing Fleet (Overstock)
The low-budget flick from 1971 may be an obscurity, but to fans of mid-‘50’s Chevys, this is one of the most famous movie cars of all time: ———–>
While I initially set out to build a replica as close as possible to the original, I decided to change my tune and do a “hybrid” of the “Two Lane Blacktop” car and a traditional ‘60’s-style gasser, and so, here we go!
The body came moulded in white, and was sprayed with 2 coats of Rust-Oleum gray primer; then the decals were applied, detail painting done, and 2 coats of a matte clearcoat were put over it all. Doing the rear wheel arches took more time than I thought it would, and it was more difficult than I thought it would be, but I’m pretty happy with how it came out. The hood scoop was a leftover from one of Road Race Replica’s kits that had plenty of options and was simply super-glued to the body. While it isn’t exactly like the one in the movie, its pretty decent if you don’t look too close. The wheels and tires are, of course, courtesy of Road Race Replicas.
Next up I decided to do something that looked like a beater dirt-track stocker like the cars in “Fireball 500,” another fun vintage movie. So this one kept its stock rear wheel openings and got a front bumper, and I intentionally made the bumper and the grill just a little crooked to give it a “distressed” look. This would have been another triumph, but sadly I had paint issues with this one; the Krylon metallic gold didn’t get along with the Rust-Oleum matte clearcoat, so I got some mottled, nasty looking edges. Far more infuriating was the decals on one side started melting off the car once they were hit by the clearcoat, and this is in spite of using setting solution! Seems I still have a lot to learn about painting…like which brands play well with others and which don’t. I also maybe need to try a different brand of decal setting solution! So this one was something of a disappointment and thus may be scrapped at some point in the future, but I sure do like the color, so you never know.
Wheels and tires on this one are by Vincent. Both these cars had to have their axles shortened as much as possible, and this was achieved by using the soft stock Auto World axles, clipping them with side cutters and grinding the rough edges with the Dremel. Snugging the backside of the wheels right up to the chassis got them to fit, albeit barely, but they look mighty good, if I do say so myself!
And as long as the supply holds up, there’s more of these to come, so stay tuned!
Those lessons learned are important! I know paint was something I always struggled with. For every project I do, I have a moment of reflection on what when right, what went wrong, and how can I change that next time. I have to say though, I love this car! From the color to the decals to the wheels! I think it came out terrific and I bet still a bit easier than working on it’s full sized brethren! Good Job Bud!