CAR TimesOver 25 Years of Model Building

The Official Publication of the Cincinnati Auto Replicas Model Car Club June 2010

Rat Rods

Photo taken from Google images

Rat Rod A rat rod is a style of hot rod or custom car that, in most cases, imitates (or exaggerates) the early hot rods of the 40s, 50s, and 60s. It is not to be confused with the somewhat closely related "traditional" hot rod, which is an accurate re-creation or period-correct restoration of a hot rod from the same era.

Most rat rods appear "unfinished" (whether they actually are or are not), with just the bare essentials to be driven.

The rat rod is the visualization of the idea of function over form. Rat rods are meant to be driven, not shown off. Sometimes the customization will include using spare parts, or parts from another car altogether.

From the Editor’s DeskWell Gents, it appears that I may have all the bugs worked out of the computer rebuild I was forced to do last month. In case you have not heard, last month turned out to be one of the worst months I have had in a couple of years. In addition to the computer crashing, I ran into some legal problems that tied-up some of the capital that I have to send out the newsletter each month. Luckily, Robb was able to step in and have the whole thing printed and sent off although much later than I had originally hoped for. Now we should be back on track. I am getting started in plenty of time, and although I still have some private issues to deal with, I am hoping to resolve it by the end of the month. Also, starting this month I am going to be sending this newsletter to Rockne so that we can put it on the club website. It will be a PDF file, and I have already have heard from those who cannot download this or do not have a computer. Don’t worry, I will still be sending this out via snail mail to members by request. I am also still collecting address, phone, and email addresses for an upcoming club directory issue. Even if you get stuff from me now, send me your info so that I can correct any errors I may have. Jeff

The Prez Sez………

As some of you may know, our newsletter editor had a couple of set-backs, in the last few weeks, which made getting the CAR News into your hands a bit problematic. The combination of a crashed computer & a family financial emergency led to my involvement, as I volunteered to print & mail his prepared product. In doing so, I was confronted with just how much it costs. Without going into actual numbers, I want to express this opinion: it costs too much. The monetary outlay is for printing & postage. The man-hours are invested in preparing the newsletter for actual mailing.At this time, I want to say that the idea of an online newsletter is looking better & better. So, I’m asking each of you to come to the next meeting prepared to either confirm the current online contact information, as it’s printed in the newsletter, is correct or update that information. If you do not have internet access, be prepared to give us that information. We’ll come up with an alternative. I know, we all look forward each month to the club’s news. I do too. But an online newsletter is still a newsletter & the cost to the club, while I don’t have exact dollar figures in front of me, has got to be less.See ya at the library, Robb ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------From the Mind of Rockne

Greetings Model Citizens! I thought I would write about an aspect of modeling that for me, and probably many of you, that has become almost as much fun as building a model. That subject is, RESEARCH. Before I can build a model I have to be able to see it the finished product in my mind. Once I can envision it, I can build it. Often, the subject I want to model is not something I am completely familiar with and therefore I need to learn about it. That research is done in books from my personal library and the public library, magazines, and from the vast amount of information and images on the internet. I am building a Vincent motorcycle, an object I had no real previous knowledge of, let

alone the intricate details of the machine that I hope to capture in my model. It actually took about nine months to find enough info and pictures before I was ready to start building but I am now confident in my understanding of the bike and it’s parts and expect the model to reflect the research with accurate details. It was time well spent. Rockne

Contest CornerLast month contest winners as verified by the Law Firm of Dewey, Chetham, and Howe. Factory Stock Scott Bissonette Chevrolet CorvetteCustoms 1) Greg Newman 1949 Mercury 2) Greg Newman Cordzilla 3) Jim Wilkins 1954 ChevyStreet Machine 1) Greg Newman StarlinerStraight Line Comp 1) Ben Gibson AMT Dragster 2) Travis Hawaiian Funny Car 3) Greg Newman T-bird Pro StockComp Other 1) Scott Bissonette Ferrari F 2005 2) David Ginandt 05 Harvick race car 3) Scott Bissonette 1965 Cobra Street Rod 1) Greg Newman 2 Tall TCurbside Street 1) Robb Brown Sugar 1934 ford 2) Greg Newman T-bird 3) Jeff Myers 1993 Porsche BoxterCurbside Comp 1) Robb C/C 1932 Ford & TrailerPre-Decorated 1) Jeff Myers Rambler 2) Scott Bissonette Chrysler Me 412 3) Rockne NGDA DodgeCollector Diecast 1) Travis 1970 Road Runner 2) Robert Rudney 1958 Pontiac rag top 3) Robert Rudney 1958 Pontiac HardtopOut-of-Box 1) Travis Trans Am 2) Ben Gibson 1970 AMT Mustang 3) Greg Newman Ragtop T-birdOut-of-Box Plus 1) Al Richards 1972 Olds Cutlass 2) Vince Kelly 1970 Boss Mustang 3) Vince Kelly 1964 Chevrolet ImpalaTheme Vince Kelly 1970 Ford Boss MustangModel-of-the-Month Rockne Tri-State DeliveryHey guys it’s June and the theme is Rat Rods so lets see all of those flat paint jobs or rusted car with those nice and shiny frames. Or whatever you think a rat rod is I hope to have something on the table if the cat lets me work on something. See y’all Monday curt.

BENCH RACING-by Bill Bench

I THINK MY TRAILER'S SEXY! I won't make millions of dollars like the country song "She thinks my tractor's sexy", but you got to admit, I've got your attention! There is something about a vehicle on a trailer that gets everybody's attention. Whether it's a rusted old hulk bound for the scrap yard, a bulldozer being transported to a contractor's dream subdivision, or my personal favorite, a racing vehicle headed to the track. One of my earliest memories was seeing the Studio Dodge '65 Coronet altered wheelbase funny car on a trailer pulled by a station wagon headed east, probably to a match race. The red paint with the black top, white lettering, and chrome being pulled on a trailer raised it up more like a pedestal than anything I had ever seen. That early seduction of an open trailer with a drag car still commands my attention 44 years later whenever I see one.

I was down in my basement trying unsuccessfully to get things organized when I stumbled across a forgotten project from about 13 years ago. It was an AMT trailer that had the floor and clear sides that had been given to me by Dan Mangold. I had painted the floor, ramps; axles, springs semi-flat black, and the fenders gloss black.Since the sides and top were clear, I masked the outside and painted the top silver and the sides red, thinking I would get a smooth glossy finish. The roof looked great, but for some reason, the red paint crazed the sides big-time.Disgusted, I put it back in the box, and lost interest in it. Upon looking at it, I decided I could use everything but the roof and sides, making it an open trailer with a toolbox. Not only could I finish it, I could get a little more shelf space.So far it's looking good, but the stock hubcaps got to go, and I'm going to replace them with some aftermarket wheels. Probably Cragar S/S. Right now it's sitting on my workbench with my '75 Dart perched on top of it. Haven't worked on it for weeks, but it gets my attention every time I walk by. It sort of beckons me to come over and spend some time with it. LOL!You may see it in a contest in the near future. You may not think it's sexy, but hopefully you'll like it enough to desire to build one yourself.See you at the meeting. Bill

“32RED”Three Deuce Projects: part 2Based on the MPC ‘American Graffiti’ Coupe5W Chopped & ChanneledWhen I began this project, I lacked a clear vision of where it would lead. I just had several 32 Ford kits in my stash & wanted to see ‘em built, so I let the build-up go where it would. As with any project, I began this one by going through the kit & deciding what I could use.The kit-offered chassis is a more-or-less acceptable rolling chassis, although not even remotely ‘deuce-ish’. Still, I decided to use as much as possible, if for no other reason than, I figured it would at least go together without a lot of problems. Two points, however, just had to be addressed: the ‘steamroller’ tires & the ‘gasser’ stance.The ‘AG’ kit offers an optional ‘I’ beam front axle not found in the ‘switcher’ version. Unfortunately, all other front-end components are for the tube axle application. So, for the sake of simplicity, I went with the tube axle. Since the radiator hides the actual mounting point, I’m using the axle with the spring bundle removed. This goes a long way towards lowering the front. Even so, the front end (tube axle, radius rods, tie rod, steering arm & draglink) required a considerable amount cleaning up before being usable. & that pretty much chewed up the chrome plating. I’ll probably repaint it silver, or some such, but haven’t yet……….The rear suspension is built around what looks to be a late 50’-early 60’s GM unit with coil-over airbags & short ladder bars. It started out chrome, but I stripped it, painted it all black, & then came back with silver paint for the bars. The rear end features a fairly short axle, & the length is made up for in the inner wheels. So those are the inner wheels I used. I dug out a set of Modelhaus w/w tires, with inner & outer wheels. The rear tires with the resin outers worked just fine with the MPC inners & the front resin inners needed only a little work to fit the MPC axle. Now, I’ve got a slightly raked chassis with big & little w/w ‘Stones & open, steel wheels.Again, in the interest of simplicity, I chose to go with the kit-offered small block Chevy. I pirated a manifold from an early Revell ‘57 Chevy kit & found a 3-carb set in the spare parts box. So that’s what I’ll build - nothing spectacular – a simple hot rod mill. & it dropped right into the frame. Headers are still to come…..For the interior, I went with a set-up I’m finding more & more useful – a seemingly gutted interior with exposed structural members. As this model’s interior is built in a ‘pod’, I cut the inner structure directly into the walls of the pod. I used “Mexican” blanket material between the inner structure & the inside surface of the body. I then continued this motif onto the rear bulkhead. The interior, itself, consists of the pod, dashboard, steering wheel, shifter & seats. These items are finished off in flat white & a bit of detail paint.

So far, all I’ve done to the body is to mount the greenhouse to the main portion of the body & paint that & the chopped radiator shell the same red that I’d earlier painted the engine & wheels.That’s pretty much where I’m at in the build-up. Submitted by Robb

Kit Review

1925 Ford Model “T”I had an opportunity this past week to travel to Sidney Ohio on business. Having been on this trip before, I know that I have some time to stop into one of the local hobby shops just South of Dayton and next to the Dayton Mall. On this trip I decided to purchase the latest reissue from a semi-revived AMT. The 1925 Model T kit peaked my interest with its classic box art featuring a stock roadster and a highly customized coupe. Further reading revealed that this one kit contains two different 3-in-1 kits and 11 different variations on the same 1925 T theme with its 144 parts. The cars that can be built are two of any of the following: stock roadster with top up, stock roadster top down, stock pick-up top up, stock pickup top down, roadster body with Lincoln engine and cycle fenders, roadster body with Lincoln engine and Latham blower, pickup with Lincoln engine and cycle fenders, pickup body with Lincoln engine and Latham blower, chopped coupe with Lincoln engine and cycle fenders, chopped coupe with Latham blower and Lincoln engine and even and stock coupe with custom chopped body. I am sure that many more combinations are available by talking to Robb Shelby. Also including are four different engine versions, three different wheel versions and many more varieties that I cannot even fathom.

Now for the bad news. Everything about this kit is a classic. Including the directions. This means that they are hard to follow. I have had Hyundai service manuals that were cleared, written in Korean. However this kit has a few other benefits that are entertaining. The decals are sealed in a plastic bag, which helps to preserve them, a cut-out of the box is available as part of a collector’s series, an information card about the stock T roadster, an application and questionnaire about future kits from Round2, the new owners of AMT, and both red tinted and clear coupe windows, not to mention a couple different typed of vinyl tires. Overall this is a wonderful classic kit that I will end up buying several kits of in order to build more than the two.

Check this out:www. Flicker.com/photos/24796741@ no5/sets/72157604247242338/show/with/23460. I know that this is a long webb address, but it is well worth it. Basically it is a series of forced perspective model photos complete with buildings. Unfortunately the copy write prevents the download of photos otherwise I could show you. Trust me on this one.

News Flash***News Flash***News FlashJune 1st, the Ford Motor Company announced that they are pulling the plug on the Mercury Division. Started in the late 1930’s as an intermediate line between Ford and luxury brand Lincoln. 2010 will likely be the last year of production.

Jerry Lee of Philadelphia, the original owner of the actual James Bond Aston Martin DB5 used in the James Bond movies Goldfinger and Thunderball announced the he will be selling the famous Bond car to benefit charity. Lee, a Philadelphia radio broadcaster, bought the vehicle from the Aston Martin factory in 1969 for $12,000. RM auctions expects that the car will draw as much as $5 million.

Recently while visiting a Back Porch Modelers meeting, Ed Barret displayed an original scale model kit from the Hudson miniatures of Scranton, Pennsylvania. This rather primitive kit of a early Ford Model A (pre model T early) is believed to be the first plastic model kit in production. Since I was born and raised in this area and still have family in Scranton, this peaked my interest. Appearing in 1947, as the “Old Timers” series, A.J. (Tony) Koveleski included instructions and molded plastic pieces in this very simple kit. Although these kits only lasted a very short period of time, they spawned an entire industry by 1952.

Pit Row HobbiesLocated on the corner of Montgomery Road and Kenwood Road in Kenwood, Pit Row hobbies specializing in mainly remote control cars. Pit Row carries a limited line of plastic models and supplies. A recent expansion has allowed them more space, but this is mostly for their R/C inventory.

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OMG-WTFThese two die cast models were recently purchased at a Wal-Mart in Hamilton and Aurora Indiana. This makes you wonder where the hobby is going when the best new material that can be produced is a 1986 Dodge Diplomat and a 1982 Dodge Aries. Both cars are four doors. Also available in this series by MotoMax is a Dodge Omni GLH, Plymouth Horizon, and Yugo.

photos from the Motormax home website

The Last Detail

Presenting the remaining 2010 themes

June...Rat RodsJuly...Show Rods + contestAug....Gassers Sept...Pony Cars + contestOct...Same Kit Night ('32 Ford)Nov. End Of Year ContestDec...Kit Exchange/pizza party/awards ceremony

Upcoming EventsJune 12-13 Heartland Nationals, Kansas City KSJuly 31 Derby City Shootout 3939 Poplar Level Rd Louisville KYSeptember 11 Country Boys Modelers 7915 US 42 Florence KYSeptember 18 Rebel Run & Custom Nationals 2750 Harding Hgwy Lima OHOctober 9 NNL#31 7060 Sylvania Ave Sylvania OHOctober 9 KMCC 2817 Hikes Ln Louisville KYOctober 30 SCIMA @Bartholomew Co Fairgrounds Columbus INNovember 13 Southern Nationals Smyrna GAMarch 27, 2011 Buckeye Model Car Contest Columbus OH

As always articles to the CAR Times need to be submitted no later than the last Saturday of the month to ensure publication. Write to CAR Times c/o Jeffrey T. Myers 4712 Orchard Ln. Cincinnati, OH 45236 or Email to hellojtm @hotmail.com . CAR Times is a free publication to Cincinnati Auto Replicas members, guests and associated clubs. Articles may be reprinted only when the original author gets credit for the article. Happy Modeling. 2010 CAR Publications