Zenrat's Flying Circus

[NARSES2]

Impressed with the Kratz chassis 

[zenrat]

Kraz.
It's an impressively detailed kit given it's 1/35.  Better than a lot of 1/25 trucks.  But the parts breakdown...

[NARSES2]

Ah right, no T. It just looked more Eastern European with the T. That's my excuse etc, etc   

[strobez]

Now that's something alright... whoah.

[zenrat]

<blush>

I need to dirty it up some more before I glue more parts on or I won't be able to get at these parts.

The Edsel is finished apart from a wash in the panel gaps and a bit of a polish (at which point I usually break off some small parts like the wing mirror, wipers, bonnet emblem...).  I'll then take some beauty pics.
Edsel WIP 8-5-18 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr
She's not as low as I would like but thats as close to terra firms as she's going without major surgery.  Anyway, this angle emphasises the height - she looks better from a higher angle.

I have decided on a scheme for the Zero.  All this talk of Hello Kitty on the Steel Penguin thread has pushed me in that direction.  I've got to print some decals anyway for the Chad Dog Squad Jeep so i'll put some Kitties on the same sheet.

[NARSES2]

Edsel looks good mate  . I must admit I'd never heard of Edsel before you started this, but she's certainly an interesting looker. I think it's the fact that the rear wheels are "covered" whilst the front ones aren't and of course those fins. Maybe that's where the Tonkas designers got their inspiration from ?

[TheChronicOne]

Hell yeah, that looks awesome!!   I have to admit to liking the Edsels because of how strange they were/ look. I remember reading a book way back when that gave me the impression that they were cobbled together like a frankenstein car of left over parts or parts from different types of Ford cars.. or something. I think I'll go do some Wiki reading because your car has me all interested again. 


I miss them wheel covers. They were all over the place on all types of big land yacht type cars for a few decades. I don't think they've been done much at all since the 80's and probably none, period, from the mid 90's an on. I wonder when that trend will come back around. 

[zenrat]

Thanks guys.
Chris - the fins are scratchbuilt additions.  The standard Edsel didn't have them.  They looked like this.

I started to polish it today and true to form I knocked off the rear view mirror.  Polishing therefore paused while it glues back on.
I've enjoyed building this.  I may have to start another 50's car when it's done.  I've got a fair few to choose from.  Maybe it's time to tackle a  '59 Caddy.  I've got three of them - hardtop, soft top and ambulance.

Top and bottom paint on the Mexican Beaufighter is done.  Some stripes on the wings and fuselage next.  I'm basing the scheme on this.

https://athabaskang07.wordpress.com/category/the-mexican-201st-fighter-squadron/
But I may leave replace the fuselage stars & bars with Mexican triangles.

Zero is undercoated white.

[NARSES2]

Edsel looks better with the fins in my view, but I didn't realise how big it is/was ! You could have got my old primary school class in it 

That's an interesting scheme. I've seen a few Brazilian schemes before, but although I was aware of the Mexican involvement I think that's the first scheme I've seen.

[PR19_Kit]

Edsel looks better with the fins in my view, but I didn't realise how big it is/was ! You could have got my old primary school class in it 

All American cars of the period are GINORMOUS!

At least on the outside anyway, some are surprisingly cramped on the inside, as well as being totally OTT. A friend of mine in the US has a 1960 Ford Thunderbird and the driver's seat is maybe 9" thick and has more chrome around the back of it than my car has in its entirety!

[scooter]

Edsel looks better with the fins in my view, but I didn't realise how big it is/was ! You could have got my old primary school class in it 

All American cars of the period are GINORMOUS!

At least on the outside anyway, some are surprisingly cramped on the inside, as well as being totally OTT. A friend of mine in the US has a 1960 Ford Thunderbird and the driver's seat is maybe 9" thick and has more chrome around the back of it than my car has in its entirety!

Don't forget that you three to four couples in the trunk of most period cars into the drive-in...or two to three Nash Metropolitans in the footprint. 

[zenrat]

Fifties and Sixties American cars needed 7 litre engines in order to overcome inertia.
They were made of real steel. Not the tin they use nowadays.  If you lean on the wing of a modern car it will give and sometimes buckle.  You could land a Harrier on the bonnet of an Edsel and leave no more sign it had been there than a sooty patch.

No modelling today.  I planted out rhubarb instead.
After planting out rhubarb don't go into your shed and pick up a white undercoated model Zero without washing your hands.
Take it from me this is not a good idea.

[PR19_Kit]

Fifties and Sixties American cars needed 7 litre engines in order to overcome inertia.
They were made of real steel. Not the tin they use nowadays.  If you lean on the wing of a modern car it will give and sometimes buckle.  You could land a Harrier on the bonnet of an Edsel and leave no more sign it had been there than a sooty patch.

The mind boggles!

For a millisecond I thought what a diorama of that scene would look like, but then I remembered just how big a 1/24 Harrier is!!!! 

[zenrat]

While messing about at my bench t'other day I sat the cab of the 1/72 Ural truck on top of the engine of the 1/35 Kraz truck.
It looked very good (I should have taken a snap) and would make the basis of a scalorama'd AWD cross country monster truck VTOL aircraft carrier.

[Old Wombat]

I've seen both a '56 Corvette & a '56 Thunderbird in the last week (their number plates gave 'em away). Both were "topless" on the days I saw them.

The T'bird was beautifully kept/restored, so was the 'Vette (but I prefer the early '70's versions).

While messing about at my bench t'other day I sat the cab of the 1/72 Ural truck on top of the engine of the 1/35 Kraz truck.
It looked very good (I should have taken a snap) and would make the basis of a scalorama'd AWD cross country monster truck VTOL aircraft carrier.

You should have, that'd be something to see!