As a die-hard Tom Daniels fan, I never sampled
any of Ed Roth's creations when I was a kid. My best friend
and I had pretty much every TD kit ever released between the
two of us, and oh how I wish I still had that Rommel's Rod to
line my pension nest egg before Monogram re-tool it. Never mind.
So, this is my first foray into the slightly odd world of Ed
"Big Daddy" Roth, and though I am pleased with the
way it came out, I can't quite make up my mind if I actually
like the car or not. It's either one of the coolest rods ever,
or the unholy offspring of a baby's pram and a gumball machine.
A nice kit though, especially given its age. I was impressed
how well Revell managed to capture the complex shape of this
thing and get it to fit together reasonably well. I did have
to do a fair amount of filling between the upper & lower
body sections (for which I used white Milliput) but other than
that it was pretty much problem free.
(Click
thumbnails to change image)
Finish was Tamiya Pearl White, which only
comes in a spray can unfortunately. I decanted this into my
airbrush to give better control over the amount of paint and
avoid excessive runs in the many nooks and crannies.
From the pics I found on the net it looks like Mr. Roth used
spark plug wires with a clear insulation, which sounds like
something he'd do. I found a wonderful product in the beading
section of the local craft store. It is fine braided cable (.015"
diameter) with a clear nylon coating and comes in various metallic
colours. I used the 'bronze' colour and it replicated the spark
plug wires very nicely. Its only drawback is that the stuff
is quite stiff and refuses to hold its shape if bent. Bit of
a pain in the ass to use but the results were worth it. I'm
also planning on using the same product in a silver colour for
1/32nd scale biplane rigging, if I ever actually build something
in that scale that is. Fuel lines were made from fuse wire.
Revell's decals aren't quite accurate in places and the pinstriping
is quite a bit more complex on the real thing than they've protrayed
it but what the hell, the model still looks pretty good I think.
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