jb welda's gallery

[jbwelda]

Monogram MGTC, modified to my idea of what sixties British hot rodder might build. Front fenders (wings) and bonnet side panels removed, Tamiya Lotus Seven Cosworth Ford engine and transmission, lowered, front beam axle fitted, wobbly web wheels on rear, mini lite mags on front. Some parts from the white metal version of this kit were used, for instance the fuel tank is polished metal with scratch built straps. Dash and much of interior scratchbuilt and a lot of kit bashing going on here.














jb

[jbwelda]

AMT 1951 Chevy fastback sedan, built as an OG lowrider from East Los Angeles. Exaggerated dump in back matched by stupid height in front, tuned up and kustomized Stovebolt six, swamp cooler hanging out the window, Our Lady of Fatima stickers on the dash, blankets on the seats, low and slow exhaust extensions, one held on with wire, as is the rear license plate. Holes in side from removed side trim while owner saves up bux to get it all smoothed and painted, meanwhile the purple tint primer will have to do.




















jb

[jbwelda]

All American Models resin Ford 27 T body on scratchbuilt frame with Etzel Speed Classics resin Offenhauser engine. Built this a long time ago so memory of details is fuzzy, but a lot of scratchbuilding and parts box raiding going on. Started as a weekend project and mushroomed into a four year project. Made the cover of Model Car Magazine once, my one brush with model car building "fame".


















jb

[jbwelda]

Here is an early 3D printed 1/8 scale Offenhauser engine I built to go into a big scale lakester that is still under construction, but the engine is complete and sitting in the corner of the virtual shop. This was an original project of TDR Innovations which was somehow involved in the beginning of Shapeways, that I bought more than ten years ago. A lot of work went into smoothing the surfaces and more could be done still. I scratchbuilt some parts to enhance or replace what came with the initial kit but mostly it was a lot of filling and sanding then filling and sanding and then some more filling and sanding. I also invested a fortune in micro hardware, which is very visible on the finished product so was well worthwhile. But in the end it turned out pretty good and its going to look great in the car it is earmarked for.












jb

[jbwelda]

AMT 1924 T tall cab vintage style build, channeled over frame, hopped up four banger, misc running gear including scratchbuilt shock absorbers. Wheels and tires from AMT 50 Ford "Gas Man" featuring cheater slicks on the rear. Paint is Tamiya ltd edition Metallic Sand. Lots of kit bashing and scratchbuilding going on.














jb

[jbwelda]

AMT Tognotti's King T, built essentially out of box with some detailing, wiring and modifications as necessary. Paint is Testors Model Master Midnight Orchid. Scratchbuilt brass radiator shell begun by Jerry Cardinal and fine tuned/polished by the builder.











jb

[jbwelda]

Aoshima Racing Beat Bonneville Mazda RX7, built for the shop in Los Angeles and now on display in their show room. Essentially out of box build, but interior racing detail added and accuratized, drag chute added and detailed and decals modified to better match the prototype.











jb

[jbwelda]

Fujimi Mazda Autozam AZ-1. Built as part of a trio (later quartet) of Japan Domestic Market (JDM) mini rocket ships, this one is basically box stock build, but lowered and detailed a bit. Note that on real car, the doors open as part of the roof, gull wing style. Added Supertrapp exhaust pipe and some detail to the interior.









jb

[jbwelda]

Historic Racing Miniatures resin Porsche 914-6 LeMans transkit for the Fujimi Porsche 911 base kit. Built as provided but as a street car, interior and engine have been detailed. Note this has nothing to do with the similar Revell 914-6 offering although it looks like it might derive from that kit.














jb

[jbwelda]

Tamiya Volvo 850 Estate Wagon BTTC variant. Mostly out of box build, added Supertrapp exhaust pipe, would have lowered it but stance came as you see it right out of box. Really kool kit, getting hard to find.











jb

[jbwelda]

AMT/Lindberg 34 Ford pickup truck cab on R&D Unique white metal deuce frame with AMT 60 Chevy 409. Heavily kit bashed and part box sourced, features a sectioned Willys pickup bed with the detailed tailgate from AMT 34 Ford grafted on. Paint is Tamiya Mica Blue with a coat of Clear Blue and then some Tamiya Clear over the decals. Interior scratchbuilt with padding and raised welting on seats, side panels and top, as well as embossing powder carpeting. Underside of tuck and rolled bed cover is done in machine turned decal. Fujimi Porsche 356 fuel tank in bed alongside battery (with bare wire couplings, what could possibly go wrong?). Rear fenders were retained from the 34 Ford, but they were truncated just behind the front of the bed, leaving a step up to access the interior of the bed and probably jiggle those wires when they short out. Next to the fuel tank.


















jb

[jbwelda]

Scalekraft of South Africa's Broadspeed resin conversion kit for the Tamiya Morris Mini. Nuff fiddling and adjusting was necessary for this starting with the fact that the body is sectioned about an eighth of an inch (3 scale inches) compared to the standard body, a fact I did not comprehend until I was waist deep into this build, but which is fairly obvious when viewing the two bodies side by side. Scratchbuilding included new sectioned inner door panels, tail lights, seat backs and rear bumper. Engine and compartment were detailed (and yes I did paint it that shade of purple, don't know why, but there you have it, makes the yellow ignition wires contrast nicely if nothing else) and some rally trim added from one of the Tamiya Monte Carlo rally variants. Really nice model of a quite neat variant on the evergreen Austin/Morris Mini, this one would have the power to get out of its own way quite nicely.











jb

[jbwelda]

Race track diorama featuring three micro minis with pilot figures installed into the interior. Trio consists of a Tamiya Honda S800, a Fujimi Toyota S800 and a Fujimi Subaru 360, all posed negotiating a tight corner to the peril of the lurking photographer. There was no real attempt at realism in making this scene, I simply paved over a large size AMT display case and fashioned a road course corner scene. Turned out pretty nice though. Built this back at least 20 years ago with my long time friend Tom, who recently passed away. He came up with all the good ideas. I paled in comparison when it came to the execution of them.


















Here are some photos of the individual cars, first the Honda S800 from Tamiya including full detail engine:



















Fujimi Subaru 360 Young SS (yes that is what it is called!):



















Fujimi Toyota S-800, also full detail including engine compartment and trunk on this one. A real little jewel of a model:




















jb

[jbwelda]

Sofa King Fast Motorsports shop diorama which incorporates four cars in various stages of build/repair: a Gunze Sangyo Lotus Elan with an engine transplant going on (BDR being changed out for twin cam Cosworth to lower class in future racing events), Tamiya Mini Cooper having its radiator and front end extracted, Tamiya Lotus Super Seven having its wheels and tires changed out and general racer boy mods being done, and a Merit Lotus Eleven just sitting there and looking pretty. Scene is filled in mostly with pieces from the Fujimi Garage and Tools sets, but also a good deal of scratchbuilding and sourcing from other places. When originally built, I used the Fujimi Garage diorama pieces, the walls and floors I mean, but that didn't really maintain as the flooring peeled up and it just generally deteriorated. So a couple years ago I bought some suitable material to replace that flooring and put some effort into making it a more sturdy display. The floor needs some stains though and it is altogether too clean around there, but that may change soon.

























jb

[jbwelda]

Heller/Revell of Germany BMW Dixi aka Austin Seven weird azz hot rod thing. The Austin company of Great Britain licensed their long-living sedan, the Model Seven, to the German BMW company and under that license BMW built and sold the car as the Dixi. I do not know what that word means but am certain it doesn't have anything to do with stars and bars. Anyway, this model you see is nothing like a Dixi/Seven. I kind of mashed it up a lot...seriously bobbed the front fenders, slammed it down on the frame, made a deep dropped front axle (you don't find them this narrow very often), stuffed a Lotus engine from a Tamiya Lotus Europa kit in there, hooked to a straight line transmission (as opposed to the transversely mounted arrangement in the Europa), did a bunch of suspension work to make it look right, traction bars, big rear tires, Halibrand wheels and all. Most people don't know what to think when they see it in person, at the NNL West the photographer said "we don't usually do 1/32 scale cars" but then I had to remind him it WAS 1/24th, just of a very small cars. I am not sure he believed me, it never showed up in the magazine.











jb