Small Scale Military Headquarters

I picked up one of these Jada 1:18 Godfather cars a while ago at TJ Maxx. I plan to make it into a staff car. I don't know if it will be accurate, but it should look cool.



Here it is primed up:

Really cool! Great job! Can't wait to see it all finished.

Is that a 21stC Vietnam guy with a GI Joe cap on?

I think that your car is looking good so far.

Razor17019 wrote:Is that a 21stC Vietnam guy with a GI Joe cap on?

Yes it is, I was trying to approximate a 50's era soldier. I sanded down a GI Joe 25th Cutter figure hat.

Wow that looks good! Here are some links... and one with pics.....
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001JIO8L4/ref ... B001JIO8L4

http://www.diecastmodelswholesale.com/s ... ast/Detail

I wish I would have left the bumpers chrome, but oh well!
I got the OD base down, its gonna need a second coat.

If it's vac-metalized chrome, that paint should come off it really easily. Vac-metalized stuff doesn't paint (well, paint doesn't adhere is what I shoudl say) well.

That's what i though but I scrubbed a little on the bumper with acrylic cleaner and enamel thinner and it didn't touch the self etching primer. I either have to live with it OD or repaint the chrome, which I don't think will look right. Unless you have a suggestion that might take off the paint and leave the chrome?

I did quite a few vehicles like this last year. If you tailor your eBay searches well ("1/18 1938," "1/18 1940," etc.) you can come up with a pretty good fleet of period-correct vehicles for this kind of thing, picking up used, OOB, etc. cars and trucks at great prices. When I was in this stage, I got pretty good at disassembling these die-cast vehicles and painting them very quickly. I need to find a good source for decals and stencils, though, as I now have a sizable fleet of OD cars and trucks that are in dire need of some properly-sized stars and lettering ...

There are some tips for removing paint from chrome here:
http://www.ehow.com/how_4809619_remove- ... hrome.html

A Google search for "remove paint from chrome" will turn up other tips.

You could easily customize the Cadillac to be Patton's 1938 model that was the accident car that led to his death. The car was repaired and is now in the George S. Patton Museum.
Here is the a link with the story and some pics to get you started:
http://www.pattonthirdarmy.com/HeidelbergTrip.html

On a private note, I used to live in "Benjamin Franklin Village" in 1957, just down the street from the accident site.

I would be leery of paint stripper (as per article) works good on metal, but It tends to eat plastic on a model.

If you haven't sanded or scuffed up those bumpers, the self etching would come off with a strong lacquer thinner. Automotive grade available at body shop supply stores is preferable.

(zonetoys) The Patton story is a nice read. I didn't know the actual details till now.

Looking forward to how this turns out, I've been looking for a early fourties car to make a staff car from.

I got the decals on. These decals were just the left overs from my Dragon Wagon. I was trying to stretch them out to make this car, the truck and a Greyhound. Like an idiot, I spilled the water on the sheet and ruined the ones I had for the staff car. I had to rob the stars from a model plane kit. I have also lost my needle nosed tweezers and I had a rough time getting these decals done. What a headache!

Looking good, look forward to seeing it completed. army staff car is a great idea.

Getting very close, the truck is done...

I finished the staff car. At some point I may go back and add flags on the front.

Looks very nice.

Nice! See you managed to get the chrome back on the bumpers.

Just a small observation, are you sure whitewalls aren't too pimpy for Patton?

Looks great YT !!

Dauntless wrote:Nice!

Just a small observation, are you sure whitewalls aren't too pimpy for Patton?

You mean the guy with the flamboyant uniforms and pearl handled pistols? If anything I would say it is way to understated for him!

Awesome custom YT! Very cool!

cool! nice work