Automotive Models

Here's a sampling of some of the custom automotive models I've built. Unlike the model trains on this site, most are custom paint jobs on otherwise "stock" kits, although a few did benefit from some other modifications. For more information on any specific model, click its picture to be taken to a new page. Models that don't really need much further explanation will simply be captioned on this page.

1/87 scale (HO-Scale Model Train size)

"Assorted Traffic from Saint Canard" (Various Makers)

To start, here's a selection of vehicles you'll find on my model railroad layout. At 1/87 of life-size, these are the smallest I typically work with, although I've been known to paint and enhance N-scale at 1:148! New tooling of excellent, highly-detailed vehicles have come out in HO scale since about 2003 or so... but have pricetags to match! So I'm especially fond of turning older, cheaper, and/or plastic ones into respectable miniature rides. Most of these cost around 50 cents to a dollar or so; a little paint, sharpie, and detailing magic does the rest to bring them up to snuff. I focus on window and fender trim, badges, wheel hubs, and lights, with other embellishments as suitable. The difference is remarkable! Of course, a couple of $5 cars are shown here too. Here's a quick rundown, from "top left":

- 1989 Ford F250 by Trident; $4.00; came unpainted in white plastic.
- Peterbilt tractor by Matchbox; childhood survivor; painted details
- Blue and Brown 1977 Ford F150's by Life-Like; $0.25 cheap plastic; painted and detailed
- 1967 Ford Galaxie by Classic Metal Works; $5.00; added "For Sale" signs on windshield with typing film
- Blue, Red, and White 1980 Chevy Citations by Life-Like; 3/$1.00; painted all details, turned white car into a classic "beater"
- 1979 Datsun 240ZX by unknonwn; $2 at yard sale; actually a pull-back toy car! Painted details.
- 1979 "generic hatchback" (VW Rabbit, etc) by EKO; $1.00; painted details.
- 1968 Chevy Camaro by Tyco; 6/$2.00; painted details (added "shop primer rebuild" look)
- 1991 Ford Thunderbird by Monogram/Con-Cor; $2.00; painted and modified to look like my real car
- 1982 Chevy Camaro Z-28 by unknown; $1.00; another pull-back like the 240ZX! Painted lights, left distressed original paint intact.
- "Generic coupe" metal slug by unknown; $1.00; painted to resemble a reference car from a distance.

-2008

1/64 scale (approx.; i.e. Matchbox / Hotwheels size)

1988 Ford Thunderbird (Matchbox)

This is a formerly common Matchbox 1987-88 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe, painted and distressed to more closely match my first car in its current state. Amazingly, even the stock MB wheels are accurate toward the aftermarket ones on the real car! Sadly the garage, which is a mildly custom-painted diorama module currently available from MotorMax/Fresh Cherries, is still a fantasy... but the car will ride again someday. -2004


1997 Ford Aerostar Storm Chaser (Hot Wheels)

A heavily modified 1980's casting, featuring custom-made visor, ground effects, and spoiler to match the real vehicle. My first attempt at making custom parts using Sculpey modelers' clay; I was pleased with the results for a first-time effort. Custom decals sourced, drawn, and scaled from photos finish the model. After stripping the original paint, I actually rushed the model together (fabrication, paint, and custom decal design) in a mere 5 hours as a Christmas gift for my brother - in honor of the real van whose motor had finally died just a few weeks prior. This was the second Aerostar he killed, but this one was as tough and valiant as its predecessor (see below)!
-2008

1990 Ford Aerostar "AeroBarge" aka "T-4" (Hot Wheels)

Not just another custom Aerostar model, this one was actually made first! It celebrates my family's infamous truckster, a 1990 Ford Aerostar XL in "Light Sandalwood Clearcoat Metallic" (I figured Testor's Gold was close enough). This stalwart trooper of a vehicle had a rough life! I recall a 5-figure-mileage interval between oil changes once. It went through tires like a cop through donuts (hence the diorama). It fell victim to Rocker-Panel-Rotitis as all Aerostars did, but kept on trucking. I earned my license in this van, dubbed "The Aerobarge" by my friends owing as much to my traffic-barging tendencies as to its own handling characteristics. But my only incident of note (and public admission) came when I hit a patch of ice turning a corner and skidded into a parked car; fortunately the other guy couldn't tell which dent was mine, so no harm no foul.

The "custom" paint job was courtesy me calling my dad's bluff on his patented El Cheapo Approach To Rust Repair. "Eh, I should just have you get a bucket of paint from the garage and have at it", he'd deadpanned one idle afternoon. Which, to his dismay, actually sounded more like a splendid idea to a bored teenager and his best friend. In our defense, my dad had turned our bombed-out 1979 Ford Granada into a Partridge Family insult over the years, so we thought he was being serious. Nonetheless, there wasn't much in the garage save a thick black epoxy-paint. And again in our defense, we did try and spice up the ghetto paint repair with a bit of unique stylistic flair which - I kid you not - was later seen copied by another gold Aerostar in the Chicago area!

This van would not die. Soon after my 1988 T-Bird became the daily whip in 1997, the Aerobarge passed to my younger brother, who called it the "Tan Ticking Timebomb of Terror" (T4), referring to the sticking lifter that caused an amusing - if not slightly alarming - ticking noise with engine RPM. He was mad that only I could figure out how to drive it without causing the ticking sound. Still, it ran happily this way for a few more years until he totalled it in spectacular fashion by skidding sideways through a fence and into a pole in 2001. Previous to that, my still-shy-of-her-permit sister had wrecked it by crashing into a garage (women).

Lest you be forming any opinions, you should know that not only did all three Lucio Children have their turn branding character into the poor van, my dad even fender-bent it, not once, twice! So it was duly wrecked by every member of the household. I guess this means my brother should get some sort of prize for putting it out of its misery?

The model is the same Hotwheels casting, painted first in a similar gold color, then later to match the 1995+ "Aerobarge" livery. The stickers on the tailgate are surviving Windows3.1 Paint graphics. The van was originally made in 1992 and thus saw lots of "play and display", as evidenced by the paint wear.
-1992, 1995

Lucio Brothers Racing NASCAR team

I once had the bug - hard, and made a handful of custom-painted cars for such. These date back to my very first custom work, and I revisited this project in 2008. Click the pic for more info. -1993-1998, 2008

Demolition Derby cars

The Santa Fe Speedway Tournament of Destruction bashed and seared untold numbers of cherished memories deep into my heart. Those guys were insane! And they did demo's like no other place in the country. You had 8 teams of four cars each, running elimination brackets each one night a month over 5 moths to culminate in season points championship. In a given round, the object was to be the first team to get any ONE car to complete FIVE laps on a 1/4" mile clay oval. Ah-ha, this isn't your boring-old county-fair mud-bowl style demo; you had strategy! Does a team field speedy-but-weak cars, slow-but-indestructible tanks, or a balance? And whom do you go after? It was an incredible format to watch and a southside Chicago staple until the noveau-riche bastards of nearby Hinsdale got the track closed in 1995 (just when I was about to make inroads to hit the clay myself, nooo!). I took a few appropriate castings of typical demo fodder and mocked up a quick team. Couldn't decide on the 4th car.

For the record: Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, IL recently resurrected the Santa Fe-style Team Demo format; while the brackets are shorter and the races not as long, one truth thankfully remains gospel: the older Fords (wagons especially) are indestructible. - 1990-2003

Angstmobile Model

After getting my in-laws' derelict 1975 Lincoln Mark IV repaired and on the road again in 2008, I wanted a model to honor the occasion. The Mark IV enjoyed some popularity in its day, and models and toys were fairly easy to come by then. Today you have some digging to do, but a decent Yatming or Zee/Zylmex diecast is not too hard to find. They are later releases of the original Tomica "Pocket Cars" casting, which itself is worth a few bucks more. But save a few minor tooling/assembly tweaks, they are the same car although the Tomicas and early Yatmings are arguably of higher quality.

The Tomicas are usually found in a sapphire blue with a white roof; Yatming and Zylmex are usually gold. This one began as a gold Yatming. I stripped it, painted the baby blue to match the real Angstmobile, painted the roof and interior, hand-painted the side and fender trim, and other details. The diorama is a slightly modified Fresh Cherries set; the colors are a bit too bright but I haven't had my weathering studio set up in quite some time. - 2008

Larger-scale model kits

1/32 1977 Ford Granadas (American) by Lindberg
-2003. For more than you probably want to know about these, you can check the write-up I did for the American Granada enthusiasts' site at http://www.americangranada.com/reviews-granada_models.html


1/24 Ghostbusters Ecto-1 (1959 Miller-Meteor Cadillac Ambulance) by Polar Lights

The kit only came in molded in two colors: White plastic, with chrome bumpers. Everything else was painted by me. I decided to add a subtle tribute to the early cartoon series by painting the interior to more closely mimic the colors used on the show. -2003


1/18 2001 Ford Focus WRC

Mostly stock but with numerous paint & detail enhancements, as well as additional modified and custom decals (car number, and drivers' names of course) Click the pic for more info. -2006


1/24 1998+ Ford Crown Victoria Police Inteceptor, CPD by Clasic Metal Works

stock construction, with numerous paint/detail enhancements, primarily to the interior. -2003