The next two Hobby Horse Watson Roadsters that I modified were done simultaneously. They are the 1961 Dean Van Lines #12 in which Eddie Sachs won the pole and finished second in 1961, and the 1961 #19 Konstant Hot Special driven by Al Keller. I was able to swap some parts between the two to save a bit of effort. Specifically, I swapped the seats, oil tanks and exhaust. By doing this I was able to save a bit of painting time and was able to keep the Konstant Hot cars' exhaust as accurate as possible with no modification. I modified the Dean Van Lines cars' exhaust to better represent the actual car. The graphics on the Dean Van Lines Special were simple. Decals over a white base is as easy as it gets. The Konstant Hot car was a bit of a challenge in that it required that a base coat of yellow be applied and then a black coat for the flair and stripes. I painted the car with a Krylon Fusion yellow that I extracted from the can and airbrushed onto the model. Then I scanned the decal sheet and printed it onto a self-adhesive masking paper. The paper was carefully cut and applied to the model, then Tamiya gloss black acrylic was airbrushed on and the graphics were applied.
Since the above photos were taken I've added rivets to the windshields of the models which makes an improvement. All of the graphics on these cars, including the rivets, came from IndyCals.
The 1963 Roger McCluskey conversion below required some modifications. The donor car was a 1960 Jim Rathmann, so the seat was the correct color out of the box. The bump on the left side of the engine cover was filed down and hood scoops were fabricated from pine sticks. The scoops were carved using hobby knives and a rotary tool. They were attached to the car with epoxy and the edges were filled and smoothed with Milliput. The scoops were painted with a coat of Zap-A-Gap gel adhesive to seal the grain and then sanded smooth. The roll bar on the donor car was broken during disassembly (pretty common with these cars) so a replacement was made using steel rod. The car was painted with Krylon Fusion gloss black. Once again, the decals are from IndyCals. I damaged one decal during the build so I took advantage of the IndyCals Oops Protection (thank you Michael). A Shout-out to fakat0 for accepting my offer on the donor car and for the fast and careful shipping.
This replica of the 1961 Simoniz Special (driven by defending Indy 500 winner Jim Rathmann) required very little modification. Other than scratch-building a new roll bar the only change was removing the vent scoop on the right side of the cockpit. Most of the work was in the paint job. The base coat is Krylon fusion gloss black straight out of the rattle can. The gold accent on the front of the car were masked off with Tamiya masking tape and airbrushed with Tamiya Gold Leaf acrylic paint. The seat, wheels, filler caps and oil tank bolts were hand-painted with the same gold paint. The wheels were then accented with thinned Testors black acrylic. The car body was assembled and a clear-coat of Future was applied, followed by the graphics and final assembly. The decals are from IndyCals and are extraordinary. The gold scalloped number roundels really pop.
This model of the 1962 Parnelli Jones Indy 500 Pole Winner (the first car to average over 150mph) required modification of the exhaust pipe, relocation of the oil tank, and fabrication of a new roll bar. Most of the work was in the paint and graphics. The base coat is Valspar gloss white. The car was then masked using the templates that came with the decals and the nose and stripes were airbrushed with Tamiya blue acrylic. The seat was painted with Tamiya primer then top-coated with Tamiya red acrylic.The decals took quite a bit of time due to the complexity of the graphics. There are delicate pinstripes on the nose and around the fuel filler that require precise trimming. The same is true of the striping. The decals are from IndyCals and are excellent as usual. Thanks to the nice folks at Precious Metals and Gems for accepting my offer on the donor car.
Jimmy Reese started from the outside of the front row in 1958 but was hit from behind by Pat O'Conner when he braked to avoid a crash in turn three of the first lap. Reese was uninjured but O'Conner was killed in the accident, which caught up 15 cars. The donor car for this model is a Hobby Horse A.J. Foyt 1961 Watson. The biggest modification to this model was the removal of the divider in the intake and reshaping the nose. Other modifications include the removal of the roll bar and push bar, and swapping out the exhaust for one with a gentler angle (the original was modified for the Parnelli Jones car shown above). The base coat on the metal body is burgundy Krylon ColorMaxx out of a rattle can. It gave good results but the color is slightly translucent and the paint seemed thin so multiple light coats were applied followed by a wetter coat to bring up the gloss. The paint was too "hot" for the clear plastic windshield and caused it to craze. This required that the paint be removed and the windshield sanded starting with 400 grit and working in stages through 12,000 grit, then polished with Flitz. The windshield was then masked off and the lower section primed with Tamiya gray primer. Some paint was extracted from the spray can and allowed to sit overnight before it was airbrushed onto the windshield. Finally, the clear section was brushed with Future. Once again the decals are from IndyCals.
Dick Rathmann Was on the pole for the ill fated 1958 Indianapolis 500. He wouldn't complete the first lap, nor would the rest of the front row and ten other cars. The donor car for this model is the 1961 Foyt car that I purchased from Precious Metals. The nose on this car was modified to eliminate the split and to make the front end more rounded and less pointy. The roll bar and rear push bar were removed. The upper body was painted with Valspar gloss white directly from a rattle can, then masked and airbrushed (along with the belly pan) in Tamiya Titanium Silver acrylic. The decal are from IndyCals (of course) and are of the highest quality.
In 1958 Ed Elisian qualified this car in the middle of the front row. Elisian had a reputation for being erratic in both his personal life and in his driving, and some drivers expressed concern about his abilities prior to the start of the race. As it turned out they were right to be concerned. In turn three of the first lap Elisian charged inside pole sitter Dick Rathmann and lost control of his car, taking out Rathmann and triggering a 15-car pileup that resulted in the death of driver Pat O'Connor. This conversion was done using a Foyt car as a donor for all parts except the engine cover, which required a scoop, and the wheels/suspension. Those were taken from a 1962 Rodger Ward car. The white base is Krylon Fusion and the top coat is Tamiya red. The decals are from IndyCals. Thanks to Modellfan and devintage for accepting my offer on the donor cars for this conversion.
Defending champ Rodger Ward finished fourth in 1963. The scoops on this car were hand-carved from pine sticks. The decals are from IndyCals. Thanks to Devintage for accepting my offer on the donor car.
I've built a "Gasoline Alley" diorama for photographing Indy cars. It's a work in progress.
Pat Flaherty won the 1956 Indy 500 from pole position in the John Zink Special. This model was made from an A.J. Foyt donor car. The push bar, roll hoop, and external oil tank were removed and the engine cover was filed smooth. A new scoop was then fabricated from white Milliput. The white base coat is Krylon Fusion and the pink accent color is Tamiya acrylic. The decals are from IndyCals. Thanks to MISSHW for accepting my offer on the donor car.
Jim Hurtubise ran this heavily modified roadster in 1964. It was listed as a Hurubise roadster in the official record. He was classified in 14th place after a loss of oil pressure caused him to drop out after 141 laps. The car was destroyed and Hurtubise was severely burned in a crash at the Rex Mays Classic the same year. The left scoop on this model was scratch built using Milliput. The nose scoop was made from .008 sheet tin and smoothed in with putty. Milliput was also used to modify the nose of the car at the front wheel openings. The front suspension was modified as well. The lower left section of the engine cover was removed and the exposed frame was built from spare parts. An engine was scratch built from plastic and the oil tank was attached with steel rod. Thanks to Alpine Time for accepting my offer on the donor car. The decals are from IndyCals.
The Originals
Of course all of these models were built from one or more of the 1/43 scale Watson Roadsters produced by Carousel 1 and sold under the Hobby Horse brand. The originals are superb models and it's unfortunate that only three ever made it to market.
1960 Indianapolis 500 Winner - Jim Rathmann - Ken-Paul Special
1961 Indianapolis 500 Winner - A.J. Foyt - Bowes Seal Fast Special
1962 Indianapolis 500 Winner - Rodger Ward - Leader Card Special
1964 was the last year that the Indy 500 was won by a roadster. This build is meant to represent that car the way it looked when it crossed the finish line. The nose is heavily modified and there is a lot of masking and paint work to do.
