Built by: Gary Seeds of Canoga Park, California

This MPC Fire Truck no.13, an Ebay find, had only the wheels and tires started--everything else was mint in the box, with a "Buy it now" price of $3.00 !!!

I dig the real showrod and believe it's one of the all-time best showrods. I've always wanted to build this kit and couldn't wait to get at it.

The body is in two parts so I glued and molded the seem on the cowl to hide it before painting could be done. I primered and block sanded it, then applied a pearl white base and 6 coats of candy apple red and finally some clear.

I built the rest of the kit pretty much stock. I have photos of the real 1:1 car and tried to build it as close to the actual showrod as possible. For example, I noticed the kit wheels and tires are all wrong and not the same as the real car, and the kit sits a little too high in the front, so I lowered the front and replaced the front wheels and tires with 12-spoke Americans and the rear ones with wheels and tires from the Boothill Express.

Chrome foil was used on the frame rails to look more like the original car. Correct details included spark plug wires and coil, plus radiator top and bottom hoses, brake pedal, and brake lines added.

The interior is done in pearl white and fuzzy fur, and model was decaled using the kit's original decals and 3 coats of 2-part urethane automotive clear to round off this build.

I'm very happy with the way this model came out, and love how it looks next to the original box in my display case.