Built by: Mike L. Scott in West Allis, Wisconsin

This is one of those models that when you think you're getting good at putting them together try this one out for size. This example is an original Eldon bought back in the 70s built pretty much box stock, but in order for it look like the show car you have to get rid of the chrome firewall.

The paint job on The Invader is its biggest challenge and this model is on its third incarnation. I had the white base coat applied two years ago so it had plenty of time to cure. I put this one off because of the difficulty in painting the body, figuring someday I would get the guts to do it again. As fate would have it, I had a cold last month and decided to spend some time working on my own stuff so I turned my attention on a few kits that have been languishing in my basement--some of them had been
started and just abandoned.

The plan again was to do this build-up as close to the real show car as possible since it's one of my favorites. I spent a bit of cash on photo-etched parts and an aluminum moon tank which had to be ground down to match the proportions for this size model (this detail is almost hidden in most vintage shots of the
car). The internet lent its help as there is a wealth of close up shots of this car at the Peterson Museum.

I made my own pin-striping tape using aluminum foil sprayed with adhesive and then cut out on a sheet of glass. Once all the contours were covered, I shot the car with candy apple red paint. By the time I had enough coats on the model the tape was buried so it took the addition of an Xacto knife to cut the tape off.

After the body paint, I set it aside to gas out. The engines were the next detailing chore with all the wiring, carb linkage and plumbing. I had the air scoops hollowed out and mylar over the top to give it a clean look. The exhaust pipes were made from aluminum tubing. The interior was updated with a pin head shifter and 10 pins glued to look like toggle switches between the seats.

As old Eldon kits go I think this one is the most faithful to the real car I wish they had gone the distance with the other cars in this series.

Click on the image above to SUPERSIZE it!