My First Torino Build...
Sometime in 1974 I built my first model of Punky's Gran Torino Fastback stock car. It was a 1:25 scale model kit that I most likely bought at our local dime store.
I should start this story out by explaining how I would end up in Altoona, WI helping on Punky's race car.
Usually at the end of my school year, (at one of the earliest races of the year) Punky's Mom Joanie Manor would see me in the pits after the race and invite me to come stay at their house in Altoona. Punky's race car shop was directly next to Punky's Dad's (Neil Manor) Used Car lot and Auto Body shop.
Joanie would say to me, "Come stay at our place and we'll take you racing!" So I would pack up a little bag and go stay with the Manor Family and either hang out in the body shop or help on the race car. I was only 13 at the time, so help was limited to certain things. I will share some of the things they did let me work on in future posts.
During one of my stays that year, I was building the above Torino Oval Track Racer model and needed to paint the plastic body.
I went to Neil and asked if he could paint the car model the same color as Punky's race car. Neil pointed up at a can on a shelf in the shop and said, "right there is the paint He used on his race car, you mask it off and I'll paint it." He also told me that we would need to apply a clear coat (used on Corvettes), so the paint wouldn't melt the plastic body.
So Neil painted it up and I painted on some numbers and his name on it.
I wish I could say I still had that model car but I do not. Unfortunately I sold most or all of my model cars when I was trying to raise money to move back to the Midwest from Idaho. That is another long story, too long for and mostly unrelated to this blog.
Later on in life I started building models again. My daughter Jacque was born 8 years after Punky died and she had only seen pictures and heard stories. So I made it a goal to build a scale model of every one of Punky's race cars.
I started that goal by building the model cars in the same order as he built the real ones. I purchased another Torino kit and started the series. This time I mixed the yellow paint color the best that I could. I also added some sponsor names by making my own water-slide decals.
Below are the results of my "2nd" attempt...
When I set out to design or build something, or do most things, I like to have an idea where I am headed. Luckily I have the ability to see a vision of the destination before I get there.
I think I learned some of this from my Father, he used to do a rough drawing of some of his projects. I also have a degree in Industrial Design, so I have been trained to follow this method of development. Working with a scaled version or sketching, allows me learn what to do and more importantly, what not to do.
Hopefully this up front exploration will help me save time, money, and refine my project before I make full-sized mistakes!
Thanks for checking in....my next blog will explore some full-size parts....take care
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