The Hot 150 list and Clone the Past
Two Important Museum Programs
by Mark S. Gustavson

Since the inception of the Museum, one of our chief goals has been to identify and either locate or replicate the models that have most influenced the development of our hobby.  As this Museum project progresses, we'll have the ability to portray the development of model car craftsmanship in the hobby by presenting either the original models -- or clones of models -- that appear on our Hot 150 list.  Additionally, we'll also prepare a large display chart that will contain images of the notable models that appear on the Hot 150 list. 

Of course, the first task is to identify the most important models in the history of our hobby. The definition of an historically significant model is crucial to this Museum program: the model has to have appeared in a major publication (or its "influence" may be very limited by definition), it must have pioneered a new technique/style of building, and it must have exhibited very high standards of craftsmanship (adjusted for the time the model was constructed). 

At this point, we have named the models, through 1968 (balloting is going on for later years), that have significantly influenced the development and progress of model car building. This effort is on going as further research continues: in fact, the list for the Second Age has recently been amended to correct an earlier oversight: now, Donald Katz' "Off Beat Beauty" (featured in Car Model, February 1964, pages 22, 27 and the cover; The "Way Out GT Custom", featured in Car Model, March 1964, pgs. 28-32, by R.A. Smith and Mike Baltes (both of Auto World); and the various passenger car custom pickups by Budd "The Kat" Anderson (check out Car Model, February 1965) have all been nominated and appear on the Hot 150 list. 

In order to keep in touch with the great builders who are working on the Clone the Past project, the Museum now publishes a Clone the Past newsletter. Go here to read the current issue and to see additional images of the models that are being replicated.

The amended list for the First and Second Ages of our hobby is available on this site by checking in at our Clone the Past Chart and, while there, you can click on the name of each of the named models to view scanned images of those models. The Museum expresses its profound appreciation to Charles Fox (Santa Monica, California) and Steve Larsen (Cedar Rapids, IA) who scanned dozens of images from vintage magazines so that visitors to the Museum site can see which models appear on our Hot 150 list. Steve and Charles generously responded to a note posted on the Hobby Heaven discussion board for hobbyists to help scan vintage magazines; when we had enough enthusiasts working on that Museum program for the time being, these guys readily agreed to scan images of famous models. 

The second part of this Museum program is to acquire or replicate models that appear on the Hot 150 list. So far, a group of dedicated builders have agreed to replicate several of the models that are named in Ages One and Two. These models have been picked up by Members of our Museum to clone: The "Nervous Nomad" by Paul Sable has been completed by Tim Pentecost. Bill Taylor (God rest his soul) finished his replica of the famous Car Model magazine "Dixie Bee" more than a year ago. Mike Good has sculpted an exquisite replica of Lonn Stern's Astrodan that is now in Mark S. Gustavson's shop for painting; Mike studied the handful of historic pictures to craft the body of this most-famous model - check out these photos of the roughed in body with early coats of block-sanded lacquer primer. Rick Hanmore has finished the bodywork and painting on his replica of Bill Neumann's '60 Ford Starliner. Already, Paul Sable's custom Mercury has been cloned by Rick Wright. Marc Havican is working to duplicate a Jim Yonts dragster, and Bob Paeth is working hard to finish cloning Jack Herndon's radical custom '29 Ford roadster in time for GSLXX. Again, view the nominated models for Ages One and Two on our Hot 150 list Of course, other models from Age Two can be seen by going to the Hot 150 chart and then clicking on the name of each nominated model. Three more great builders and Museum members have stepped forward: Jeff Worsham has just signed up to clone Tom Davison's metalflake chartreuse custom Corvette. Terry Rollins decided to build Harry Auffinger's remarkably restrained full custom 57 Chevy, and Carl Moore has stepped forward to build two of Budd "The Kat from AMT" Anderson's legendary passenger car pickups – Budd's '61 Ranchero and '58 Chevy. And , Mitch Capps has signed up to replicate an incredible model from Bob Sifferd – the Telstar; Bob Sifferd is involved in this project and has offered a lot of very helpful information to Mitch to aid in the recreation of the Telstar. To enjoy photos of the Telstar and Golden Nugget, go here. Our thanks to all these great builders!

With the cloning effort underway, it's time to move on to identify the most influential model in the Third Age covering 1969 through 1978. We approached Tim Boyd and Chuck Helppie who contributed their nominations for that era; after that, Mark S. Gustavson added his nominations, and Dennis Doty chipped in his ideas. That list is now (November 2004) is being reviewed by Museum research assistants Rex Barden and Randy Van Draiss) after which that list will be examined again and then submitted here to your review. There are a wide array of terrific, hobby changing models in this era that meet our threshold requirements of having been published in a way that could have affected other modelers, thereby influencing the development of modeling technology and finishing techniques. Check back here for the chart for the Third Age of our hobby which should be uploaded here for your review early in 2005.

Chuck Jones' Custom

The Museum's Hot 150 list, which supports our Clone the Past program, aims at reproducing the most influential models in the history of our hobby so that model car historians and Museum visitors can appreciate how the leading edge of our hobby has developed since the early Fifties. One of those models from the Second Age of our hobby is Chuck Jones' innovative bubble top, mid-engined custom model that won the International Modelers' Guild in 1963. If you haven't done so already, you should read the article The Early Years: Model Car Contests in America The Chuck Jones Saga, that appeared in Volume 10, No.2 of The Builder. This issue is available as a downloadable file. As explained in that story, that model no longer exists (it seems it disappeared in Ed Roth's creative but chaotic shop) when it was there, ostensibly, to be replicated in full-scale as part of Chuck's prize package: the original model no longer exists. After many calls and letters between Chuck and me, Chuck told the Museum his story and agreed to create a master for his historic model. Chuck sent that fiberglass to me and I sent the same to Museum consultant Mike Good for his review. Mike Good had these comments when I asked him about what could be done to prepare the Jones' master for resin casting to produce a thin body for building a replica of Chuck's terrific model:

"This body is great! Welcome to my world! If you are going to build models of "sculpted" cars, this entails a lot of sanding and refining of basic shapes. The Astrodan and the Blitz Bug were both lumpier than this when they started out. There is nothing wrong with this body that a lot of elbow grease and commitment can't fix!

"Now, down to practical concerns. The body master appears to have been sculpted in clay. A simple mold was taken off this and the casting you have consists of layers of two different materials. I can't say exactly what this stuff is (Bondo or casting resin, perhaps both) but the first layer was brushed into the mold to create the outer surface of the body. The succeeding layers (in a second material) were added later and reinforced with fiberglass cloth to make the piece more rigid and durable.

"I did a little sanding on one side of the body. The material is responsive enough to sanding, however I recommend that you DO NOT do this! The reason is that the material used to create the outer surface of the body was not evacuated of air. This means that lurking just below the surface are hundreds of tiny little air bubbles. Any amount of sanding will open these up and create a raft of problems that are not easy to solve.

"The best solution to this would be to pull a mold off of this body as is and have it cast in a homogenous resin by a reputable caster who uses vacuum or pressure to de-air his molds and casting resin. Once you have a good casting, then you can undertake the refinement of the outer surfaces. Before sending it out for casting, be sure to remove all of the little external bubbles that project from the outer surface. These can be easily dealt with using an X-Acto knife. Trust me, you will be annoyed at having to remove these from every single casting!

"Beyond this, what you do with the body depends on the level of commitment of the builder. If that person intends to build a fully detailed model with opening doors and rear deck, it would be best to use two or three different body castings. Use one casting for the main body (with the opening panels cut away), then cut the separate panels from another body. The same will have to be done for the bubble top, which will have to be used as a master for vacuum forming clear duplicates. Once the body is separated into its component parts, that builder could then undertake removing material from the inside to bring the panels to a more reasonable thickness and finish. WARNING! Do not be tempted to thin the resin panels too much. The thinner you make the resin parts, the more susceptible they will be to warpage and distortion in the future.

"Obviously, if this seems like too much work, the builder could always opt for lesser degrees of effort. This can vary from a fully detailed model, to a simple slammer with the bubble top, "painted" and a set of wheels added. Every extra degree of detail will add exponentially to the amount of effort needed. Only that builder can decide what his or her tolerance level is!"

The Museum is pleased that Trustee Alan Raab has taken over the task of perfecting the body master as well as seeking out a resin caster to produce a thin-wall casting of this very significant model.

Please think about cloning one of these models, or anyone one on the Clone the Past list.  Replicating a model is a real challenge and you can help the Museum present to visitors a visual history of our hobby. If you want to accept a project, write to the Museum for a Clone the Past package. You'll be supplied with photocopies of all available research for the model you select. Each person cloning a model may call upon the help of Museum member Gordon Clark (email the museum phone contact information) who has offered to search his magnificent personal parts collection to assist anyone cloning a model for the Museum. Just specifically describe the parts and he'll try to fill your 'order.' Gordon's service is open ONLY to those who are restoring a Museum model or building one of the Clone the Past projects (specify your project). Come on, sign up, eh?