Custom Clinic Photo Contest 1 Photos

First Place:
While not exhibiting the most aggressive body work of the winners, Juha Airio won the top award because of the thoughtful integration of his custom work and the quality of his work. He picks up on most of the custom tricks: reshaped front end, top swapping, scooped headlights, extended rear fenders, rolled pans, and frenched taillights. The new side trim, excellent use of chrome trim foil, and understated bumper design distinguish this superb model. I was very impressed with the superb craftsmanship in this model, and the photos were unexcelled.

Second Place:
What more can be said of Joel's clever styling? His innovative ability to combine styling elements has been appreciated by custom builders everywhere. This entry, a phantom '94 Chevrolet Nomad III Wagon, picked up major design cues from the Corvette Sting Ray III show car. Joel nicely adapted the famed Nomad roof to a sleek body, suggesting a "might have been" plausibility. The high angle shot is especially interesting: the pinched roof width over the door glass resolves itself nicely into the rearward portion of the roof. The vertical hash marks on the trunk, though, interfere with the design.

Third Place:
Canadian Dick Groenheide has distinguished himself recently as among the best builders in North America: This lithe and graceful entry cements that reputation. Starting with the Predicta, Dick cleverly created a custom suggesting a factory dream car. The basic proportions of the base kit were maintained, but a more stylish front end was created: the squarish headlights actually work on this design. A '57 Corvette trunk lid/surrounding area, as well as cowl and windshield, replaced the original kit's shape. The interior work was greatly reshaped using '58 Chevy components. The vestigial rear fin reveals remain, though, leading to a bit awkward (concave) resolution into the taillight area. While the top design is excellent, it should be dropped down at the rear for a better proportion. The bodywork and pearl gold paint are unexcelled in this contest.

Fourth Place:
Tom Marsh's entry reminds the viewer of the work of the Derham or Bohman and Schwarz coachbuilders in the mid-Twentieth century. The long nose, short rear deck produces a sporty appearance and remarkably graceful appearance. The short-coupled roof, nicely resolved into the trunk, is one of the highlights of this model as is the use of the '57 T-Bird front bumper. Also, the decision to open the hood forward is a nice touch. The rear window is too small and at odds with the relative lithe image of the rest of the model, and the rear wheel centerline is a bit too far forward. The body work, though, is without flaw as is the multi-coat pearl/candy blue paint job.

Fifth Place:
Though Richard Bartusek entered two models, I treated them as a single entry because of the substantial design similarity between the two models. The mating of contemporary Chrysler sports car styling with vintage Mopar bodies is a tough order, but Richard has pulled it off. He has maintained the basic proportions of the old styling while achieving a down-to-the-ground stance and graceful rooflines produced by the new roofline. Both versionsm, however, need to have the distance between the leading edge of the door and the centerline of the front wheels shortened in order to avoid swamping the short-coupled dimensions of the new roof: the same goal might have been obtained if the roof had been lengthened. The great risk-taking and excellent body work introduces Richard as one of the best custom modelers around.

Sixth Place:
John Mahaffey has recently become one of the best custom builders around. This '57 Ford demonstrates his abilities. After sectioning the AMT '57 Ford body, he added a Predicta taillight rear quarter panel section, thereby integrating the Predicta fins into the factory Ford shape. The swept back aspect of the Ford roof nicely resolves itself into the long trunk. John correctly matched the shapes of the front and rear wheel wells. However, the presence of a chrome front bumper is out of place, and the length of the rear quarter could have been shorted to eliminate the tail-heavy feeling. The body work is obviously well-done as is the bright read paint.

Seventh Place:
John's other entry is this nostalgia-styled custom pickup truck. Second generation Corvette front fender/door scoops were added to the AMT '56 Chevy pickup body, the top edge of which inset panel resolves itself nicely into the front wheel well. The body was sectioned and the top was chopped. A '58 Chevy front clip section was added, and the roof and hood scoops evoke memories of the Rod and Custom Dream Truck. The front end of this model is better than the rear: the bed is too long and the fron wheel wells don't match the rear. The tailgate area is a bit too heavy. The body work is obviously top rate and the paint job is glossy and appropriate to this substantial effort.

Eighth Place:
Dan Travis' custom shoebox Rod is a really interesting model which picks up and uses rear quarter panel styling elements from Ron Courtney's famed "X-51" Fifties showcar. The custom front end from AMT's 50 Ford convertible (employing '57 Ford Styline headlights, though) was expertly used but installed more toward the firewall than the kit suggested, thereby maintaining better proportions. The body was sectioned a scale 6" which requires a lot of fitting work as readers of the Custom Clinic column have learned recently. The tail lights/fins, though expertly crafted, are too tall and terminate too harshly at the beginning of the rear quarter windows. Also, the front and rear wheel wells should match. Dan has done an excellent job on the body and paint work.

Ninth Place:
Steve Barone certainly can chop and section a shoebox Ford! Two tops were used to achieve the desired result, and old Johan customizing fin appliques and '58 Chevy taillight pods were used at the rear of the model. The hood was slightly pancaked, with the corners rounded. A rolled front pan and slim grille complete a rather sleek front aspect to this model. The top may be chopped too far, and it is too "flat" just above the B-pillars. Front and rear windows need to be enlarged to maintain proportions, also. Steve has done a very good job working through all of the body work efforts, and his paint job appears to be top quality.

Tenth Place:
George Spangler says this is his first customizing project and he has a bright scale model customizing future ahead of him. Vintage Styleline customizing parts were used from early AMT '57 Fords. Those parts are hard to use since the fit-and-finish aspects were inexact to say the least. George resolved those problems by neatly molding all of the parts together, and shortening the side trim on the front fender to permit the custom front fender clip to be used (he also peaked the eyebrows above the headlights). The chrome foil was neatly done, especially around the rear fender line. Though mostly assembled from kit parts, this model is superbly executed and the paint job is top rate (the grey interior "works", too).

Eleventh Place:
Jim Latham entered a really interesting model. Combining elements of a '53 Corvette and '93 Callaway Corvette, Jim has produced a neatly-integrated package. The headrests are a nice touch and work well with the contemporary interior. Twin scoops were added to the hood as was cut down windshield and twin mirrors. The large wheel\tire combination work neatly with the theme of this model. The hood design, though, is a bit cluttered and the model sits too high. The headrests should have been less abruptly fared into the rear deck, and the chrome headlight bezels are at odds with the frenched taillights. The theme of the model is well thought out, and an interesting melding of two disparate themes.

Twelfth Place:
Mike Alvarez' LS300/Testarossa represents some interesting merging of two very different styling themes. The Testarossa tail was cut away and mated to a sectioned LS300 body. The substantial body work required a lot of cutting and fitting, and not a little smoothing with body putty. While an interesting idea, the trunk spoiler interferes with the design and so does the red stripe which breaks up the elegant rear quarter panel shape. The paint quality, however, appears to be very good.