|
|
Post by modelcitizen on Mar 16, 2015 17:36:03 GMT -6
This is kind of a summary post of the only three Wedge Dragsters ever produced. All three can be seen individually in the "Completed" pages but I thought it would be nice to see them displayed together. For information on the individual builds, go to Steve McGee's "Black Beauty", the "Flying Wedge" and the "Spirit of '76" Here's some pretty rare eye candy. Enjoy........     Thanks for looking!!!  "Paulie" |
|
|
|
Post by Dennis M on Mar 16, 2015 19:37:29 GMT -6
Great job Paulie.
|
|
|
|
Post by ira on Mar 17, 2015 8:49:50 GMT -6
Great Builds!Real Nice Work...
|
|
|
|
Post by A.J. on Mar 17, 2015 8:56:25 GMT -6
Very nice Paul! I noticed a few things that I never picked up back when I was paying attention to variations. It appears that the bodies between the Black Beauty and The Wedge Dragster had some changes in the casting. Two very different variations. I know they were based on the same chassis but the main body and nose section are unique. Thanks for showing these together like this, I'd have not known otherwise.
The Wedge Dragster
1. Longer tail extending over the entire rear tire from near as I can tell. The Black Beauty stops about 3/4 of the way over the rear tires.
2. Smooth panels compared to the Black Beauty. The Black Beauty appears to have rivets cast into it.
3. The area around the engine and cockpit are raised above the body on the Black Beauty.
4. The nose on the Wedge has the fin where the Black Beauty comes to a point.
|
|
|
|
Post by Bert on Mar 17, 2015 9:40:53 GMT -6
WOW! What a trifecta of wedge dragsters. Nice stuff!
|
|
|
|
Post by snakeplissken81 on Mar 17, 2015 9:45:12 GMT -6
That is some beautiful work.
|
|
|
|
Post by flounder on Mar 17, 2015 21:32:03 GMT -6
Great set! I'm a big fan of the wedge dragsters. Its great to see them all in one place and you did a fantastic job with them!
Thanks for posting them.
Flounder.
|
|
|
|
Post by azwildman on Mar 18, 2015 10:16:36 GMT -6
Well.....You made a plan..You stuck with it, til it was done..You "built" three rare (and expensive) kits.
You did a nice job building them.
These are all commendable things.
The three of them look great together.
Your Friend
Jim
|
|
|
|
Post by Starry Eyes on Mar 18, 2015 15:33:49 GMT -6
those are the nicest buildups I've ever seen... Very pristine & sanitary
|
|
|
|
Post by modelcitizen on Mar 18, 2015 17:36:24 GMT -6
THANK YOU ALL!!! Both for the kind comments here and in the individual posts. These were truly a labor of love. I think the short lived Wedge Dragster Era was probably the most creative time in the history of Top Fuel Drag Racing. The dozen or so Wedge Dragsters that were out there were the wildest cars to ever "sashay" down the quarter mile and I wanted to pay tribute to them.
You're right on the money, A.J. The BB was the first AMT kit produced (1971) and was based on an actual car. It was first owned and campaigned by Kenny Goodell (Slixx has decal sets for this revision  ) and later purchased & campaigned by Steve McGee. It is most similar to Don Prudhomme's Wedge that was built by Li'l John Buterra. The Snake's car was also the most successful of the Wedge Dragsters. The FW (1972) was an "in house" collaboration @ AMT by David Wilder & John Bogosian (Yes! The same John Bogosian that gave us the awesome "Li'l Cash Box", "Li'l Roamin' Chariot", "Koo Koo Kar", "Li'l Gypsy Wagon" and the rest of that fantastic series as well as a bunch of other great kits!) repurposing the T.V. Tommy Ivo chassis & drive train and getting the most mileage they could out of that tooling. The "Flying Wedge" never actually existed, though it did most closely resemble the Wedge Dragster that Connie Kallitta crashed at Indy back in 1971, with it's smooth, clean lines. There are not only "nose", "tail" and "rivet" differences, there are also raised panels on the top portion of the "wedges". They are fairly difficult to see in these pics, on a black car and they, along with the rivets created quite a challenge when it came time to apply the decals!  A LOT of solve-o-set was used, let me tell ya!  Raw Body fresh out of the box (contrast & brightness modified). My biggest disappointment on the BB was that the "nose" doesn't match the box art AT ALL. I was REALLY hoping that it would have that ultra Kool, "Classic", double hump spear nose. Instead, what you get in the kit is what you see here. Just a boxy, square "wedge". I'm thinking of fabing up a "box art" nose, just for display purposes. (Fortunately, it's all black w/common decals .) The cockpit & engine "surround" is also considerably different from the box art (and, I suspect, the real car). It's so tall that I doubt it would be practical in "real life". Anyone interested in building either of these should also be aware that, surprisingly, they need quite a bit of body work to get them truly flat and straight. The flat panels are (were) apparently so large that there was a lot of "mold pucker" and waveyness, particularly in the wedge side panels and rear vertical panel.
Again, THANK YOU ALL!!! I'm glad you're enjoying seeing these!
"Paulie" |
|
|
|
Post by hobbybobby on Mar 20, 2015 8:16:14 GMT -6
Man, Paulie, I'm really jealous, these kits are a feast for the eyes! You have done a wonderful job, thanks for the show! |
|
|
|
Post by beatnik on Mar 20, 2015 15:17:46 GMT -6
Those are great, now I want one !
|
|
|
|
Post by RatRod on Mar 23, 2015 13:01:40 GMT -6
It's really great to see all of these together!!! I've had a Spirit of '76 kit in my stash since new, still unbuilt, but seeing all three together you can really see all the differences between them!!! Thanks for shooting these together Paul.
|
|
|
|
Post by A.J. on Mar 26, 2015 8:28:24 GMT -6
My biggest disappointment on the BB was that the "nose" doesn't match the box art AT ALL. I was REALLY hoping that it would have that ultra Kool, "Classic", double hump spear nose. Instead, what you get in the kit is what you see here. Just a boxy, square "wedge". I'm thinking of fabing up a "box art" nose, just for display purposes. (Fortunately, it's all black w/common decals .) The cockpit & engine "surround" is also considerably different from the box art (and, I suspect, the real car). It's so tall that I doubt it would be practical in "real life".
Paul, thanks for the great reply and very informative addition to your thread on these kits. I actually tried to describe the raised area but evidently didn't do a very good job. No big deal and I'm glad you elaborated on it. As for that nose, I wondered if they were planning on using one of the Ivo noses for it and fell short. I'm not sure off hand whether it's the front engine or the rear engine dragster but one of them has the nose like that. I remembered it when I was writing my comments and looking at the two different boxes for the Wedge dragsters. So you might want to take a look there before fabricating one. I think maybe the artist and designer were planning on using that nose, who knows. Well, before I posted I decided to take a look and found that both front engine and rear engine have the style of nose that appears on the Black Beauty.   |
|
|
|
Post by Vintagercr on Mar 29, 2015 11:27:22 GMT -6
Nice builds!
|
|
|
|
Post by modelcitizen on Mar 31, 2015 11:42:19 GMT -6
Ah!!! YES!!! Precisely, A.J.!!! PERFECT MATCH! And, being that the rear engine kit is where the BB & FW chassis came from, I suspect you are even more than correct! Your depth of knowledge never ceases to amaze me, A.J.!!! YOU DA MAN!!! Thanks for the "heads up" buddy!!! "Paulie" |
|
|
|
Post by A.J. on Apr 7, 2015 6:30:10 GMT -6
No problem Paulie! Glad to point you in the right direction.
|
|
"Paulie" 
) and later purchased & campaigned by Steve McGee. It is most similar to Don Prudhomme's Wedge that was built by Li'l John Buterra. The Snake's car was also the most successful of the Wedge Dragsters. The FW (1972) was an "in house" collaboration @ AMT by David Wilder & John Bogosian (Yes! The same John Bogosian that gave us the awesome "Li'l Cash Box", "Li'l Roamin' Chariot", "Koo Koo Kar", "Li'l Gypsy Wagon" and the rest of that fantastic series as well as a bunch of other great kits!) repurposing the T.V. Tommy Ivo chassis & drive train and getting the most mileage they could out of that tooling. The "Flying Wedge" never actually existed, though it did most closely resemble the Wedge Dragster that Connie Kallitta crashed at Indy back in 1971, with it's smooth, clean lines. There are not only "nose", "tail" and "rivet" differences, there are also raised panels on the top portion of the "wedges". They are fairly difficult to see in these pics, on a black car and they, along with the rivets created quite a challenge when it came time to apply the decals! 
A LOT of solve-o-set was used, let me tell ya! 
