Bug Bomb -  Tim Nolan

"What a DEAL!"

This contest was a good excuse to jump on this restoration project which I had sitting in a box for a few years.  I'm a big Deal's Wheels fan, and this hard to find kit was in the worst glue-bomb condition you can imagine.  As usual, this kit must have been glued together with a couple of tubes of Testors' finest.  I practically had to destroy it getting it apart, and there was glue smeared all over the body, rims, and tires. I spent about a month off and on sanding on the body.  The chassis was completely broken off at the rear as well. Most of the glue on the rims and tires came off after a visit to the freezer, and some patient prodding with the fingernails.  Once I got the body fairly smooth, it was primed, sanded a bit more, and finally painted with silver microflake basecoat, then topped with a few coats of House of  Kolors Kandy Oriental Blue. This is actually supposed to be a split-window bug, but I was afraid to shoot the glass with this automotive paint and ruin it. There's still some imperfections in the body, but this plastic is so thin and prone to glue
 damage, it was impossible to completely repair. You may notice glue remains on some of the chrome and headlights as well.  The tiny driver was repainted, and it was all carefully reassembled. I still need to come up with some kind of stinger exhaust for it.  I'd like to find a nice aluminum cone-shaped tube for the tip, but I haven't found anything suitable yet.  This kit is so hard to find, and I'm really happy to have it in my collection. Here's to you Mr. Canney!

Tim Nolan
New Smyrna Beach, Florida