Ritz' Custom Hot Wheels
This is the protoype Humvee Aid Truck seen at Daytona Motorspeedway during the running of the 1998 Daytona 500. When I first saw this my mind started trying to figure out, "How can I make one of these?"
This my latest creation. Humvee Aid Truck. It isn't finished yet but will be a fun one to see. So what do you think?
First we start with a Humvee and a Rescue Ranger. Next remove the rivets. The Humvee is really easy because the body and rivets are plastic.
The rivets on the Rescue Ranger are tougher, but once seperated begin cutting the box from the cab.
Once finished clean up the box and file down the high spots to match the new cab of the Humvee.
Position the body of the Humvee and use a steel ruler and mark lines just after the front door pillars. You could cut the pieces apart with an Exacto hobby saw.
I kept cutting with the knife until I eventually cut throught. Clean up the edges and trial fit the cab and box to look for mismatch or uneven edges.
Prefit the cab back onto the Humvee chassis. Mark the ends of the cab and using a cutting wheel slightly notch the back of the chassis to accept the box. Shorten the box pillar so that the bottom edges of the box match the edges of the chassis.
After all prefitting and final adjustments are made, using the original light bar and insert for the Aid box, notch the back edge of the top of the cab to fit under the light bar so the Cab is just slightly lower than the box. The bottom edges of the box and cab should be even. You are now ready to "weld" the body pieces together. I used J.B. Quick WELD. Sets up in 4 minutes so you have to work quickly. Do some trim work and paint with white Testors paint.
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Here is my latest custom made from the Matchbox casting #70 '70 GTO. We start with the straight car in the blister and move on to being naked on the board! This particular vehicle will lend itself to becoming a convertible.
With the body off the chassis after drilling out the rivets, we can cut the top off being careful not to go below the natural design lines of the car. Next step will be to find a suitable donor car for the wheels. Our candidate is a Racing Champions Craftsman Racing Series truck with rubber tires and red metallic trim rings, "Goodyear Eagle" printing on the outer edges make this a prefect choice for our "Goat".
Matchbox suspension really lends itself to easy wheel changes as they use a straight piece of spring steel held in place in the center. Just gently lift the spring steel and slide the wheels out. Find the right size wheels and just slip them back in place and you're set!
After detailing the interior using stand orange Testors enamel, allowing time to dry, we then are ready to start detailing the body of our custom. If you can find photo's of real prototypes, it really can make the difference in making your custom look like the real thing. Accents on this car include tail lights, license plate frame, front clearance/turn signals and head lights
After assembly and using 2 part epoxy to reattach the body back to the chassis, we finally have a completed '70 GTO "The Judge" Convertible. Oh to be young again!
Here is our forgotten, cast aside '67 Camaro before the restoration & customization started. Moving from left to right, you can now see the car after disassembly and finally the removal of the roof. Use care in filing the door posts and rear quarter posts smooth with the body. From this point we now move on to stripping the body of the old paint. Most will use a paint stripper but you must ensure that all the old paint and stripper are completely removed or you will ruin the new coat of paint. Fortunately the old paint just chipped right off and all that was required was to use 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper with water and smooth the rough spots. Once the body is primered, it was decided to paint the body white. This will be the base coat for any further colors, but this car will become a Z28 complete with stripes
Keep watching for more on this and other customs!
Welcome to my new site. As you can see I have started another custom. I will be featuring other cars as I go along and offer tips and tricks that have worked for me and others. If you have a favorite tip or trick, send it to me and I will be starting a tip of the week and give you credit for that tip. Continue to watch for progress. You can contact me directly by email at
ritz_@msn.com
and thanks for stopping by
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Copyright 1998 D Ritter