American Graffiti 'Mels Drive-in'

[Paul]

One of my favorite films is American Graffiti, so when I found this on ebay it would have been silly of me not to have a go at it.
I started it around Christmas and it has taken me quite a while to obtain the cars, vending machine etc..., but now it is more or less finished,
apart from any figures I may come across (1.64scale), a bit of grass, a couple of trees, oh and a phone booth

a by mooneyes2009, on Flickr

PK2A8375 by mooneyes2009, on Flickr

PK2A8361a by mooneyes2009, on Flickr

PK2A8364 by mooneyes2009, on Flickr

PK2A8361 by mooneyes2009, on Flickr

PK2A8373 by mooneyes2009, on Flickr

PK2A8355 by mooneyes2009, on Flickr

PK2A8352 by mooneyes2009, on Flickr

PK2A8349 by mooneyes2009, on Flickr

PK2A8373a by mooneyes2009, on Flickr

 

[stillp]

Very nice Paul, and nice to see something a bit different. Isn't that Beetle out of scale though?
Pete

 

[PaulTRose]

nice

even got Milners coupe......even got the right number plate!

 

[Tim Marlow]

Great scene from an iconic film.....I thought the first shot was a still from the film! You need to do a dio of the Pharos ripping out the back axle of the squad car as a follow up....

 

[wotan]

Great dio. Very much the atmosphere of the time.

John

 

[Paul]

Very nice Paul, and nice to see something a bit different. Isn't that Beetle out of scale though?
Pete

Hi Pete, the Beetle is in perfect scale, the trouble is that most of the American cars at the drive-in ride very low making the VW tall,plus its a convertable.
The car that is a very dubious 1.64 is Curt Hendersons (Richard Dreyuss) Citroen 2CV which is bigger than the rest,so I,m on the lookout for a replacement.

Thankyou for your comments.

 

[Paul]

Great scene from an iconic film.....I thought the first shot was a still from the film! You need to do a dio of the Pharos ripping out the back axle of the squad car as a follow up....

Haha,that has already crossed my mind

 

[JR]

Sir that is perfection, hat off to you.

 

[Mr Bowcat]

Awesome, you even got the right shade of piss yellow and puke green (to quote the film) on the Ford Coupe.

 

[Peter Gillson]

Brilliant dio of a brilliant film.

Peter

 

[Gern]

I haven't seen the film but that's beautiful.

 

[Deleted member 6559]

Beautifully done and so full of atmosphere.

 

[spanner570]

Terrific build and very nice, moody lighting.
Top work!

 

[yak face]

Fantastic film and fantastic dio Paul , the lighting really brings it to life . Loving milners coupe but the one I always liked best was Harrison fords 55 Chevy . Great job , cheers tony

 

[minitnkr]

Great film for motor heads. Beautifully executed dio. PaulE

 

[Mini Me]

AWRIGHT BaaaaaaaaaaaaBy......Ya better stay COOL or the Wolfman gonna getcha! Fantastic piece of work Paul and I have never grown tired of the movie after all these years. So much of this is out of my teenage years "playbook" it's creepy to think about. You have done a marvelous job of recreating the feel of that drive-in, the only thing missing is the music, the sound of high compression V-8s and the smell of burnt rubber and hi-octane fuel........ Rick H.

 

[Paul]

AWRIGHT BaaaaaaaaaaaaBy......Ya better stay COOL or the Wolfman gonna getcha! Fantastic piece of work Paul and I have never grown tired of the movie after all these years. So much of this is out of my teenage years "playbook" it's creepy to think about. You have done a marvelous job of recreating the feel of that drive-in, the only thing missing is the music, the sound of high compression V-8s and the smell of burnt rubber and hi-octane fuel........ Rick H.

Hi Rick, thankyou for the kind comments. I love the whole hot rod and drag racing culture and really wish I lived in those times. The fact that the movie is based on just one night in California in 62 has always fascinated me. I was born in the wrong country at the wrong time

 

[Mini Me]

I lived your dream Paul..........Still have my high school Hot Rod. Yep a '55 Chevy hard top with a 427 c.i. Big Block. Rick H.

 

[yak face]

I lived your dream Paul..........Still have my high school Hot Rod. Yep a '55 Chevy hard top with a 427 c.i. Big Block. Rick H.

Come on rick !!! You cant just tease us like that and leave us hanging ! Pic please

 

[minitnkr]

I also, but went through a lot of cars. We had a racing team of 5 guys (Noodles Romanoff & His Band of No-goods) who pooled money & labor to run USAC & NHRA cars as well as our daily drivers. Traded my 57 Widowmaker for a 74 Vette I helped a friend build in 91 thinking it safer with more stability & better brakes, but the wife won't ride in it after walking home a couple times while I worked some bugs out of the fuel system. So it sits. PaulE