Mike Garland blames Paul Rowe, a west coast model builder. Four months from now he’ll still blame him.

Garland, a talented professional drag racing model builder, says it was a model built by Rowe, a 1/16th scale Pro Street/Pro Mod Firebird hybrid which has led him down a new path in his model building career.

His newest project is one of his most challenging endeavors.

Garland is presently working on a scratch-built project with a 1941 Willys resin body from Flash Point Motorsports. Unlike the standard model car kit, there’s no box with molded parts and directions.

Mike Garland blames Paul Rowe, a west coast model builder. Four months from now he’ll still blame him.

Garland, a talented professional drag racing model builder, says it was a model built by Rowe, a 1/16th scale Pro Street/Pro Mod Firebird hybrid which has led him down a new path in his model building career.

His newest project is one of his most challenging endeavors.

Garland is presently working on a scratch-built project with a 1941 Willys resin body from Flash Point Motorsports. Unlike the standard model car kit, there’s no box with molded parts and directions.

The only instruction for Garland is a set of Tim McAmis Race Cars blueprints for a real-life Pro Modified chassis.

“You can’t get anything for it, there’s nothing available on the market to even build this car,” Garland explained.

“I go through and get all the measurements from the blueprints then scale them down to 1/16th scale,” Garland said. “I cut the pipe, notch it and start putting it together from there. It’s all individual pieces that go into this chassis. “

Garland has temporarily put his project on hold for a few days while he finishes another Christmas model job for a client. When he resumes, he’ll crank up his plastic/resin assembly line.

“I’m building nothing but sub-assemblies for the Willys so each part is its own model car within itself,” Garland advises.

And just how detailed will Garland’s project be? The wheelie bars on the Willys will contain forty pieces alone. These parts are scratch built for now with a mold in the future.

Rowe, the inspiration for Garland doing the 1/16th Willys model, has been invaluable in his assistance.

“He sent me a turbo transmission and I’ve cut it up basically hollowed out the front part of it because I also have to build the torque converter and the flywheel,” Garland explained. “It’s got a Bruno Lenco transmission going in this car. I’ve been sent a ton of pictures of Bruno Lencos. I just started piecing it altogether and making it.”

A typical model car on the hobby store shelves retails in the $25 - $30 range.  The cost for one of Garland’s Willys coupes is in the $1,000 range.

Once he finishes the Willys, there are other projects in the pipeline including a twin-turbo 1969 Dodge Daytona.

“We are going to see if I can build a twin turbo car,” said Garland.  “I’ve never tried one I’ve got to make all the turbo parts and everything myself.”

RELATED STORY: MODEL CARS FUEL GARLAND’S DRAG RACING PASSION

 

 

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