AMT's Bobby Unser's 1974 Olsonite Eagle

Very nice. 

I don't have cable, so I don't get to see much racing these days.  Met Bobby one time- local SAE chapter had an event where he spoke.  Nice, interesting guy.

Thanks, Don, and mississippi. I wish they would do more Indy Racing here in Charlotte but there were three fans killed in 1999 and that pretty much pit an end to that. Honestly, it's pretty insane racing these cars at the speeds they do. I've been reading some autobiographies of the drivers and the risks they take are harrowing. Too much for me, honestly.

You really turn out some nice builds Karl. I'm not much into Indy cars but I am into sharp model building and this ones no exception.

Very cool open wheel 

mustang1989

You really turn out some nice builds Karl. I'm not much into Indy cars but I am into sharp model building and this ones no exception.

 

And crown!!

I am on a n "Indy kick" lately; working on the Penske PC-6 now. :) Watch for it in a few weeks...

It is sad to me that Indy car racing, along with USAC, has fallen so far in popularity.  I suspect it will be a long time, if ever, before we see a new Indy car kit, or any non-F1 open wheel kit.

Wow! That's a beauty! We don't see enough of these classic Indycars built. Nice job, sir.

Don Stauffer

It is sad to me that Indy car racing, along with USAC, has fallen so far in popularity.  I suspect it will be a long time, if ever, before we see a new Indy car kit, or any non-F1 open wheel kit.

 

 

I think that the sport itself suffered greatly from the USAC-CART split. I am reading Johnny Rutherford's autobiography and he addresses that in the later part of the book but I haven't gotten "there" yet. It promises to be interesting reading; the book itself is a GREAT read so far.

There was an interesting article and follow-up in the local paper here about the bad attendance at NASCAR races lately. It was interesting to read the comments---lots of people annoyed at the constantly-changing rules and the boring homogenization of the cars. THAT aspect of it really turns me off. The amount of similarity is disturbing--at the NASCAR museum here, they show a computerized machine which literally scans the car's body to ensure absolute homogenity within like, millimeters. All the "lights" are fake, of course, and the car is basically just one big, painted eggshell. I hate it. I used to see the classic days during the 70s when the cars were cool. Same with USAC--I used to go to see these early indy cars run at Pocono, and it was amazing to walk pit row and see all the coolr varieties, always changing year after year.

I also think the danger inherent in the crazy speeds they go now has hurt the sport because the tracks weren't designed for 225 mph with 40 cars running that--it's just insane!

DDonSS3

Wow! That's a beauty! We don't see enough of these classic Indycars built. Nice job, sir.

 

Beautiful build, Karl! The Olsonite Eagle is one of my all-time favorite cars, so glad to see one built so well.

I do have to ask how you did such a gorgeous job on the helmet? I'm assuming you meant you used Indycals decals, but unless I'm mistaken, the Indycals decal sheets for the 1972 thru 1975 eagles do not include any helmet decals.  Yours looks too good to be hand painted. How did you do the helmet?

And BTW, it's a good idea to listen to Don Stauffer. He's senior member of our model club (http://www.rpmmodelclub.com), has a wealth of racing knowledge, and has had models and articles in numerous model magazines over the years.

Cameron

flashman1957

Beautiful build, Karl! The Olsonite Eagle is one of my all-time favorite cars, so glad to see one built so well.

I do have to ask how you did such a gorgeous job on the helmet? I'm assuming you meant you used Indycals decals, but unless I'm mistaken, the Indycals decal sheets for the 1972 thru 1975 eagles do not include any helmet decals.  Yours looks too good to be hand painted. How did you do the helmet?

And BTW, it's a good idea to listen to Don Stauffer. He's senior member of our model club (http://www.rpmmodelclub.com), has a wealth of racing knowledge, and has had models and articles in numerous model magazines over the years.

Cameron

 

I actually DID paint the helmet by hand, with one caveat--the "Bobby Unser" letters are part of the decal sheet included in the kit; however the actual decals used are form IndyCar Decals, available on the internet. They're a better alternative and more reliable than those old kit decals, most of which were badly cracked in this kit.

I painted the helmet slowly, step by step. The eagle itself is a crude rendering, but it gets the job done. I just took my time and approximated what needed to be there. The stripes were a pain, but careful, patient painting helped me get there. :)

Well, I am in awe of your talent. Amazing work!

Cameron