Atlantis 1/32 Tom Daniels Whiplash Funny Car
By Jacob Russell
When I was 10 years old a family friend took me to the iconic Lions Drag Strip in the Wilmington district of Los Angeles. The Pro Stock and Top Fuel classes were natural crowd pleasers but I really loved the Funny cars. This is no surprise, given my memories of Don "The Snake" Prudhomme's and Tom "The Mongoose" McEwen's Hot Wheels funny cars I grew up reading about in Hot Rod magazine and saw frequently on TV.
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Legendary car designer Tom Daniel has released a 1/32nd scale series of Funny Car kits aimed squarely at 1970s drag racing fans through Atlantis Models.
This review is of the Whiplash Chevrolet Vega funny car kit. The kit is pretty simple. It consists of 35 parts molded in silver, black, red and clear plastic. The chassis, molded in silver, includes the front axle, fuel tank, transmission tunnel, wheelie bars and seat harness. Other silver parts are the engine mount, wheels, supercharger, blower, butterfly scoop, front engine mount, etc. The black parts include the tires, engine and transmission and the rear axle. The detail is adequate and this would be a great model for children to build with their parent's guidance. Don't be fooled by the kit's simplicity, because that simplicity allows you to spend more time detailing and painting it. Why not use your preferred metallic paints (Alclad, etc.) and increase the realism of the valve covers, blower and the wheels? The integrally molded seat and their belts give you a great opportunity to practice your oil wash and dry brush techniques. You can add spark plug wires, fuel lines, a parachute cables, a more accurate steering wheel and front axle (one of the kit's weakest parts), etc.
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The body is molded in red and incorporates some rather clumsy mounts for body-mounted winglets that I would fill in and instead mount the winglets directly.
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The kit's instructions are well illustrated and feature a clear, logical assembly sequence. The kit decals look excellent with crisp, bright print and top notch registration.
This is a great kit to build with your children, or it could be the basis of a more detailed project. I'm a real fan of 1970s funny cars and I'm happy to have a go-to option in 1/32nd scale. I recommend this kit. I purchased mine at Skyway Model Shop (thanks, Emil).
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