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Post by Chris K. Hale on May 10, 2013 12:51:30 GMT -8
Since Dustymojave mentioned a Cooper 500 in another post I thought I would post mine, I am extremely happy with this build, its a Herb Deeks resin kit of the Merit issue with some minor mods, I built a tube chassis and put it in after doing the body work, putting the top and bottom halves together and painting, so piece by piece into the cockpit. I machined the white metal wheels on my little Unimat , making them round, re-doing the rim edges and polishing them. The Norton engine is metal also and I polished some of it and added throttle linkage, the metal suspension had scratchbuilt shocks and brake lines added. A bit of detailing here and there and finished.. It was on display at Autobooks for about a year, Harry Morrow, famed west coast Cooper 500 racer was completely amazed at the accuracy and gave me the Formula Junior Autographed book that it is displayed on, he passed away shortly after. It has been in many magazines and has won many awards. For me it was a lot of fun, researching and building it.. At the So Cal NNL a few years back it was an honor to display it next to Dale King's scratcbuilt 1/12 scale Cooper 500 MK IX, two almost identical models in vastly differing scales...Chris      |
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Post by Patrick on May 10, 2013 17:05:25 GMT -8
I hope my 500 comes out as well as yours, Chris. A#1!
Patrick
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Post by dustymojave on May 12, 2013 21:27:29 GMT -8
Note that Dale King's 1/12 scale Cooper came out of his having made friends with Harry as well. Harry is also who I bought my 1st model car from. He also ran Willow Springs Raceway during the 50s and 60s. One of the driving forces of the Formula Jr. association in SoCal too. Quite a guy Harry was. As a kid I viewed him more as a sort of grandfather type person than as a business owner. At the races, he'd get out of his Cooper at the end of a race with a huge grin on his face like a 10 year old kid after his 1st roller coaster ride. The last Cooper 500 I ever saw on a race course (until Vintage Racing) was Harry's Cooper at Willow Springs.
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Post by Chris K. Hale on May 13, 2013 16:42:56 GMT -8
 Dale King Cooper 500 1/12 scale  Chris Hale Cooper 500 1/24 scale Funny thing is we didnt ask each other what Number they were putting on! We both used the #5... Chris |
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Post by Patrick on May 13, 2013 17:28:18 GMT -8
Hey Chris,
Remember the Cooper you found for me? It's so cute, but my best memory is my Grand daughter dry fitting the pieces together one night before I moved. It was a terrific moment in time. Her mom used to make dinosaur models and take them to the IPMS meetings when I'd go! Keepin' it in the family!!
Patrick
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Post by neckcheese on Jun 10, 2013 16:56:21 GMT -8
Super nice !!! - is this kit still available  Niels, DK |
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Post by Chris K. Hale on Jun 10, 2013 19:24:55 GMT -8
The plastic kit was put out by Merit many many years ago, Herb Deeks did the resin kit w/ white metal engine and suspension, they are both extremely hard to find. I found one for Patrick on ebay at a very reasonable price. I would say you might have better luck finding one over there than in the U.S.... Chris |
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Post by neckcheese on Jun 11, 2013 1:07:03 GMT -8
OK, thanks Chris, I'll keep and eye on e-bay for the both options
Niels
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Post by imsanut on Sept 8, 2013 13:36:01 GMT -8
O just got a built example of the Merit kit compete save the exhaust pipe. It'll get restored o e if these days as will the Lotus 11 and D type Jag built ups I've managed to collect.
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Post by Art on Sept 8, 2013 14:50:22 GMT -8
Both of them are spectacular. I remember seeing Dale's Cooper at the NNL a few years back and marveling at it.
Not long after I dug out a a book I had as a kid called a "The Model Car, Truck, and Motorcycle Handbook" that I looked at frequently back then. There was the Cooper, along with several other builds of Dale's, and it became obvious why it looked so familiar to me. I had seen it many times 30 years ago!
Now that I've gotten to know Dale I had him sign my book and he got a kick out of that.
-Art
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Post by neckcheese on Jul 12, 2015 16:03:10 GMT -8
I managed to get my hands at a Merit Cooper 500 kit and built is almost out of the box. The original was raced in Denmark in the late 50's:  more pics here: My blog - Cooper 500 Niels, DK |
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