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Matt Minnichsoffer
36 articles

Case VAI – 1:35 Thunder Model

January 14, 2019 · in Automotive · · 13 · 2.5K

I built this kit before Christmas and it was fun mainly because my dad owned this . Not the VAI, but VAC (row-crop version). My Grandpa always said he would give it to me, but then sold it. He said. "I wasn't going up fast enough to enjoy it" So it got sold…

This is the military kit, but I built it as the farm version, which did exist in it's Flambeau Red livery. Other than adding the plug wires and three black hood stripes, the kit is out-of-the-box. Just a fun little piece of family history I had to build. And I mean little. At 1:35 this thing is the same size as a 1:35 Jeep.

I wanted to do this tractor in a "fully restored" state, not weathered. This is what they look like at our local threshing show. Just like they rolled off the assembly line in the late '40s.

Cheers Gang, keep building.

Reader reactions:
11  Awesome

3 additional images. Click to enlarge.


13 responses

  1. That looks great Matt. Really nice looking! I recently added one to the stash. Now I know what it's supposed to look like when finished. 🙂

  2. awesome...love it

  3. Very nicely painted, very realistic! And you still have eyes & hands for such wonders in such a small scale (I used to love the 1/35) . Congrats!

    Cheers!

    Dolf

  4. Nice, clean build...good work.

  5. It was a good idea to follow your family history and change it to a civilian version. I also like this restored style and I agree: it is a perfect cleam build. Congratulations!

  6. Hello Matt,
    Congrats with this nice build of a piece of history.
    Regards, Dirk

  7. Nicely done Matt, and I'm sure it was a nice trip down memory lane when building her.

  8. That looks awesome. I restore and collect antique tractors with my father, including an Oliver 70 Row Crop, an Oliver Super 88, and a McCormick Farmall M (I dont remember if the Farmall goes first or the McCormick)

    • At that point in history the McCormick comes before Farmall, so you got right Jordyn. I wish the model manufacturers would make more tractor kits. They'd sell like hotcakes

      Thanks for the kind words gang!

  9. Beautifully done, Matt. For my money, I love models with a personal connection. This is superb.

    ‘Liked’

  10. 🙂 … Greetings … 🙂 :
    A very good and refreshing model Matt .

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