Bryce Michelmore builds and modifies scale kits of hot rods and custom cars from the '50s and '60s in his suburban Melbourne garage.
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"My passion for building scale model cars, mostly HOT RODS and customs from the ‘50s and ‘60s, started when I was a child. My brother and I used to get scale model cars as Christmas presents and we always enjoyed building them. When I was in my early teens I found a copy of Scale Auto Magazine and I realized that adults did this as well! Finding that magazine really ignited a passion in me to build replicas of famous cars and cars that inspired me in the real world.
"I think things got really interesting for me when I realized that you could buy aftermarket parts to give your model cars extra detail. I noticed that people were scratch building their own parts using techniques such as resin casting and the creativity inherent in that got me motivated to try and do some of that myself. The idea of making something that doesn't exist, making something from scratch yourself, creating a truly unique part of a car really motivated me.
"Back in the early days of my model building, most of the kits were American cars, which matched what we were seeing in magazines such as HOT ROD and Custom Car. My dad was into American cars so most of those things were familiar to me. It was quite difficult to get kits of Australian cars, so they were never really on my radar. American cars are more common, so therefore American car kits are more popular in the modified car world.
"The model car building has very much evolved over the years from being a personal hobby and passion. Social media has allowed me to share what I’m doing with a much broader audience. It’s allowed me to interact with people who want me to make replicas of real cars, or better still, owners of real cars that I have replicated. It’s an amazing thing to get feedback from the person who might've inspired a model when they say that they really liked the model that I’ve built. I meet people who might want to buy a model or people who are happy to commission a build as a gift or for their own personal collection.
"Inspiration usually comes from something I've seen either in a magazine or online. I'm very much motivated to create something new or unique that doesn't exist, I like a good creative challenge to solve.
"When I begin a project, sometimes it starts with a kit that I’ve bought and sometimes it starts with an idea and then I try to find something that'll work for that. Most of the time I'll start with something existing and then modify that to work. What I want doesn't always exist, so in that case, I have to make things. If I’m trying to replicate a specific car and a part doesn’t exist, then generally I'll try to build it. If I need more than one of that part I might make a copy using a silicone mould and then casting resin. I've done that with tyres, with wheels and with other small parts that I use multiples of. For example, one of the current challenges I'm working on is resolving a 1949 Caddy grille for a Chevy custom that I'm building. Nothing exists in kit form for that, so I'm trying to modify an existing grille and create parts from scratch that make it look like the real thing. This can involve all sorts of challenges in terms of getting the right shapes and modifying things to have the right profiles. I find myself spending infinite amounts of time just making something work.
"Part of the joy for me in this hobby is that I find it very meditative. It's a great creative outlet, and when I'm heavily involved in a project, I get a lot of mindfulness out of it. Sometimes if I've had a stressful day, I come out to the shed and sit at the bench for a couple of hours and all of my energy is focused on one particular small part or project. I find that to be really good for mindfulness. I also get a lot of satisfaction out of sharing the finished results on social media with other people that are involved in the scale model community and the broader car community. There's nothing more rewarding than someone who receives one of my models as a gift, a replica of their real car. The joy in the idea that someone's going to cherish something I've built forever after is very rewarding."
-Bryce Michelmore