ERIC ELLERBUSCH
I’m Eric Ellerbusch. I was born and raised in Albany,
California, a city part of the San Francisco-Bay Area. I’ve
been a car enthusiast as long as I can remember. I’ve
always have had a mechanical mine set. Any new toy I got
usually lasted a day or so before it was taken apart and
modified some how. My dad got it but mom would get mad.
An older cousin of mine got me into model building
when I was 7 years old and I’ve been hooked ever sense. I
remember finding the first model I built in my grandmother’s
basement; it was a kit my Dad bought years before I found
it. It was the old AMT double kit with the XR-7 and model T.
The kit took me an hour to build and a whole tube of glue.
Models soon became a way that my Mom would get
me to take a nap or do school work. The fascination of car
models was a good way to get me to stay in one place when
my parents where shopping at the local mall. There was a
toy store there that had a wall of models and I would walk
back and forth studying ever kit I wanted to get and
mentally build it in my head while I waited for my parents to
get back.
In the late 70’s, I started building models for
contests at the local hobby shops. I started to win at ever
show I entered. Even at a young age, I new that winning
wasn’t everything. I just liked the camaraderie of the other
builders and the fact that I made friends that I still have
today. One of those is Mark Townsend, who back in the
early 80’s, started Nor Cal Model Car Builders Association.
This is around the same time that the NNL in Northern
California started up. I remember going to some in lunch
rooms at the local super market and school auditoriums.
The shows where like waiting for a second Christmas or
birthday. Then there was the model show at the Grand
National Roadster Show. This had to be the coolest think
for a young car enthusiast. You would enter a model in the
show and receive a day pass to pick the model up. Two
days for the price of one.
Around the early 80’s is when I started taking an
interest in lowriders. I had an old Schwin Crate that I made
into a lowrider bike. I remember riding it to the Portuguese
Festa’s where my older friends would have there lowrider
cars parked out in front of the hall.
In the mid 80’s I started to slow down on building
once I started high school, with the interest in the full size
cars. Even though I wasn’t building as much, I still bought
kits which soon became an addiction. In my freshman year
of high school I got a job in a machine shop, partially
because of my modeling interest. Once I started working on
the machinery, I was taking model pieces and making them
out of aluminum.
My true interest is custom cars from the early 40’s to
the mid 60’s. I bought a ‘64 Riviera in ‘94 and drove it for a
year before starting in on the body. First thing was to shave
off all the emblems and door handles. Next was hydraulics
to lay it on the ground, followed by taking 3” out of the roof.
Drove it in primer for a couple of years before buying a
house in ‘96 and parked the Rivi and started to finish the
rest of the body mods.
The house I bought has a small shop in back, which
was perfect for my models. Even though I never stopped
collecting models, diecast, and going to model shows, I
never really got back into building models until now. Since
joining a local model car club, the B.A.S.H.R.’s, and
checking out LayitLow model forums and the works of
Armondo and others on the site, I’ve decided it’s time to
come back out and play. I made my first set of Truscale
wheels 4 years ago but never built a car to use them on.
In the last few years I’ve been a sponge, soaking in
ever bit of knowledge I received from custom painters and
body men I know. Now I’m starting to put it all to work. The
first two models I’ve done taught me a lot about paint
techniques. I have a few more paint projects, and then I’ll
get into opening doors and trunks. My biggest
project in life now is my family. My wife Nicole and my son
Jeff. Jeff will be three this year and already shows interest in
cars and building models, and my wife has built a few
models herself.
California, a city part of the San Francisco-Bay Area. I’ve
been a car enthusiast as long as I can remember. I’ve
always have had a mechanical mine set. Any new toy I got
usually lasted a day or so before it was taken apart and
modified some how. My dad got it but mom would get mad.
An older cousin of mine got me into model building
when I was 7 years old and I’ve been hooked ever sense. I
remember finding the first model I built in my grandmother’s
basement; it was a kit my Dad bought years before I found
it. It was the old AMT double kit with the XR-7 and model T.
The kit took me an hour to build and a whole tube of glue.
Models soon became a way that my Mom would get
me to take a nap or do school work. The fascination of car
models was a good way to get me to stay in one place when
my parents where shopping at the local mall. There was a
toy store there that had a wall of models and I would walk
back and forth studying ever kit I wanted to get and
mentally build it in my head while I waited for my parents to
get back.
In the late 70’s, I started building models for
contests at the local hobby shops. I started to win at ever
show I entered. Even at a young age, I new that winning
wasn’t everything. I just liked the camaraderie of the other
builders and the fact that I made friends that I still have
today. One of those is Mark Townsend, who back in the
early 80’s, started Nor Cal Model Car Builders Association.
This is around the same time that the NNL in Northern
California started up. I remember going to some in lunch
rooms at the local super market and school auditoriums.
The shows where like waiting for a second Christmas or
birthday. Then there was the model show at the Grand
National Roadster Show. This had to be the coolest think
for a young car enthusiast. You would enter a model in the
show and receive a day pass to pick the model up. Two
days for the price of one.
Around the early 80’s is when I started taking an
interest in lowriders. I had an old Schwin Crate that I made
into a lowrider bike. I remember riding it to the Portuguese
Festa’s where my older friends would have there lowrider
cars parked out in front of the hall.
In the mid 80’s I started to slow down on building
once I started high school, with the interest in the full size
cars. Even though I wasn’t building as much, I still bought
kits which soon became an addiction. In my freshman year
of high school I got a job in a machine shop, partially
because of my modeling interest. Once I started working on
the machinery, I was taking model pieces and making them
out of aluminum.
My true interest is custom cars from the early 40’s to
the mid 60’s. I bought a ‘64 Riviera in ‘94 and drove it for a
year before starting in on the body. First thing was to shave
off all the emblems and door handles. Next was hydraulics
to lay it on the ground, followed by taking 3” out of the roof.
Drove it in primer for a couple of years before buying a
house in ‘96 and parked the Rivi and started to finish the
rest of the body mods.
The house I bought has a small shop in back, which
was perfect for my models. Even though I never stopped
collecting models, diecast, and going to model shows, I
never really got back into building models until now. Since
joining a local model car club, the B.A.S.H.R.’s, and
checking out LayitLow model forums and the works of
Armondo and others on the site, I’ve decided it’s time to
come back out and play. I made my first set of Truscale
wheels 4 years ago but never built a car to use them on.
In the last few years I’ve been a sponge, soaking in
ever bit of knowledge I received from custom painters and
body men I know. Now I’m starting to put it all to work. The
first two models I’ve done taught me a lot about paint
techniques. I have a few more paint projects, and then I’ll
get into opening doors and trunks. My biggest
project in life now is my family. My wife Nicole and my son
Jeff. Jeff will be three this year and already shows interest in
cars and building models, and my wife has built a few
models herself.