Tom Geiger Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 I've been doing this on the udder board, and thought I'd expand it to the Model Cars Magazine community ... It's The Fifteenth Annual Holiday Model Car Amnesty Build! The idea is simple. Every year the president grants Thanksgiving Amnesty to a turkey. So I do the same to some long languishing model on my unfinished build shelf. I try to take some downtime between Christmas and New Years and it's an ideal time to get some model building done. I realized early on that I didn't have time to build an entire model in that week, but I did have time to finish a model that was maybe 50% done. So the Annual Holiday Model Car Amnesty Build was started back in 2000! Man that's a long time ago! It all started here. The Dodge Ramcharger was the year 2000 build. I didn't like the toy-like chassis so I had scratchbuilt an underside to it and put it away. So it came off the shelf, and got it finished. The 2001 car is the Fiat 500, another model that I did a few steps and walked away. I liked the idea of getting a model built during this special week, but also breathing life into those promising unfinished projects. So I kept at it. This has worked out great for me since it's gotten at least a model a year done! The only years I didn't complete my task was 2007, when I failed to complete the Volare Messenger Car, and 2010 was the year I moved to Pennsylvania and didn't have my work bench set up. Otherwise, I've been up to the task. Note that the Volare is currently on my workbench and I'm hoping to finish it this week. I have included a link below to all the vehicles I have done over the years. As I posted on the board, soon other folks decided to join in! I was honored, the more the merrier! Time frame - Some folks take off Christmas week forward with their last day of work being this Friday (the 19th), so figure our builds start on December 19th. The first workday of 2015 is January 5th, so that concludes our project! But don't despair, the rule is that if you haven't finished but consistently keep at it, you can work until completion. I think my 2012 1934 Ford went all the way until February, but most important, it got finished! And that's what this is all about. Now the big question on everyone's mind.... "What is Tom building this year?" Drum roll! The Trailblazer! This is an old Lindberg kit that many of you have probably looked right past at shows. But I was collecting little dune buggies and quickly realized this was pretty much 1/25 scale. These are so over looked that I have bought 3 of them mint in box for less than $20 each. It was also sold as the Tiger Shark, with different artwork. When I got my first kit I thought it was just something Lindberg made up. Then Norman Veber sent me scans from a 1961 Hot Rod Magazine. It really existed and was supposed to go into production. I don't think they ever got that off the ground, but per the photos in the article, they had at least one finished car and one driving chassis. It had a Corvair engine up front, driving the front wheels. I thought the Lindberg kit chassis was toy-like, but it duplicates the 1:1 pretty well. How cool is that? By the time Norm emailed, I had already conceived this project as a custom buggy on a Jeep chassis. I have a second kit to build one stock too. I spent Thanksgiving week getting this one just so far in 2004, making this project 10 years old. So it certainly deserves to be finished! Please post your project here, then you can post your progress in your own thread in the Workbench categories. Mention there that this is your Holiday Amnesty Build! So what are you guys going to finish this year???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belugawrx Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 What a great idea Tom! I'm in... I went to the lockup yesterday and pulled this one out.... I AM going to finish this,..hopefully before the year runs out. Thnx for the kick in the ... Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunkypeanutbutter Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 I'll jump in. I found my box of models from when I was a kid not long ago. I had a Scout in there, and that's what I'll make. I wrote on the side "House painting" and a phone number, in purple Sharpie on a blue body The suspension is gone. I'll make it a 2WD. Keeps it simple. The roof actually melted in places because of glue, so I'm going to cut the roof off. Going to be rusty and beat-up, and with the same idea: a house painter truck. I'll use the same phone number there, too, but no Sharpie this time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeatMan Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 Nice topic and good choices! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belugawrx Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Ok Tom ,..... Merry Christmas Who's getting amnesty this year? Cheers to you Sir Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Geiger Posted December 27, 2015 Author Share Posted December 27, 2015 I just saw this thread resurrected from last year. The funny thing is that I started out with the idea of finishing the Trail Blazer but changed horses when a friend kept on me about finishing the Volare messenger car. That one seriously needed completion and got finished! It won best Light Commercial at the Liars show in NY this year!This year I'm working on the 1960 Plymouth airport limo. We'll see if I can finish it after at least a dozen years! I do have a build thread going on this board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.