styromaniac

Are those big "King Bee"-like headlights from the old Revell 3 Window coupe kit? I like the color & finish ! How did you find the Testors Extreme laquer paint? Rattle can? Ive picked up a few of their colors at close outs of local hobby shops that sadly went under...have yet to try them. ( kind of stuck on Tamiya but wish they had more exotic colors. ) I know they claim the "Extreme" line of paint doesnt need undercoat or multiple coats....but question that. Ive also bought their "wet look" clear...wondering if youve used it.

Ive seen this update of an old Renwal classic at the last two IPMS model shows Ive been to...in Richmond and Fairfax Va. Theres plenty of excellent glossy paint jobs at these shows...but I admire this one for its tasteful subtleness...a fusion of muted satiny champaign gold and coppery brown. And according to the builder its all Alclad ! Credit for this build goes to Keith Hudson of Silver Spring Md.

Splendid. A real eye catcher.

I rode along on a trip up the Peak awhile ago. I'd riden along on some pretty hairy drives in Colorado ( Old Railroad Rd, Million Dollar Hwy ) yet was quite impressed with the Peak. Unfathomable to me to take some of those turns at speed...knowing a poor reaction time & response will send you over the edge for a different kind of ride.

Another notable hot rodder who built models...guitarist Jeff Beck.

Geeez Bill...having a business tied into crappy mail service makes my complaints seem trivial indeed.

Babylon Bee had a funny pic of a few LA Police cruisers escorting a white Bronco hearse on the LA freeway.....

" There is an issue with your package "...LOL. No S*** Sherlock. As there has been with several others lately.

Speaking of which...it just happened again. The two magazines I purchased last weekend that they said were arriving this Wed...and then revised this morning to arrive Sat. ...now theyre claiming they are arriving on Monday. I suspect by day's end it will be bumped to next Wednesday

I'd be O.K. with that... if they simply stated a window of 3-7 days...but when they tell you its "arriving today! "...then its not...then it is...multiple times...it gets annoying. Makes it seem like they dont know what they're doing...or jacking me around.

With the loss of genuine hobby shops in my area I have relied on online services like eBay to acquire everything from old kits...to paints and modeling tools...and occaisonally magazines like Model Cars, Hot Rod Deluxe or Rodders Journal ( since my Barnes & Noble doesnt carry them anymore ). Up till now the post office has been pretty good at getting these things to me quickly...eBay was very efficient at tracking the delivery routes...I could periodically go online and check their progress. But in the last couple of weeks I've noticed that I am getting false delivery dates...claiming my package "will arrive today"...only to be followed by " there is a problem with your delivery ". In one case the package was sent not to Springfield Va zip 22153 but to Springfield Ma zip 01153. In another the package went to one location in Virginia, then to Dulles, then back to the other location. Yesterday I was informed of an imminent delivery of a couple of car magazines...only to be informed this morning " there was a problem with your delivery ", kicking it down the road three days. A seller in Florida thinks its related to how the USPS has changed its distribution system...consolidating some zones of delivery. I'm wondering if postal workers are confused...or even slowing down or mucking up distribution in protest. Anybody else experiencing issues like this?

I remember that craziness from my childhood days. There was an ad in Popular Science featuring a '55 VW Bug called the " Black Widow", driven by Roy " Mr. Pitiful " Drew of Kansas City. At a Tampa dragstrip in 1965 he clocked 168 mph in 9.36 seconds. A match race was set up with Tommy Ivo's four Buick engined " Showboat". The VW came to an end in when it went airborne at 183 mph 200 ft short of the quarter mile traps. Roy survived, the car didnt. Turbonique was the brainchild of aerospace engineer Gene Middlebrooks of Orlando Fla. He studied mechanical engineering at Ga Tech and worked for Martin Marietta on the Pershing missle program. His company specialized in very compact low cost gas turbines...fueled by isopropyl nitrate ( aka Thermolene )...a stable milky white liquid monopropellant fuel that doesnt require atmospheric oxygen to burn. When introduced into the combustion chamber at 600 psi and ignited by a spark plug connected to an on/off switch...the immediate result being an intense release of hot gases to spin turbine blades. Thermoline cost $3.50 / gallon in 1967 and was selected because it was easily ignited, clean burning, compatible with most metals, storable for indefinite periods, and comparably safe to high octane gasoline. Combined with Turbonique's incredibly compact and light weight turbines...they had the ability to deliver incredible power for brief intervals. But as many users soon discovered...there was too much power. Extreme tire spin...even on the best slicks of the day...made the drag axle equipped cars difficult to control. Full quarter mile smoke shows and flaming night runs with impressive trap speeds...but mediocre elapsed times were the rule, not the exception. Being based on rocket fuel and technology... safety issues emerged...particularly if the operator left off the throttle and then reapplied it the device would essentially become a bomb. After a few incidents and some fatalities NHRA banned the use of Turbonique turbines in 1967. In 1968 founder Middlebrooks was accused and jailed for mail fraud mostly based on the goods he sold being more difficult and expensive to finish and install than described in his advertisements. An appeal in 1972 was rejected. Middlebrooks died in 2005. Every now and then one of his many Turbonique turbines would show up on places like eBay. Now...where can I get a canister of Thermolene?

Thank you for the offer Jim...but I think I have my solution.

Its sounding like some of those Monogram Revell "T Bucket w/ Trailer" kits released a few times mjght be a solution. I pulled out the edition of the kit molded in black and tan with gold plated parts in lieu of chrome...the Uncertain T spoke front wheel seemed to fit the T Bucket front tire.