E St. Kruiser50

Great job Harold . One of my favorite year Rivys and love the color .

VERY NICE CHOICE GREGG . A BRAND NEW 'VERT in paradise - doesn't get much better than that TRIPLE BLACK - YUM - NOW YOU AND HARRY ARE BOOKENDS . Bought a '67 390 High Pro Fastback in Dec. '66 - A ROCKET. MAN WAS THAT CAR FUN . I hope you enjoy yours as much as I did mine. Workin' on a next gen design of this body - A WOLF IN WOLFS CLOTHING .

Hi Scott OUCH_OUCH_OUCH (Us old guys have weak arms). Gotta finish up my scratch-built Auburn before I committ to anything else. Been puting it off for years , and now I'm close to getting it done, and very happy with it. The JPS car would be a fun easy project after the auburn is completed. I'll probably do several "EASIES" after the Auburn . Be about a month before the auburn is done, then I'll PM you, to let you know that I started the thread if that's what I decide to build next. Don't have anything else in mind right now other than this, so we'll just see. Thanks for askin' and getting in touch - dave

You could be right Mark, as they made several kits in this series, and this one posted as the original topic could have been the one that had it removed in the kit - been a while. The parts pic of the JPS Mustang, if that's what your referring to, doesn't show the changes I made to it. In the pics I'll include here I'll show the mods and explain them. In the first pic, a repeat of the parts pic, you'll see on both sides of the chassis, a three sided indent for the two black panels shown to be glued in there, to form the lower part of the chassis, and the lower side panel of the body. I separated these two parts where the make a right angle, so the side panel piece, and the chassis piece can be glued into place independantly, which also make the body a whole piece, instead of part of the body being attached to the chassis, which allows the body and chassis to be displayed separately, and align better when assembled. I added alignment plates on the lower part of the body, so the two slide together and fit really well - no guessing or fanagelling when your at a show. Also, you can see that the hood is still molded to the fenders, before I removed it. The body had several "Sink Marks" from shrinkage, that's why the red filler in several small area's. . In this pic you can see how the chassis is filled in on the sides mentioned, finished and then painted. In this pic it's easy to see how the body and chassis were modified, but not actually changing the stock appearance of the car. I'm not into these things being absolutely representative of the actual car, as some here are, so there could be some minor discrepancies from the real car. I build these type of cars to be fun, not nesessarily totally and perfectly indicative of the real car - but close. Here you can see the headlight recesses filled in so that the decals can lay flatter, and not have to deal with the edges of the recess. Some of Revell's decals don't work well on anything but flat surfaces, so I've learned to deal with that ahead of time in some cases. Also a strip of plastic was added to the front of the hood opening where the hood can rest, and I can install a hinge underneath. Planning ahead . This side view shows the side panel glued in place and also the front fender "Clip" glued into place also, as I wanted it assembled. Revell's idea was to have the body and chassis in tact, but able to remove the front hood/fender assembly for detail display. I changed all this so I could remove the entire body for display. This last pic shows the body with the hood and hatch in place. When I trimmed out the hatch, I had to cut through thr deck spoiler. I wanted the spoiler to over-lap the flat area of the rear top of the fenders, so I trimmed the small end pieces of the spoiler from the body and glued them into place at the ends of the spoiler on the hatch. Used some filler, and primered. The hood was originally a part of the front fender clip - all one piece, so I cut that out too, like the hatch, added some strips of plastic for the hood to rest on, on the under-side of the fenders, filled in the small seam between the strip and the fender with body putty, sanded and primed. Long answer, but hope it helps .

To me, these are very nice kits, and Revell did a nice job on them. As I remember, everything fit well. The #4 JPS seems to be just as nice as this one pictured. The body is attached to the chassis in the one shown here, but I modified, and re-engineered the JPS version, so that it's assembled differently, so I can display the body and chassis separately to show the details under the "Skin", or I can put it together and show it as an assembled car . Here's the kit I'm working on now. As you can see, I opened up the rear hatch like the yellow and black 7-11 car. I like stuff to move, so I'll hinge the hood on this one, instead of just being removeable, and displayed.

Every once in a while I get the urge to build a "Racer" . This is pretty much out of the box except for opening the rear hatch and hinging it, adding turned alum. engine pullys, a ton of Zeus body fasteners and using a different color combo than the box art showed (Red and White). I used urethane paint for the finish, used the stock decals with a catalyzed urethane HOK clear-coat over them, and detailed the engine and interior. Right now I'm building the Black and Gold "Finland version" #4 JPS Mustang - Got the urge again

No, But Ozzie and Harriet were .

Been their twice so far, and hope to go again. Drove there with a friend the first time, and met two buddies there who flew in from where I live. "GEEZE WE HAD FUN" . For years I had read about it - THE CONTEST . I got to meet so many people I had heard about, and seen their stuff in mags. Like at any contest, most were really friendly, down to earth guys, who just love to chat and share some about what they brought. And of coarse you have the few who are sorta "Snobbish" and look down on the rest of us "PEE-ONS", which just made us laugh. The main thing I found that made the whole event so great besides the contest, the people, and going to the museum, was getting to share it with really good friends. To me, the cool thing about the actual contest experience, is, besides meeting all the people, getting to see all kinds of amazing builds, and maybe making some new friends, is that, like any contest, you get to test your building skills, in this case against the best of the best. People don't just come there from all over the U.S, but from all over the world. A lot of times you don't know who you're talking to, and then something said will trigger a recognition, and then someone will say...."Hey aren't you....". THAT'S COOL. For me it wasn't really about winning, when I went, as I honestly didn't think I had a chance, but was really about how I "STACKED UP" against the big names, and what I'd need to get better, if I'd have a chance in the future. YEAH, I'M COMPETITIVE . BUT, when you go there, if your the "TYPE", don't just go there to compete, GO THERE TO HAVE FUN, at Salt Lake City, as well as the event. Lot's of great restaurants in walking distance, and a city rich in history, just dying to be explored and discovered. The huge 'Knarlly" mountain range that goes either direction as far as the eye can see, is just amazing. And if you have friends you're going with or meeting there, that can make it the best. My buddies and I ate all our meals out at some great restaurants. Several at the huge outdoor Olympic Village mall that was constructed there a few years before. To me, besides everything else at the contest, the AWARDS BRUNCH on Sunday morning is just "Sumptuous". The food is amazing, and the way they present the awards with each model that wins, being shown on an over-head projector, is really classy. The atmosphere there all Sunday morning is really "ROWDY AND FULL OF ENERGY AND EXCITEMENT AND ANTISIPATION, ESPECIALLY AS WE ALL WAITED FOR THE "GRAND PUBA" TO MAKE HIS GRAND ENTRANCE - VERY FUN. The last time I went, I got to be with Bob Paeth also, and spend a lot of time with him there, and gave him a ride home with me, as he lived only a few mile fron me, before he passed. Finally, if you do get to go, if you can, share it with friends, and make memories that you'll all share over and over again together, the rest of your lives .

Yeah, sometimes I just gotta go and have some FUN when someone gives me the opportunity . Circle track or closed wheel - not sure how it was designated. Like any contest, judges have their own standards - ME TOO, when I judge. I just buid-um, then set 'um on the table ta see what happens. Not sure how Mark and the guy's decide such things, but IT SURE IS FUN WHEN YA GO . Got a couple buddies in the area here, and we always go there together to spend four days being "ROWDY AND EATING WAY TOO MUCH". MAN DO WE HAVE FUN . Not ever very concerned about the awards at the time, just good for "bragging rights years later" .

BECAUSE ALL THE PIECES CAME FROM A NASCAR KIT, AND BECAUSE IT'S MY MODEL . HEY.....IT WON . Oh..... and thanks for the compliments . dave

Congrats my friend - ya got it . Pics turned out great and the truck is cool. Keep us posted on updates - dave

OK, how cool is this . Beautifully clean build, and of all things I love those "wrinkle wall" slicks in the last pic. Makes it look oh so believeable. REAL OR MODEL??

I wanted to share this as an example of how details can make a difference, and because I'm really proud of how well the hand painted graphics turned out. This Tamiya kit is a joy to assemble with a full engine, so detailing it was an extra pleasure, and the decal graphics are just stunning, and apply beautifully. The problem for me was the decals ended at the edge of the body instead of wrapping around under the various ending locations, especially where I opened the doors and hinged the engine cover to open and close, and at the wheel well openings. The edge of the decals were pretty obvious and unrealistic. After painting the car a white urethane pearl and laying down the decals, and clear coating, I decided to finish the decal graphics to wrap around and under all those area's like the wheel wells, door jams, engine cover, etc., by hand painting the graphics in those area's to match. I was really surprised how well it turned out. It's impossible to tell it's not part of the decal. I had already planned on there being a driver in the car as an initial part of the build. The driver and seat came from a NASCAR Bobby LaBonte Pontiac kit. The plan was to detail the driver as best I could, and to hand paint his drivers suit to match the beautiful decal graphics on the body. Never did anything like that before, but I'm always up for the challange . Anyway, the suit and helmet turned out beautiful, and I was awarded for all those little extra's . For those of you who love detail, here's a few pics, of a pretty stock kit with just some opening features and some careful detailing.

. . I came to the conclusion that what I was doing was hit and miss - LUCK - Sometimes good, other times not so much .

Hey Rob Glad to see you were able to post more pics - Except most of us "HATE THUMBNAILS" . When I first joined here, my posts came out the same way, but I asked for HELP on a thread I posted called "HELP", in the general section, and several members came to my rescue. I don't remember now how to make the change, but if I can do it anyone can . Hope to see more of this truck in the future as you've got great idea's and a good start on it - dave

For me, gray primer is a nice neutral color for doing body work, but for most bright colors I do as most car painters, and thats use a white primer, as a final primer before color, unless I want to tone down the color, then you can use a gray or for a black paint job, I use a black primer, to give the gloss black more intensity and depth. A lot of things make a big difference in painting. Air and paint temp. conditions, painting technique, brand and style of paint, and familiarity with the products you use, can make or brake your sucess.

I agree with everything you've said here Mark except this last statement of yours. I find that the final thickness depends on the technique being used, and the skill of the painter, like most any painting. For me, I love using urethanes, because it has so much more pigment than lacquers or enamels. I can lay down way less paint, and have way more crisp details and "POP" after the last coat of clear. But again, it's all in the skills and technique.

Hey Mike I loved the "Mud-Renault" video .

Lot's of opinions here, but there is a BOTTOM LINE ( At least to me ) when entering a contest. (1) If you don't like what the people do that run the contest - SIMPLE- don't enter. (2) If winning comes before having a good time, then you're building for the wrong reason - GET ANOTHER HOBBY. LASTLY, this is about the umteenth time this topic has come up over the years, with everyone sharing their opinions, including those never ever close to a contest ???? , and the same exact opinions always surface from a new group of people, then the topic goes away and we go on with our modeling as if this topic never came up . Not saying it shouldn't be discussed, or beat to death again , just funny how some things never change, INCLUDING CONTEST RULES AND JUDGING .

Mark insists that handling is a requirement for judging properly. When I took the Hollywood Graham there in 2007, and put a don't touch sign next to it, Mark tried to be polite, but was definetly "Ruffled" . Marks funny. Once he calmed down, everything was fine, and I won. Contestants aren't always the only one's with attitude when the pressure's on. Oh, about the across the board contest rules for every event no matter where - NEVER HAPPEN. TOO MANY DIFFERENT IDEA'S ABOUT HOW THEY SHOULD BE RUN.

Ahh George, there's nothing like the "THRILL OF DEFEAT" to drive you to want to win - TA GET EVEN .

That's a shame George. Yes we do live in an imperfect world, and things do happen. I guess my worst model building experience was right after I finished my best ever paint job up to that point in my young life, I was probably 15, I dropped it in the dirt when the paint was still fresh . Been entering model car contests since 1958, never had a really bad experience. Parts fall off sometimes, or hoods or other loose pieces fall off when the car is handled, and the judge doesn't always think about it ahead of time. As a judge myself in shows, I've been the same imperfect person and dropped stuff also. Not a whole car. It happens, people aren't perfect. The last few years, when I go to a contest, my stuff is displayed with underside mirrors, and a mirror behind the car to give a three-dementional look for the spectators and judges, and I ask them NICELY not to handle the car, just judge it as they see it. So far there's been no problem, except once years ago, and we worked that out to both our satisfaction. I recommend contests. If you don't enter, at least attend, as you can meet some pretty cool people, and learn alot by seeing what others are doing, take those idea's home and use them yourself. You can also learn quite a bit by talking to builders, and you may even make some new friends . The Knights Of The Round Table used to "JOUST" and compete in other feats proving themselves as men - Dueling in the South "For a mans honor". Men have always wanted to compete and prove their worth no matter how brutal or civilized the competition. It's the nature of our gender - the way GOD made us men. No different today. Model building is one of todays "civilized" ways for men to prove themselves - that's why all the squabbling and name calling on this and other forums - TESTESTARONE - and the desire to be noticed and be the best - JUST A FACT ABOUT THE MALE EGO. Competing, and being forced to follow the rules is healthy, but frustating, for many of us highly competitive types, and yes you can expect someone to get a "REAL ATTITUDE" at a show - he's a perfectly normal male learning how to act in public, and hasn't gotten it yet . Approve??? - NO, but I do understand. So, go compete, get beat when you think you should have won, and learn to be a goog looser and eventually start having fun - LIFE ISN'T FAIR, AND NEVER WILL BE - but if you decide to have a good time no matter what - YOU WILL .

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU .

Yeah, I got me a little guy ta help too, but he turned out to be a "Task master" . When he speaks - "I LISTEN" .

Fabrizio and I belong to the same club, and when he pulled this thing out of it's box, it just blew my sox off . I LOVE THIS KINDA WILD STUFF, and the pic's just don't do it justice - In person it's just CRAZY COOL . Glad you posted pics and shared it with everyone here - dave