Jump to content
Model Cars Magazine Forum

Jairus

Members
  • Posts

    2,847
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Jairus

  1. Fantastic as always plus coverage of GSL XXV. How Bill Coulter got on the cover is a mystery tho... ha! (Joking Bill) Nice issue and well worth the purchase.
  2. Sweet! Sounds of "Lynyrd Skynyrd" are playing in my head right now. (Turn it up!)
  3. Moebius and many others go to China now for molding, printing and packaging. China charges much less. Galaxie LTD started in Korea during 1998 because that is where Tamiya and Fujimi were going for the best and cheapest molding processes. That was then, this is 16 years later and moving the molds to China would be more expensive than simply going with Korea and the same manufacturers (quality) as in 1998. Management felt it was the best alternative.
  4. Just as an aside. Gary sent some test shots of the coupe to Jimmy Flintstone months ago. So hopefully a nice chopped version will appear on Jimmy's site now that Galaxie LTD kits have arrived on our shores after a VERY LONG wait.
  5. Not exactly auto related, but I did scratchbuild a "Tardis" and "Doctor Who" character over the weekend. Pop quize: Anyone know which doctor?
  6. Also... adding people to the front seat helps. Never understood why nobody adds figures to their builds as it provides tons more realism to the image than getting the firing order on the 283 correct.
  7. Looks great overall. Nice choice of rolling stock and the weathering... while a little harsh is still believable. My only suggestion (not a criticism exactly) but the windshield glass is too thick to be convincing. One suggestion is to vacuum form that piece with thinner material. But the easier option is to mask off the wiper tracks and hit it with a bit of dull coat or light tan. (In the past we used Floquil "dust" but that doesn't exist any longer.)
  8. The real name for this body is "Berry Mini T". Google that if you want pics of the real thing. "Hot Rod Cartoons" Magazine editor in 1970 built one in his garage and featured the progress in various articles in the mag for many issues after. The cockpit is tight to be sure, but I think you might be onto something regarding AMT. They tend to make old molds work rather than make new molds. Seems the original Berry Mini T used a slightly longer wheelbase (80") than did the Myers Manx. Remember that all those fiberglass 1 to 1 kits required YOU the builder to provide a complete Volkswagon chassis pan and shorten it to fit the body as per instructions. Ha!
  9. It's not a Hydro. It's a flat bottom drag boat. Never understand why they used that name... But nice to see they used my decals. Shame they didn't use the artwork.
  10. Short story is that getting the coupe correct was the big problem. During the past 15 years Korean manufacturing went from interpreting drawings to laser scanning 3D models to make molds. Galaxie LTD spent a lot of time and expense making drawings and photos available to the Koreans and all the test shots were way off!!! So Gary took the test shots to his master builder who modified them and sent the model to Korea who scanned it and made new molds. This took quite a few years to do but I told you it was the "short story". The long story would take Gary to tell you all the little back and forth details. Also.... there was the west coast long shore men's strike, the cold winters in Korea where they shut down everything for 4 months of the year. The kits also contain a few new parts like drag tires and completely new decals.
  11. All '57's and '58's came with a heater. The differences were the deluxe models had a fresh air intake and a 3 speed fan. This became the standard later and is what is molded into the AMT dash. But the standard heater from '49 to '58 was a single knob on the dash in place of the heater controls. Twist and it provides power for a two speed fan. Pull out and it opens a door to blow air to the defroster vent. No fresh air intake and no temp setting. The hot water circulates through the core all the time. Unless it was optioned in, most Custom 300 models would receive the standard heater shown.
  12. I use both. Depends on the application. Brass is stronger so brass hinges are better than plastic hinges. Brass door panels can be made a realistic thickness where styrene cannot.
  13. A model car is just an illusion of the real thing. Adding ALL the wires and plumbing needed to make it work doesn't make it an actual car. So... all that's needed to make the illusion convincing is to put enough detail to convince the eye that it's all there. And a modicum of realistic weathering will cover up a ton of details left out anyway. In some instances only a hint that the details are present is enough to convince. Details like plug wires are only needed if they are visible on a real engine. But things like Generator/Alternator wires are not necessary unless they are on top and in plain view. Many times one can fake the illusion by bundling wires and simply running them around the engine compartment in a realistic way with-out taking the time to match up color. Concentrate on what is clearly visible and forget the harder to see oil pressure sending unit wire. Because nobody will see it anyway.
  14. I think Harry is onto something!
  15. Welcome Mike! Wondering why it took so long?
  16. If any of you guys bothered to subscribe to the Model Cars Magazine ( the source that provides this play room) you would see that I did a Sketchpad article about the very subject of this thread. Too bad few of you will pay the entry fee. But, I will post a picture of this street rod I started quite a few years ago. Revell '32 Roadster frame with Monogram wheels and tires. The engine is a scratch built replica of a General Stuart medium battle tank. Tried multiple positions and never finished it. Shame you guys won't see the cool Sketchpad article tho....
  17. A lot of missconceptions and ignorance on this thread. Some have posted wise knowledge, but most have ignored the obvious. The cars started out with technology not any different from VW, BMW and Mercedes. (The swing axle.) But that tech was changed by 1964. What killed the Corvair was not the book by Ralph or any technical issue like poor manufacturing. It was the simple issue of repair costs. The cost to repair a car totally unlike any other machine on the road was much higher than the average Nova or Falcon. So the cars were quietly phased out. Technically the suspension, electricals and mechanics were not any different. They even rusted in the same locations as all other uni-body cars of the era. It was simply that a mechanic down at the Texaco station charged more to repair a car with an aircooled aluminum block engine than they did a cast iron block water cooled engine. Period dot!
  18. Oh, and I probably shouldn't be posting this. But, test shot coupe bodies (more than one I am told) were delivered by special courier to Jimmy Flintstone. So we can expect chopped tops and convertible resin options very soon. Because his master makers are the best in the business!
  19. Thank you Mark! I was hoping the box art would answer the question. But here is a test shot of the wood framing, and it fits perfectly. The decals that Mr. Jones produced are spot on beautiful! (as usual)
×
×
  • Create New...