David G.

I think that that's actually happened to me! 😮 I remember working on a Mustang and I was cleaning up one of the front parking light lenses, deburring it with a file when it slipped from my fingers and just... vanished! I was working less than six inches above my desk, I had a cutting mat down and a magnifier light lighting the scene. As I searched for it I remember thinking "Where the futz did it go?! There's no place for it to go! It should be right here!" Gone. That's okay, I left the other one off and just painted the holes where they went in transparent amber. No one even missed 'em. David G.

Here's my next subject of interest. The multi-piece body will pose a challenge but it doesn't look like it will be too bad. David G.

Wow David, those hinge assemblies look like they would require a keen eye and a steady hand. And patience, lots of patience! I I like your idea of modeling the side window and quarterlight opened. It's a nice added touch of "lived in" character. On the whole, the doors look great. David G.

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That would also work. But lacquer thinner has the added joy of being not only a paint solvent but a solvent for styrene as well. David G.

Spray cans of lacquer thinner labeled as "Clear Coat". David G.

Thank you Len. Now that I have the color where I want it to be, I'll have to sort out the markings. The kit comes with stickers instead of decals. 😕 David G.

Thank you very much Donato. That's a bummer. Thanks Steve, I appreciate that. David G.

Thank you Jim. You have some impressive building skills yourself. I really enjoyed watching you knock that Plymouth into shape. David G.

Wow Ken! I don't know how I missed this one but I'm glad I found it. Great looking chassis and engine detail, excellent paint and choice of colors. Beautiful work as always! David G.

That's a sweet little roadster! The woodwork looks great! David G.

Great looking paint and build! David G.

Hello Everybody! I'm still crankin' away on the Love Bug so here's the latest update. Ah, this is a little closer to the white I'm looking for. It looks like painting Tamiya TS-7 Racing White over a base of Tamiya TS-26 Pure White with the TS-45 Pearl White over top of that was the way to go. Doing that brightened up the Racing White and took a lot of the yellow cast out of it. The color has just a touch of that ivory blush, as it should. This calls for a celebratory mock-up! As always, thanks for your time and attention, comments are always welcome. David G.

That's a great looking Bug! Dual carbs, nice! 1776 CCs to go with the carbs? I once has a 1776 with a prog 2bbl. I loved smokin' Camaros with it. That really peed them off. I don't know much about the WC VWs but that's a cool looking Golf. I'll bet it's pretty quick too. Thanks for posting those pics, they brought a smile to my face. David G.

Impressive ambitions David! It would be fabulous to work those into your build, especially lighted semaphores! 😮 It's difficult to imagine more worthy subject for such a lighting project. David G.

Hello Everybody! Even through the distraction of my other builds, the progress continues. The second coat of green came out as well as I could have hoped. As always, there is a bit of cleanup to do. That will be a part of the polishing process. This time that is a shiny spot! More to come soon. Thanks to all of you who follow along and thanks to those who offer their comments and advice. I always enjoy reading your comments. David G.

No, I don't think you're missing anything Jeremy. Getting the proper amount of cement, enough to hold the thin strips in place without melting them. Getting the thin strips to stay in place while the cement cures. Doing all that without messing up the surface you're applying the strips to. Those challenges are pretty challenging and it looks like you've handled them all well. No, I don't think you're missing anything Jeremy. It seems like you just have things well in hand. David G.

Great looking detail and excellent weathering! David G.

Nicely done with the finishing touches! I'll have a looks for it in the Under Glass section. David G.

Wow, you been going to town on this one! 😮 Excellent work across the board. Everything looks great, Just as as one would expect it to. Thanks for continuing to post the progress updates, I always enjoy seeing them. David G.

Aw man, that sucks! I'm sorry to learn that. Do you have any pictures of it? David G.

Correct once again Bob. I do remember putting the 009 in when I built that engine. This was a 1971 engine with the dreaded "smog" distributor and 34 PICT carb. The vacuum retard on the stock smog distributor seemed to flatten out the whole advance curve and made the idle twitchy. The guy at the Bug shop I used at the time recommended swapping for the 009 and capping the vacuum ports on the carb. It worked well. It felt like it had a tighter advance at the top end and a rock steady idle with no timing flutter. Of course I compensated for the low end flat spot by over jetting the carb and over advancing the timing a little. But it was a lot easier to get them through emissions back then. I haven't built a Bug since that one got wrecked in 2003 so I'm sure my knowledge curve has flattened out a little but I still remember what a distributor looks like. Thanks again for the input Bob. You seem to be someone who builds and/or runs VWs. VWs have always been a passion of mine, do you have any current VW builds or projects going on? Cheers, David G.

Thank you Mario! I'm not in the least upset or feeling put out by the timing of the ambulance release as I always intended to get one any way. And as you pointed out, I had the pleasure of doing it my own way. Thank you very much David. Thank you most kindly David. Honestly, my feelings regarding AMT's timing on the release of the revised ambulance version are entirely positive. Obviously, I'm glad that they made the conversion and gave us an honest-to-goodness ambulance. The timing of that release turned out to be ideal for me personally; in the midst of my converting the Surf Shark back into an ambulance. Having nearly completed the conversion of the Surf Shark, I was at the point of having to find suitable livery markings for it. The decals provided in the Surf Shark kit were limited in ambulance-appropriate markings. The Ambulance kit had more than enough appropriately styled decals which I immediately appropriated for the Surf Shark build. This also worked out well for my future plans to build the Ambulance kit as a hearse. First, the hearse I have planned will obviously not need any of the ambulance markings. Second, having already built one version of this kit, I have benefit of the experience of knowing where its potential shortcomings are and how to better address them on the next go around. It's like I say, "Each kit I build is really only practice for the next one!" I don't think I could have planned it better myself. Thanks again for your kind comment, -D- Thank you most kindly David. Thanks Jeremy. Thank you very much Jim. Thanks Larry! Thank you L M! Thanks Garry! I did manage to get one good Ecto-1 built with a complete and lighted interior. I also have a couple other donor kits in my stash left from my first hearse conversion attempt. There may be one complete kit among them. Thanks Chris. Thank you David, I appreciate that. Thank you Jeff. I'm quite fond of them myself, beautiful machines they are. Thanks Greg. Thanks for filling me in on the origin of the stickers. I remember building that kit with my son... in 1991 or thereabouts. 😮 Gah, I'm getting old! Thank you all for your kind comments. Cheers, David G.

That would be great! It's most kind of you to offer Les. I'll PM you soon. Thanks, David G.

Hello Everybody! Thank you all for your help, comments, suggestions and support! This one is complete and has taken up residence in the Under Glass section. Here's a link. Thanks, David G.