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modelercarl

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About modelercarl

  • Birthday 04/06/1941

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  • Are You Human?
    yes
  • Scale I Build
    1/25 & 1/24

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  • Full Name
    Carl Gowan

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  1. Absolutely stunning! I have built all 3 of the Galaxy Chevy kits and they are my all time favorites. The work that you have put into both kits has resulted in two models that have established a standard that will be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve by others.
  2. I built each one of these kits several years ago. They were great kits to build, quality detailed parts and fit was excellent. The only thing I did different was to make the body accent chrome strips out of evergreen stock for a more realistic appearance. The kit pieces were just flat pieces of chrome tape. I had experience with two of these cars. In the late 40's, the next door neighbor had a dark grey coupe (bought new) and rode in it many times as she was the only one with a car at home during the day and often gave us neighbor kids rides to elementary school along with her daughter. The other was during my late teens. A local parts store had one for making deliveries and a buddy was a part time driver after school and in the evening. Rode shotgun with him many times.
  3. I am 82 years old and recently moved into an independent living place due to health concerns. Earlier this year I sold off 48 kits that I would no longer be able to build and got $1076 for them, an average sale of $24.90 each. They were all 1/25 car and pickup kits, mostly sealed and the usual Moebius, Revell, AMT and 3 Galaxie kits. I bought bundled supply of 5x7x10 boxes on Amazon and used USPS Parcel Select Ground for shipping (buyer paid $10), I did not offer combined shipping. Usual delivery was 2 or 3 days, average shipping cost was about $8. I never had a dispute and was surprised to get repeat buyers, always got excellent reviews. I was pleasantly surprised with the results, never thought it would be this successful. I think if you take the time and make good listings (at least 3 pics, accurate description, a few comments about the kits and ship the next day (eBay notifies you that payment has been made), selling a stash can be pretty much hassle free and reasonably lucrative.
  4. I built both of the Revell kits. The front fender detail was spread too wide when loose, but when you glued a brace detail inside the fenders it pulled them together into the proper position (width) and got rid of the problem.
  5. I have a whole different take on his absence. I even PM'd a moderator and thanked him, assuming he has been locked out of the forum for his many negative comments, his denigrating the youth of today, managers, women, USPS, eBay and many other people and factions. His constant use of vulgarities (or camouflaged) utterances which he KNOWS are against forum rules but keeps pushing the envelope as though rules don't apply to him. But the biggest complaint I have is his constant "doom and gloom" postings. For the past four or five days It has been a real treat to see the forum being used for what it is intended for, an online site that is intended for those of us who enjoy building plastic scale models of cars and trucks. And offers a chance to interact with others who share that hobby. Not for one individual to post their negative, offensive commentary, and derision of many people and entities.
  6. I have a Nesco food dehydrator and have used it exclusively to dry/cure MCW lacquers for over 15 years. I have it set at 105 degrees and leave freshly spray painted items in there for one hour. The items are ready for whatever the next step is for my building process.
  7. I have been selling off my stash since the 1st of November and am now about done. Sold 71 kits, primarily 1/25 scale cars and trucks. I used USPS Parcel Select Ground exclusively and the kits were delivered within 2 or 3 days except for 4 that seemed to be misdirected by USPS and they took 5 or 6 days. I quoted $10 delivery cost for each listing. Some ending up costing a couple bucks over $10 but about over 60 of them were shipped for less, most in the $7-$8 range. You have to be careful to enter the proper info when listing to avoid any hassle or problem with the sale. I used 2 lbs for the weight and bought boxes that measured 10x7x5 and never had a problem.
  8. I have had one of these models for years. I worked for a company that bought one to use for customer entertainment activity (shuttle to shows, restaurants, etc.) and used it many times, even for vacations with my family. Always wanted to take it apart and finish out the interior to resemble the company van. I came across a post by Repstock on here a couple of years ago. The header was "GMC Motorhome (Hess). I just did a search for that post and quickly gave up, you get 227 pages of hits! The search function on this is site is absurd! You might be more inclined to go through it or maybe contact a moderator to see if they have a trick that could make it easier to find. I contacted him and he was very willing to explain and send pictures of what he did with his model. He left the upper and lower body together, didn't split the body along the side molding. He cut the floor out. He then built up the interior components in modules and inserted them into the shell and glued them in place. when that was complete, he replaced the floor. I asked him if he reworked the floor pan as it shows a rear wheel drive but GMC motorhomes were powered with the Oldsmobile front wheel drive setup. He was aware of that but decided not to tackle that. Unfortunately, I can't find my file on this. I can tell you that the work he did was amazing! Having spent many hours in one and putting many miles on one I was very familiar with the interior of these motorhomes and he nailed it perfectly. I hope this helps or maybe gets you pointed in the right direction to contact him.
  9. Peter, The dollar figure is my total cash receipt after eBay fees. The kits were the usual AMT, Revell or Moebius kits that I had purchased from a variety of online vendors and eBay over the years. They will not send me tax forms as I have never furnished my SSN or any other information for that purpose (I did not receive tax forms for 2022). I searched completed sale info on the eBay site to establish reasonable costs for my listings, usually going to the higher past sales cost figures and used the USPS noted in my post to Kim and am satisfied with what I received for the kits. Was it full cost for the original purchases?, no and I never expected that. The big driver for doing the sales was to save my kids the task of stash disposal and recoup some of the cost while doing so. BTW, the funds were deposited in a bank account I keep for eBay/Paypal purposes only, in 2 business days max. I was amazed at that! I think that if you do your research and stay within the listing template parameters, eBay can be a worthwhile way to sell on eBay. I read that the proposal to collect income tax on eBay sales over $600 in a year was put on hold and was not enacted for 2022 tax year and probably for 2023 as well "while it is studied in more detail"
  10. I have read your post with some interest. I just turned 82 and have been a model builder for many years, enjoying the hobby for giving me the satisfaction of filling idle time while doing something constructive. Due to advancing age the eyes are not as sharp as they used to be, the hands are not as steady as they need to be, and I am beginning to experience the effects of arthritis. This past January I began the process of selling off my "stash". I did not want my kids to face this daunting task and at the same time wanted to recoup some of the cost incurred in buying the kits. For probably 20 years I have used eBay for buying and selling model kits on a limited basis with great success. I decided to use eBay for this latest task. I have sold 65 1/25 scale model kits (cars and trucks) for $1,534. An average of $23.50 each. You can go on the eBay website and click on Selling and this gets you into the proper area. A box will appear asking what you have to sell. Enter the description of what you are selling, ex: Revell 1957 Ford Hardtop, 1/25 scale, factory sealed, and a screen then opens with a template for a previous listing done by a previous seller. You can modify this template. If there is no prior listing available for this kit, a message will indicate so and a blank box will be displayed for you to re-enter the description. You will then see a template for you to enter required data to describe in detail what you are offering for sale. It offers many options, but you only fill in data that you feel is warranted to describe the item being offered. If eBay thinks that you might need to fill in a specific box that you skipped over. they will prompt you for the info. It took me about 4 or 5 listings to become comfortable with the process, but I was soon listing kits in about 10 or 15 minutes each. A couple of things that I did to avoid complicating the selling effort were offering shipping to the contiguous 48 states only, no combined shipping, and USPS Parcel Select shipping (reasonable cost and 2-3 days delivery) There are a lot of help buttons on the website (I think too many that can create confusion) but the process is relatively simple with experience. Sorry for the length of this post but I felt that you have a sincere desire to address a problem that I have gone through with success so I should share how I did it. Unfortunately, it seems that on this forum there are some members that have a real animus toward eBay and there has to be positive postings to balance the negative.
  11. It is too bad that the Galaxie car and delivery sedan kits are not readily available for builders today. I have built both car models and the delivery sedan and they are impressive models when built. Being 82 years old I remember these vehicles being around when I was a kid (a couple of neighbors had the cars) and the kits accuracy and proportions were perfect.
  12. Dean's Hobby Stop is permanently closed unfortunately. He was a great guy to do business with.
  13. I have been ordering my spray paint from Model Car World (MCW) for 14 years and have NEVER had a problem with an order. Timely delivery, good price, and EXCELLENT paint. Enormous number of colors all "spray ready".
  14. Excellent build! Colors are really eye popping! I built one of these as well and I shortened the frame 1 inch. It is the one modification that really impacts the final look of this great kit.
  15. The 53 Studebaker was my first. Worked part time at the local A&P after school saving every nickel and bought this on my 16th birthday in 1957. After about 5 months sold it because it was a 6 cylinder and bought the 53 Ford HT with V-8 power. Added dual glass pack mufflers, lowered it, dechromed the hood and trunk and put bubble skirts on it (had a blast with this one). Next was the 57 Ford convertible V-8 powered with Paxton blower, 3 on the tree, kept it pretty much stock (did a lot of drag racing from red lights along Telegraph and Woodward). The 1960 Pontiac Catalina HT was my last car before joining the Army in Sept. 61 (four on floor with bucket seats). Sold it a couple of weeks before for basic training. The 61 Pontiac Catalina was my first after getting out of the Army in August 64. The 51 Chevrolet was my parent's first brand new car (they had several 40's Fords before this car). The 53 Buick HT was the car I learned to drive on. Started with moving it in and out of the driveway, then around the neighboring streets, then driving Mom on errands. The 57 Buick HT was their next car (bought new) and I drove it for a couple of months during summer of 58 when it was available while my 53 Ford was in the bump shop for repairs after getting rear-ended. Took me about 10 years to find all these models and get them built, still surprised that I was able to get it done.
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