Lunajammer

The most impressive simple coating I've personally seen over chrome lights is clear 5-minute epoxy. If it's a carefully applied blob, it also adds a little dimensional depth. Never done it myself though.

Mine finally arrived today (9/15/21) in Fargo, ND. Almost three weeks after the first deliveries. 😐 Glad to get it!

Beautiful bike! Until recently I commuted one mile to work through residential neighborhoods. I always wanted one of these for that short trek. It's a good brisk walk but too time consuming. Too cumbersome to pull out and warm up my 1100 Shadow for a two minute ride down a couple streets. A scooter would be perfect, but my conscience kept saying if it's close enough to scoot, it's close enough to pedal my bike. So, obviously, no Vespa. ☹️

That's always been my crude measure as well... the idea that, generally speaking, the cost of living is ten times more now than 50-years ago. It sort of works across the board, with many exceptions of course. I started building 1/25 scale cars in the early 70's and I recall the prices being about $2.25 a kit. We're a little higher than ten times that right now, but the market is a lot different too, per points already made above.

Hmm. I didn't realize those were collections of kits. The Super Digger Dragster seems pricey. I assume it's 1/16 or better and maybe motorized. It looks like it could be on an actuator box that maybe spun wheels and raised a wheelie? I'll bet someone here had one.

I'm gonna throw the BS flag at the "scant $8,500 invested" line. Minus $1,600 for the nascar chassis, he built it for $6,900 which includes a clean LS engine, A/C all electronics, nascar parts, wheels, tires, etc. Yes, they scrounged a lot, but even the bird nose and fender vents won't be had for just beer and a handshake. More accurately might be other people invested the rest, just not their own wallet.

After finding these Spiegel catalog pages for sale on Ebay, I explored 1971 prices against 2021 prices using an inflation calculator for US dollars. This obviously doesn't take into account advances and efficiencies in model production. The online calculator estimates a 574.1-percent increase in the cumulative rate of inflation. This list is drawn from the prices shown in the ads. Do you think todays prices are, on average, comparable to what was paid 50 years ago? MODEL IN AD. 1971 AD PRICE. 2021 INFL. PRICE Freaky Riders $4.98 $33.57 Wild Bunch $5.88 $39.64 Corvair Trike $4.98 $33.57 Super Digger Dragster $7.98 $53.79 Snoopy Duo $5.88 $39.64 Customized Fun Cars $5.97 $40.24 (or typical 1/25 kit) Wankel Rotary Engine $4.44 $29.93 X-Acto Tool Kit $5.98 $40.31 16 Piece Testor Kit $3.98 $26.83 American LaFrance Fire Truck $7.98 $53.79 Fruehauf Tractor/Tanker $8.98 $60.53

So you're pretty much saying this was your gig.

That's a masterful job, no matter what!

If I may take the liberty, I would have to answer this in the reverse. 20-years of working in Photoshop every hour of every day has benefitted my model building. Using the Photoshop airbrush has trained my eye regarding color blending, pressure, coverage and technique. For as little as I use my Badger airbrush, I feel like I go to the single action tool with a certain degree of unearned knowledge and comfort.

Ya know... THAT is not an unreasonable concept for a comic book Batman. It's easy to see that being featured in a 60's era print.

Lots of reminiscing over the fondest of memories here and lots of boasting of how people today awe over the best preserved classics. Fact is though, almost none of those creamy classics today are year round daily drivers serving every need of every day. Ten years after those cars were new they were hauled to the dump as rusted out, busted down garbage. I love them too, but today I can't even afford a car until it's ten years old and then I drive it another ten years. Love 'em or hate 'em, they reliably last far beyond what the old cars did.

Wow, what a massive project. I respect your stick-to-it-ivness. Looks great.

Hey, some of those ancient multi piece body kits have great potential and with basic modeling care can look wonderful. I think yours shows that. Worth the restoration effort.

Cool build. With a few additional doo dads it's no stretch to see this as a batmobile.