Kit Basher

Thanks, plowboy. To be precise, it's sort of a bucket/bench seat. I'll be posting a pic soon. I checked out your F150 before I started this one, I like it a lot. But you never said how you cut down the cab, and I had to wing it on my own!

My LHS has carbon fiber strips in a bunch of different sizes. The trick is to be able to afford them!

VWDave's method sounds good, but if you're gonna go there, why not real fiberglass? Check in the R/C section of your LHS, they should have 3/4 oz. fiberglass cloth, and various tapes. It's easy to use, cuts with scissors, and if you use 30 minute epoxy, you can lay in a bunch of layers before the glue dries. The strongest is to lay in progressively bigger pieces, so that it's thickest right over the joint, and feathers out to the largest area you can easily cover. You can do all sorts of cool stuff with fiberglass, and IMHO, it should be in every modelers tool box.

Inflation.

I give up! You guys are waaaay too cool for me! B)

Thanks, Mark. Like you said, a lot of them are self-explanatory. I just can't figure out this one. Hope you don't lose any sleep over it, I know I won't.

Thanks, Harry. "Cool" as in: "Hey man, that's cool", or "I'm cool with that" or something else? I've seen a lot of guys use it, but I've never been able to pull any meaning out of it from context.

What exactly does mean?

Now get yourself some of that sticky sandpaper I posted about in "Tips", and yer all set!

Thanks!

My truck has a receiver hitch, so I made this. Square brass tube, square and sheet styrene, and a little piece of aluminum sheet. The tie rod on the F250 is bass ackwards! It's even backwards from the way it's shown in the instructions. It should bend up with the steering box connection away from the axle. By the time I got it bent the right way, it was just about to break, plus I didn't like the way it was just hanging there in the breeze, so I built a steering box. Added back the floor pans I cut away with sheet and strip. Here is the finished frame. And the finished frame with the receiver hitch and spare. Advice and comments always welcome. nuff for now, more later.

Is this also the method for referring to another thread in this forum? I haven't been able to figure that out.

I'm a "returning" modeler: built a lot as a kid, then started up again after a 30 year hiatus. This is excellent advice. Seeing what the masters can do is totally amazing, but that doesn't mean it's easy. Learning the basics is the best first step, and I've spent a lot of time reading on this forum, to learn as much of that as I can. I've found it doesn't even matter what the subject is, if someone does good work and is willing to share how they did it, you can learn a lot. Reading is no substitute for practice, but it saves a lot of trial and error. I've also had to develop some skills that I lost or never had. A finished model, at whatever skill level, is something to be proud of, and can motivate you to do better. It seems like the folks here will help you do that, if you let them. I'm working on an ambitious (for me) build, and there have been several times where I've wanted to go one step further, but realized I just wasn't there. I think it's OK to stop at "the best I can do". Hopefully next time will be better. Sorry to ramble on, I, for one, welcome constructive criticism, and am glad you guys are willing to offer it. (But the "attaboys" are nice too! )

Couldn't be better! Everything goes together perfectly. Nice job!

Hey! I resemble that remark!

Um, er, ah, I think Pontiac is gone?

I'm a 50s-60s kid too. A few comments. The Mustang, and Challenger are throwbacks (or updates if you like) but nicely done IMO. I definitely like Harry's Camaro better than the real one. I like the new Charger a lot, and I also like the Magnum. I would buy a new Challenger if I had 50k I didn't need.

Yeah, I do that too, works great. If you want to be able to replace the paper on a stick, try craft spray adhesive. That will give a temporary bond. I also use carpet tape for the grits I don't have sticky back for. For body work, I put 120 on one side of a flat stick, and 220 on the other. Good for shaping and rough sanding.

If you can't find it at your local hardware or home center store, amazon has it, as well as most online woodworking sites.

If you're using Word, and just want to do text, check out "Word Art". It's on the list with "from file" when you do Insert, picture. You can do all sorts of wild stuff with letters and numbers.

Just a helpful hint. I use a lot of adhesive backed sandpaper. It makes it easy to make your own sanding sticks, in just about any shape. I make pieces of wood in the shape I need, stick the sandpaper to it, and trim off the excess. It works great for flat sticks, and I sometimes stick it to a piece of glass for a wide flat sanding area. It is readily available in 80, 120, 220, and 320 grit, and comes in either 4-1/2 inch by 10 yard rolls, or individual sheets. I know there's not much you guys don't know, but I haven't seen it mentioned, so there you go.

X2

I can send you reference pics if you need them.

Those look great! How funny, we start with Snake and end with Snake, and go from bogus to cool!

Thanks Mudpit. I'm working on an "extra piece". when I get that done, I should be able to finish the frame.