Tom Geiger

I like it! I'm a sucker for old light commercial subjects!

She's a cutie Erik! And she looks happy that you found her a car her own size! Hmmm... I wouldn't mind having an original Mini and Fiat 500. I wonder if they'd both fit in one side of my two car garage? BTW, my younger daughter has a new Fiat 500. My older daughter had to drive it for a few days last week and she said it was annoying how many people waved at her or commented on the car. My younger revels in it!

Absolutely a real Fiat 500. They were that small. That photo was from an eBay Motors ad selling the Fiat from a few years ago. I remember being in Rome in 1968 and they were all over the place, they made a VW Beetle look enormous!

Here's two of my models, both 1/24 scale. At first I thought one of them must be out of scale. Then I found this photo... Truth is stranger than fiction. Both the current Mini and current Fiat 500 are larger than the originals.

I'm not an expert, but first thing is that I would pack and ship the model and case separate, so there's not two pieces that could collide in a package. Next, I've been told guys will take the model and completely wrap it solid with toilet paper. Then place it in a box completely suspended in packing peanuts so it has no place to wiggle. The take a larger box and suspend the box containing the model in it completely surrounded by peanuts. I just got three built models shipped to me in this fashion (1/25 scale vehicles) and there was no damage at all, from Ohio to PA. I think a package going coast to coast wouldn't get much more handling since the majority of the distance would be in a plane.

Way back I said if I was in charge of AMT, I'd put a huge overhead door on the side of the design studio and roll in a car that would stay there for the duration of the project. Note that it wouldn't need to be a pristine example, just complete and stock so that it could be measured and photographed. Now with much of the work being done off shore, the tough part is that the designers and tooling guys have never seen these cars in person. They are working off photos and dimensions taken by third party people here in the USA. So there could be something lost in the translation when work is being done on two different continents by people who don't speak a common language.

Lookin' good Rich! I know the Edsel will be done before you know it. Great progress, it must be nice to be retired. I'm 54 and can't retire until I'm 67 1/2 so I'm jealous.

Lookin' good David! It's nice to see it taking shape!

I have one Revell 50 Ford pickup done and two on the bench... and enough parts to build several more. I have already built 2 AMT 55 Chevy pickups, planning on building a few more, I have parts to do 56, 57,58 and 59s.

Forget balsa. Everything I made using balsa in my early years has warped over time. I use basswood for everything now. All basswood and built to 1/25 scale exactly, built from old Popular Science Magazine plans

As you buy multiple units, check them over to make sure they are all the same. My father once bought 10 bookcases to line a wall and we found three different variations within the lot, even though they were all in the same box with the same stock number.

To counter Harry's claim that model companies just do enough detail to get by, I believe Casey's statement is more correct. Revell puts as much detail and quality into a new kit that the target price point will allow. That's the same as when Ford designs a new Focus. They know the price range it needs to be in and design the car to work within it. Simple economics. I do see Revell being very astute with their new releases. Note that they are producing kits of timeless subjects that people will build over and over. And tools that will lend themselves to future varieties such as their 32 Ford series and the Tri-five Chevys. We know they're already planning follow ups to the '57 Fords. They are making sure their budgets work with today's sales, but cutting new tools that they'll be able to sell for a long time.

Brett- Per your comments from earlier in this thread... what percentage of models would you say is sold to the 'organized hobby' vs the occasional modelers? I do agree with your point, a lot of modelers just don't get that. We are the lunatic fringe, that 1% not all different from those crazy Star Trek groupies. I'm glad you do see younger people getting into the hobby. I spoke with one astute hobby shop guy locally who says that he gets in tuner guys in their late teens / twenties who think nothing of plunking down $50 for a Honda kit, then spend another $50 on accessories and supplies. His point is that the younger guys aren't as stingy as we old guys in the hobby! I do see the model companies gearing up as the baby boomers retire. No doubt they see this huge mass (the largest generation!) who will have money and leisure time for the next 20+ years. That's why we're seeing subjects near and dear to us like the new Revell '57 Ford, '32 Fords and '50 Olds kits. And Moebius is chasing us as well with their 50s cars. I hope we're proving them right by voting with our wallets!

Harry, I don't believe the manufacturers set out to make mediocre kits at all. Take a look at the newer kits done by Revell and Moebius. They are just wonderful. This is the current state of the art. And for now AMT Round Two is making the best of the existing tooling. They've done some really creative things with these old kits, including terrific tires. Once they get to the point of having the bankroll to do all new kits, watch out! All three companies are run by modelers instead of bean counters like in the past. And as far as new kits, I think we appreciate a nicely done curbside. The Revell Wheels of Fire series is very nicely done. The mid 70s Monte Carlo is also nice and for those who want full detail, it can be mated up with the 1970 Monte Carlo kit for full chassis and engine detail. The PT Cruiser kits (wagon and convertible) are good too. I also like the late Lindberg kits like the Dodge Caravan, Chrysler convertible etc. No complaints on any of these products. We are well past the Palmer / Premiere days! The old tool kits from the 1960s still sell because of the nostalgia factor. We are rebuying our youth, and building models that we didn't build well back then, or couldn't get together at all. I just love all the old Tom Daniel subjects I had as a kid. It just takes me back. Some of the old classics are also done well enough that we are happy with them today. Take for example the Double Dragster kit, the AMT '53 Ford Pickup and many of the kits of that era. I could just build that pickup over and over.

I am the only male in my family (aside from the dog) with a wife and two grown daughters. As my girls were growing up, they each did the 'build a model with dad' thing but really had no interest. We even hosted the girl scouts with a snap kit as a craft once. My daughters are now in their 20s and still like to do craft type things. My younger daughter stayed with us for a month recently and I tried to lure her up to the model room with my scratch built camper interior. I thought I could get her to work on a diorama, no go! My wife has never had an interest in my hobby. We also are empty nest at this point. She understands what it means to me so she is respectful of it. She knows it's my sanity, my art, and the center of many of my friendships. It's never gotten in the way of raising our family, or money spent that we needed, so it has never been an issue.

I was thinking about this thread the other day and thought I'd add my 1:1 car unicorn! I bought a 1990 Dodge Caravan and I swear that car was haunted. It kept getting hit! We live in the suburbs so it's unusual to get a dent but every time I turned around this thing had a new one. + My wife was sitting behind another car at a light. A truck tried to make the turn into the street and the car in front of her backed up to let him, and backed up right into the front of the Caravan. My wife looked, saw no damage and let the person go. What she didn't see was the damage below the bumper. She creamed the front valence and punched a hole in the radiator. I had to replace the radiator. + My wife got a flat tire in a store parking lot. A guy agreed to change it for her. He put the car up on the factory supplied jack and removed the tire. Once he went to put on the new tire, he had to raise it a bit. So He stood the tire next to the hub and raised the car. The jack failed and the car fell down to the ground. The tire grabbed the fender lip and bent the entire fender upward. The guy ran away! I got the crying phone call, and had to go there with my floor jack to finish the job. Had to replace the fender with the two tone paint on it. + We were at a wedding. Came out of the church to find a tail light smashed. Someone had backed into it. Damage to the bumper also. + My wife was in a store, came out and someone had dented in the drivers door. And I know I'm forgetting something... there was more. Finally had enough of it and traded it in on the '96 Caravan we still own.

Really cool set of 'cruisers! I've always liked the PT. As close as I've gotten to owning one was renting one for a week in Florida a few years ago. I still check out the ads for used low mile ones. The best ones are usually in colors I don't want on a car, white or black. Now that I've seen your two tone, that could be an option if I found a black one! Too cool. I think I've got three resin PT bodies. A van by Replicas and Miniatures of Maryland, a custom that looks like the Jimmy Flintstone one but is much older, and the woody done by a west coast company. I need to just build them! Thanks for the inspiration!

The host hotel is Fairbridge (former Ramada Inn). We have a $75 rate there. The Parsippany Holiday Inn calls every year and offers us a $79 rate for the show. There are still a bunch of folks that stay there. Go to the NNL East website www.nnleast.com for more info. And don't wait til the last minute. We always sell out the host hotel!

The military was also a big buyer of crew cabs. I don't remember any Chevys, but as a military brat I remember seeing Dodge crew cabs on base. And since then, every one I've seen in the hobby started out as a military unit.

We seldom stop to realize its a miracle that the tooling of the kits of our youth still exist! Tooling that's survived in unorganized warehouses, untouched for 30-50 years. Business must have been very disorganized for this to happen. It wouldn't occur today with business benchmarks of managing every dollar of asset and square foot of facilities. And I don't think that we'd all be involved in the hobby today if this didn't happen. We all have rebought the kits of our youth, it's all about nostalgia and reliving those old days!

That is an R&D chassis. I got it second or third hand so it was all in the one box when I got it. I didn't know if it was all one kit or separate components.

Thanks Chris. The only thing I'd be worried about would be making sure the body color paint got inside the handle. Any wisdom?

That body looks great already!

Richard, in the USA your fire extinguisher would be mounted right next to the exit door. That's so someone wouldn't be running deeper into the building to get it if there was a fire. There would also be two extinguishers, one chemical and one water. Nitpicking!

Scale Motorsport did a decal sheet that was the Mexican blanket seat pattern. Ken Hamilton did a tutorial on how to make your own from thread in the other magazine a while back. As others said, you can look for suitable fabric, but realize that the patterns we need to work on a scale seat aren't that plentiful in full size fabrics. You can always find pictures on the internet and print your own. There are printable miniature sites for doll house builders. There are carpets and wall paper that can be done in 1/12 or 1/24 scale there. I printed the below carpet on regular printer paper and used it in this interior: