Monty

A tip of the cap to fellow board member SfanGoch for his recommendation. I wanted to find something better to replace an old Dremel that had never been a great asset, so I asked this board for their thoughts. He posted the model number of a 5-speed Dremel which would allow me to grind off significant amounts of plastic (if needed) without causing it to melt, which my original 1-speed Dremel was infamous for. Found a great deal on ebay and never looked back.

Problem? Is this thread making you feel pensive? 😄

If you know where to look, there'll be a 2-piece collector's set of them called the "Karen and Richard" edition.

I'd say you're right on track - diversity is everything when it comes to amassing a respectable collection of giveaway pencil stubs. The secret to profitable collectability in this sector of the writing utensil hobby is the condition of the eraser. Unused or only slightly used eraser tips can often double the value of a pencil. Also, don't overlook the smaller independent hardware/lumber outlets as sources for more stubs. Local = rare in the collector market, and luckily, so far at least, the Chinese haven't gotten involved in a knockoff pencil campaign, so prices should remain steady. A quick dig under the couch cushions and a cursory glance under the front seats of your car should yield enough cash to buy enough of these precious wooden treasures to last you two lifetimes. Best of luck with your collection. Your heirs will thank you (by pi**ing on your grave).

Fountain pens kinda have a weird reputation as toys for geeks or "grandpa stuff" but in an age where texting is one of the major forms of communication, a hand-written note in a vibrant ink color (dozens out there) can have a very positive effect. Although a few fountain pens require proprietary ink cartridges, most can use the universal ones, and almost all can be fitted with a relatively inexpensive "converter" that lets you draw the aforementioned inks from a jar into the pen. If you ever want to find out a bit more, there are tons of YouTube videos out there that explore some popular brands/models, and occasionally surprise you with some of their content. Some are showing how to not get taken by cheap Chinese knockoffs (ebay's loaded with them), and at least one showed that a particular Chines knockoff not only nailed most the of aesthetics of the original pen, it wrote almost as well, despite a price difference of roughly $100.00 vs $17.00.

I've had some nice ones over the years, and I've had some surprisingly bad ones (made by manufacturers with generally good reputations in the fine pen world). I had been looking at the Parker Sonnet as a possible purchase when I noticed that prices on ebay had fallen tremendously. They normally trade @ around $90.00 for one in good condition, and now I'm seeing prices below $20.00 on ebay for brand new ones - all from China, of course. Since Parker appears to have shifted production there, it kinda makes me wonder if they've cheapened the materials used.

Thanks for your post. I was also going to inquire about the use of the Tamiya weathering stuff, so I'll take you up on your offer.

Fantastic black finish! Works well with the red interior. Question: would you mind explaining how you made the seat braces? For some reason I can't get the plastic to follow curves like that.

If you happen to have pics to support your answer, please post them, especially if you can show comparisons.

I know my styrene surgical skills aren't up to the task, but I keep hoping that one of our more experienced model builders (MrObsessive?) will turn this kit into a full detail model with an engine. Kudos to the OP for a magnificent build. Let's hope Revell will reissue these again so we can all have another shot at it. In the meantime, here's a link to the caster who has grilles for other years etc for these cars. https://wylde.ca/canuck3d.html

Years ago, my dad came across a gorgeous used '77 Monte Carlo almost exactly like this one. Silver, white leather seats, red carpets and dash, black half roof and those wheel covers. It was a very comfortable cruise, and had some of the softest leather seats I've ever experienced. The one downfall was the stock 400 engine, which was in good shape and didn't have a ton of miles on it. Despite all the efforts of the best local mechanics, that thing wouldn't get above 14 mpg on the highway. I've heard there is a resin caster who makes parts for these MCs, so I plan to build mine exactly like my dad's, including the wheel treatment shown above.

Thanks for the info, guys. That universal formula's out there & I'm sure I can find it fairly easily. Dave G & Nacho Z, any pics of bodies painted with Folk Art you can post up?

I bought a bottle of this stuff at Hobby Lobby, but I'm not impressed by the way it goes on. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that I'm used to working with enamels. I assumed my Gunze Mr Color thinner would help, but it didn't seem to mix well with it. (There are YouTube videos showing this stuff working with all kinds of enamels, acrylics and lacquers). Ultimately, I'd like to know what I can use to reduce this stuff so I can airbrush it. Possible bonus: I placed a couple drops of this paint (#99258 Galaxy Blue), on a piece of white paper. While still wet, it looks a lot like early Ford engine blue before they started using every lighter shade under the sun. IIRC, the original color was called Corporate Blue.

As I understand it, Revell used the same chassis under its '68 & '69 Chargers, but changed to something different (front wheels are no longer poseable) for the '70 kit. I'm thrilled that someone finally got around to tooling up a modern '70 Charger kit, but I prefer poseable front wheels when possible. Has anyone tried using the '68 or '69 chassis or just their front suspension pieces under the '70 to achieve this?

Gotta agree with the others, nice build with killer paint. My thanks also for providing the names of materials you used, especially the MCW texture paint for the vinyl roof. Never even knew that stuff existed.