Jim N

Back in the day, guys suffered permanent and serious illness from painting without a respirator or a paint suit. Now they are pretty much required in the 1to 1 shops. Given the reaction you had, I think you should wear a mask whenever you paint or clean up, particularly since this sounds like it has happened before.

I like Graveyard Carz, Detroit Muscle and Gearz.

Very cool!

Looks superb!

Very nicely done! I always thought that was the most beautiful generation of Cutlasses GM ever produced.

Your model looks real good. I did the same thing and liked the result.

Believe it or not, we are still the world’s largest manufacturing country. The reason we don’t see it is because these companies do not make the things we buy. Companies like Boeing, Caterpillar and Deere are very big here and in the export markets. While these are manufacturing jobs, they require a skilled labor force to do the jobs. Having stated that here is the rub. The benefit of having a broad manufacturing base is that it allows our under educated and uneducated population an opportunity to live a middle class lifestyle and put their kids in college, which allows inter-generational progress. This is what has made this country the powerhouse it has been for a lot of its history. The other problem that is compounded by not having a broad based manufacturing sector is that if we look at the high school graduation rates in many parts of this country, it is appalling. We have large cities where the graduation rates are well under 50%. This in turn leads to a large number of people who have little to no skills and cannot find jobs that will help them move up the economic ladder. The move toward the economy we have now started in the 1950’s. It gained some traction in the 70’s and then took off in the 90’s. The economy we have now is what a lot of people feared would happen, but our elites told us that all would be fine. Well most of us now know it is not fine. Our standard of living has been in decline for almost 20 years. The median wage in this country in 1999 was around $60,000.00 and the last measurement I saw it is in the $52 - $53,000.00 range. This data might be a year or two old. But one cannot say we have much improvement when our labor participation rate is stubbornly stuck at about 62% The sad part is that I am not sure we have the will as a country to turn this around. Neither political party has the stomach for the effort it will take, nor am I sure the public can find the necessary common ground to force the required change based on how divided the country is.

I really have a difficult time understanding the angst with this auction. All of us buy things most every day. If the seller prices the item in line with what we are willing to pay, we will buy it. We will look for a substitute item or forego the purchase altogether if the price is too high. This seller has a fifty year old item and thinks it’s worth $300.00. If he gets that price, then bully for him. If he does not get that price, then it should be an indication he has it priced too high and should lower the price. Time will tell.

Looks real good!

He may be trying to replicate race damage. As I recall, Jr.'s car got beat up a bit in the 2014 Martinsville race. You are off to a nice start on this one.

When I was a teenager, I really liked the Gatorade McLaren Indy car. I bought it and never finished it as it was far beyond my skills. About 10 years ago, I found the kit on Ebay and bought the Fred Cady decals for the kit. It almost beat me again. It took a lot of work, but I finished it and it looks pretty good.

Hubris seems to be something that is hard wired in humans. We tend to think we are greater than we are and need a kick in the pants to find out that we are not as wonderful as we think. Self-driving cars, which is a component in the wider universe of the internet of things will be next. We once thought a ship was unsinkable and it sunk on its maiden voyage. We once thought it was safe to put civilians in space and then a space shuttle blew up. We will find out that the internet of things is not all that it’s cracked up to be long before self-driving cars hit the roads in large number. I saw a commercial the other day for a television show that I do not remember, but the person doing the voice over for the commercial stated that the most dangerous person in the world is a hacker who is bored. That may be a bit over the top, but one day soon a car will become a 1.5 – 2 ton brick because a hacker will render it useless. A home with a thermostat that is internet capable will be hacked and the home’s HVAC system will become non-functional. If this happens to a few cars or homes it will be a blip in the news. However, if the hackers can do this on a wide scale, it will cause mayhem. Only then will the hubris surrounding the internet of things and the sliver that is the self-driving cars will be put in its place.

With this like a lot of other modelling matters, it comes down to personal preference. I have used Future for over 20 years and it has never yellowed over white paint. When I use white paint, I make sure it is a lacquer. Lacquers seem to have gray pigments in them. The enamels I have used have had yellow pigments in the paint and these cars yellowed with or without the Future. As far as using an airbrush and runs, you may have to dial back the flow of the Future or move the airbrush further away from the model. I spray with a medium flow and make sure the airbrush is about 6 – 8 inches from the model. I then spray light coats and wait 20 minutes before spraying another coat. It will take about an hour to an hour and a half to build up the Future.

Very nice looking model!

Unfortunately, this happens every time there is a race decided on fuel mileage. These comments are made in NASCAR too. I give that team all of the credit in the world. They saw early in the fuel run that this was the only way they could win the race. They followed the strategy and events fell in their lap. Had there been a late caution or if the pit cycle had fallen where the fuel would have taken the field to the end of the race, this would have been moot. I think this is a much harder way to win a race than people give them credit. Rossi had to make sure no one passed him and then drive so that he saved every drop of fuel he could. Race car drivers are conditioned to go as fast and make the car go as fast as it possibly can. It takes a lot of discipline to drive a car in this manner.

A bottle of Future will last a long time if you keep it in a cool, dark place. I have used it for many years and like the result.

It looks Incredible! Sorry I couldn't resist. I does look very nice.

I will only if there was something in the original build that I didn't like. And then only if I am confident I can make the change I want. I have tried making changes to completed models only to ruin them.

Very nice!

As a Chevy fan, I am not crazy about this, but Ford had to do something to address the competitive imbalance they face. Penske is the only competitive team they have. Roush has been on life support for several years now. I really do not see a turn around with the drivers they have and none of the top drivers who have expiring contracts want to go there. Sometimes it’s cheaper to buy the talent than to try and develop it yourself.

I use gallon size Zip Lock bags. No calories.

I use acrylic paint and dilute with water. I think it cleans up more easily if I screw up. With the acrylic paint, you may have to apply the wash twice to get the coverage you want.

Nicely done! I built this one several years ago and it remains one of my favorite builds.

My first car was a 1975 Matador. It was not a very good car, but I kind of miss it.

The kits will be fine. Anything else should go in a checked suit case. I have travelled this way a number of times.