maxwell48098

The difference between the F350 chassis and the other Ford 100-250 chassis is the wheelbase. The F350 has a longer wheelbase by about 6 inches when you set the two side by side. I used modelers license to relocate the rear suspension from the 1968 F250 2wd back about .25 inches. Hope this helps. A.J.

One thing to keep in mind when taking images via phone, turn the phone horizontally to get wide shots instead of backing away from the model while taking images with the phone positioned vertically. A.J.

I have been v..e...r....y lucky to have not had a can of Rust-oleum plug up on me. I do store my spray cans in an unusual fashion, up side down. I've had cans that are nearly 40 years old that still spray after being stored this way. I always heat the cans and shake them for a couple of minutes before using. In addition to the heat increasing the propellant pressure, I also think it helps the paint inside the can mix better. I also think that storing the cans inverted helps prevent propellant leaks. I've been doing this for at least for the past 45 - 50 years. I've also been given, or bought cheap, old spray paint from fellow modelers. On these, I'll invert the can to see if propellant comes out. If not, what I'll do is to heat the can hotter than normal, remove the nozzle and see if it is plugged. Then I'll use an old nozzle that I've removed the spray tip from so that it has a big opening on the nozzle. Also without fail, thick paint will come out first before the regular paint shoots out, and then we're in business. One final word on spray can nozzle care. EVERY time I use some spray can paint, I remove the nozzle from the can and clean it by spraying aerosol 1:1 automotive carb/brake parts cleaner through the paint nozzle. That little spray tube on the parts fits perfectly inside nearly every spray paint nozzle. A quick blast or two will clean the inside of the paint nozzle out. FYI - Always save the spray paint nozzles when you finish up the paint. They can usually be used on other spray paint cans using the same type of nozzle, and often provide different spray patterns. Just my 2 cents. A.J.

I have the entire series of these books, including the fire apparatus ones. They're always a good source for inspiration and reference. A.J.

I would really like to see a '57 Chevy Pickup. I think the last reissue was back in the '90's. Plenty of reissues of the '55, but not the '57. A.J.

I was hoping that the second release would be of the more common (at least where I live) four door. A friend who works at the local Ford dealership said that at their location the ratio of four door vs two door sales is about 5:1! I wonder if we'll ever see a four door version? A.J.

I use spray cans almost exclusively as well. When it do 2-tone paint jobs, I always spray a quick light coat of the base color along the masking edges so that in the event the masking isn't tight, the base color is what seeps underneath the masking. Then I apply the second color, and remove the masking as soon as the second color is almost dry. I've done this for at least 40 years, and I've avoided the touch-up blues.

The use of bucket seats for these vehicles was meant to lower the vehicle weight for drag racing. Cars that didn't have bucket seats as an option used the bucket seats out of the manufacturers' compact truck line, which are smaller and lighter than comparable car bucket seats. Most also used aluminum brackets to attach them to the floor pans instead of traditional steel seat adjusters, again as a way to cut weight. Keep in mind that each race car usually had the same driver, so having the seat mounting bracket bolted directly to the floor in the correct driving position for that specific driver. A.J.

Ironic for the past two years, or longer, Canada has had wildfires burning unabated dumping millions of tons of toxins and carbon into the atmosphere, but Tamiya spray paints are dangerous! Where I live in the lower 48, we've even been blessed by the smoke from these Canadian fires resulting in air quality alerts and warnings, and we worry about global warming and mandating EVs? politics in place of actual science is always dangerous for the guy on the bottom, but never the politicians. Weird world we live in.

I have an Epson all-in-one eco-tank photo printer. One of the reasons I bought this particular printer is that it actually has two different black tanks and inks; one for ordinary, day to day document printing, and a second for photos. The photo black is deeper than the document black which is great when printing decals on ink jet decal paper. As a test, when I first got it, I printed out an old decal that initially made as a Word document, the the same decal that I had converted to JPEG photo. The black in the JPEG version was BLACK, while the black in the doc version was a very dark gray. A.J.

I've always preferred long bed pickups as the long beds are easier to shorten than it is to lengthen and short bed. But obviously, short beds are less costly to produce. So I guess we're forced to accept short beds or no kit at all. A.J.

I started using toothpaste to polish out paint jobs back in the '60's. I'd use the cheapest brand I could find, usually Kmart's store brand, and at $0.29/tube it was really cheap. FYI - Testor's spray paints were $0.39 at Kmart at the same time. A.J. ?

I did the same conversion to make this MI SP cruiser backs in the '90's. Looking forward to seeing this one done. A.J.

Isn't that the equivalent of $2,000,000 in 2019 dollars? Should have bought it back in 2019. ?

Great job so far. Always loved the '57 Chevy Pickups. Too bad Round2 hasn't re-released them instead of the '55 over and over again. A.J.

One thing I always keep in mind regarding engine and trans seams in my 65 years of building is to make sure the seams line up as close as possible, even if it means removing assembly pins or nubs, on the side of the seam that will be exposed in the finished model. Worry more about visible bottom seams that hidden, top seams. The use the best liquid cement you have to join the seams. I'll even push hard on the two halves to make the seam squish a little bit before the cement. A.J.

Those are tires from '27 Lincoln touring reversed.

Really nice build. A.J.

Great build. I used that kits as the basis for another style pumper by stretching the wheelbase and adding a scratchbuilt body.

I just bought my most recent bottle of Quick Shine at a Lowes home improvement store. Sizes all the way up to 1 gallon available there.

I decanted some of the Revell Chrome spray and have done emblems, dash knobs, and other small parts using a brush. Worked perfectly. A.J.

I just received my last big order from them on 6/28. It came from Livonia and since I live in Troy, MI, normal delivery was always next day. I'll miss them and hope those who sold their products via Shapeways will find other outlets. A.J.

Don Holthaus of Modelhaus resins recommended soaking 4-6 hours in either a product called Marine Clean or Wesley's Bleche Wite, followed by a warm soap and water scrub down. I used the Westley's on at least 70 resin bodies from 8 or more vendors without a hitch. A.J.

The Mobius Ford pickups offer several styles of Ford mirrors as option for their kits. A.J.

The Mobius Ford pickups also have those mirrors as an option. A.J.