maxwell48098

I learned to drive a car in our family's '63 Ford Custom 300, with a 240 CID and a 3 0n the tree. I learned to drive a big truck in a company '60 B7000 10 wheel 8 yard dump truck with a Detroit 8-71 and Spicer 10 speed. A.J.

The way I understood it is the date on the back of the decal sheets is when the sheets were printed. I have several kits that the same exact decal sheets will have dates that were as much as a year apart. A.J.

Looks just like the couple of originals that I still have. Those original were the ones with no plated parts. A.J.

Actually most diamond plate is aluminum, and on fire apparatus (which I'm most familiar with), it is left either in its natural state or polished to a chrome-like appearance. Keeping it bright is labor intensive which is why you seldom see polished aluminum diamond plate on surfaces like running boards or tail boards. The same applies to its use on trucks where it can be polished or left natural depending on the owners wishes and willingness to keep it bright. A.J.

11:00-22 tires also used on AMT Autocars, White Freightliner COEs, old Western Star, Diamond Reo, and probably more that I can't remember. A.J.

I built everyone of those Hubley kits back in the '70's. They were definitely different from a plastic kit, but with a little Bondo and tweaking, they could turn out very nice. Unfortunately, I gave them all to my nephew who was about 8 at the time, and he played with them like they were toys until they were destroyed. But I had a good time building them, and he had a good time destroying them. So a good time was had by all. LOL

Took a tour of the Pierce Fire Apparatus plant in Appleton, WI awhile ago, and here's the paint sample chart that they have in the paint shop. A.J.

Those red tubes from the Gum Out and WD-40 make great tubes for decanting. But what I've done is to take a couple of old spray can nozzles and popped the atomizers out. The I've inserted a piece of aluminum tubing (I think it was either 1/8 or 5/32") the size of the hole in the nozzle, and then epoxied the tube in place. It probably allows 3 or 4 time the flow of paint out of the can into my decanting jar that I have a filter on top of to keep and errand paint from escaping.. A quick clean-up, and it's ready to use again later. My guess is that the three decanting nozzle & tube assemblies that I have are probably 15 years old, or older. Thanks, A.J.

I've been building model cars and trucks since 1958, so I've got a little experience under my belt. He's a few tips I've learned over the decades. When it comes to spray paints, I've always stored them upside down, until the last few years when I've been storing most of them on their side. The reason? The solids in the paint always settle to the bottom, which is why you have to shake them for at least 5 minutes before using them. If the solids build up too much on the bottom, and you try to spray them, what will happen is that the will clog the nozzle, or worse the entire pick-up tube. To get out of trouble when this happens, and still use the paint, I'll take an old nozzle (TIP: always clean and save the old nozzles) that I've removed the pressed in atomizer, that little colored piece that the paint comes out through. I'll then place the can in a container with warm water (if it doesn't feel almost hot when you dip your finger it is, the water needs to be a little hotter.) until the spray can and contents are about as warm as the water. I'll then shake the spray can some more before I put the nozzle without the atomizer into the can. Then hold the can UPSIDE DOWN and press the nozzle down to get the thick paint solids out of the pickup tube. Heating the spray can did two things; it increased the pressure of the propellant in the can and the warm solid will breakdown and mix with the thinner easier when warm. This will usually save the spray can and paint. I used a can of 1:1 spray parts cleaner from Gum Out to clean my nozzles after EVERY USE. The little tube on the Gum Out spray nozzle fits perfectly inside the tube in the paint nozzle. If you have a spray paint nozzle that just won't clear, throw it into a sealed jar/container of lacquer thinner, and let it soak. I try and remove as much of the paint solids plugging the nozzle using a needle before I let them soak. I've had success probably 95% of the time doing these simple things. And always take the spray can and turn it upside down and spray the paint in the pickup tube and nozzle to clear them out. (Tip: Different spray can nozzles have different atomizers which will allow thinner layers of paint. I'll only use the black nozzles with the white atomizer in Testors spray cans. Throw away the white Testor nozzles with black atomizers, and replace them with the black nozzles, and you'll never be sorry.) I still have some spray cans that I use from time to time from back in the '80's that I had specially mixed. Amazingly, the propellant in these cans, and the paint, have lasted this long! As for what spray paints I use, I will usually stick with the Testors, Tamiya, Krylon, Rustoleum, Duplicolor, and have been known to use cheap 1:1 automotive primers under all of my paint jobs. If you've got an Ollie's in your neck of the woods, stop by regularly and you can pick up cheap cans of spray paint for $1.99 for a large can. If you don't like using spray cans, this paint can even be decanted for use in an air brush. Hope some of this helps everyone. Happy New Year! A.J.

Looks like Ollie's shipment is sitting in one of those containers on a ship off the west coast. It is my understanding that Ollie's kits are not excess inventory from Round2, but are produced especially for Ollie's by Round2. A.J.

They do have flat black, not Testors, in bottles in the craft area. Or at least my local H.L. does.

You can raise the height between the racks making spacers by going to your local hardware store, Home Depot, or Lowes and buy some aluminum flashing. The flashing I bought was 10" wide, so I just cut a piece long enough to go around the circumference of my lower tray, with a 2" overlap at the end so you can attach the two ends together. (I riveted mine, and sealed the end with a piece of duct tape.) I made 3 of these aluminum "spacers", so I can dry at least three bodies at a time if I needed to. Pretty easy and cheap.

Beautiful build. There's a great story in the Nov/Dec 2021 issue of Vintage Truck magazine on a 1937 Ford pickup from the Early Ford V-8 Foundation in Auburn, IN. (FordV8Foundation.org) It's the small 60hp V-8 version, also in two tone green and black, and there are quite a few great reference photos for anyone wanting to build a stock '37. The same issue of Vintage Truck also has a great article on a restored 1979 Dodge Warlock II. A.J.

Don't forget Great Lakes Hobby on Van Dyke in Sterling Heights. HUGE collection of models, maybe the largest I've seen in the mid-west, plus the prices are discounted 20-30% off retail.

In addition to the temperature concerns, there is also humidity to worry about that can affect decals. The plastic can handle the temps in the 90's, but not resin which may warp. If possible, build some shelving at least 6 feet off the ground, and consider putting the model kits in larger boxes that can hold multiple kits. You may also want to consider putting the boxes into large garbage bags and seal them up after getting as much air (and humidity) as possible. I stored several dozen kits like that in a storage unit while we were selling our last home and moving to our current one. They all came through in flying colors.

I remember driving west on I-80 in Iowa back in 1974 around 11:00 PM. Off in the distance, straight ahead of me was this orange glow in the sky. It grew pretty bright, then faded somewhat. About 10 minutes later, I came upon what had once been one of the GMC motor homes with only the wheels and frame rails still in tact, everything else was just still burning on the pavement or had burned out. The two occupants, along with other passer-by's were standing on the shoulder just watching it as the Highway Patrol and a fire pumper were just pulling up. Amazing how quickly and completely that thing burned. A.J.

If you think model kits are expensive now, just wait until inflation, soaring oil costs, and skyrocketing transportation kick in. 2020 prices will be the "good ole days". A.J.

The chain is metal and just put loose in the bag. Personally, I've never used the Monogram chain. If you have a Hobby Lobby or Michael's nearby, the both have a selection of chains used in jewelry making. I've probably got three or four different sizes that I use on my truck models. A.J.

One thing everyone is over looking is the increase in oil prices since January. Remember when you bought gas for $1.87 this past January, and now it's $3.39? Yep 181% price increase. Plastic is based off oil, so expect ALL plastic kits prices to once again take a big leap. And that increase in oil prices affects shipping and transportation costs as well, which are jumping way up as well. A.J.

Actually used that technique waaaaay back then on coloring Easter eggs, as well as on models. PLA enamel was what we used back then. A.J.

To prevent the bleed through, you can also use clear if you are short of the original base color. A.J.

60 years ago I was blowing them up with M-80's. Today, I hang onto them in my display cases.

Most electric cars have to have torque limiting software incorporated into their electronics, otherwise you break the tires loose from a dead stop unless you feather the throttle like you're driving on ice. Even back in the '90's when I worked for Chrysler, we had the TE-Van, and I got to drive several of them. With the diagnostic scan tool hooked up, you could disable the torque limiting software and make the front tires smoke like you were doing a burnout at the strip. The difference was, it was in a parking lot and the surface was bone dry! Despite their with, the TE-Vans could really haul, but that would kill the battery life. ?

Interesting that Round2 has a disclaimer in the instructions for the turbine kit that they don't know which kits it would fit. The sprue with the exhaust parts included the crossmember, exhaust stack bracket, battery boxes and mounts, along with ethe auto trans shift tower and shifter for the GMC Astro. In the original instructions, the turbine engine assembly was actually step 1 with the Detroit diesel the next option.

Just think how many more Astros that they would have sold just for the turbine engine. I bought several of the original T510 GMC Astro kits that included the turbine as an optional engine in the kit back in 1971, and still have one! I actually spoke with a Round2 rep at the Warren MI toy show several years back and showed him how the original turbine was on it's own sprues, so if they could find that tool, they could reissue the turbine either with the Astro or as a stand alone kit. At the time, the rep didn't know about the turbine engine option in the original Astro. Maybe it was still part of the original tool, but it had been blocked off so it never got reproduced until now. I might just build one as a stand alone engine for display.