Peter Lombardo

Guys, thanks so much, I really appreciate the very kind words about this build......I didn't expect it, so it really makes me glad I got this posted.......a few asked to see a side view, so here is a side view and a bottom view, since the chassis follows the same color combination as the car. Side view and underside view Again, thanks for looking.

Guys, thanks so much for the kind words.........I really appreciate it.......I just wanted to finish this car after two years of it sitting behind me under a cover and every now and then I would remove the cover and the car was just sitting there laughing at me because it was un-finished, and I had to have the last laugh. Thanks again. I have completed (still needs a little bit of sanding, but it is basically done) the model of the wooded buck that Norman Timbs made to fabricate the body from........just a recap, the real car body was hand formed from aluminum plates hammered by hand over the wooden buck shown in this picture on a trailer leaving Timbs house and heading out to the fabricators shop. Here is a few shots of my model next to the completed mode. And by itself. This will be presented in a 3D setting in place of the actual wooden buck in the photo taken of the real buck. We are "airbrushing out" the buck from the photo and this will replace in a 3D diaroma........it should be pretty cool.....basically I will be bringing the old photo to life. I started work on the Junkyard Timbs Streamliner too. Completion date is scheduled for NNL East in April 2014........if the4 new venture doesn't get in the way, that is. Again, thanks for looking and I really appreciate your comments.....you guys are too kind.

ED, nice to hear from you..........send me an e mail at aegisgolf@verizon.net.

I could do some more hoods, just send me an email to aegisgolf@verizon.net and I should be able to get them out to who ever wants one.....will not be over night, but they will get done.

I guess the only word that comes to my mind is Flawless! Classy build.

Gentleman, thank so very much for the very kind words.... ........I really appreciate it....I put a lot of time in trying to complete build, if nothing else, I thought about it all the time when I wasn't fighting to get the new business project moving.....2 years ago I said I would finish it one way or another.....I did not expect it last 2 years, but it is such a great relief to have it finally done. I am not a fan of loose ends. Harry, thanks for for the re-welcome.....It makes me feel good to know I was missed. Every so often I would look at the forum and see some amazing work by all of you guys, but until I put closure on this one, everything was at a stand still. My new business venture has been are real hard haul for me...... you can't imagine all of the sleepless nights worring about each piece of the puzzle that I have had to deal with, it really zaps your desire to work on a model, as I said, my head was a million miles away. The economy has not made it any easier, but it is the poor economy that forced me to create this project so if it works like I expect it to, I will be able to thank the poor business climate for making me take the steps that I was forced to take. I do believe that as one door closes, another will open, you just need to stay positive and never give up looking for that other door. As this new internet venture gets ready to launch, I can't wait fill you guys in..........it is in the automotive "world" and if it goes as planned it will be a very disruptive......but who knows, maybe not, but I like to dream in Techncolor, so I planning on it taking off. I have assembled an amazing team of professionals and true believers in the project, so with these guys and gals I expect big things. Enough on that, thanks again everyone, I really appreciate the words and interest in the build.

When this kit came out, I was not interested in it at all…….so I didn’t get one. Then a few months ago a friend contacted me and asked if I could turn out a few clear hoods for the car……in his research of the car, which he really likes, he saw that Oldsmobile offered a clear hood (not completely clear, but with clear sections) to show off the engine under that hood. When I told him that I did not have the kit and therefore no hoods available to make a master from, he offered to send me a hood, but I figured I would just get the kit and work from that. It took a few weeks for me to find the kit, but once I did, I was able to make a vacuum formed master and then made a master mold from the inside of the formed hood. From that master I was able to make the clear hoods. But that has nothing to do with this posting. While the kit was sitting on my work bench while I was preparing the hood for the molding, I keep looking at the car and it really grew on me. I knew that the roof had to go, but what to replace it with? Then over in a back corner of the bench I saw roof that I had cut off a Concept AMT Camaro about 4 years ago and the light bulb in my head went off. I cut off the roof and laid back the windshield and then glued the roof on. The problem with the roof was that it was too flat, the hood and trunk and fenders were all rounded and so the roof needed to be rounded too. I added bondo to the roof and sanded it to a nice round curve . I opened the doors, opened the trunk since the longer trailing roof changed the opening of the trunk and if I was going to re-scribe the edges I might as well open it. I did not care for the taillights on the rear of the fenders so they were filled in and new tail lights were cut into the rear fascia below the trunk opening. They were filled with clear 5 minute epoxy mixed with Tamiya clear red and allowed to set up. I recessed the rear license plate area to finish off the rear. I removed the front fender trim piece and added a frenched hood over the headlights and recessed the headlight bezel. I added Corvette rearview mirrors and lowered the car down as much as possible. Gold and the term golden were always associated with Oldsmobile so picking a color was a no brainer……it had to have gold in it, but I wanted a two tone scheme and I wanted the gold to be different. I mixed up a custom bright gold color using an Aztec Gold and Sunburst yellow pearl pigment powder mixed with clear lacquer and air brushed it over a GM pale tan and separated the two with a thin burnt orange vinyl pin-stripe. This is just a rough test fit of a clear hood. Considering I had no interest in this kit, I am very happy with the result.

It has been almost two years since I last posted anything to this forum……….I have been very busy with a new business project so there just wasn’t time, and quite frankly my head was in another place. Anyway, after 22 months, mostly spent idle, I have just completed my model of the Timbs Streamliner and I figured I would finally put that W I P to bed, so to speak. To recap this build, if you did not or do not recall the original W I P here is a link to the posting……http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=49174 To pick up where that one left off, the chassis and body was done and painted, the interior was finished with handmade tuck-and-roll from half round stock cut and painted tan to simulate the leather on the actual car. The windshield frame was fabricated from 12 separate pieces covered with bare metal foil and the two windshields fit into channels in the frame. The car sat like this for many, many months while I tried to work out the photo-etched parts, that is, the front and rear bumpers, the headlight surrounds the license plate backing and the hardest part of all, the grille. The grille has about 25 chrome slots (I say “about” because my old tired eyes just can’t see it well enough to count them all) anyway, I knew this was going to be a difficult part to replicate, but also critical to the overall build…… the bumpers were also important to it, but I think the right grille, with the correct slots and the necessary compound curves would make or break the build. I went to my brother who is a sign maker that used to work in a photo service shop that did screening for the print industry…..he understands the “photo” process and computer design very well…..we measured out the model so we could get the proper sizing so we could attempt to make a photo etch sheet. Then because the size of the sheet that we could get was plenty big, I added 32 and 34 Ford grilles, windshield wipers of various sizes and a few extra sets of parts for the Timbs car to the sheet. I picked up the chemicals and the stainless steel sheet of metal, along with the photo resist film to laminate onto the stainless sheet………..well, we had so many problems with air bubbles between the photo resist and the metal and then many issues with washing the chemicals over the exposed sheet that I just did not think it was worth it. After a number of failed attempts, I called it quits and put the car aside. As I said, I have been busy with a new business project, it sat idle for about a year. Every now and then when I had a few minutes I would send an e mail and the artwork to a photo etch and/or laser shop I would find on a Google search to get an estimate of what it would cost to get the photo-etch parts made. Some just said they were not interested, some said they were not set-up to do a small run like this, some quoted prices like, $150.00 for the set up fee and $500 or $600 for the sheet and $75 more for a second sheet. Well, I am not a cheap guy and am willing to pay someone a fair price to get what I need and want, but $800 seems too extreme for a few photo-etched sheets with parts for a model car that will spend the bulk of its life on a shelf collecting dust…….ok, my completed cars are protected from dust, but you get the point, the cost was too much…………….the car sat a few months longer. Then about a month ago while on the F1M forum (F1 model cars) I saw a post where someone was asking about if anyone knew of a small production photo-etch shop that would make parts for him…………..someone from Europe responded that he knew of a shop in Great Britain that would do small batch runs for a very reasonable price. I looked up their web site (PPD ltd) and sent them my artwork and a request for a quote. Minutes later they responded and after two more e mails I agreed to the pricing (about $140.00 US for 2 sheets) and then 3 days later they notified me that they were dispatching my parts……….I responded to them that in America, to dispatch something, could either mean it was killed or it was sent away ( a joke) , he assured me that the parts were sent and not killed……..about 10 days later the photo etch parts sheets arrived and needless to say, the quality was amazing. Every thin line on the grilles was perfect. We looked at them under a printers loop (small magnifying glass) and could not find any flaws or deviations in any of the work. So, armed with the photo-etched parts I was able to complete the Timbs Streamliner in its restored condition. The final part needed was the license plate (retro plate) which my brother printed for me. So here is the completed Timbs 1949 Streamline Special as it appears today, in its restored state. Sadly, the slight gold fleck in the paint gets over exaggerated in the picture because of the camera, but in person, the gold fleck is muted and does not look “over the top.” This is the photo-etch sheet....a few pieces are missing...they are on this and a few other cars. I have decided to build two additional versions of this car taken from two other periods of its life. Working backwards, this is the current version in its restored condition, next backwards will be the condition it was found in, in the high desert of California, devoid of paint and with its engine out of the car, and lastly as the wooden buck that Timbs built to form the handmade aluminum body panels. Once all this is done, all three models will be the center piece of three small dioramas using the original pictures as 3D backdrops to the models. So when done (for NNL East 2014) it will depict the Birth….Death….and Rebirth of this uniquely special automobile. But for now, this is the finished restored 1949 Timbs streamliner, a one-of-a-kind very unique, and sensuously slippery, but terribly impractical, footnote in the history of the homemade American custom car.

Perfection, simply perfection. A fitting testiment to the original.

This is a very nice looking model, the paint and decaling looks great, but just one small thing though, it looks to me that the rear wing may be mounted backwards. If I am missing something, sorry....but it does appear backwards to me.

“This ain't rocket surgery.” Rob, please pick one or the other………it’s “Rocket Science” or “Brain Surgery”….this is kind of like saying……”piece of pie” or “easy as cake” Just saying……….. And just for the record, thumbnails or full shots…..I don’t care, if I can’t open the thing, well, to me it wasn’t worth looking at anyway…post them anyway you like or can………..no biggy to me.

Today, there are 5 birthdays listed and the average age of them is 40.....not 20, or 18, or even 30.....and that is only because one age listed is 18, so that keeps the average birthday today age from being even higher.

Guys, we ARE the market that the manufactures are catering to. This, it appears to me, is a "Baby Boomer" hobby. Harry, what is the median age of the members on this forum? I think that will give an indication as to where the hobby is going.

Nice choice....it is a huge improvement over it's predecessor. You could have gotten a lesser car for more money, well done.

Sorry guys, the kits being, or not being, issued have little to do with the decline in model building. Back in the 50's and 60's, model building was a great indoor past time.....board games, black & white TV and reading were only good for so long. We needed to be using our hands and minds too.....so model building was great hobby and even a social event, as all of my buddies built too, so we all got together many Saturdays and built......remember, there were no forums to help share our hobby with others, so it was a social event. Not so today, kids today have the internet, cable TV, DVD, DVR, cell phones, game consoles and drugs....yes drugs and booze were always there, but not like today.....and it begins when they are younger so it changes their priorities. There are way too many distractions and more "cool" things to do then build models for the adventurous youth of today. The last time I was in a High School I could not believe my eyes. If the girls dressed the way they do today, back when I was in High School, I never would have graduated......I would still be there today. Our culture in America is changing right before our eyes. Model building is basically a "wholesome" pastime, it is not as hip as internet sites (both soft and hard porn), computer games and partying. Mark my words, even though we love this hobby and it will be around (I think), it will not grow and prosper....it will be slow decline, so enjoy these heady days of great new product. But I could be all wet, too.

Very nice and clean..............sugary smooth. The color combo looks great.

A couple of guys said they could not see the pictures in the slide show….sorry, very un-thoughtful of me, here are a few shots without the “slide” issues.

As you can see, the hinge is very simple…it is a brass rod bent basically at ninety degrees and secured to the inside of the door….the smaller forty degree bend is just to keep the hinge secure in its position. The long end is inserted into the holes I drilled in the inner door frame so that the brass rod sits under the dashboard. The “silver” things are a series of three aluminum tubes glued together, inserted into each other and epoxyed to the inner panel of the interior, under the dash. The brass rod fits quite securely into the inner most tube which provides the tension and friction to keep the door up in the open position. Also, the rod is free to slide slightly in and out of the tubes because the door must come away from the body as it opens so that the interior panel clears the outside body panel…it works in a loose kind of “screw” action….the door pulls away from the car as it is opened and razed.

Perhaps Nike is paying Ferrari royalties for the advertising space on the car….it is a shame, to me, that Ferrari has used the same basic shape now for years, I guess they are running out of attractive ways to change it up….Ferrari is a great sports car and they have nothing to apologize for, but this one should have remained on the stylist’s computer screen……but, I could be wrong.

I recently received the Fujimi Lamborghini Aventador kit from HLJ. I just had to get into it right a way…..what a great looking super car……sleek, sharp, angular, muscular and sensual all at the same time……this thing just screams at you “get back…I will hurt you”…..anyway, I jumped right into the kit. First, the kit comes with two sets of wheels, the same wheels, but one set is plated and the other is molded in a nice satin black that really needs nothing more than the center hub decals. The chrome set look great, and I could see paying up to $18.00 for these if they were offered as an aftermarket wheel, so it was a great deal if just for the free wheel set. The other point to mention is the doors are open, but do not operate. You have two choices….opened or closed. The area inside the door opening looks great, it looks like the real thing, so it would be a shame to glue the doors closed. The other option given is to permanently mount the doors on non-moving open position, which looks good, but you can never close the doors to see how sleek and down-right mean the car looks. Well, neither solution was acceptable to me so I made, what turned out to be a very simple hinge, the doors now open and close, as they should. The biggest mistake with the car, I think, is the fact that Fujimi really blew the rear hatch area on this kit. I did not realize how bad it was until it was too late for me to change it (my mistake) but in hindsight it would be easy to correct. This car does not come with a fully molded motor, but with a motor “plate” that has the top of the engine molded in very nice detail. This seems to be the new normal with the Japanese kits now and when detailed with paint, photo-etched screens and decals make a very convincing engine bay. The real problem is that the top outer cover is way too thick, so it requires careful sanding to get it to snuggle down, and the cover does not open in the correct place. In other words, the hatch is not seamed in the correct place. The upper side “wing” area of the hatch should be cut from the hatch piece and they should be permanently mounted to the body. Then only the correct hatch area would open. I secured my hatch to the car, mainly because I noticed the error after everything was painted and since it is just the engine plate, it looks fine through the three level rear window. If I were to do a second car, I would correct the opening area of the hatch and hinge the hatch so it opened just as the real car does…..but too late for that on this one. This is one of the rare times I built a car completely stock…as intended from the factory…the only change to the kit is working doors and a unique color for the car. Other than a few items here and there, it goes together very well…..the windows fit is just perfect…..they snap in flush and tight, really sweet. Same with the wheels and brakes, fit tight, work perfectly and look great. Being the fast creature that it is, I thought it needs a fast color too. I primed the car, lightly sanded it, painted it pure white, sanded it, painted it HOK Sunrise Pearl (Looks too much like school bus yellow for me) so I covered it with Tamiya clear yellow which gave it a more orangish hue and then covered it with clear lacquer mixed with HOK ultra fine gold metal-flake to give it a more golden glow. Once dry, it was cleared with future. The interior is all flat black and the seat centers, console trim and door trim was painted flat yellow and later topped with a light spray of Tamiya clear orange to match the exterior color relatively closely. If you are into exotic sports car models, this is a must have. Period. See for yourself. (include here is a little pictorial on the door hinges…..you should be able to follow along, but if there are questions just ask.)

I like the Jiffy-peeps.....the flasher ain't too bad either.

Steve, very nice.........it looks great.....it may only be a small relatively inexpensive sports car, but they have great style and yours captures the look perfectly.

What is a "comfort zone"?

Here is another listing at Strada Sports....these have Goodyear included.......http://www.stradasportsstore.com/speedlinedecals.html