Peter Lombardo

Very nice...it sure is a sharp looking build. I have the kit...along with the 350Z race car....one of these days I'll get to them.....but until then I can look at yours. Nicely done.....great decal job too.

I guess I have to add my two cents.......it really does look very nice. I remember the cars very well, my friends mother had a Monza Spyder convertible when I was growing up. We loved it when she picked us up after Little League practice....driving home at dusk on an early summer evening with the cool breeze in our face. You did a great job....not flashy.....very clean, smooth and real.

Nice color choice....the silver sets it off nice. I like the lettering on the rear deck. Very nice...so far.

Merry Christmas to you and your family.....haven't heard much from you lately....everything ok? Still golfing? I can't wait to get down to Florida to get a little golf in this winter...that is if all goes well.

Clay, I like this one alot. I always liked the Lark in this body style....I really like the large grille opening. The color works great on it. Tamiya makes a metallic Black that is kinda close to this color....not a "touch up" match, but similar for a different build.

Pretty difficult to find a fault with this one. I really love the imagination you put into the decals and paint job....very different and striking. I'm loving it.

That is a great looking vintage '36. i really like the flat grean paint and the graphics...really cool looking on this car. I just pulled out that last night...I have had it for about 12 years. I cut the top of it and plan on making it into a convertible. It will be nice, but I really like what you did with your kit. I prefer the 3 window roof to the 5 window too. Really sweet.

So sorry to hear of your loss...made worse because of the Holiday Season. You will get through this, remember, what doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger. They say God only gives you what you can handle....I know sometimes it seems to be too much and it can overwhelm you....have faith, you guys will get through this....remember, life is a series of challenges and obstacles that must be overcome....no one ever said it would be easy. Everyone gets their turn in the grease, but at some point, it is someone elses turn.

A few weeks ago I was approached by an editor of the local "Patch.com" online newspaper for an interview. This women saw my postings on my sons flickr site and thought that she would ask if I would do an interview so she could write a story about my modeling. Of course I happily agreed. I think there are a lot of people out there that know nothing about what we do. Most, unaware adults think that modeling is "just for kids". They don't appreciate the time, effort and dedication that put into our hobby. For those of you who are not aware, Patch is a series of online local newspapers. The idea was hatched from the fact that print newspaper readership has been dropping steadily every year, being replaced by cable news and internet outlets. The feeling was that people could get their nationial news from these sources but that the local news was not covered adequately, hense, patch.com, which is a series of online local "newspapers" setup by towns and communities. I feel a little quilty here because a year ago the salesperson from Patch was in my office pitching me to have some of my clients advertise in the site. I tried to convince the ones who have businesses in the areas that this online paper covers, to give it a try, but these guys just don't understand how the internet is growing and becoming a strong influence in peoples lives. They don't see the connection. I represent many car dealers and they like to use the traditional advertising methods.....even though many of them are not working for them like they used to. I feel bad because I tried to get my clients to advertise here, without any luck, and a completely different person, an editor, not a salesperson, did a story on me. Oh, well. Here is the link for the story....take a look. I was very happy with the story, but if it were me, I would have used different pictures....but I will not complain about that......any story that exposes others to our hobby makes me happy. Here is the link....have a look. http://morris.patch.com/

I have two "rules of thumb" that I try and follow when it comes to critiquing someone else's work here on this forum. One, I would only consider a , well lets just say, less than "at'a'boy comment if the poster specifically asks for up or down comments, and two, if the criticism is rather strong, but meant in a way that is trying to be helpful, I would rather do it in a PM post. I don't think it is appropriate to slam someones work in public. Most of us, whether we like to admit it or not, have some ego lurking in the background, and being called out in front of all of the others, regardless of whether the build deserved it or nor is unnecessary. This is taught in Business 101, if you must "call out" a worker in your charge, you are better off taking them to another room, in private and then working out the problem.....co-workers don't need to hear the issue. True, it is by attempting something new that we usually find failure, and the only way we grow as builders is by "courting failure" and trying new ideas and techniques.....so I would encourage all of us to expand our horizons and try something new, and if the end result is not a "best in show" winner, but the loser of the Westminster Dog Show, we don't want to discourage that person from attempting to grow. If you must criticize, do it in private (A PM).

Guys, I can't tell you how heartwarming all of this concern over a few payments is. Thanks, I really appreciate it. I got too much enjoyment out of doing this to be tainted by the minor inconvenience of having to chase a few dollars. If I only have one guy causing an issue here, I am way ahead of the game, besides, one guy (name withheld to protect the innocent) paid in advance for the one guy who didn't, so all is well. If I can come up with another body, after the new year, that is of interest to enough guys, we'll do it again. So, we can put this to rest now....all's well that ends well.

I was not planning on posting an update on 2 seat roadster run-about; but the football games on TV were so boring that I figured, why not. I was going to wait until it was complete, but its getting close so here is what has been completed so far. I apologize for the poor quality photos but we’ve has rain all day, its dark I was too lazy to set up some lights….so that’s it, that’s my story and I’m sticking with it. The car is painted in Mopar Slate Green on the bottom and a GM beige on the top. (the hood was not set right here, but it has been fixed and fits perfect now) Once dry, both got a coat of clear lacquer with House of Kolor Gold flakes mixed in to give both a great gold highlight when hit by the sun…but who knows if the sun will ever come out again. I cut a very thin pinstripe out of yellow ochre vinyl and applied that between the two colors. I added the 4 mesh grilles and headlights which are HO scale MU jewels. The windshield is from a promo of the original Prowler concept. The rear view mirrors are from same Corvette that gave up its chassis and engine. In the interior, the seats came from the Corvette but I spliced a small section from the middle of the two seats and attached them together to give the clearance necessary in the narrow interior. The dashboard is cut from styrene with the two gauge rounds cut from the Dodge Sidewinder concept truck dash. I believe the steering wheel is from a Viper and the automatic gear selector is from the Corvette. I still have to cover the inside door panels. They will have dark green on the bottom and the same ribbed beige material on the top that is behind the seats. Around back, I added the taillight pods which are loosely patterned after the style on the MGA’s from the late 1950’s. You can see the 4 holes in the lower center where the chrome exhaust tips will stick out slightly, and above them is the license plate housing indented into the rear deck. I guess the most interesting feature on this car is the scratch built folding convertible top and mechanism. This is my third attempt at a convertible roof mechanism. The first two were made out of brass strips and basically worked, but I was not happy with them. This version is made from styrene which I cut from a left over piece from the vacuum formed body. I used tiny little brass nails held in place with chrome bead crimp tubes I got at Michael’s. Once crimped, I added a drop of medium viscosity super glue to hold them tight. The unit operates fine…not exactly like the real ones work as I “stylized†and simplified the mechanism as much as I could. The soft top for the car is made from a piece of silk that was cut out of the back of an old necktie. If you turn an old tie over, at the bottom of the wide end you will the inner lining material. This is often colored a matching color for the basic color of the tie. Some are white, which is what I started with. I cut the white silk out of the old tie. If you don’t want to cut up a tie, some craft and art supply stores sell silk tie material so that you can silk screen your own tie designs. Once it was cut out, I mixed up a small batch of “Rit†dye and hot almost boiling water. I brought a package of dark green. As you can see, it is dyed green and all wrinkled. Tomorrow when it is completely dry, I will iron it smooth…all of the wrinkles will be gone. I did one the other day, and it works great. Then I will cut out the rear window which gets a piece of clear sandwich wrap glued in from the inside. I have this very strong glue that is kind of thick and does not bleed through when applied to the inside. The top material gets glued to the inside of the rear deck and attached to the frame at strategic points. I love the way the dark green top sets off the beige upper color. I am really enjoying this build. The colors work so well on it. The front sets down nice and low. I love the long sloping hood and I like how the two little air slots break up the long expanse. This will complete my quartet of Art Deco cars. The Cybele Roadster with the three running Greyhounds alongside, the Aero Coupe with gullwing doors, the Dual Cowl 4 door with the retractable hard top and lastly the 2 seat run-about with the moveable soft top.

This, in my eyes, is a perfect demonstration of one of the most screwed up aspects of our society. Our police, fireman, both volunteer and professional, first responders of all kinds, all branches of the military and others in related fields, are the true American Heroes. The media wants us to believe that actors, musicians and athletes are the only ones we should look up to. For the most part they are not worthy of this kind of admiration. It is the neighbor down the street, the guy owns the shop on main street who is a fireman when the alarm is sounded is the one worthy of praise. Think about those guys who stood in lower Manhattan on September 11th, looking up at those two burning buildings, knowing that they were running into the mouth of the Lion, yet they ran as fast as they could into the buildings as others were running away. It was their job and they do it professionally every day. Just remember.....think about this....your wife is driving home late at night in a rain storm, the road is slippery and she loses control and drives into a ditch and bangs into a tree. At that moment in time, who do you want to be driving by a rock musician or a local patrolman? We, as Americans, need to get back to the ideals that made this country great. We need to focus on our local heroes and the contributions they make to our lives every day. The story that Terry relayed to us here is one of compassion and self sacrifice. Helping others in their time of need one of the most noble gestures we can preform....those local volunteer fireman deserve our admiration and respect...they went above and beyond the call of duty....but for first responders and care givers, that is all in a days work.

It sure is "Classic"....the wide white walls go perfectly. nice looking roadster....I would not be upset if I had that car for real...looks like it would be a nice cruiser. I also agree that it needs so taillights though.

Very nice...it's understated and clean. I really like the Rally wheels on it and the engine compartment is first rate the way it complements the burnt orange paint. Very well done.

John, pretty cool looking car....i thought I have seen just about every customized Thunderbird out there, but I have never seen this one before. This should be another first class replica. Looking forward to seeing this through to its completion. Go get'em.

This car would look sinister in pink and baby blue!

Since you asked, 2 have paid, Thank You very much guys, I appreciate it, 3 have said they will get it taken care of, thanks in advance,and one seems to be comatose....not bad, only one seems to have fallen off the planet....I certainly can live with that. Again, thanks for all of the support from all of you guys who participated in this little experiment and thanks for your concern about me getting paid, I appreciate that very much. So come on, after the Holidays I want to see some action on these. Curt finished his (no big surprise there...his completion numbers are crazy....every eleven days he pops one out...I mean really), I have one 4 door done and a 2 door version almost done....so come on, after the first of the year, I will accept no more excuses..... figure it out and get going.....but seriously, I am looking forward to seeing what you guys will do with this. :lol:

Nice and clean....not over done....just right, great color, great finish and an engine setup that you just don't see that often. I like it.

Congrats....that is great news....enjoy him while he is little....time goes by fast and before you know it he will be asking for the car keys.

You know what, John, I just knew you would understand where I was coming from. Thanks, I feel a whole lot better now.

I just hate to hear about when the "folly of youth" gets innocent teens in trouble. I will bet that most of us can look back to when we were young, invincible and immortal and did crazy dangerous stunts. Many of us survived those times just by the "grace of God", unfortunately, some are not that lucky. My heart goes out to the parents, family and friends of those kids. This truly is heartbreaking. I thanked God every night when my children, during those teenage years, came home healthy. So sorry to hear this before and during the Holidays.

John, normally, I love everything you do....your workmanship and attention to even the smallest detail astound me. This one, I am afraid, is not up to your usual standards. I mean the paint is perfect and the colors are cool, but the roof, short and tall and the body long and low, kind of collide making me shake my head. But hey, I think it was a car that had to be built......if you didn't want to finish it, you could have stopped and boxed it up any time. I guess it's like they say, a mother loves all of her kids the same, regardless of how they turned out. One question though, is it me or the pictures....I see the line separating the door and fender on the rear of the door, but not on the front...did I just miss it? But then again....what do I know?