Peter Lombardo

Whooo, that is great to see. Osprey Ridge is a great golf Course, I think it is the best one at DisneyWorld. That is wonderful that they provide that kind of equipment. Now, you just need to work on your "grip" a bit, and get some new technology golf clubs....those old wood, woods, just don't cut it these days....but other than that, you look "Good to Go". Golf is a great sport and I love to see guys with a "handicap" get out and enjoy the day, the fresh air, the scenery and the friendship of a round of golf...keep it up. Golf is a tough game...it will play with your head as much as your body....so hang in there no matter how difficult it can seem. I wish I could join you for a round on Osprey....have fun!

Whooo...it looks like every bridge abutment and sound wall in the South Bronx! Maybe in another life this was a NY City Subway Train Car?....seriously, Great paint job....very innovative and striking. Certainly one of a kind. Graffiti is a very unique form of art...it looks easy but it is not that easy to do.....great job.

Hey, its a beautiful build, executed perfectly, but I just can't get excited about "bone stock". Now if it were on the ground, long fender skirts, chopped down flowing roof and less chromed, that would get my attention.....I love his long low flowing customs much more. But, it's nicely done!

Just gorgeous. It would be just about impossible to find fault with any aspect of this build. Long, low and luscious. Certainly one of his best.

Terrific looking build....I love the paint scheme and the road work adds a lot of realism to the shot. Really well done.

I am curious....where are the headlights hidden on this?

I will be perfectly clear and up front. I am nothing more then a very casual baseball fan. I know the game, played it all through my high school years, but today it is just a game that lives in the background of my life. This morning on the radio I heard about the “near†perfect game pitched last night. Now living in NJ I have no ties to either team…Cleveland or Detroit, but I have to say that the talk on the sports radio station today was unbelievable. You would think this was the most important news item on the planet. I fully realize that sports fans get crazy and emotional over games but the talk today was amazing. The vast majority of the callers I heard want the call overturned and the perfect game call given to the pitcher Galarraga. The ump, admits to having “Blown†the call. The radio guy, a Mike Francessa, very loud and opinionated, says no, baseball is not perfect, the Ump is human, humans make mistakes and the call and the integrity of the game should be upheld. So, I am curious…..what do you guys think? Uphold the incorrect call on the field and give the pitcher the win and a one hitter, or overturn the call and reinstate the perfect game status to this game? For the record, I like the idea of two challenges per manager per game and I like the idea of the electronic “strike zone†so that there is complete consistency in the calling of balls and strikes. But that’s just me…..I love technology and think it is time to update the antiquated system of the Umpire calling the pitch or the “tag†based upon his mood. So, what’s your call?

Why GMC? It’s really simple. First….Truck sales have always been strong in the U.S. so GM does not want to abandon that market. Second, GMC truck sales are counted as Chevy truck sales for all of the sales numbers and “bragging rightsâ€â€¦so the sales do not take away anything from Chevy. Thirdly, Chevy is a “full line†brand which means they have cars and trucks, but Buick does not. The plan is to have stand alone Chevy dealers with cars and trucks and dueled Buick / GMC dealers so they will have both cars and trucks. If you will recall, GM had Pontiac and GMC together before, but Pontiac was deemed to be expendable in the cull of last year so now it is combining Buick and GMC, It gives the remaining dealers a more balanced lineup to sell. And in case you missed it before…Pontiac was killed, and not Buick, mainly because Buick is a huge seller in China, where they sell more product than they do in the U.S. But like I said before, there are more shifts and changes to come to the U.S. auto industry. With the Gulf Oil Spill growing, this plays directly into the hands of those in Washington and in Europe that was to see the end of the internal combustion engine. Just sit back and watch….more crazy events are coming…….hint….watch out for “Cap and Tradeâ€. It will change everything. And as the White House Chief of Staff has said many times, “You don’t ever want a crisis to go to waste; it’s an opportunity to do important things that you would otherwise avoid.†— Rahm Emanuel Gentleman, we have a crisis!

And just for the record, I certainly don’t think that a new Cougar could have saved Mercury……This car didn't save Oldsmobile did it?.....this was a long time in coming….and the wind that blew Mercury away has more victims lined up. The problems in Detroit are far from over. I fear that the storm is just gathering in strength.

The same hinges that open a door to the outside of the fender(older style cars)will also open a door into the fender(newer style cars).....just reverse the direction. In another words, the first, older style, has the hinge pivot point on the front fender side, the second, newer style, has the pivot point on the front edge of the door. It is more simple this way so that you can use the same style hinge to get either result.

Absolutely beautiful...as close to real as you will get with a 1/25 scale model. The Mica Red over the Black makes a huge difference. I have only one "teeny tiny" little question....I don't see the driver side rear view mirror....I know it is a minor point....did I miss it? Weren't they chrome on that car? Anyway, gorgeously righteous execution.

In between working on the Dual Cowl Concept pattern and the Chrysler 300EX Concept, I have made a little headway on the 1958 Thunderbird custom coupe. If you recall, I grafted on a vacuum formed copy of the Dodge Stealth roof on to the Thunderbird body. I made Acetate windows and cut channels into the top window pillars with thin strips of styrene to hold the windows tight into the openings while the glue dried. I hand painted black borders with Tamiya semi gloss black on the inside of the windows. The interior is pretty basic with black carpet which is flat black paint with black embossing powder sprinkled on while the paint is still wet. The seats are white with a bright bluish purple insert. I designed this to look like the bright metallic iridescent vinyl material from the sixties. You know, that bright shiny stuff customizers always used on the custom cars of that era. The rearview mirrors are resin copies of the Prowler mirrors. I added thin strip styrene to all of the fins and body contours to extend them a little and give them a slightly stronger presence. The front bumper is the chrome stock unit with the opening removed which will be filled with a photo etched piece cut from a blank. I added a complete bottom rolled pan to the bumper unit to fill it out. The hood scoop has the kit extension grafted onto it but I added a section on the top middle of it to give it a slight dome look and to help the hood clear the 3 deuce carbs. I have yet to rebuild the new hood hinge since the plastic hinge that was molded on only lasted a few days of my rough handling…oh well. Speaking of the carbs, the engine is the kit unit with lavender sparkplug wires and purple fuel lines which will be connected to a fuel block on the firewall later. The molded on lake pipes are the two pieces of “V†shaped bracing from the interior section of the kit. I used putty up front to mold them to the body and the outlet is a piece of Aluminum tube cut at an angle. The headlights will be “MU jewel units suspended in clear epoxy which will fill the entire opening where the headlights go. The taillights will be the two round units on the chrome base and then encased in clear epoxy too. The paint is the most involved area of the build. The car was primed and sanded. Once smooth, it was painted appliance white and lightly sanded. Then it was painted with pearl white. Two coats lightly sanded and a third was then applied. Once dry, I mixed up a custom batch of Jacquard Interference blue purple mixed with reddish lavender powder in clear lacquer. This was sprayed in a fine pattern all around the edges of the body contours. This took many coats to get enough coverage. Once dry, the entire car was over sprayed with a gold interference powder mixed in with clear lacquer. The term “interferenceâ€, in this case refers to the fact that it changes color depending upon the angle you view it at. Once this was dry, I gave the body multiple coats of clear. The car sits very low on the chassis and very low to the ground (sorry, no picture included of that yet). I really love how the roof looks on this body. This build is nice diversion from the mold bodies I am building which require my complete attention when working on them.

I ran off the first two, of what I expect to be many, styrene bodies from the dual cowl roadster mold. I am pretty happy with the result with one small exception. As you can see, the lower part of the front fender corners have a small “fold†in the plastic. I am afraid that this is unavoidable do to the complex curves of the front fender area. I experienced this on some of the other bodies I have done and it is no problem to fix. It just needs to be removed and filled from the back side and sanded smooth. I point it out, so you will be aware of it. There are a few areas that need some surface sanding, but none of this is beyond any one of our abilities. I have not molded the roofs or the windshield yet mainly because the convertible roofs texture is not completely dry yet. And besides that, I am short on the clear styrene with more on order. In fact, I am a little short on the white styrene for the body also. I thought I had more but I need to order more. I just today ordered a 4 by 8 sheet which will yield 32 one foot square sheets. I ran these two as test shoots to make sure it come out of the mold properly, which it did, and to verify that the door lines would show up ok. They do, but you may have to enhance them a bit if you are not planning to open the doors. I will on my version but to each his own. So if you want one of these bodies just send me an e mail (a few guys have already sent me a PM with their info) to the following e mail address. My personal e mail is : aegisgolf@optonline.net. Once I get the clear and white styrene I will begin producing bodies and shipping. Please be patient with the process….I am not a business and I’m not “set-up†to do this efficiently. I will get a body and tops to any and all that have requested them, I just can’t promise over night production and delivery. Also, I , not being a company, am not set up for credit cards or Pay Pal, but I am not worried about that side of this. I will ship out the bodies based upon your request; we can complete the small financing end of this after the fact. I will keep everyone informed as this moves along….all I ask is that you understand that this will move at relatively measured pace. Thanks in advance for understanding that. Also, have a get Memorial Day....enjoy and remember to thank a Vet...they gave up a lot so we can party.

The transmission and injection linkage look great, and yeah, that engine is huge in the front of that car. Your work desk???? I couldn't get anywhere near my work desk with a model car and get away with it...and I own the company1 I even have to look over my shoulder when I am on the forum at work. Anyway, this is coming along nicely...very nice. I could kinda' get a little expensive using two kits for opening panels, but you are right, it does work out ok. Keep it going.....something tells me that you don't need encouragement to finish this one.

A while back I said I was working on a future “Concept†car as a future replacement for the Chrysler 300C. One of the main reasons why I wanted to do it was that in this time of auto makers fiscal restraints, they were not doing any future concepts, I mean, they didn’t even have the replacement for the current one at the New York auto show last month, so cash must be “real†tight. Also, I have one more AMT 300C kit un-built and since I have done that car every way I can think of….Wagon, coupe, chopped top boulevard cruiser, convertible and a woody convertible, I needed a different variant. Please understand, this body mold is far from done….it still needs a lot of work, but the basic shape is down and now I need to start “fine-tuning†the panels. You can see there is multiple patches of putty on this and still, much of it needs to spend some time getting up close and personal with some sandpaper. This car was designed to fit the 300C chassis and wheelbase unaltered so it will be easy to use the chassis and engine. Most of the interior, if not all of it should fit too. The design has an exaggerated nose which will house a variation of the egg-crate grille. The headlights will be exaggerated triangle shapes with projector beam lights. Below the light housings there is an air intact and fog light very similar to the current version car, but slightly stylized to copy the headlight shape. There is a strong contour line that runs over the front wheel wells and down to the nose on either side of the grille. This contour line runs done the side hip area and flows over the rear fender in a similar manor. The taillights will be very close to the headlight shape so there will be continuity between the front and back. There is an air vent cut into the fender right behind the front wheel well and the basic shape of that is mimicked in front of the rear wheel well opening. There is at least one sunroof on the roof ( I can’t decide if there should be one over the rear seats or not) and the rear window shape has the following side wings in a tribute to the great roof design of the old Dodge Charger. The rear fascia will have a sunken license plate area in the center and the rear bumper line protrudes across the back. I am planning “suicide†doors to give a large opening to the interior. Also, I am planning to have the “A†pillars recessed behind the glass. I want the windshield to appear to wrap right around into the side windows. Technically, this is a “cab-forward†design. Cab forward designs were popular in the 1990’s as evidenced by the Chrysler LH cars and the Infiniti G20. A cab forward car has the leading edge of the windshield at least over the front wheel centerline. This car has that. I really like this one. I had a difficult time working out the front nose geometry but I finally got it where I am happy with it. I plan on a two tone gold and desert sand paint scheme, but that may change as things progress.

Ok, you got me thinking about the car and so I figured I would post pictures. It is almost complete now…well, the body is done with the exception of the door panel scribes. It first I was going to omit them, but I think it will be best of I include them. The roofs are almost finished. The hard top removable roof is first, followed by the soft top which just needs the canvas texture on it. I plan on molding them in clear along with the windshield. I omitted the rear windshield in these pictures but it will also be molded in clear. As I said before, I expect to begin making the vacuum form bodies this weekend.

I think, if all goes as planned, I will form the first run of bodies this weekend and then you just have to send me an e mail to my home e mail account with your mailing address. I will post pictures of the final body and how the molded bodies look. I do not want to make a big deal out of this process. You give me your address, I will send you the "stuff" and if you are happy with the "stuff" you can send me the money, or whatever, and all will be square. This will not require much money but I want to very clear that this build will require some work on your part. It is just the body, roofs and windshields, you supply the rest. It will be a little challenging but like they say, "no pain, no gain". I can't wait to see how you guys will interpreted this body.

Since I have not posted on this subject in a awhile, I thought I owe you guys an update. The body is basically done now. It is devoid of trim and door lines, but I was planning on having the builder deside where and what those should be. I have completed the front windshield and a hard top piece. I have the soft top unit almost complete and only need to complete the back windshield. My plan is to form the windshields, and two tops in clear styrene so that the rear window will be "preset" in the top. I am also planning to have a "texture" for the soft top. I want everyone to have as many options with the build as possible. Because of the two tops in clear, the cost may be slightly higher...we'll see. I will post pictures as soon as I can. Thanks again for the support.

Funny thing about sales...sales of anything....an item is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it at that momment in time. One or two isolated sales do not make a trend. As long as someone has the cash and the desire, an item (model kit, regardless of age or rarity) will sell. Some guys collect, some guys build. Builders build, collectors tend to pay more for a "hole" in their collection, it just depends on who is in on the bidding process that day.

It is a shame that so much of your great detail work is going to be covered up. The chassis and suspension work will never get the attention they deserve with the body on. Absolutely impressive building skills. Actually, I don't know which car I like better.....well, I guess I would have to opt for the 1 to 1 car. Both will be great when finished. Great work...I will follow this to the end.

Wayne, looks great...very period build of a "period" kit. I am just curious.....Are you living in the land of "Big Blue" and "J-E-T-S....jets...jets....jets" and hiding that maybe you are a Miami Dolphins fan? You know Green, White and Orange?? Just saying... P.S. All kits need to be built...that's what they live for....glad you did it.

Wow, I didn't think that I would like this when I read the title, since this is one of my least favorite Mustang body styles, but I actually like this build very much. The wheels, color and interior, along with the gold stripe all work great. My only question is with the choice of the black rear spoiler....I think I would have done that differently, but overall this is one beautiful Mustang. Great job.

Nice job, normally I don't care much for the flat black primer look, but it works well here, also, the engine really stands out with the bright yellow and all of the detail work done to it. The tires also fit it very well. Nice "first" post.

Darin, this is really great watching what you are doing here....this is, I think, a kit that we all take for granted. I am sure we have all built many of these but not many, if any, to this level. Great job. You are right, these cars were built for one reason and one reason only.......go very fast. Thats it, no frills, no comfort.....just go fast and stop fast. It is no wonder that there are so many kit car replica's out there.....the 427 Cobra just excudes brute force. You are certainly doing justice to this car and improving that kit many times over. keep it up!

I have said it before, and I will say it again, you could put the Chezoom roof on a AMC Pacer and it would look good. Love the direction this is going...the fender skirts fit it perfectly.......this is absolute sweetness!!!