Peter Lombardo

Jay, great job on the C6R….the “light†weathering looks great. Please, answer this for me as I am really not sure. I have the Revell model, and yes, I was disappointed when I first opened the box to see how simplified the kit was. I know it builds into a decent model with a little care and detail work, but…other than the wheels, what makes the Scale Motorsports kit worth the money? I just don’t understand what they give you that is that much better than the Revell base kit and a little scratch building detail work produces. I am looking forward to seeing your build, live, in person, up close and personal tomorrow in Wayne. Nice job.

Obviously, this is a superb build. You took the level of this kit’s potential to another place, much higher than previously seen. The one thing that does it for me is the “surface shine†of each component. The inner fenders look right, the dash looks right, the seats look right….each surface is a convincing representation of the actual car. All too often, modelers, me included, forget that there should be a different level of shine for different areas of the car, especially for a stock build. Nice job, and before I forget, the under hood plumbing is great too. Nicely done.

Just today I had to strip the paint off a hood. It was painted with Mopar automotive lacquer…very “hot†paint that had been cured on the hood for 6 months. I soaked it in Scalecoat II Wash Away. Within 10 minutes the paint was very soft and after 30 minutes it came off under running hot water and scrubbed with an old toothbrush. This stuff works great. I got it at my LHS. It was designed to remove pre painted model railcar paint jobs so find a hobby shop that handles train stuff, for your best chance of getting it. Hope this helps.

When I first read your post, I thought it might be just another cheesy April Fools gag. But with all of the responses and their general concern about your feelings, I thought, this sounds real. Ok, jokes on me, and many of the rest of us, I think, but sorry, I don’t see the humor in this. This is just a cheesy juvenile stunt. Either there was a lot of guys really upset by your “quitting†the hobby, or they were just playing along with you. I, personally don’t think it is funny. I don’t understand where this need to have April Fools jokes began in our hobby. I recall the April issue of SAE always had some stupid little inside jokes about “a spray to keep plastic from being “eaten†in the box, or chrome resin mix or some other silly thing. Yeah, that was kinda’ funny but I don’t see the humor in getting your fellow forum mates to try and console you because your feeling were hurt over Donks. Sorry, I guess I just don’t see the humor in this grade school prank. I think my age is showing.

Nice save on a "not so common" model. The decal "save" seems to have worked.

Nice save on a "not so common" model. The decal "save" seems to have worked.

Thats funny, I also thought it was a black and white picture. I think it looks great. Nice and clean, not over done and very crisp. Well done. I am curious, I see you are from Naples FL...where about's in Naples?.....I have a place off of Davis Blvd that I get to every now and again.

I think you are being too immature here by letting these juvenile comments drive you from the hobby. Do you build cars for yourself or for the guys who participate in this forum? I for one, build for myself and my pleasure. It is a hobby and a way for me to relax at night after a grueling day at the office. I don’t understand why you feel this way. I must be getting old. Why are you being so thin skinned over a few negative comments? “Lighten’ up Francis†(Stripes)….come on….you build cars that are not what any of us would call “mainstream model subjects†so you might expect that some guys will not appreciate what you build. Having said that, I think you should be able to handle the criticism. Personally, I think you should post more of them. If you see you are getting under their skin with your “Donks†, then have some fun with it. It’s just a little plastic. Listen, from the dawn of time, there have always been people who feel compelled to belittle and bully others. High school teachers say that bulling is one of the biggest problems they face. It is usually those who have little self esteem who feel the need to “Poke at†others. It makes them feel strong and important. It is just so childish. Personally, I don’t build Donks, but I do not feel threatened by them. If that style floats your boat than go for it. Our hobby is all about enjoyment……you might try and find some.

Very nice clean build. I always liked the relatively stark paint scheme on that car. Somehow it makes it look faster. I will be sure to check it out at NNL East next week. I may just have to get one.

Thank You very much Gregg...I will be there. It will be nice to have a name to refer back to as I have been known to forget who I am from time to time. In all honesty, it will be nice to put faces with the names.

Jeff, very nice build...love the British Racing Green and the wire wheels look great too. I like the "lack of a radio" cover over the dashboard slot, looks great. My MGA has that in lieu of a radio. I am in the middle of rebuilding my 1977 MGB 1:1, into a pre rubber car. It will be running again this summer, I can't wait. I also have this kit and will complete it once the real car is done. Anyway, I have one tiny little comment on yours. I think the ride height is just a little too high for a chrome bumper car. The rubber bumper cars were raised 1 1/2 inches higher to meet the federal bumper regulations in 1974. Prior to that, the cars sat down lower to the road which helped them establish the MG mystic of "great handling". The 1974 1/2 cars were just terrible handling cars as the center of gavity was too high. It took MG until 1976 to get the new configuration sorted out to the point where the handling was acceptible. Other than that one item, it is beautiful.....all MG's are beautiful to me.

Good question Bryan. As a kid, I also never used primer. Even today, though I know better, I find myself fighting the urge to start spraying right over the plastic and putty because I can’t wait. Be patient. Use the primer. I tend to paint with (cool) Tamiya acrylics and (hot) automotive lacquer paints. Both need primer to work best. I buy my primer in the local hardware store. I usually get the Rust-o-leum spray lacquer primer in gray. It works great for both paints and will take a light sanding so you get a nice smooth surface to paint over. I have not tried Model Master Lacquer over it, but I am sure it also would be great. As for the availability of Tamiya paints, I have been blessed with 3 hobby shops within a 10 mile radius so finding the paint has never been an issue. It is my understanding that Tamiya is changing suppliers of their paint, could be good, could be bad, but everyone says that that is the reason for the shortage of the paint. I think it will be a short term problem….at least that is what I have been told. If I could not get Tamiya or Model Master spray paint, I would do one of two things. One, buy an airbrush (I have two) and airbrush on the Tamiya bottle paint. And/or 2, I would go to my local auto supply store and buy Dupli-color rattle cans and Lacquer primer and go that route. Of course, you can always us enamel paint, but it is “softer†so it will scratch easier and it takes much longer to dry, and if you are as impatient as I think you are,†longer†just will not cut it. Good luck, I hope this helps.

Hey guys, thank you very much for the kind words, I really do appreciate it. This project was a lot of work, and like I always say, I build them for my own pleasure, but without a doubt, kind words from guys who know the hard work put into it makes it that much better. Praise coming from accomplished peers is the best reward we can get. Thanks again.

Some of you may remember my “on the workbench†postings of a few months ago for the Ford Interceptor concept that I was attempting to replicate. I began this conversion with an AMT Chrysler 300C because many automotive critics said that the Interceptor was an obvious rip off of the Chrysler, even though it is based upon a Mustang chassis. You can go back and view the early posts if you desire, but they just show lots of body putty and gray plastic, so here I just want to report on the details added late in the build and the finished model. I will begin at the front and work my way backward. First, the top coat color is Rattle Can Tamiya Mica Blue, covered with “Do It Best†Lacquer High Gloss Clear Coat. The grill was fabricated from plastic stock covered with Bare Metal Foil. ( I am not thrilled with the result, but that stupid grill, which I thought would be easy caused me many, many headaches) The headlights are clear sprue that I grinded down and glued to a white plastic backing. The lower grill is a piece of photo-etched N scale freight car grating cut down to fit (It was very difficult to cut down as it was so thick), fog lights came from more grinded clear sprue. The Ford Logo came from a new Ford GT decal set. The engine is the reasonably correct engine for this car, it is the Ford 4.6 Liter from the Mustang GT, but has new head covers that I made from sheet plastic, painted blue and used decals that came from a ’57 Ford decal sheet. I know the car has “silver†Ford logos on the head covers, and have black, but the black stand out better. The “shaker†air intake is completely scratch built and the hood was a major redesign of the Chrysler hood. I opened up the center and crafted the angled side surround to allow the air intake “modified shaker hood†stick through. The hood is set on a “double hinge†hinge to allow the hood to move forward and then hinge up to open the engine bay. I fabricated the side vents just forward of the front door and added BMF and wire, painted clear orange for the marker lights. The front doors hinge inward kind of like the real doors work and all four doors have tiny magnets in both the door jam and the door, to “snap†the door shut when closed. The wheels are made from the tires of the Dodge Magnum wagon, with the centers of the snap fit Ford Thunderbird as they are 7 spoke wheels. The spokes were modified as they needed to be wider at the outer end than the inner end. I fabricated “pie shaped†wedges and glued them over the spokes and made the wheel bigger to fit into the Dodge tire. Putty and lots of sanding tied it all together and then I covered the whole wheel with BMF (I am not crazy about them, but they do have the right “lookâ€. Originally I had the 5 bolts on the wheel center but they actually looked better without them, so I sanded them off) The roof was chopped and narrowed and obviously all four doors were opened. After many, many hours of adjustments, the fronts fit very nice and the backs are just a little out of whack in the rear, but overall fit pretty good. I had a very difficult time setting the rear door windows into the opening, and the glazing is a little “marred†in spots but actually not too badly, but it bothers me a bit. The BMF on the molding around the windows was very difficult, but overall, also not the best job I ever did, but I am living with the result. The entire interior is completely scratch built. The front seats are made up of 5 layers of plastic sheet and the rear seats have 3 layers. I cut out the 4 air vents in each seat on the top layer. The seat belts are made from masking tape and a photo-etched buckle. The front head rests are scratch built and suspended from the roof, as on the real car. The steering wheel is built from bent plastic coated wire and the wheel center is scratch built from sheet plastic. The dashboard was from a 1970 Dodge Super Bee. It was heavily modified. I took a color picture of the dash gauges of the real car, reduced them down to the proper size, coated them with clear and installed them in the dash. The console was scratch built and uses BMF and paint to replicate the finish. The door sides are heavily modified from the Chrysler and I painted the silver detail to replicate the Ford interior. The dash and seats on the real car have orange piping around the stitching. I used very fine detail wire in orange, a little glue, half of the hair that is left on my head, and a lot of patience to get that done. It was not easy, but it really sets the interior off. The seats were sprayed with Tamiya semi gloss black and the carpet was done with black flocking. The rear end was carved out of a ton of putty; the taillights were grinded out of the putty, surrounded with wire glued in place, puttied and then sanded smooth. I filled the opening with BMF, and then mixed up a batch of clear epoxy and Tamiya clear red paint. I carefully filled the openings, one at a time, let them set up. Once dry I then installed the trim across the trunk in a channel that I cut into the rear and onto the taillights, and then covered it with BMF. I cut out the exhaust openings, and fabricated the opening out of very small thin pieces of plastic, also covered with BMF. The chassis is a modified Chrysler 300. I have not seen any pictures of the Ford’s chassis, so this will have to do. The letters that say “Interceptor†on the rear quarter panel came from a decal sheet for HO train car lettering, in silver. They are the closest replication I could find. Am I happy with the result?……..sure, it was a huge undertaking. I, as I like to do, challenged myself to build something more involved than most builds and I saw it through to the end. Did I get it perfect?........not by a long shot. The overall “look†is right, the color is right, the stance is right. The wheels are a little simplistic and some of the BMF is not perfect, (especially the grill) and the rear doors just don’t fit perfectly in the back edge but, quite frankly, I am tired of this build and I want it done, and I had a self imposed deadline of the NNL East as a completion date, and because I was so close to done, I wanted to finish it. And the best thing of all is that I most likely am the only person, maybe in the world, who owns a 1/25th plastic model of the 2007 Ford Interceptor. Come to think of it, I don’t know of anyone else who has a model of the Dodge Charger concept car from 1964, I have not seen another build of a cut away Corvette racer and I have yet to see another model, other than a Die Cast, of a Mustang Shelby GT500. This is one of the best things about building model cars…..every time we “open the box†to a new kit we have an opportunity to build a unique and very creative piece. I think we all need to let our imaginations run wild. We all need to build wild and crazy stuff mainly because we can. We have no one saying “no you can’t do thatâ€, except maybe our wives…….and maybe ourselves.

All around, this is going together beautifully. Period perfect.....I would have never been able to fight the desire to two-tone the seats. Thanks for the tips along the way, the chassis weathering is a neat little trick.

Very nice combination....I really like the green seat centers....looks sharp, too bad about the "see thru" decals and ghosted vents, otherwise, nice build and great wheel choice.

I used to love F1…I watched all the races, read the magazines and built the models. But after Senna died (1994), and many of the regulations changed, and not for the better, I lost total interest. Speed channel is re-broadcasting the race tonight at 9 pm, Eastern, so I may watch, or maybe not. My feeling is that the sport is way too over regulated. The cars are too technological to really showcase the drivers talent. The only real passing gets done in the pits, so it is more like a video game then real life racing. Old Bernie runs the show only for his personal amusement and personal gain. Run afoul of Bernie and you are doomed. I remember a few years ago, I was all set to watch the first race of the season….It was to be broadcast on ESPN, but at the last minute, Bernie felt that he was not getting paid enough for the racing feed, so he cut them off. I figured, if he didn’t want me to watch, I would not watch and not contribute any more money into the F1 coffers. I’m sick and tired of how politics is ruining our lives every day….I don’t need the F1 politics too. F1 is just not enjoyable to watch any more, the rules are too weird, tires, fuel loads, etc.... and the drivers just don't race like the old days.

Great news. Glad you are getting through this. Remember there are no guarantees in life, it is what you make of it so, enjoy every day you have and focus on the future. Besides, we all want to hang around now and see if this AMT resurrection thing really does work out this time around. Hang in there.

Interesting take on a 1962 Buick. Back in the day, the Electra 225 was known as "a deuce and a quarter" and it was a luxury car, a real boulevard cruiser, not much of a hot rod, but that is not to say you can't put a blower on it. I think you need to learn to love BMF. It makes all the difference in the world. From the pictures I see here, it looks like you got a great result for your first go around....stick with it, it will get easier. Think about it....without BMF, you limit yourself to rat rods and drag machines....thats like saying you can only eat vanilla ice cream when there are 40 other flavors to chose from. Like I said, you should learn to love it.

Congratulations…..one of each, that’s what we have, and it doesn’t get any better than that…A son to carry on the family name and a daughter to walk down the aisle. Enjoy them both….they are only young for a very short time.

What a shock..... Lyle built a great looking clean 32 Ford......Nice clean build there...I may just have to order one, just to complete the series of 32's. I agree with some of the other guys, please nudge Norm to get a website. I know I would get more of his great resin stuff if it were easier...personally, I think his stuff is without a doubt the best resin castings available. I have many, most of the stuff I bought was mastered by you...so nudge Norm for me. Thanks, and nice job on the truck.

Ismael, nice job. I built that kit a few years ago and had the same decal problems too....no flexibility to them at all. I did not care for the question mark decals, but had no source for replacements at that time. Nice build of a tough kit....I am not a big fan of the Revell of Germany F1 kits. I have done a few and they always disappoint me. I guess I was spoiled by the great Tamiya 1/20 kits. Even the old Hasagawa 1/24 kits were better then the Revell kits, in my humble opinion. Anyway....nice job...I know it was not a cake walk.

Great job as usual. I love the modifications and the color choices, green and red. The underhood detailing looks nice and tight. I have had this kit on order for weeks now from my local hobby shop. I know I could speed the process up going "internet order", but he's a good guy so I will wait. Anyway, your build is very inspirational...I have saved the pictures for later viewing when my kit arrives. Good Job.