Peter Lombardo

Albert....I looked at all of the shots in your photo album...what a great show. Nice photos. Great job. Does it ever get better than Palm Springs in the winter time? As for what to build...build a couple..you can never build too many 32 Fords. Coupes, roadsters, sedans, Vicky's, chopped, not chopped, Hyboy, dropped, stockish, custom, lakester, rat, drag, flamed, not flamed...build at least one of each. P.S. The yellow one with the matching pickup is really nice.

After looking at parts 1, 2 and 3, I can honestly say that I am very impressed by your talent. Everything is well done and well thought out. Each piece is complete and true to the style of vehicle that it represents. All of the little things that make a model fit into a category work with each other. Well done, the other thing I like is that you are not “Pigeon holed†into only one style of build. You show modeling competence in each discipline. Muscle, mild custom, street, rat, salt flat, whatever, each is as good as the others. I think it is harder to do all of those different styles well than just one category. Very Nice. Got any more?

Amazing, you guys can list all of those bands and artists. I am willing to bet that no one else listens to what I normally listen to while modeling. I, if it is music, usually listen to Acoustic Alchemy (CD playing right now as a matter of fact) or Pat Metheny, or sometimes 60’s rock (it is my age, I grew up with that stuff). If TV, I am a British Comedy junky. I play DVD’s of Fawlty Towers (from the 1970’s), League of Gentleman (amazingly witty stuff), Little Britain (Funny, Funny two man team), The office (Original British version only, U.S. copy is ######), Extras (the two guys that wrote and starred in the Office) and of course Absolutely Fabulous. In all cases I have the complete series and I can “lip sync†along with the lines of everything so I do not have to watch. I realize that this selection is weird, but it floats my strange little boat.

You know the answer to that question. Think about it a minute. Ask yourself what you want from your modeling time. Just killing time? Relaxation? Do you want quality or quantity from your collection? Do you take pride in showing your creations to others? Will you be entering a “judged†contest? Most importantly, to what level are your skills honed to and how much money do you want to invest in a model build? When you answer these questions for yourself, you will have an idea of what level of detail you want and are capable of. Not every model I build has the same level of detail. I break my builds down into three sub categories and I tend to work on at least one build from each category at all times. 1. The short fairly quick build which does not get a lot of extra detail work. This build is relaxing and is not a subject that I think is worthy of a lot of time, money and sweat. An example of this is a relatively stock build with the “standard†engine detail and nice paint. 2. This is the mid-level build that may get some operating features, more engine detailing, more time invested and/or special paint (two tone, flames, etc…) 3. The long term heavily modified build. This build gets as many bells and whistles as I can come up with. There is no time limit and usually this will get the aftermarket dollars spent on it. This is my approach. I have noticed how everyone here tends to take a different road. Some guys go all out, all the time. Some guys take it easy. The point is that you can decide for yourself, and not everything you build must be at the same level of detail, unless that is what you want. Most importantly remember there are no rules to model building. Life is full of rules. Build what you want, build it to the level of detail you want. Push yourself to improve with each build, only if you want to. Answer the questions I asked up front for yourself. Once done, you should have an idea of where you want to go. Once you know where you want to go, it will be a whole lot easier to get there. Overall, remember that for most of us, model building is a hobby, and therefore it is relaxation and therapy. Don’t make yourself nuts.

In my mind, it's any and all models done by LS Models (a model producer from Japan in the 1990's). I built the Chaparral, which needed major surgury, no actually, it is now a bionic car with the major rebuild it required to get it close to acceptable. They also made a Ford GT40 and a Porsche 904 or 906, I think. There may have been one other car in their series, but who would care, you couldn't build anything worthwhile without a huge investment of time and talent. Such a disappointment to me. In fact, the fact that there are no real quality models of Chaparral cars in 1/24 scale has always been a mystery to me. I could see a couple of great kits from Fujimi or Tamiya...oh well. It is interesting how 1/43 scale guys have embraced that mark, but the main stream 1/24 scale kit manufacturers have stayed away.

Yes…I am very specific about what I will build. Once done, it must sit on one of my shelves. If it can't do that...I will not build it.

Hot stuff...That fire truck conversion looks great. Paint and decals look perfect...Don't you ever get tired of red?

I use them all. Love them all...all of the tools sited above, but most of all, it is my head. My mind is the best tool I own. I am constantly thinking and looking and learning...every day. Your builds, my builds, magazines, both real and model cars, all filter into my brain, go around and around, and end up on my workbench. You are never too old to learn and apply that knowledge into the next project. Yes, hands and tools help, but it is my brain that creates.

I think some of you guys are over doing it with the MG bashing. This is a model car forum, not a sports car site. On sports car forums, the diminutive little British sports cars are loved and fawned over like your first girl friend that made you a man. Over the years, MG’s, in particular the MGB have gotten praise from enthusiasts and competitors alike. The MG, more than any other European sports car is widely credited with igniting the sports car revolution here in America. It was the returning GI’s after WWII that brought a great desire back with them for the fun to drive, nimble little sports cars that started it all. GM saw the need to fill the empty US hole with, by all accounts a woefully under powered Corvette. MG went on to sell well over 100,000 MGA’s and more than 500,000 MGB’s before the emission controls, bumper /crash requirements and the general malaise over the British auto industry of the late 1970’s caught up with them in 1980. In fact until just recently, the spunky 1800 MGB was the best selling sports car in the world. Sure, the Mazda Miata is a more reliable auto, but at three times the cost and the benefit of new technology and no home government interference, it well should be. I ran a Mazda dealership for 15 years and drove countless Miata’s. Nice sports car…hard to find fault with it, but, and this is important, at least to me, it has no soul. It is antiseptic in its execution. Drive one and I think you will understand what I mean. MG’s are raw. They are gritty and base. You feel every little nuance in the road. The smell of gasoline and oil fill your head. The gutty growl of the engine being pushed to its limit sing to you like an early Rolling Stone song from the mid sixties. As you work your way up and down the gearbox, you feel the gears meshing with a mechanical crunch that just can’t be duplicated on any car born after the turn of the century. The wind in your hair, assuming you still have some, just reinforces why you drive one. Take an MG out on a nice Saturday afternoon and the cares and troubles in the world slip away. You have to work at driving this car. It is not transportation, it is an experience. And as you drive around, look at the faces of the people who stop and stare at you. Well, not you, they are looking at the car. You can see in their face that they have great memories of an MG from their youth. Maybe a MGB, maybe a Midget or an Austin Healey Sprite, but they have memories. As I drive my MG’s around in the summer months, I get so many thumbs up, and people at stop lights telling me of the MG they knew. And with time, all of those wet mornings that the car would not start, the electrical short in the lights or fuel pump, all drift away. No, MG’s are not reliable, comfortable or for everyday use. MG’s are like a fine wine or that 80 year old Scotch in the back of your liquor cabinet that only come out when you need to recharge your battery. There is nothing, except teeing off on a great golf course, that is a better use of a beautiful warm spring morning than bring out my MGA, letting it warm up in the driveway, wiping the dust off it, and driving away. Ok, maybe I over did it a little here and there, but you need to understand what these cars meant to the sports car world and how they are enjoyed today. I have a beautifully restored 1960MGA and my son and I are now rebuilding my 1977 MGB for this spring. This will be a beautiful car, as the engine (90,000 miles on it, but the block is perfect) is getting the full rebuild, over bore and upgrade so it will put out around 130 horsepower, up from the standard 98 or so. I have a brand new overdrive and a new tan leather interior, complete, going in. A little body work is being completed and it will be repainted in the Corvette 50th Anniversary Red. The rubber bumpers are replaced with brand new chrome ones and fresh wheels and tires will round it out. I can’t wait to get it on the road again. I drove it for 12 years as it was before this major refreshing was begun last year. MG was, and is a proud marque. They have earned a place of honor in automotive history and they need to live on in our minds and on our roads as a reminder of a simpler, more innocent time. If you have never driven one and you get the chance, enjoy the moment. It is not a Porsche, not a Ferrari and certainly not a Corvette, but then again, it was never intended to be.

I have two....an Aztek for big stuff (ok, but not very precise) and a Paasche VL (I think) for fine line work. Nice gun....not too expensive and I have many needles for different spray patterns. Both work well for the intended uses.

Brent...great job. The engine looks perfect and I really like the fact that you kept the body, or lack of body, very clean....kind of like, the builder was in a hurry to get the thing down the track and did not want to waste time on a body because it did not add anything to the top end speed. Nice build on a vehicle that you just don't see often.

My formal training was in accounting.....boring! No, I mean REALLY BORING!! After a few years in public accounting, I ended up as a Controller/General Manager of a large auto dealer group...my responsiblity was the Chrysler Dodge Jeep...Mazda...and Infiniti stores of the group of 23 franchises. After 30 years in the business, and 15 at the last group, I took over and now own an advertising agency. We currently do mainly automotive clients, but I am moving us out into the broader field of retail and business-to-business. We write, produce and traffic, print, radio and TV spots and now are moving more heavily into the Internet. Our newest product is what we call...V-Mail. We can send out blast E Mails that have video messeges within that are hosted on our server and play thru a media player on the receipants computer. It is really pretty neat. Businesses can show off their products and services to potential customers with music, video and the spoken word, rather then just an e mail that must be read. Sorry, didn't mean to go off on a sales pitch....I can't help myself...it is what I do all day long. You know...in business, it is "sell or die". Hobbies are, obviously model cars, oil painting, pen and ink drawing, golf...oh, to play golf every day would be the life.

Great job on a difficult kit. Your detailing is a cut above. I have looked at the kit at swap meets a few times over the years but never thought it was worth the trouble to build properly....you showed that it was worth the effort....nice job.

I have tried just about every paint available, spray can and bottle shot thru my airbrush, you are right. The Tamiya paint, even out of the can is great. The clear has a great shine, but.....there is always a butt....My experience with Tamiya clear is that it takes a very, very long time to dry hard enough to handle. I learned my lesson when I almost wiped out the paint on my 67 Charger with the true fire flames with finger prints 10 days after painting the clear coat. That is my only concern, long drying time. I am still looking for the Tamiya product (kit, paint, tools, etc...) that is not the best in their respective field. They just get it!!!

Thanks for all of the kind words, guys....I have to say, this was a fun build, something very different for me and full of learning experience. I thoroughly enjoyed the process.

Thanks Jairus....I will see if I can get vacuum covers from Reliable Resin. I may be doing another one of these cutaway Vettes, the shop that did the real conversion has requested one. If I build it, I will most likely start with the Reliable Resin Vette, assuming I can get one.

Just completed this afternoon. I intermixed pictures of the actual car with the model. I hope you enjoy.

This is the final installment before I finish the Sunray Corvette cutaway. These shots were taken over a couple of days, so you can that the Corvette detailing has progressed. The body has been primed and painted with the base white. I will mask off and complete the blue section in a day or two. I needed to replace the right side inner door panel as the Greenwood kit has a flat smooth one, so I went back to the Baldwin Motion kit and made a mold of the door panel out of putty. The white powder you see is mold release powder. As with the dashboard, I molded the door panel out of Bondo body putty. It came out nice, just a few small pin holes to fill, then it was painted black and installed in the interior tub. I mentioned in the last post that I found a nice little way to make a tachometer. For the last few weeks have had a fuse for a string of Christmas lights in my pocket. The other day, when I put my hand in my pocket, I could feel that the fuse had come apart. When I took the pieces out of my pocket, it hit me. The two ends looked exactly like an older style tachometer. I needed one for this Corvette, so it just fell together. I drilled a hole in the side, filled in the center with epoxy, and inserted a rod in the side hole. When dry, I decaled the face, covered that when dry with clear Tamiya paint and the tach. was done. I made the dash roll bar and fabricated the brake bolster support. I made the brake and clutch pedals and connected them to the dash. The clutch pedal connects to the rod that runs to the clutch. I wired the gages and tach. I ran the oil line over to the oil overflow tank on the right inner fender wall. The fuel tank was painted to replicate the galvanized material that the real tank is constructed from. The fuel line is installed and the fuel breather is on top painted blue. I only need to install the fuel filled once the body is in place. The tires finally got the Goodyear logos and I gave them a flat sheen to make them look more realistic. The seat is installed, just waiting for the seat belt which I am constructing now. Once the body is painted, decals go on and final assembly will be completed. Thanks for looking.

Mike, great job on that very sleek racer...I never heard of Awana before, but I can see where that would kinda neat to do. I really like the way you added the fender flares around the wheels. The color works great on it because there is a lot of space to see the color changes with the suttle body curves. Very nice. Anyone else build anything?

I am willing to bet that most of you guys, certainly the guys who have sons, have been dragged into building a Pinewood Derby Car or two. I certainly have, as my son was a scout for a number of years. He always built his car, as I wanted him to be proud of his entry. But our scout troop had a category for fathers too. I built at least 4 different cars over the years, but this was my favorite. I was a big fan of Formula One back in the early and mid ninety’s. Senna was my guy and I was heartbroken the day I watched him buy the ranch in 1994 at Imola. I also was a fan of Nigel Mansel and the Williams team in general. I built the World Champion Williams FW14b from a Hasagawa kit. It is 1/24th scale, and quite frankly, I have not seen any other builds of this kit. Every build of this car I see is the 1/12 Tamiya kit. Anyway, this is a pretty straight forward build of the car, except I added aftermarket decals for the Camel logos. But the reason for the post is that it was the inspiration for the pinewood derby build. I hand formed the car, using my Dremel tool with a drum sanding grinder, from the standard pinewood blank that you are given by the scouts, not one of the pre cut bodies you can get from the hobby store. I hand painted the body and all of the lettering using my Hasagawa model as the guide. This was built back in 1995. I am curious….How many of you guys did Pinewood Derby cars? And maybe we can see them. I’m will to but that there are some pretty wild builds out there. Lets see them!

While looking at the wild 1960 Ford Starliner that Fordsixty posted, (great job...very bizzare build, it kind of has one of everything going on here, stock car, sports car, group c, dirt track, custom, offroad, etc..., and he pulled it off...it works...really something....WAY outside the box), anyway, spotted Jairus's drawing of his idea for a street racer type 60 Ford coupe and was reminded that when I first saw his drawing, many, many moon ago, it inspired me to build one very similar to it. I dragged out my car and photographed it to post here. I did not have access to the 62 Ford taillights that Jairus used, so I substituted 62 Thunderbird taillights and bumper. It is not as flowing as the Ford taillights, but not bad. I used the Corvette side vent as Jairus used, but have the chrome molding in a different spot. I added a hood scope and hood vents and put a Revell Parts Pack 427 Ford in it. I faded the HOK, metallic black down to charcoal/silver on th bottom, used old school wheels and mags to keep with the 60/70 look and than added period correct fog lights. Not exactly the same as Jairus's great rendering, ( always liked the hot mean look of the female shooter and the intrigue of the scene), but kinda close. You can see where the inspiration came from. I also through in the 64 Ford, because it is a similar vintage and looking car. AMT 64 Ford, opened the doors (see the blood splatter in the door jam, where a few fingers got smashed ??) opened the hood, dropped in the engine from the 62 Thunderbird that donated it's butt to the 60 Ford, and then modified the hood of the TBird to fit the Ford. Lowered the whole thing down and gave it a custom paint job. Not the hottest thing going, but I like it.