Russell C

One these years (not this year) I need to dive into my retirement career of doing eclectic graphic arts servicing for model vehicles - decal creation/reproduction, 3D artwork for 3D printing, and photo etch artwork. Years back at one of my jobs, I was in the graphics department for a nameplate manufacturer that did pretty much all 'custom' short- / medium-run work of nameplates, machine tag items and some aerospace etched items. I can tell you from firsthand experience, photo etch is not as simple as you might think. First off, the process involves acid etching of metal, in which a photo resistant layer is applied to a sheet of metal, and then artwork is needed to produce clear/black film mask that's placed over the metal where all of that is exposed to light. The part of the photo resistant covered by the black mask remains resistant to the acid while the exposed part is washed away in the development process. After that, the metal is acid etched, and after that the remaining photo resist must be chemically washed off, and then the sheet is cleaned and polished. Here's a simplistic link illustrating the process: https://www.iqsdirectory.com/articles/metal-etching/photochemical-etching/basic-photochemical-etching-process.jpg There's no cheap way for any acid etcher company to do just a couple of logos. Photo below of what we did for a guy who sold limited edition 8th scale steam tractors, where in order to make the run worthwhile, he needed dozens of parts per sheet. This is an 18" x 12" sheet of brass. A hobbyist with his own home etching could do tiny runs, but would still need the artwork for the film mask, and even that is not as simple as just black lines drawn onto a clear film. Acid etches both down into the metal and sideways. In paper-thin metal, that's barely any problem at all, but the thicker the metal is, the more the artwork needs to be oversized around the perimeter of the object to compensate for the uppermost areas of the metal being eaten away the longer it stays in the acid in order to achieve a deep etch. The oversizing varies from one metal type to the next, and interior area holes/shapes need to be undersized. I think the brass sheet here was a reject because somebody forgot to undersize the artwork dots for the etch-through holes, and every single hole on this sheet ended up unacceptably too big in diameter. For something one-off like what you need, either 3D printing is the answer where you could talk a pal into including the little bits you need into some other print job, or maybe you could find someone with one of those plastic sheet cutter machines (that operate like an inkjet printer) who could cut out what you need.

In tribute to the Santa angle of this evening, didn't think of it until a short time ago, but a little research revealed that the Fred Astaire version for the 1970 TV special of the same name is only a decades-later cover of the original performer. Alan Jackson cover here:

(found the primary image below on the internet last year, but I used my graphic arts skills to alter it with more details, and where I additionally added virtual lights and snow to the upright version of the same tree in the lower panel)

Update, after several years of inactivity. Was feeling stumped on how I was going to find a mint condition original silver foil Quicksilver decal sheet, and whether I could cobble together other flame decals that I like better. Twin problems solved days ago via Want Ad requests fulfilled via Ken "BIGTRUCK" and Thomas "Blacksheep214"! No offense to Tom Daniel or Monogram, but I think the Revell '56 Bel Air flames in the middle/upper right will work on the sides behind the front fender cutouts, and I'm reasonably sure I can splay out the two in the middle/upper left a bit to cover the hood, which will lose its huge scoop in favor of a cowl induction shape. Haven't been totally stagnant on this project in the intervening years -- I filled in the back taillight panel and shaved off the round bump below the window, whatever that's supposed to be. In my pursuit of standard front/deeper dish rear rally wheels, I used my mini lathe to precisely separate the trim rings off the rally wheels in a '69 Revell Vette glue bomb I got years back. That same bomb is donating its basic GM front frame clip/suspension. Another '69 Z28 donates its firewall and fuel tank, where I'll either narrow that tank to fit between the molded-on frame or make a platform for the full width tank to go on the frame, such that it would like a fabricator would do for a 1:1 car. I make the glue bombs I've bought earn their keep! That Vette has donated its front fenders, roof, grilles and interior to another WIP that I should post one of these days ...

No offense to the movie people or whoever came up with the movie car -- but they should have used your design instead, in my opinion.

Cost me a bundle to go through graphic arts school back in the day, always need to keep my hand in it. Sooner than later, I need to start my own permanent retirement career of doing basic inexpensive concept photo alterations like this, along with decal replication/creation, photo etch artwork, and even 3D parts artwork. I'll drive off that bridge when I get to it .... Yep, farther forward front axle looks great!

Courtesy of a very handy trade with one of the other guys here. Last time I saw an uncut sheet was my original kit I bought back in either 1973 or '74. Will be going into my rebuild/mod project that has been tragically lagging behind for years. The one white speck by the edge near the "E" in the lower panel was not a chip in the decal, but happily just some large dust bit that popped right off when I touched it.

I've got the "Ohana" (Hawaiian for "family") rank probably because I have over 1400 posts here since 2014. Don't have a clue what the "6/6" bit means, though. Gregg who created this forum is a Hawaii resident, thus some of the Hawaiian words here & there in the forum.

Didn't see this old thread back when I first joined, but a word search within it turned up what would also be my first choice, the P1800ES.

On the way through the nearby neighborhood on the way to the grocery store, a bit after noontime.

? Irks me as a Yank (not right today but very recently) when American TV programs run subtitles for a Scottsman who's speaking English. I can understand perfectly fine, don't know why.

Dunno. Did my own bit of photo-altering to see what more open space behind a really short version would look like, and then a bit less so, like your cropped image. I'm still leaning toward the longest version ....

Custom grille, too, if I read that right in the scan images of the instructions: https://public.fotki.com/drasticplasticsmcc/mkiba-build-under-c/monogram-instructions/automotive-cars--pi/ford/1931-1940/monogram-1936-ford-/

Instrumental ... with classic cars. ( I'm old enough to remember when all but the convertible there were new cars )

Hilarious. Didn't even recognize the light bar (I still live in the past when those were big blue & plastic things), thought it was something in the farther background. Plus, I never followed any of the Transformers stuff.

Somebody forgot to put a winch on the front ...... and a 4x4 drivetrain under it?

Add a few more cylinders to the engine to fill it in?

One of those videos where it makes me wish I had real talent. Four hands are better than two!

Friction-fit nearly all of the AMT version of the 1928 Lincoln Sport Touring phaeton's luggage rack together and accomplished the critically important trick of making it stay together … because that was the only way to be assured that the 2 mounting tabs on the back brackets would line up with locating holes in the rear frame crossmember when the whole assembly is finally glued together. Did that by touching tiny brushfuls of MEK to the joining bits, capillary action pulls that solvent in. Had to cheat on the friction fit by first gluing the 2-piece folding horizontal section together a couple of days earlier and then putting a weight on it to keep it completely flat (additional brass rods om the crossmember for stronger frame installment later). What a fiddly process! Could be that back in the day, the MPC version of this kit had crisper-molded pieces that went together easier where it could actually fold and unfold if you skipped gluing it.

This all ties together - the tan 1:1 Chalet above is #1460 (these are designated by the last 4 digits of the camper serial number plate), and the guy who had that one was unable to sell it from 2015 to 2018, rare as it might be, because he was asking as much as triple what the going rate was for these in the condition his rig was in. Possible that he never sold it, maybe. And yep, I've heard from more than one dealer worker that the dealerships couldn't move these back in '76 - '77 off the showroom floor or off the lot for over two years after they got them. One guy told me how one of these was dropped off by GM at the dealership in the middle of the night with no warning it was coming. Lately there's been a flurry of interest in the 1:1s by a tiny handful of rich guys with lots of dolars but no sense about looking into the prior sales histories of these, sending 'em up to really inflated values, but I think the air is going out of that speculation bubble more all the time. Me, I used to own Chalet #1747, and I'm still the caretaker of the ancient blazerchalet.com website. Tragically, I have zero time to bring it up to 21st century speed. I went so far several years back as to snap up three cheap eBay kits of the MPC and Revell and Monogram kits, but still haven't figured out which is the best base for a factory stock GMC Jimmy Casa Grande version. If one of these kits was re-tooled and also altered to be more accurate in proportions and details, it would save me a lot of bother of trying to fix the basic scale problems in the kit, where I could devote more time to scratchbuilding the camper unit.

Fun thing about this is how infinitely tweakable these can be before the final printout, as opposed to the old fashioned way of hacking/mashing physical bodies together, where after it is all done, we wish one or two dimensions were just a bit different. Borrowed your Mustang's side view for curiosity's sake to do simple 2D cut & paste to see what a slightly longer door / rear wheel opening further back would look like ....

Mark's hit-and-miss on emails sometimes, but when I emailed him a couple weeks back to alert him to an old model kit on eBay, he affirmed that he was keeping plenty busy on the GSL planning. The July mass email update said, "GSL will be presented at the Salt Lake Sheraton hotel - where we’ve held the Championship for many years. Room reservations will open in January of 2023."

At the grocery store after noontime. Didn't get to hear this one, appears to be quite a big air scoop under the front bumper.

Might be the one from this 2010 tractor show video ...

4 door Nova after noontime at the grocery store.