Russell C

Out my somewhat spotty side window at the gas station midday today ....

And my daily driver from the mid 1980s just experienced another hike in value. Yay!

I remember when that 3D illustration came out, the tragedy there is the illustrator incorrectly assumed it was a camper on a shortbed pickup, so the camper unit is stretched a bit behind the doors, and appears off in quite a few other spots. Ironic about the lower 1:1 illustration I use here -- this full size rig, Chalet #1683, is the exact rig used as some kind of 3D scanning template for the 1:43 scale '77 model year diecasts (4th one up from the bottom of the page here) allegedly for sale out there. I'm guessing the European folks (?) used the dozens of photos from this 2017 website ad for it as a means to create the 3D model, they even exactly replicated the camper unit's much faded vinyl stripe colors and the missing parts of what were originally complete unbroken diagonal stripes on the back. I use the word "allegedly" there because the maker's page says it was a limited edition of 150 models, but I've seen way more ebay and other ads for them, and nobody I know has actually bought one to show beyond any of the maker's own photos. Btw, I used to own Chalet #1747, I'm the caretaker (meaning, I pay the bill to keep it online) of the old BlazerChalet site. These are individually designated by the camper unit serial numbers.

Durango Colorado to Ouray Colorado. I've driven that route literally every single summer for the last 18 years to arrive at my favorite vacation spot, know it like the back of my hand. Particular emphasis on the Silverton to Ouray stretch, I tend not to adhere closely to the speed limit in my VW GTI. Don't tell the local cops that.

At first I thought the Monogram kit had the fenders forward enough relative to the front face of the headlight bezels to the grille, but now I see what sets the fenders too far back -- it's the sheer thickness front-to-back of the bezels themselves, just like the way-to-thick front bumper, as seen in this side view of the "Smokey Bandit II" General. Probably since this was a snap-together kit, Monogram over-engineered the parts so that they wouldn't be too fragile for kids to press together.

Since I purposely avoid most pop culture like the plague, I don't have the first clue where the original images come from, but this one is a favorite since it is so endlessly usable.

Ditto. That's what gives any scale light a good reflective effect, an actual parabolic reflector behind the lens. My 911 Turbo illustrates that, where the wide central piece on the 1:1 car has no reflector behind it since it doesn't light up, while each individual light does. So what I did to recreate that was a bit of a chore in such a small space, but still worked out well, was to use adhesive backed chrome mylar sticker material (which is good for mirrors, too) within really tiny rectangle boxes for the backup lights / stop lights. Then I carved out a 'bowl shape' in the body for the turn signals and covered that with Bare Metal Foil that I buffed out to a super shiny chrome appearance with SimiChrome polish. You'd have to experiment a bit on how to create a reflector behind the lenses you have, but at least it's a bigger area to work with.

Pretty much everybody who uses rocks to carve model car parts would have to be. ?

One way is a site-specific search here, although it works the same with any website, where you put the word "site" in combination with a colon mark, and then the website address, followed by a space, and then the word you want to search for. In this example (click here), I've put your user name in and then did the next step at Google and clicked on the "Images" link. If you spot what you see afterward, you click on the result you want. If you want to see just text, here's a representative example of a two-word search, your user name and two words you mentioned in one of your posts. When you put words between quote marks, Google searches for that specific combo of words instead of turning up all results possible for each separate word. site:modelcarsmag.com/forums customsrus "v-16 motor"

Dodging a consistent identity.

For flat uninterrupted panel areas, I cheat: cutout areas from magazine pages that show finely grained wood, doublesided taped to the interior.

A reason why I'm keeping my 36 year-old daily driver. A Mk2 VW mechanic guru told me a while back that the simplistic computer in 'em never malfunctions, which is nicely reassuring. Also nice that Mk2 VWs from '85-'92 were popular enough for hotrodding that lots of aftermarket parts are made for 'em, compared to other run-of-the-mill cars. Plus, I can see where the spark plugs are in it. Good luck finding any of those in the latest computer-enslaved vehicle mayhems.

Appears to be one of those types that have the completely retractable landing gear? ?

Ernie Adams, Dwarf Car Cruisers: https://www.dwarfcarpromotions.com/

Robin's egg blue means it came from the AMT '58 Impala (unless other molds using that engine apply), which the box claims is a 409. A few days back I was pondering how to do evil things to the blue-molded kit / engine I have, and was doing a search of 1:1 348 / 409 engine images, along with a search for 1:25 versions within MCM here --- the photo KK found is from no less than our MrObsessive's '58 AMT Impala convertible!

Going rate for 'em calculates to $2.95 apiece right at this hour tonight when shipping is included ....

Nuts, I was hoping we'd survive the pockyclypse, but oh, well. Nice container re-purposing! (wondering if the dogs would be relegated to a dumpster doghouse on a trailer...)

I like the pipe cleaner seat divider in the back seat. In the front seats .... not so much. Any way possible to fix that cringe-worthy appearance by finding some kind of equivalents to turn into seat edge bolsters? Don't know if the removal does something down the center of the seats, but maybe that could be disguised with a strip of tan 'leather', with corresponding strips in the back seat, to look like it was the intention of the original builder all along ....

Try as I might, I could never get those metal hood clips to work right. But then I was only 8 or ten at the time ...

But will your engine be so finicky that it can only run on racing gas, or will it be ok on just premium? ?

A result of the White Motors Company acquiring Autocar in the '50s and Diamond T and Reo, later combining those two to be Diamond Reo, and then starting up Western Star in the '60s. The name of that specific cab which was shared by the three makes escapes me, but other guys with better memories than mine can chime in on its name which will pave the way on where to read more history about it.

It is, see the last page of this old 36 page Hickey catalog (click on the thumbnails there to enlarge each page). I scored a never built Monogram Jimmy years back fairly cheap off eBay, it takes patience to spot inexpensive ones that are mislabeled by non car-guy estate salers. Less than $20 if I remember right, it's sorta fun to bookmark auctions these days to see how far the bids go ....

See the attached thread for more on the Monogram history -- not mentioned within it, though, is the other mystery as to why Monogram depicted the duel batteries in the Blazer and GMC Jimmy. Maybe somebody answered it elsewhere. Off the top of my head, I don't think the 1:1 Blazers/Jimmys needed two batteries, except for the quite uncommon '76 / '77 Chevy Blazer Chalet and the GMC Jimmy Casa Grande 'mini-motorhomes' where the second battery powered the interior lights in the campers when parked. Btw, the lump and lines over on the passenger side fender liner are the GM factory-supplied jack and tire irons, as seen in this photo from a '76 Blazer Chalet. I'd forgotten until I looked at that photo that the other lump over on the driver's side fender liner was the windshield washer fluid bottle.

Midday right near the grocery store today. More or less matches the sky color.

You're on it! That's one of the first things I did several years back, with no forward progress afterward. My plan is to use the AMT 32nd scale tires & wheels, but since they are actually undersized just a bit in scale, I'll have to commit a somewhat deceptive visual trick (don't tell anyone!) to compensate for that, namely lowering the cab down where it mounts to the frame. I may still be caught and sent to model builders' jail for that crime, but oh, well. ?