Olle F

Thanks, but if you look at how long it takes me to even build a box stock model, you have nothing to fear. Anyone in for a 4-year build-off?

I guess already finished builds don't qualify, but I sure enjoy building beaters...

Isn't that the same game as they have in the Cracker Barrel restaurants? I eat there quite often so I must have played it hundreds of times by now. Still, I have only beat it twice.

We spent most of the time in Kungälv, and went to Stockholm right after new years eve (Jan. 2nd and 3rd, I believe). This part of the trip was a bit improvised, so I didn't get a chance to contact you (actually, I didn't get to talk to many of my old buddies at all... ) but I will definitely try next time. I'll just look you up in the phone book if I can't get to a computer. Or just send me a PM, so I can put the number in my address book.

I think me and my family actually walked by that place a few months ago on our way to the Museum of National Antiquities (Historiska Museet)... It's in the same neighborhood, right? We spent a couple of days in Stockholm and I was thinking about calling and hiring you as our private limo driver, but we (read: My wife) got caught up shopping in Old Town so I didn't get an opportunity.

There is also some kind of clear coat under the chrome. Will any of the listed products strip that as well? I already have a jug of CSC, so I was hoping that this would strip both coats...

That's probably because your connection is slow to begin with. The site speed won't matter all that much if your connection is the bottleneck, it's gonna be slow regardless. I'm on hi-speed at home and at the office, and I have noticed that the site has indeed slowed down conciderably the last month or so. I guess you shouldn't complain when it's a free site, but I agree that it is annoying sometimes. The worst thing about it is that I can't use that beverage here at the office.

Many thanks, Tim! I will save the pictures in my reference file! And there will be pictures in "Under glass" later. Just have to wait to get the wipers from my LHS, assemble them and get them on there. Shouldn't take more than a couple of months... :D

I agree on the Q-tips. Sometimes you spend more time removing fuzz than burnishing and trimming the foil. I sharpen the blade instead of changing it though, a few strokes on some wet-or-dry paper is usually enough to keep it nice and sharp.

My guess would also be an early-30's Ford, but many of the cars of that era are very similar so I'm not sure. I guess you'll know when you have exhumed it. It sure sucks that you never have a shovel when you need it.

I don't know anything about this particular brand, but have tried a few different masking fluids. They work really well for some things, and can also open up interesting possibilities. For example, I used it to mask the chromed headlight reflectors when painting the bezels on a '57 Chrysler 300, an area that would have been very tricky to mask with any other masking material. It can also be used when you want to detail paint certain things like dashboards in the "wrong" order. Paint and detail things like instruments, radios etc first, then mask them and spray the dash with the overall color. Another thing I have done with masking fluid is to simulate flaking and chipped paint. Paint with primer, rust or whatever you want to show underneath the paint, dab on some fluid and spray paint over it. When you remove the masking, you'll have a nice and realistic flaking paint with the right "3D effect" to it. One thing I have learned is that it's almost impossible to get a nice line when you brush it on, it's usually better to apply on a larger area, cut the line and remove the excess. Here is an example of what you can do: I wanted to create the illusion of a rusty car with some shoddy bodywork done to it, so I ground out a "rust hole" from behind, painted some rough "rust" on it and masked with fluid. After painting the body, I peeled off the masking fluid to reveal the rust underneath. I used the same technique to paint the radiator: First a brass color on the whole radiator, then some masking fluid and flat black. After peeling off the masking fluid, it looked like a brass radiator with the paint flaking off in places.

Thanks! The only modification to the body was the rear window, the rest looked good right out of the box. I haven't compared with AMT's version, but after looking at numerous pictures of the real thing, I'm pretty sure that the R/M version is as good as it gets. If you want to be picky, the rear window should probably be a tad smaller and I was thinking about fixing that, but I decided that it's just one of those things no one will really notice. All in all, this is a great kit and it would be very good box stock material as well. And the mystery can again... Do you have any pictures of how the hoses are run? I have a '67 Impala waiting to be built, and I suspect that I can use the same installation on that. And I have always wanted a 1:1 '65 Impala so I'm definitely jealous! BTW: I'm originally from Sweden, so my English is not perfect either. But as foreigners, we can get away with that.

Oh, it's a government controlled test? Maybe they just want to see if you're a good citizen and answers "c" without questioning why.

Thanks! Yeah, it would be interesting to have that mystery revealed. Even if it's too late to change anything on this one, it could definitely be helpful for the next Chevy build. Thanks, Peter! Even if I'm not very good at thanking people for all the kind words I have received, I sure appreciate yours and all other's comments and input! I try to get the right sheen wherever I can, as I believe this adds more realism and life to the model than even using the right color sometimes. Another thing I try to do is to vary the colors a bit, even if it's "supposed" to be the same. For example, you will usually find slight variations in color between seats, panels, carpet, headliner etc. in a supposedly color coordinated 1:1 interior, and I think experimenting with this adds a lot of subtle detail. It's fairly easy to do, but a real PITA when you need to touch it up... "Where the @#$%& is that red paint I mixed for the floor mats?" Unfortunately, it's often a trial and error thing and sometimes I fail miserably. For example, I'm still not sure if the dullcoat on the engine was the right thing to do. Well, I'm definitely not an expert, but at least I'm trying. Anyone wonder why my builds take so long?

Those details you mentioned are what I was talking about in my previous post, and that's exactly what I like about it. You don't see them first time you look, but once the model gets your attention you will start looking for sure.

Yeah, that's a slick car indeed, and I love models that don't scream "come and look". You usually walk by them at the shows without paying too much attention, then you stop, thinking "What in the world was that...?", and then you walk back and look. It's kinda like factory racers: "The plainer, the better". BTW: Does this kit come with clear headlight lenses or did you add that yourself? I haven't built many JoHan kits, but I thought they all came with the lenses molded in?

Thanks for the picture, Raul! As a matter of fact, I have already ordered that set from my LHS just to see what it looks like. It was good to see the picture of the assembled wipers though, they seem to be very close to the prototype. I might just use the arms from this and the blades from the DM multi piece set. Or I might just glue the kit wipers on there and call it a day. I'm kinda tired of detailing right now, so it's probably time for a box stock build again...

One of the memories from my childhood is mom vacuuming my room, and the distinct rattle of something going up the tube. Always made me cringe, thinking "Well, at least I know where that part went..."

Wow...! No offense to other builders here, but that's one of the cleanest builds I have seen in a while! I love the interior!

I have actually had great luck with the Linksys WRT54G. We use similar units (the speed booster model) here at work, and have the whole plant covered without any problems. I got one for the house a while ago, and I must say that I was impressed with the way it works. I was prepared for a long and frustrating weekend when I started installing it, but I had it up and running in about 2 hrs without having any previous knowledge of networks or routers. After that, I bought a second one for my in-laws and had it installed and ready to go in about 1 hr. The only problem I have had was when lightning struck close to the house and knocked it out. Back in my dial-up days I had numerous modems fried by lightning so I thought it was a goner, but after checking it I realized that all it did was to reset itself back to factory settings. It just took a few minutes to get it running again. I would definitely buy Linksys again, but of course, there are bad apples regardless of what brand you buy.

2,570 miles at 575 mph should take 2,570/575 = 4.47 hours. The fuel consumption per hour should be 15,200/4.47 = 3400 gal/h. Now I'm puzzled too... Edit: Seems like Aaron got the same number as I did... I guess something in the test isn't right.

I'm trying to finish up a '65 Impala, and want to replace the kit wipers with something that looks better. I have a set of DM wipers (#DM-2520), but the shape of the arms looks funny and I just don't think they will look right on this model. I have to admit that I'm a bit intimidated by the somewhat complicated multi piece design too. I have seen some 1-piece wipers, but they were kinda plain looking. So are there any other wipers out there that would look better, and maybe be easier to assemble too? I have already ordered a set of The Model Garage #2013 and I'm hoping that they will work, but I would still like to know what's out there.

Thanks for the comments! Yeah, you're probably right about the stems. As a matter of fact, the whole assembly looks out of scale. I'll see what I can do about it, the mirrors are just pinned to the doors without glue, so it's an easy thing to take them off if I decide to modify them or change them for something else. Another thing I noticed now is that the rear bumper sits too low, have to fix that. It's funny that pictures always are so revealing, I didn't even notice this looking at the actual model. I guess it's a good way to check your work though: Sit down at the computer with a beer, look at the pictures and make a list of all the flaws you have to fix...

Some more progress.... It would be nice to use PE windshield wipers, but the Detail Master set I have just doesn't look right. The arms have some kind of funky Z-shaped bend, so I'm still looking for alternatives. Any tips on where to find better stuff will be appreciated! There's a few more things left to do, like touching up the rear valance, clear coating the air filter to make the decal blend in a bit better, adding a licence plate etc, but I think that's it. BTW, I'm not really happy with the way the rear view mirrors look, they're too big and clumsy. I have seen them turned the other way around (with the bowtie at the bottom) and they may look a bit better that way, but I'm not sure if that's correct or not. I'm just assuming that the bowtie goes on top but maybe it's me turning them upside down... Does anyone know how they are supposed to go?

Good job so far! I really like the concept of plain factory racers and I'm planning to build a '63 Fairlane lightweight myself, so it will be very interesting to see what this will look like when it's done.