jbwelda

>As to cost....I would say that $15-20 would probably be reasonable this dude was and probably still is dreaming. cracks me up to hear people say stuff like this. let us know when you have some for sale for 15 to 20 dollars there. it should be easy... jb

>I think the wheels were in one of the Roth kits Beatnik Bandit I think... jb

oh kool, thanks so much! I searched around at HLJ because I already got an order going but didn't find these! thanks again jb

>Looking from the back, yes, just about not really. a slight resemblance. jb

at the NNL west last weekend, one of the best models on display was a "Little Drag", a little T converted and painted like an unpainted Big Drag. Needed decals though, especially the caveman dragging his prize. he built it from all Monogram parts and even starting listing them to me...wish I had taken notes. if anyone took a photo of it, please post it here! I have wanted to do one and now I really want to do one! jb

guess what just came out (I guess) in 1/18 diecast? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Metal-18-1964-Citroen-DS-19-Chapron-Le-Dandy-Red-LE-of-1500-1-18-Scale-New-/201215453454?pt=Diecast_Vehicles&hash=item2ed960290e jb

>Karmann-Ghia 1600L looks just like a Corvair not really, not if you mean a type 3 Ghia. jb

anyone know a source for some recovery hooks/loops like those used on the front and rear of tuners? machined drilled metal would be best but resin would probably work. any leads appreciated and most appreciated if accompanied by a link to someone selling them. many thanks! jb

>Is there a up top in the Copen kit? nope that's the only one of the three without a top. and they call it "active top" whatever that means...evidently it means "don't bother actively looking for a top because there ain't one!" >Looking forward to seeing these finished. now lets not get carried away with crazy talk. jb

and here are some shots of the chassis, painted and some detail painting done, not going to go overboard or anything, but do like a clean looking (underside) engine area. most of it will be covered by suspension and running gear detail. as you can see there is some significant difference in level of detail between the cars, even though all share some parts (brake rotors and calipers for one, or four). so I just did some highlights and will hit the whole thing with dullcoat after it is assembled. trying to gang the work as you can see...next will be interiors with pilot figures, that's gonna be fun in open cars! there is some race car equipment included in the Beat but I am going to hunt around in my spares box for some sparco seats and whatever I can find. ok here are the parts arrays for the chassis plates, not all that exciting but you can see the parts breakdown this way: three in one, from left, copen, beat, cappy: copen: beat: cappy: thanks again! jb

here are the three bodies posed with the wheels I may use, from left, the Honda Beat in Testors Lacquer Lime Ice, the Copen in Tamiya Silver Leaf, and the Suzuki Cappy in Tamiya Camel Yellow. The Cappy needs a polish followed by another coat of yellow but the other two are ready for clear coat and decals. comments encouraged! I know these are kinda out there, but I been intrigued with little cars that go fast for a long time. close up of Honda Beat: close up of Daihatsu Copen: close up of Suzuki Cappy: thanks again for looking! jb

Had these kits on the "to build" pile for a while so I decided to finally tackle them. they are simple enough, but I think I am going to sculpt pilots for them and make a diorama base eventually, for now they will get fancy paint jobs, lowered down, some ground effects and clean interiors with some racing accessories. a couple of ideas have come to mind as I studied these kool little pocket rocket kits, one that stuck was that this Daihatsu Copen sure looks like what a modern day "new Beetle" Porsche Speedster might look like, way more so than the Boxster does. so I immediately went to my stash of fujimi enthusiasts kits and pulled out some Targa style wheels, which I posed for these photos. I might even go back to the 356 wheels for even more of a styling cue. as you can see I have already painted it german silver (approximately) and I even considered (and may still on a v2.0) cutting in some Porsche grilles into the rear deck (even though this is evidently a front engine, front drive car), and some other like REALLY obvious styling cue in case someone doesn't get it otherwise. the Honda beat kit I am using had a bunch of nice ground effects stuff and I used the front clip plus the rear whale tail wing. the Suzuki Cuppaccino (aka Cappy) has a front ground effects piece. I am looking around for wheels but these I have posed with the cars are likely suspects, ive had them in the "use me" pile for quite awhile and maybe I can get them in under the wheel wells... any comments suggestions etc cheerfully fielded! heres a picture of the source kits, be back shortly with some progress pics: jb

Tim, while I was looking at your proposal, I was thinking, he is identifying these parts and where they can be sourced, but wouldn't that still mean they had to gather up all those (insert whatever it would be) and somehow make up a new mold somehow? but I would say that for back in that time, someone would be very impressed, or at least mildly amused, at that hand drawing and calling out of exact parts from exact kits in their line. shows quite a bit of initiative for someone out in the audience to draw that up and send it in. but I guess back in those days a lot of kids/young adults might have been bombarding them with that sort of thing. now if only you could do a "kit bash" kit somehow where they maybe run off whole trees of the kits you cite and include them all in the box! that would make it so no new molds would be necessary! jb

aw they probably just brought out another Tom Daniels design or something like that instead. kool to still have the plans! maybe you could interest them now! jb

ah yes a "Le Dandy" Coupe, Henri Chapron body on DS Chassis. certainly in line as one of the most graceful auto designs ever. boy I would be in heaven if this one ever came about. here are photos of my Corgi Toys version: jb

I agree about the font, I would just use that as artwork and maybe clean it up a little (but why?). great idea to do their truck and good to see decals already available! edit to add: I notice, though, that the decals on ebay are not same as on the door shown above. don't know which is correct or if that is actually the door from the truck or what, but they are different designs. jb

that microwave turntable sounds like something I need to get, not only are they flat glass, or can be, but they rotate around without disturbing the model while the wheels are drying. I am constantly fiddling with seeing the car from all angles and it would be much easier moving the car rather than my head. thanks! jb

half the beauty of Tamiya paint is the nozzle. it really is miles beyond Model Master nozzles on their cans, and I never could get comfortable with those duplicolor/krylon/etc soft touch nozzles, plus they just seem to plug up at the slightest provocation, even when you clear them after use. but the paint itself is very nice too and it shrinks by at least 50% as it dries so what seems like a lot coming out can be deceptive, after it dries often you need another coat because the first was so thin. its kinda magic, and magic costs more as we all know jb

saw this at NNL West last weekend and all I got to say, besides WOW, is I gotta start taking lessons from Curt on getting things done! this has progressed a lot since his last post judging from what I saw there...that was the same car, right Curt? fantastic is what it is, and twice that in person jb

excellent! say you wouldn't be interested in doing another starter/solenoid like that would you? I could sure use one! jb

kool... I never really use those polycaps, I find they fit too loose for me and like you say cause the stance to be kind of funny when you set it down. I like the wheels to be solid and posed in position. instead of polycaps, I just fill the cavity with epoxy and pose the car on its wheels and then go away for a while to let them dry. that usually lowers the car a bit, 1/32 or 1/16", all by itself. thanks again jonathan jb

we are going to preorder HLJ right out of the ball park! that Tomy kit is super nice and I have at least one similar kit of a nice vintage exotic, don't recall right off hand but I think they did a Cobra, probably a Vette, and a couple others. all super nice with a lot of details and just a real impressive package. jb

now that's a nice set of features: adjustable height and camber. I actually have this model but have not studied it yet, have got too much in the build queue. jb

the front wheels on the box art sure seem to sit up into the front fenders a lot more than that martinfan build does, also looks like they sit inboard more too. still sitting very low, seeing that photo of a true out of box build would make me want to mod the front though to more closely match the stance on the box. looks like it comes from cambering the wheels especially in the front. jb

wow that is really sitting low in that box art photo! I wonder if it builds like that right out of the box? jb