jbwelda

I am starting to plan out a build of a friends 41 Willys pickup gasser. he has a one piece front end that tilts forward, but most kits I have or have seen have stationary front fenders and a removable hood. But I could have sworn at least one kit had a 1 piece front end! I have Revells 41 pickup and also the 41(?) coupe kits of recent issue and both are of the stationary fender type. any clues would be appreciated! maybe even a resin front end? edit to try to answer my own questions: does the Revell 43 Willys pickup have a one piece front end? just looked at one on ebay and it kinda did look like it might. what is the difference between a 41 and 43 Willys? somehow I think I remember something about the grille opening being larger and smaller? jb

that roof rack, from the Tamiya monte carlo Mini? looks great on there and so does the stuff you got in it. beautiful build. I built the Tamiya karmann ghia and had a problem with the hood fit too but I swapped in a Porsche motor that caused the problem. I have been meaning to get back and make a couple of little standoffs for it, but it is a lot more of a problem than on a bug, just from the way the deck lid curves. you might keep it in mind for later on! edit to add: now that I look at it again though, that's totally how a lot of cars ran around in California anyhow, bottom of lid propped open on the bumper. totally defeated the functioning of the engine's cooling system, which works on the concept that the engine is in a sealed compartment and a negative pressure fan is sucking in air from those wents above the hood lid and directing it over the fins in the cylinders under the tin. so its kind of stupid, but still it looks period stupid. jb

be careful of that duplicolor etc automotive paints particularly on Japanese plastic. in my experience it tends to really mess up the plastic if it is put on too heavy. it will wrinkle and etch into the plastic itself, making the body (etc) into instant junk. I personally would advise buying Tamiya spray cans, but they are expensive for not much paint, however their paint and nozzles make up for the expense. but if you are having to be on a budget and get the auto spray paint, just be careful to put on very light coats at first until you see what happens to the plastic. I ruined many bodies discovering this and the problem is these companies seem to change formulations often and I could not get consistent results over a period of time. no one else has ever mentioned this so maybe its just me (the inconsistency I mean, not the phasing of the plastic, that has been widely reported). jb

Cameron, you live out in Darwin or somewhere? jb

I have tried that bleaching in the sun trick a couple times and unfortunately it never worked all that well for me. all that is left is to trim away very carefully around the image and maybe inside the image too. I would also think about taking a good digital photo of the decal sheet first and then trying to print some new ones or have someone print them for you. that can really reduce the discoloration all over if done right. meanwhile good luck with the sunlight trick, hope it works out. jb

one thing that no one has brought up yet is the possibility of planning your builds on a yearly basis. then do your painting during the wet and/or non-dusty season (there has to be one, right?) and your building the rest of the year. its pretty restricting, that's for sure, but it combined with spritzing down your paint area right before you paint could help you avoid the worst of it. jb

and Owen, don't get frustrated with paint...its one of the hardest things to master especially if you are using spray cans. so don't feel bad if your first attempts don't turn out as good as you saw in your mind's eye, we all struggle with it. jb

you asked how anyone would know he was a minor not any of that other blah blah blah. just to let you know, if I were Owen I would be getting kinda alienated right about now with that BS...start being a Richard there harry...especially when you are posting as the admin, which is a whole other topic of discussion. that I am sure we are not going to have. jb

you sound like a pretty level headed person for 14. good luck and just keep your eyes open when youre out and about, its amazing how model kits can just appear out of nowhere. also you might check with the parents about hobby link japan. its A1 all the way, no funny stuff at all, you can pay with paypal so only paypal knows your credit card info etc. its up and up legit all the way. and they got the good deals on the import scene, stuff you cant get here and also what you can but for a lot less even if you figure in shipping sometimes. use their "personal warehouse" option to gang kits together into one shipment and you save a lot on shipping. and they got the koolest latest Japanese wheels and tires sets. anyway have fun man and be sure to post your builds in the on the bench and under glass sections jb

could be implied by " I can't legally get a job" anyhow, Owen, go take a look at hobby link japan or even at somewhere like Model Roundup (both on web, google em) and look into the Tamiya or Fujimi kits and you will see lots of stuff you are interested in. lots of Silvias and Skylines and those. hopefully you can find something you can afford there. also since you are in Fallon, keep an eye out for model car swap meets in Reno and also local swap meets, never know what you will find. great place to get kits and parts cheap or free. try to find a local club, there is probably one even if you don't know it, and especially if you include the Reno area. those two things, clubs and model car show/swaps, are the two best sources of tools parts and kits for cheap. also look at this very site and maybe post for parts wanted etc, people are very generous around here. I thought Fallon really needed a hobby shop! hope that helps jb

my friends and I made our sting rays into offroad bikes and rode down Mt Tamalpais before there were any mountain bikes! this was about 65 or so when my dad was stationed in Marin county California right at the dawn of the grateful dead culture in the area. used to ride around Olimpali park before it was a park and when the dead lived there in a commune after leaving the Haight Ashbury district of San Francisco. Stingrays and Hobie skateboards with clay wheels that stopped dead when they encountered a pebble in the road. used to ride those things down the mountain as well. jb

the really funny thing is that I bought that 1:1 bike off the back of a pickup truck at a swap meet for 200$ back 15 years ago or so. probably about what the diecast cost? it needed some work and I replaced the seat and some details like pedals and handgrips but the lights and horn worked as did everything else. it was kinda rough but all there...actually not all that rough because I did nothing but dust it off and wipe the paint and chrome. also a few years ago a friend of mine gave me the two original lightning bolt wide white wall tires. looks pretty good for nearly 65. and it gets ridden at least 30 miles once a year on our annual GiveThanks fat tire bike cruise and drunken bar crawl and brawl. ECV everytime! jb

big bucks? depends on what you mean. unless there are some very rare desirable Matchbox that I don't know about, I cant think of any that fall into the "big bucks" category, but if you consider Dinky Toys (Matchbox's "older brother") or Corgi then there are many that fetch 100+$. fairly big bucks but not enough to retire on or anything. but with a box any of the early years Dinky will bring a bill or more. Corgi you have to be a bit more selective with but again early early examples with boxes, especially of the more rare special editions, can also bring in that range. of course this is for pristine examples with box and literature if it originally came with it. any tampering with the car, painting, replacing parts, "customizing" pretty much reduces its value to nothing. even in not beat condition but without box and papers , and perhaps some chips in the paint etc, early Dinky Toys still bring 30$ or so and sometimes much more. the jaguar D Type, Lotus 11 (Corgi), MG Midget (TF) and other Dinky toys in not quite rough condition will bring closer to 50$ depending on who's buying. I used to like to buy used original line Dinky toys that were beat up and then over-restore them. I still have a big basket of parts cars and particularly that car transporter with tractor that is partially shown in someones photos above, got a few of those that I was rebuilding. its still fun to tear one apart once in a while and paint it up. very high quality pieces too, made when the UK was still proud! jb

all i can say is WOW! how much surfacing are you having to do on body panels? are they very pebbly to begin with? jb

double post

hmmm perhaps i am way off here because indeed that frame looks like it needs major surgery. duh jb

I was thinking the other day that I don't see many 1/8 scale T buckets set on 32 Ford rails. Isn't that considered the hot setup in hot rod T circles? with the Big T and the Big Deuce both recently reissued i would think i would see them more often. Have I just missed them? Reason I ask is I was toying with the idea of doing this myself. my initial fitting of a Big T bucket to the Deuce frame (had one built up sitting around from a gluebomb) makes me think its going to be a lot of work: shortened, narrowed, plus i am going to want to Z it at least in the rear and maybe the front as well. i do want the distinctive side profile sculpting to remain, but looks like moving the bucket backwards to better conform to the Z that is already in the frame profile (and i will probably exaggerate). i plan on using a turtle deck on the final car. Anyone have any good pointers to threads about model Ts on Deuce frames? i have plenty of photos of real cars, i would love to see some 1/8 creations up this alley. and in process build threads would be great too. jb

Oh wait, what was the topic again? Oh yeah, that Rommels Rod thing. Still makes me cringe when I see it, but that's my reaction to most Daniels designs. jb

Well Bill, when you bring that up, it seems to me very little to ask to change any and all references to whatever they want to whatever they want. And anytime they may want. Consider the alternatives in a fair world. Got any idea what the monthly rent might be for the land, say, San Francisco is sitting on? Those are gonna be some pretty major reparations. And there are many more nearly as aggrieved groups standing in line right behind them. empire building isn't a pretty sight sometimes. jb

by the way here is a thread from Darryl about his build and some other info that may be of help: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=90353 jb

oh it must have been the prototype I was thinking of then. makes sense it would be a different block, thanks for the info i am in the process of building another of these, this time for installation in a rod, but using a pair of Weber dual throat carbs. i would actually like to get another engine block and head etc if anyone has a spare please message me! jb

oops got my stooges mixed up...I always remembered them better as Dewey, Cheatem and Howe, the lawyers. thing about the confederate flag...doesn't take that deep a scratch into those who sport it to reveal the white hooded robe underneath. typically speaking that is. there are always exceptions like the black man in Virginia who lives near my brothers house who flies the rebel flag outside his house. I happened to get the opportunity to ask him why one day and he said: its part of my history and I am proud of my history and lineage. I should add he said that with no malice or vengeance in his voice or evidently in his mind, just as a matter of fact thing. the thing about the word "Redskin" was evidently it was coined to describe native americans at a time when there was a bounty on their heads just for being who they were. I doubt many of us here would want to celebrate that or take lightly to it being bandied about like its nothing. personally I have a problem with the word "Indian" only because it is a word coined by a bunch of lost Europeans who thought they were in India. and because they were confused about where they were. the Native Americans population have to live with a name that doesn't describe them at all. I don't think its a big deal, but I do think its a big irony and if I were proud of my heritage I would not like it. but I am not native American so it really is none of my business. however I do not like "oppressor" words like that (and marijuana for another...if you don't know what I mean look up the history of the word sometime). the real point is, there are good and bad from all nationalities and colors. mere words don't really matter: what this world needs are more Richards and fewer Dicks. jb

>the Pontiac Tempest "slant 4" was nothing more than the left half of their 389cid V8. it was the entire block though, with the left side bank of cylinders blocked off. must have had different internals though...or did it? other than four less pistons and rods etc, but was it still the same crankshaft for instance? darn strange looking layout; that's why I built the engine itself even if I wasn't interested in building the vehicle. jb

>Schicklgruber. whatever. that little rat faced dude with the long nose hairs. kinda resembled Moe Fine. jb

great eye and visualization! that looks outstanding jb