Dale W. Verts

I'll want a modern dual-port engine with all the fixins'. I used to mess with bugs a lot way back when and I want this thing to look right. I'll probably try a scratch-build. This is the fourth model I've started since coming back into the hobby- haven't finished one yet (waiting on parts/deciding how to finish, etc.). My wife says I'm too picky. I tell her, "well, I did end up with YOU..." Dale

The rat-rod primer thing would be realistic for sure. But this is a twelve year-old GIRL. She wants candy-apple red. Dale

I started on a convertible Beetle for my wife yesterday, her "Flower Power" ride based on the Revell Cabriolet "Skip's Fiesta" kit. I had no intention of a build-along, but I spent over four hours prepping the body, and had a good time to boot- First I removed the side molding- that took quite a while, and I made a few bad moves on one side that required dipping into the Bondo- I then filled in the exhaust holes in the back apron- this thing is gettin' a set of HEADERS- I also opened up the louvers... Although it'll be a while before this build really gets going, I did a quick mock-up like so many of you do to get an idea on ride height and stance. To get this thing lowered in the front and look right I'll need shorter front tires, for sure- The motor is a problem- I have FOUR VW kits and the motors are pure-D JUNK. I did a little research on resin motors with little success. Help anyone? If I have to I'll scratch-build the whole durn thing. I do have a pair of Webers on hand, but that's about it. A little more Bondo and the body should be done. If I was a little steadier with the tools Bondo wouldn't be needed! Thanks for lookin'. Dale

Okay- Abby (the '37 Chevy) decided she wanted to paint her car instead of staying with the molded color. This went badly- a twelve year-old girl with her first rattle-can. I DID offer to help... Anyway, after she put an unbelievably thick coat on one side, then fingerprinting said thick coat- she asked for help. SO here it is- after several days soaking, and lots of sanding, it'll get one more coat of primer, then I'll coach her thru the actual paint- Savannah's car is DONE and she's proud enough of it that she's taken it to the friend's house that owns the Charger she wanted to emulate, and she even took it to school- This was actually a horrible kit- except for a newbie young lady. Many parts SCREWED together. What the heck...? Any way, both girls have had a good time. Both of them have expressed interest in doing it again. Mistakes were made- the lesson I wanted them to learn about being able to read and follow directions wasn't lost on them. We'll see. I'll post pics of the finished Chevy as soon as Abby-Jo gets it done. And my son (finally) started on his project last night. He's the one that needs this most. Again, we'll see. Thanks to ya'll for watchin'. Dale

Sweet. Very sweet. Dale

I wanna build one. Pro Street... Dale

I ordered the Webers from the Parts Box for a bug project. They're nice but it took me almost two months to get them. They apologized and seemed sincere. BUT- and I don't intend to bash them publicly, the two sets of sprint car tires and wheels I ordered are horrible. Darn it. I'll still use them, but they are really not very well done. Dale

I bought one and immediately stole the engine for another project. I think I'll put a flathead in this one. Neat kit- weird interior. Dale

Here are the projects my daughters are currently working on (for the intro, read "The PROJECT" in the General Forum- http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=86524 Their paint choices are a little weird, and slightly off. They have little consideration for where and how things go together. But they're 12-year-old girls who have never done this before, and they're doing a FINE job. They've got HOURS invested so far. They haven't just thrown these things together. Most importantly they're havin' a good time. The only real help I've given is cutting the sunroof out of the '39 Chevy, and I did the paint on the Charger's body. High-dollar paint... My son is supposed to step-up and start on his 'vette. I'm holding him to it, too. Dale

Definitely fits the era, perfectly. Dale

Pics in the Workbench forum tomorrow! Thanks again... Dale

Same here- a BIG mall. Lots of city folks wearing strange clothes, with strange hair. Lots of piercings... Dale (the HICKbilly)

I reckon the coupons are nice, but the HL we went to today SUCKED. Over-priced. Out of a lot of stuff. Unfriendly staff (a Saturday thing?). Not impressed, at least with this store. Dale

We are taking our first trip (sixty miles) tomorrow, as a family. The kids are drooling over PAINT. Weird. Dale

Sweet. I bought one yesterday- I was worried about the induction, you gave me something to go off of. Dale

" I done give up drinkin', I give up bars, think I'll just build model cars..." A play on the words to the song Uneasy Rider '88" by Charlie Daniels. Dale

$65 bucks. A STEAL, Honey...! Dale

I just won an auction on eBay for a "massive lot of over 90 model cars". My wife's freakin' out. A little. At least I don't go to the bars... Dale

Wow, thanks everyone. Lots of positive vibes here. The girls stated piddlin' with their cars last night. I'm flat amazed at what they've accomplished. Their attention to detail (and apparently unwavering and steady hands) freaked me out. A couple of little show-offs, if you ask me... Makes me PROUD. So, question- do I leave the "show-off" pics here, or take them to the Workbench Forum? What do ya'll think would work best? tubbs- I can dig it. "My, you've got the GREATEST kids"... Then they come home and unleash the little Monsters. ZTony8- I'm a published writer, after a fashion. Mostly HICKbilly stuff, 'cuz that's just what I are, er, AM. I'm also pretty much full of bull, but I try to always have a great time. And I'll admit, this whole kid thing has caught me by surprise in the way it's workin' out. I'm sure the first glue-bombs are just around the corner, but so far it's been neat. And fun. Thanks again folks. Dale

Okay,some groundwork (bear with me, please). I have three very BRIGHT children. My son is fifteen and my daughters are twelve. Yep- doubles. Sad. Anyway, they're stupid in the ways of the world. I'm talking a common-sense, righty-tighty, gravity sucks kind of thinking. Like so many kids in this modern world, they've had it too easy. By the time I was fifteen I had overhauled my first engine, drove a race car, could run a chain saw... you get it, right? I blame myself. Although we do restrict their electronic ######, they still do the Playstation/Tablet/Whatever junk. Because they're good kids we don't deny them even though we probably should. We live in the woods. I'm a bona-fide hickbilly and am proud of it. I'm a trapper, hunter, fisherman, etc. But my kids don't dig it, the simple way of life I enjoy. And I've never tried too hard to sway them- a little deer huntin' and a fishin' trip once in a while is about all they do with me. They have chores- we have animals that need tending. We burn wood exclusively and I'm kind of a slave-driver about workin' wood. They show their "stupidity" about the simplest things on a daily basis and it drives me crazy. And while giving my son his first driving lesson the other day, I kinda lost it. Not a nuclear outburst mind you- kind of an internal shorting of a few dozen synapses. The kid has no idea of the most BASIC principles. You know, gas makes it go, brakes don't- and gravity sucks. So I got to thinkin'... My renewed interest in model building has really only slightly appealed to one of the girls- mostly it's been because of my choice of builds. The kids say I like "old and busted". I say, "durn tootin'". But I learned how to assemble things, and how thinks worked, very much by assembling model cars, starting when I was about eight years old. So why not have them do the same thing? Hmmm. Here's the deal- first I had each one of them pick a model car they liked. The plan is this- they get to put them together. All by themselves. These kids don't know a transmission from a tunnel-ram, but then at some point neither did I. They get to pick paint colors (the most fun the girls have had so far). The have to do all the work, with minimal help from me. Actually, darn-near ZERO help from me. Because that's how you learn. And when they're done there will be some small reward, PLUS a third-party will pick the best model based on aesthetics and on how clean the build is. THAT car will win its' builder $25... A nice prize for the job done well. As I write this it all sounds a little cruel, but the kids agreed to it, and that means it gets done. No time frame, although like any job they need to finish it in a respectable amount of time. They can research the internet if they need to (haven't told them that, and I won't unless they ask, but I would have of we'd had internet in 1974). Mean, huh? There you go. Hopefully when they're done they'll have a better understanding on how to read instructions and follow directions. Maybe they'll know the difference between a transmission and a tunnel-ram. Who knows? They may even want to try it again. Darn the luck. Remington (my son) picked a MPC '62 Corvette ('cuz it would be a CHICK magnet, right dad? Such a GOOD boy...). Savannah pick a Revell '07 Dodge Charger because of a car some friends have. And Abby picked a Monogram '39 Chevy Coupe. A STREET ROD (that;s my girl!). She thinks it will look great in HOT pink with white flames. Oh boy. Well, thanks for reading my rant. Kinda lookin' forward to this. Except I brought a new un-assembled computer desk home a while ago, and since the kids are home from school (again) I have them in the living room putting it together. It's not going well... Dale

I have quite a bit of that paint- if it's passable I'll use it... That kit is a "Donor" kit from eBay. When I build my first "real" sprint car (I love the dirt cars) I'll fabricate my own chassis and get away from this two-dimensional piece of whatever. Thanks for the comments- it took some guts to post these. I see where quick improvements can be made, and the harder stuff will come in time. Dale

Thirty-seven years is a LONG time to be away from anything. Anyway, for better or worse I've started three projects. The parts are a lot smaller than they used to be for some reason... I like buildin' engines. The first one is in a sprint car, and unfortunately I'd decided I was going to do a box-stock build to get my feet wet. But as the build progressed I ended up plumbing the motor with braided lines, and "anodized" fittings on the some of the lines. But that leaves the direct-injection fuel lines and spark plug wires missing. The Mag is totally wrong for this thing anyway... It looks okay- think I'll gift this one to a friend (after I learn how to do decals) and just do better next time- The next one is about half done- the trouble is in the paint. First off, it's terrible cold for this part of the world and I'm probably being too picky. Also, the fact that I'm using up a bunch of Wal Mart .97 cent rattle-cans... Anyway, this '26 has three coats of primer and seven coats of gloss Burgandy and a LOT of sanding- This 396 is out of the "Rat Roaster" kit. I just wanted it in a coupe (think I'll try a nasty flathead in the original kit). I "blackened" (washed?) most of the chrome, and put a coat of "dirty" gold on the velocity stacks. To me this is the way a big 'ole nasty motor should look- I WILL wire & plumb this one correctly before installation. It's going in a '32 three-window. I've cut the frame to lower the front some (I should have mocked it up before I took a pic). I may also cut & hinge the suicide doors- Anyway, it's not much, but it's been fun as all get out. I appreciate everyone who contributes here. I've been studying and watching closely. Some of ya'll are more than a little intimidating. And I'm generally not easily intimidated. Thanks for looking. Dale

I'll paint the interior to look DEEEPPP. Dale

I've had some requests for more details so I took some pics- hope they explain why this kit is so bad (in my opinion). The third and fourth picture is the "before" and "after" of the motor installation. By far the fastest I've ever done. About, oh, maybe two seconds. The body is the best part of the kit, and it still will require a lot of sanding. That part's fine with me. Dale

Good luck. Dale