Pete J.

Something to keep in mind about primers/sealer. A lot of models come in white plastic, which is great but a number do not. With colored plastic you run the risk of bleed through if you don't prime. Also some of the more transparent colors like red, and yellow will change color completely depending upon what the base coat is. I prime as a guide coat for sanding the body and then put one last coat on just to even out the color.

PE - photo etched parts BMF - Bare Metal Foil CA - Cyanoacrylate Adhisive aka superglue CF - Carbon Fiber - generally refering to decals SMS - Scale Motorsport - After market company with several propritary model kits. Best know for there CF decals(see above) HLJ - Hobby Link Japan - Seller of kits and parts from Asia. These are the most common that I can think of at the moment

Oh, Oh, I know this one! Great choice Harry. Walk on the wierd side!

The hose clamps that you see in this photo are all photoetched and came from Scale Motorsport. The screw clamps are pieces of wire with photoetched screw heads glued on the end. Now this is all 1:12 scale but I have done the same with 1:20 and 1:24 scale. Same process.

Holy .......!!! Are you kidding me! Now that is one big model! Great pick Harry. That was fun.

Ok, I just finished watching the second episode of Adam Carola's The Car Show. IMHO it has made some improvement from the first episode and I am enjoying it more. It is not the original Top Gear, but it is a heck of a lot closer to that show than Tanner Foust and companies attempt at an American version. So what do you think?

You want to get into an accurate presentation of a model car it is hard to beat anything with the twin stars of Tamiya on it! Probably the best of their 1:24 scale offerings are the Ferrari Enzo/FXX and the new LFA. The detail included and the construction of the model is just amazing. The chassis on both and the engine details are unmatched by any other offering I have ever seen. It would be nice if they did something by one of the big three, but after the low sales of the Mustang, it is unlikely that they will dip their toes in that market again for a while. The only issue with Tamiya is that their prices are a bit high, but then you get what you pay for.

Also just noticed that there is no license plate on the trailer. Perhaps it is not needed in the state this was taken, but I have never seen a lowboy without some form of licensing.

I'm going model on this one. Everything is too new on the trailer and the cat. There are no scrapes on the blade or the treads. The trailer bed is perfect and those chains wouldn't hold this load in any way if it started to shift. Plus any self respecting trucker wouldn't have them that slack. I quit looking at backgrounds when Harry admitted to photoshoping those, except to see if the shadows were more or less pointing the same direction. Harry is really good at making minor adjustments to scenery to make it look right.

There is much talk about the document and dates and much as I find the discussion interesting there is one fact that I heard years ago that causes me some consternation. That is, when asked to quote the first line of the document, 70% of Americans get it wrong by quoting "We the people...". The declaration actually begins "When in the course of human events..". Since this is the day that we celebrate this great document, I would offer all an opportunity to reread this important piece of history. http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html It is an important glimpse into our past and more importantly our future. I would suggest that those who legislate should read the list of grievances, and keep them in mind as they try to govern. They are the short list of "Thou shalt not's" that founded this country. Interestingly, the last line is probably better know than the first, though most people cannot attribute it to the correct document. Having said that I will crawl off my soapbox and wish you all a very happy Independence day. Enjoy what you have. It was given to you at great price. A special thank you to all who have paid the price for that freedom from Crispus Attucks to those Americans currently serving in foreign lands.

If you are going to buy specialty kits for sanding and polishing you will find that 90% have micro-mesh abrasives. Having said that, if you are going to buy them, eliminate the middle man and get them a little less expensively direct from the manufacture. Here is their web site. http://micro-surface.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=272_4_75 I buy my stuff from them all the time and they give great service. I just ordered some sanding sticks(they call them nail buffers) and they arrived in 3 days. Good luck.

The single most frequent problem I see as a contest judge is a failure to polish out paint. Orange peel, boogers in the paint, uneven gloss. All things that would be easily solved with some sand paper, polishing compound and a little time.

Just went through it twice on my DVR. No model?? What the heck was that!? The other two items they advertised were there but that was it. We should all go to the ARS web site and let them know how disappointed we are. Ready, Set, gone!!!

Hey come on Harry- Your paying for it by the pound!!!

I will gives you and exmple of how it msses with my posts. This is the result of running spell check on the prior sentance. Igivell gib ysamplezampel of howmessesmsssis postspostts Pretty messed up eh? I don't have any problems on other sites with it. I have no clue what the heck it is doing! Anybody got any ideas on how to fix this? Pete

Don't know how to report this but I am having a problem with Spell Check on this site. When I have it correct a word, it really mixes things up. It will put the correct word in the post, but not erase the old word or it will write over some other words. Kind of annoying. If it is just me and I need to reload something, please let me know and give instructions please.

Yes - All 4 Type 1- I love OOB because it is a pure test of modelings basic skills. Put a model on the table in this class and you are testing your basic building ability head to head with others. Great for improving the basics. You need that from time to time. Type 2 - Oh, heck yea. I will buy just about anything and throw it into a kit if I think it will improve it. Now this also challenges the skills because add-ons shouldn't look like add-ons. They should look like they belong there, wether it is photoetched, turned aluminum, or resin. Multimedia is using all of the resources available. Type 3 - This one is a tough one. If you mean have I built a model from the ground up. No. I really don't want to take the time to do that. Do you mean, do I make things from raw materials to enhance the build. Yes, quite often. Under the front bonnet the fuel pumps and fittings were all scratch built from raw aluminum as were the fire bottles,the manifold for the oil tank and all the fittings for the battery. Type 4 - Oh yes,kit bashing. Combining bits from various kits to come up with something totally different. This was a Revell Monogram Dodge Ram Pickup and Tamiya Ferrari Testa Rossa combined into something entirely different. So, you tell me. What kind of modeler am I?

Model - Window trim doesn't look right.

Very nice! I love these little kits. Your work showes how nice even a simple kit can be if you take your time and put some effort into it. Thanks for the photos.

The reason it looks like it made a perfect landing is that is was designed to operate off of grass or dirt landing fields. At the time that the B-17 first flew, concrete runways were the exception, not the norm as it is now days. Heck, when I learned to fly in the 60's you still needed to demonstrate proficiency in soft field landings to the FAA inspector. The tail dragging configuration and the balloon tires definitely got this bird down safely. If the fire trucks had been able to get there, they could have saved her. Really to bad.

It was the chief mechanic that died. They were on the icecap in Greenland for two "summers" getting the bird flyable. By the way the leader of the expedition was Daryl Greenemyer of "Green Monster" land speed record fame. He lives here is SoCal and I remember the story. It was so sad to see all the effort go into this effort to see it wreaked. That aircraft burned due to a stupid mistake. The Dash one(owners manual) specifically states that you must shut down the apu when the bird is in motion. They were taxiing for takeoff and someone didn't do that and a fuel line broke and they didn't have enough fire suppression to get it out. I remember seeing the crew sitting there watching the bird burn to the ground. Very sad. Oops! The green monster was Art Arfons. I did some additional research and can find nothing on Greenemyer. If any of you know if he was associated with a LSR try, I would like to know. Something just sticks in the back of my head about that and I just can't shake it. I do know is set several air speed records including fastest piston driven aircraft and low altitude record, but I could sware he was involded with a LSR.

It was the chief mechanic that died. They were on the icecap in Greenland for two "summers" getting the bird flyable. By the way the leader of the expedition was Daryl Greenemyer of "Green Monster" land speed record fame. He lives here is SoCal and I remember the story. It was so sad to see all the effort go into this effort to see it wreaked. That aircraft burned due to a stupid mistake. The Dash one(owners manual) specifically states that you must shut down the apu when the bird is in motion. They were taxiing for takeoff and someone didn't do that and a fuel line broke and they didn't have enough fire suppression to get it out. I remember seeing the crew sitting there watching the bird burn to the ground. Very sad.

Well, if you want to pick nits, not so. We are talking about OOB which to my way of thinking is what came in the box. If your aftermarket chromer came in the box, then I might agree. Paint and foil have always been alowed because the modeler applied them. Having someone else do processes to your model other than what came in the box doesn't qualify. As I said, it is like having another modeler paint the model for you. Not is the spirit of OOB. As to judging, I would contend that aftermarket chroming may have been acceptable some time ago, but there are so many differant ways for the modeler to do chrome themselves now, that it just doesn't seem right to let that continue.

I have to disagree with you on this one. Rule number one states: "1.The IPMS/USA National Contest is open only to members of IPMS/USA or other national IPMS branches. Any current member of IPMS/USA or any other national branch of IPMS is eligible to enter any number of models in the National Contest. A member may also serve as a "proxy" to enter models for a fellow member who is not attending the convention. Entry fees for proxy models may be set at the discretion of the Host Chapter. All entries except chapter/group entries must be the sole work of the individual whose name is on the entry blank. Commercially built and/or finished models that do not require significant additional work by the modeler will be ineligible." As such, sending an item out for rechroming in my opinion constitues having another person working on your model and would be no differant than having it painted by someone else. There are plenty of good paint treatments that a modeler can do instead.

Ok guys it looks like this is degenerating into a "guy" thing and it is very fun to watch but be careful about calling a car a "chick' or "girl" car because it is small and nicely shaped. I have had my share of muscle cars(new 69 Mustang) and Japanese sports (72 240Z & 93 MR2 Turbo) and high end Euro cars(74 911) and I have to agree with the first statement. Each has it's own character and can be a ton of fun to drive, whether you like the kick in the back for a 427 or getting slammed around the cockpit with a high g corner monster, each provides its own thrills. There is no such thing as "the Best" car. Every enthusiast car I've owned was a kick and they were each like my children. I don't love one more than the other, I just like different things about each. No one car was the best at everything. That is because they all are engineering compromises. You can't have light weight for cornering with big motors for acceleration. They just tear them selves apart. You make compromises, but they all put a smile on my face no matter the country or manufacture of origin. By the way, who ever mentioned the Miata, never heard of the MX 5.0. It was made by a company here in San Marcos, Ca. and had a 302 with a Dodge truck rear end. They were all tubbed so you really didn't know what you were up against until it was way too late. I know of one that was pumped up to 700 HP. It would rip the toupee of your head! Very much like a Cobra at about 10% of the current cost.