Pete J.

Please don't take this wrong. You have done an excellent build! You really picking up the details. I am glad you put it up. I was thinking of picking up one, but I have to say, Revell just didn't seem to capture the shape of the body. I have seen a couple of these models on other web sights and just couldn't put my finger on what was wrong but Revell seems missed several important details like the crease that runs across the top of the fenders. I also think the body is too narrow and too rounded. Hmmmmmm. Here are a couple of photos I took a couple of weeks ago at C&C Irvine. Any one else see any thing??

This is one of my favorite custom wagons. The lower half(chassis, cockpit and engine) are from a Alfa 155 V6 TI. I chopped and grafted a Volvo 850 wagon to it. Scratch build a ton of interor parts, deleted the rear doors and made it a sedan delivery. It eventually wound up as a gift to the Mr. Tamiya. The hood looks a bit ajar and it is. I forgot to seat it properly for the photo session. It is removeable to display the engine. Discovered the mistake after I gave the car away

If you are going to use rattle cans, here is an artical that I wrote a long time ago on how to do it. It may help you with some basics. http://www.tamiyausa.com/articles/feature.php?article-id=35

Dan - It was my pleasure and Steve throws a heck of a BBQ. Got to give him a lot of credit for brining so many great modelers togeather under one roof. It was a great evening.

Yea, but Lloyd was there. Same thing. Well maybe not.

Wow, was this a day at the mail box. Model Car Mag, IPMS Journal, and Fine Scale all showed up at the same time! So after MCM, what do I read next?

Great fun! Thanks for the hours of chuckles, gafaws and outright belly laughs.

I was in college at the time in Laramie and remember seeing it on the front page of the auto show section of the Denver Post. Never got down to see it, but it was just strange enough to stick in my memory. Very nice replica Mark.

Buy a hexagonal punch and die set and make your own. Sounds like the cost you are going to pay for plastic for the amount that you need will more than cover the cost of the punch and when you are done you will have a tool make plenty more when you need them. Here is one site - http://umm-usa.com/onlinestore/product_info.php?cPath=21_145&products_id=1870

Far and away my favorite current super car! This one was at Coffee & Cars a couple of weeks ago. Note the semigloss titanium paint job. It really sets the car apart.

Sounds about right. The crazing is due to different shrink rates most times. That is why you get the ridges. I must also say that it depends on the enamel. I got some automotive 2 part enamel and after it dried I put DuPont clear lacquer over it no problem. There are no hard and fast rules in painting(except safety). As Capt. Jack Sparrow says, they are more like guidelines. Because paints vary so much from manufacturer to manufacturer the only way you will know for sure is test it on something you don't care about.

The kids and I out for an afternoon of aviating for my birthday last year.

Got to give this one a model. A couple of things missing that the real thing should have.

Ok, ya got me! How do you put the u-joints together?

Ok, Harry - where on earth did you find a 70 foot tall model builder?????

Here is another, don' know if it will help. It is the current state of the gold car as a Mark IIB with twin carbs and high rise manifold. These were taken in 2000.

So that would make it an under the bed find instead of a barn find, eh?

Nice job but here is a point of interest for you. Trumpeter did not make the seats right for a Mark II. Those are seats from a Mark I. Here is a photo of the seats from the gold car when it was being restored at Holman Moody in 2000. The car as it stands now is a Mark IIB with twin carbs but the interior would be unchanged. It is unlikely that anyone at a contest would know the difference, so I wouldn't be afraid to leave them alone.

I've not been doing decals very long but I use DuPont automotive lacquer and have had no problem, but then I am not using Testors paper. I have some that I got of the internet and got a fair amount of paper for a reasonable cost.

It is required for blood sacrifice to the model gods. A necessity in every build or dropped parts will start disappearing, paint will run or go alligator on you, clear parts will get glue marks, etc. Just kidding! A hobby knife can be a substitute for a sprue cutter to get the parts off of the tree if you are careful. It is also good for trimming flash(the extra bits of plastic) off of part and scraping mold seam lines and cutting up decals. It is one of those jack of all trades tools that has a bunch of uses that we tend to apply that have nothing to do with the manufactures intent.

There is a basic tool kit that would be necessary to make a start in the hobby. If you don't have some tools to start with, then it will be extremal frustrating and that will be the end of that. Here is my suggested basic kit and an explanation: 1. Glue - Three types - Super glue, white glue for clear parts and thin glue such as Tenex, Tamiya super thin, etc. Ya, got ta stick it together somehow. 2. Sprue cutter of some type - If you tear it apart getting it off the sprue, the model will look terrible and you will quit. 3. Decent brushes - You really need some good brushes for painting the little parts. You may need some cheap ones for white glue, thin glue and decaling. 4. Qtips - For decaling and cleaning up white glue 5. Sanding stuff - Sanding sticks and paper. Got to smooth down the sprue connections or stuff just doesn't fit well. 6. A good hobby knife. Preferably one that has a anti roll design. Ya gota have sharp instruments around to add an element of danger or it wouldn't be a hobby. Anti roll design because nicks and cuts on the hand give you an entrée into telling others about your hobby but a #11 blade will go almost all the way through your foot and the emergency room people don't want to hear you modeling stories! 8. Paint and thinner - Ya gots to make it colorful. 'nuff said! 9. Some small scissors - Good for cutting out the decals and a lot less painful that the hobby knife. 10. A decent cutting mat - 'cuz your spouse is going to have you sleeping on the couch for a month if you screw up the top of her new kitchen table. 11. Masking tape - For holding stuff together while the glue dries and for those fancy paint jobs you are sure you can do. Now all of us have many more tools than that. Personally I have five drawers full in my hobby desk, but each one of those tools was purchased to make it easier or improve the quality of doing something I could already do with these basic tools. Example, airbrush replaces the rattle can. But you don't need it to start out and searching out that perfect tool is really one of the great joys of the hobby.

Best source I have found is Hobby link Japan at hlj.com They have been in business for years and are located in Japan. They are very reliable and have great prices but you really need to buy enough to make the shipping reasonable. They charge by the order, not by the item so it can work out. I rarely order less that $100 when I order from them. That way the cost plus shipping is less than local price plus sales tax. If you only order stuff that they have in stock and ship it FedEx I have received my order in less than a week. Down side to HLJ is that they have so much stuff you would like to have you can go a little nuts.

I think it is a perfect example of something built in too small of a garage. You stand too close to it to get the overall view. This guy had about 6" of space on each side. Dat's jus hideous!

I'll close the barn door for you now that the horse is gone. I keep some Qtips and thinner around where I paint and after I am done, I swab the lid around the edge with a Qtip dampened with a little thinner and then wipe off the top of the jar with a paper towel dampened with thinner. This prevents the problem that you had. I use to use strap wrenches(Google them to find a local source) to get the lids off. They work great for holding the bottles and applying even pressure. P.S. I just noticed that you are on the other side of the pond. Qtip=cotton bud or swab.

Wow! Really nice work. I know it is a rat rod but just curious, with all the soldering that you are doing and the burn marks on the bench, have you considered investing in a resistance soldering unit? I know that they are expensive, but since I bought mine, I have really fallen in love with it. It is quick, precise and makes it easy to solder multiple pieces together without having on of the prior joints come apart. It also does the job with minimum discoloration of the brass. I know, it's a rat rod, but from the skill level you have shown here, you are not just doing rat rods!