Pete J.

More likely California. I don't recall ever seeing palm trees in Japan. The houses in the back look like they have terra cotta roof tiles and the mountains behind look just like the ones in our back yard. I think the blooming trees are crape Myrtles just like what I have in my front yard, but then I'm just guessing. I do know that California is the home to a lot of car collectors and other gearheads, so something like this would not even be noticed here. To get noticed around here you need something like this-

What ever it is, it looks like the photo was shot in California! The plants and background look familiar.

Totally forgot about Jules Verne's novels! These were great reads at the time a lot of the tech he described was actually coming into being. 20,000 leagues under the sea starts with an electric car and goes on to describe a nuclear submarine and scuba gear. Not bad for a book written in 1870! His follow on book, The mysterious island was equally spellbinding. All still great reads.

A side story about the original. My new wife and I were on our honeymoon in 1978 in the Bahamas and were cruising around one of the back roads on a rented scooter(not really a smart thing to do, but we were young) and came across one of the originals, on a pile of other cars in a junkyard. Some where I have a photo I took of it with my trusty kodak 110. ?

The traffic patterns on the 405 have change dramatically since the lock down. Before covid it was a rolling parking lot most of the time, which is what I expect you remember. Now it is pretty much smooth sailing the length of it, unless there is a really bad accident. This was also on Sunday so the traffic was a little lighter, but these cars were ducking and dodging. A but unnerving to watch. I expected to see parts and carbon fiber flying when they got out of sight. One other interesting fact, tickets on the 405 for speeds over 100 are really going through the roof. People with expensive cars are not necessarily smart.

Randy, I don't know how I missed this one! Great build. Spent too many hours under the bonnet of my 74 911 so I am intimately familiar with this engine. Superb detail! Another masterpiece from your bench.

To slow with the camera today, but I was on my way up to LAX on the 405 and was passed by two cars going at speed. A black Maserati coupe being chased by a white McLaren 570. Even going the same way, these cars at speed, don't stay in sight for very long.?

Yes, he was a hard nosed secret agent and his adversaries were not above some pretty graphic violence to get what they wanted. The movies created the suave gentleman rake with a ton of gadgets from Q. Oh, in the books his car was a 1931 blower Bentley. The movies would not have been the same without the Aston!

Depends on the paint. Most of the time a little tape applied to the decal will pull them up. If you are dealing with lacquer and it won't come up, alcohol will generally dissolve them. Windex is also good if you are using lacquer or solvent based enamels. If you are dealing with water based acrylics, then just plain water or tape. Any solvent is guarantee to ruin the paint.

I really started reading a lot as a kid in the late 50's. The school I went to had a book vending area in the lunch room and my parents gave me an unlimited budget for those books, but I couldn't have more than two unread at a time. The ones that really stuck with me were Dam Busters, Hurricane, Flying Tigers and 30 seconds over Tokyo. All books of WWII flying exploits. These and my Dad lead me to 10 year flying in the USAF. Other books of interest were all of Ian Flemings Bond series. Radically different from the movies. I remember reading Mutiny on the Bounty and then seeing the movie with Marlon Brando. At that point I learned that books were always far better than films or in the case of the Bond book, the only thing left of the book in the movies was the title, characters and the setting. Unfortunately, in the early 70's I spent 3 1/2 months in an Air Force hospital. I sent the time there reading all of Kurt Vonnegut's books and Catch-22. It made the time go faster. Good reads but I never want to spend that much time in a hospital again. In the 80s I was introduced to James Clavell's novels when TV created a mini-series of his book, Shogun. Since I have read all of his Books, which is an epic task in itself and all are full length novels except King Rat. Extremely entertaining read because all the books tie together and the series of books runs from the 1600s to 1979. The man could spin a great yarn of intrigue, mystery mixed with historically accurate times and cultures. Unfortunately as my eyesight has forced me to stronger and stronger glasses, my reading has declined. I do miss it!

This is the type of thing I am referring to. https://www.ebay.com/b/Tamiya-1-24-Automotive-Models-Kits/2580/bn_7112108532?LH_Auction=1&rt=nc&_sop=1 So many with no bids or one bid only. Now I recognize that the minimum starting bid on some are way out of line, but many aren't and they seem to be getting very little attention. Now the other side is what what sold. https://www.ebay.com/b/Tamiya-1-24-Automotive-Models-Kits/2580/bn_7112108532?rt=nc&LH_Auction=1&_sop=1&LH_PrefLoc=1&LH_Complete=1 Again, a lot sold with a single bid or they were a low minimum starting bid. There are a few that get attention but they seem to be the exception. I guess it would just make sense to sit on my kits and keep an eye on the market. I am really thinning the herd to help my family out(I am 70) so they don't have to deal with a mass of models that they don't understand. I guess I need to pick out what I am likely to build and set the rest up for a sale later. I really have to believe that I only need thirty or forty kits to get to the end of my modeling career.

I should have been more specific I guess. Most of my kits are Tamiya or Gunze-Sangyos. I have seen a lot of Tamiyas 1:20 F1 and WRC cars going through with no bids or just one bid and at less than $15. Perhaps the problem is in the better kits. Not sure.

Well that may be, but most often, for me anyway, I am stripping it to get a brand new, but screwed up paint job off. I'm the impatient type when it comes to fixing my mistakes, so overnight in the pond is a very reasonable solution for me. Also a lot of my kits are Tamiyas and they generally run $30 to $100 if you can find them.

I have been thinking of thinning out my stash for a while lately, but I am convinced this is not the time for that. It kind of looks to me like the market is in the tank for individuals selling kits off. I have been following eBay for a while, looking at the completed auctions and stuff is either going for cheap or not at all. Don't get me wrong. It looks like the truly rare kits will still bring good money, but it looks like premium kits just are selling. I have seen several "no reserve" auctions go down with no bids at all. I've also seen that the asking prices on the "buy it now" kits are probably 10 times what similar items that sold are going for. A lot of them just keep rolling over. I guess they are hoping to hook that one big sucker. This is all counter intuitive to me. I would have thought that with the pandemic, this end of the market would be doing well, not going down the drain. I don't understand.

Yup, I have two of them. One for 91% alcohol and one for Super Klean.

I wouldn't worry about liking one over the other in general. I am sure you will find that each has its place and what it does better than the others. I have 4 and each has a job it does best. No favorites, just the right tool for the job.

I don't want to insult anyone, but why would you go through all that, when you can get a new corded variable speed Dremel for about $45? Seems like a good investment to me.

Yup, me too. First stop was Russia followed by China. Then I wandered off to India.

Ok, now that is interesting! Going to waste the rest of my day looking for that!

Just got my order of Tamiya LP paints. Snuck them in from Canada! One more wood working project in the shop and I can get back to my modeling desk. I'm excited!

I have to say, were it not for an incredible coincident I would not have found this one. Haggerty Insurance has a great online news letter and Willys Aero was one of the topics in their latest edition. Well one thing lead to another and bingo, there it was. Not a particularly great amount of skill on my part.

Ok, I know this sounds kind of stupid and I can't believe I am going to suggest this but here it goes.? Alsa has just released a special clear coat called Miracle Clear, that(according to them) gives a clear coat with no fogging of the underlying easy chrome. Now here comes the stupid part. They are selling a gallon of the stuff for $79. Ok, ok I here it now. Why in heck would I want a gallon of the stuff. I will never use that much. Well, here is the kicker. They are giving you 4oz of Easy clear to go with it for $79 for both. Joe, you said nobody is willing to pay $150 for a starter kit which is 2oz of base and silver. So you are getting twice the amount with a gallon of clear thrown in. That makes easy chrome far cheaper than this product at $37 for 1/2 oz. (assuming my math is correct a 15ml =.5oz). What you do with the extra clear is up to you. Sell it off to your friends, sell it on ebay, throw it away it doesn't matter. Oh, and here is the page - https://alsacorp.com/product/miracle-clear/

Not used this one, but I bought this some time ago. https://alsacorp.com/product/easy-chrome/ They use it for autos, not just models. It is brushable but I prefer to airbrush it. It is a base coat/top coat system and like any chrome paint the quality of the base determines how it looks when done. It is super durable. I have successfully masked over it without the paint being disturbed. It is water based. They do sell a "hobby" kit and it is a bit pricey but you get the base coat, the top coat and a couple of speed shapes to practice on. By the way, they just came out with a clear coat I am itching to try.

Super! Thanks for the up date. Now if we can only get Tamiya LP paints without having to cross the boarder!

Me too, but I use a swirling motion not a shaking motion. Shaking can mixes air into the paint which can cause bubbles in the finish. The glass marble rolling around the bottom works very well and doesn't introduce air into the paint.