StevenGuthmiller

I'm a little surprised that I haven't yet seen the suggestion to bury it in a few coats of 2-K clear! Steve

This again! Steve

What great looking cars!!! ? Steve

The more I look at this kit, the more I wonder why I never finished mine. Very nicely detailed kit with such features as a quite nicely detailed engine with separate parts such as valley pan and air conditioning compressor. A very nicely detailed chassis with a multi piece steerable front suspension with real springs, well detailed rear suspension, (also with real springs) separate exhaust, and 3 piece radiator assembly with shroud and air conditioning parts. The interior has a bench seat with separate rear seat back with chrome speaker grille, separate door panels, separate power window panels and door handles, and a 3 piece steering wheel/column assembly. The body has clear lenses for the head lights and back up lights, hood front molding and hinges, separate fin and rocker panel moldings, sun visors, chrome windshield and vent window frames, as well as separate wipers, door handles, bumper bullet cones, clear parking light lenses, and a 2 piece mirror. All in all, a very nicely detailed model! Steve

We can hope. Steve

By the way, after watching the OP's video again, it appears to me that copies of this model is are in fact available for public consumption. Why else would there be an included manual and a "free pen" included? Steve

I wouldn't say that not making all of the individual parts himself should disqualify him. After all, as Roger said in a previous post, I didn't cast the parts for the base model that I built either, and there are plenty of after market parts present at every show that the modelers didn't make themselves. What should disqualify him would be if he farmed out any of the finish or assembly work. He can buy the engine in pieces from someone and assemble it himself, but if he bought the engine as a whole, had a professional body man prep or paint the body, had someone else wire the car, etc, etc, it should disqualify him. Steve

I was thinking the same thing earlier in this discussion, but forgot to bring it up. My initial thought was, I suppose if an individual doesn't mind spending several years and tens of thousands of dollars to win a $10.00 trophy........well hey, knock yourself out. Steve

Don't get hung up on the hardtop vs. convertible thing on this kit. They are the exact same kit with either a separate up soft top, or a separate hard top, neither of which look good proportionally. Your best bet with this kit is to build the convertible with the top down. That said, this would be an excellent starter kit! It's fairly well detailed without being fiddly, it's a little larger at closer to 1/24th scale, and the engineering seems to be pretty good as far as parts fit. It has a few nice details, such as separate chrome windshield and vent window frames, separate chrome fin moldings, and real springs for the suspension. It's actually a pretty nice kit. Steve

The Monte's a little shorter, but with a slight chassis stretch, it'll work just fine. But it wouldn't work for a re-pop of one of the GP kits. Steve

Are you sure? If 1/4 scale is okay, why not 1/2? And if 1/2, why not 1:1? Steve

Well, that’s good and bad news. The good news is that we can finally put the “Super Fly” guess to rest. (A very positive development in my view) The bad news is that the ‘69-‘72 GP tooling might be gone forever. I think one of those kits could have been a very viable future project for Round-2. Steve

Been saying exactly that for a very long time. But it almost always devolves into “a garbage kit”, versus “a poor modeler” argument which never accomplishes much. Steve

This is exactly what I was trying to convey. Thank you. My opinion is no. it’s just basically an unassembled diecast. But then again, I’m guessing that a “pre-decorated” pro shop plastic kit might very well be allowed. Who knows. I might be interested to look at such a model, but as a judge, I would absolutely never vote for one. Steve

Agreed. But honestly, it’s all really moot to me. I’m pretty confident that I’m never going to see anything such as this at any of the shows that I go to anyway. I’ll stick with my original sentiment on the subject. I really don’t care. Steve

Sure, but would it be okay if someone built an engine for you, painted a body for you, etc? The point is, we have no clue what this individual did or didn’t do. I suppose there is the possibility that this person possesses all of the skills necessary to build this model by himself, but that’s just speculation at this point. I think that If I was in charge of a show that this model was going to be entered in, I would probably like to know what he did, and what he didn’t do. Steve

I believe I understand the circumstance now. I'm sorry guys. It appears that I was mistaken in my assumption that this individual was offering these models to the public,and that's where the confusion arose. This model apparently is a one off, and the $30,000.00 is either what it cost him to build, or what he would be willing to sell it for. But here again, as Bob brought up, would this model be eligible for judging at the typical model show based on the question of whether or not it was entirely built by one individual? I suppose it's possible, but I have a difficult time believing that he didn't have a considerable amount of help with creating the parts, and, or constructing the model. If he didn't build this model from the ground up on his own, or more succinctly, if he had substantial help with it's construction from others, I don't believe that it would be accepted as a judged project at most shows. But, I could be mistaken. Steve

I understand that, and as I said to Tim, the original would most definitely qualify in a contest by the original builder, (that is if the particular show would allow it) but as I said, if I buy a completed one from him, is mine now eligible? As I said with my comparison to diecast and RC, where do we draw the line? Steve

My point was that if you want one of these, you’re paying this guy $30,000.00 for a finished replica. At least that’s my assumption. Sure, the guy who originally designed and built the prototype could enter it as a model in a contest, because he made it. If you just buy a finished one......well it would be no different than entering a die cast in a model contest. If there is some assembly required, well, let’s just say that RC vehicles require construction as well, but I don’t think that most of us would consider them “models” in the sense that we think of them as, and you certainly don’t see them at a model show. Steve

I knew James Bond liked women, but I didn’t know he was a pimp! ? Steve

I look at it this way I don’t care. I take my 1/25 scale models to a show and I don’t care at all what the competition is doing. If the judges like it, they will recognize it. If not, they won’t. What scale the competitors are bringing means nothing to me, and I have a sneaking suspicion that most judges will have the same attitude. It’s not just the model itself that the judges are taking into account, but what kind of work was required to build it, and in many circumstances, smaller scales require some skills that are not as critical with larger scales. It’s much more difficult to scratch build carburetor linkage in 1/25th scale than it is in 1/8th scale. Just like cramming $200.00 worth of billet and photo etch into a build doesn’t necessarily equate into a trophy, neither does a highly detailed large scale build. They are all subject to the same scrutiny no matter what size they are, and there are a lot of factors to consider. As matter of fact, a larger scale could open you up to more scrutiny. If I were judging, and came across a 1/8 scale model during the execution of my duties that didn’t contain full wiring and plumbing under the hood, I would wonder why when it’s obviously so much easier to do so in that scale. In my opinion, something like that would be a negative when comparing it to the guy who managed to somehow do it in 1/32 scale. In the end, I’m not afraid to compete against whatever. Win or lose, it doesn’t make that much difference to me. Just for the record, I have to add that the car in the video at the beginning of the thread is not a “model” anyway. My assumption is that it doesn’t come in a kit to be assembled by the purchaser, but is a $30,000.00 toy for rich guys to play with. Steve

There’s a perfect example. Did he build it himself? If so, could he then enter it in the large scale category? Steve

Well, if nothing else, it might be a good source for a few replacement parts for somebody that has a "real" '72 GP that they want to restore. But I really think we're out in left field with this one. I think Round-2 has some better options than this. At least I hope so. Steve

Most shows that I've been to almost always have a large scale, and a small scale category, along with every other sub-category, so in those instances, you would only be actually competing with others in that category, which might often only be a half dozen other entrants. Of course, there are always the "entire" show categories, such as best engine, best interior, best in show, people's choice etc, depending upon the show. But if you don't mind loading this behemoth on a trailer and wrestling it into the venue, I say bring it on. But I really can't speak to what the people who are putting on a particular show would allow. !/4 scale.......Why not half scale. For that matter, I suppose you could consider a 1:1 kit car a "model", couldn't you? Steve

Just about anything would have been a good alternative to that!! Steve