StevenGuthmiller

I too have a kit of the car that I owned in high school. This also remains on my short list. My car was bright red with a black vinyl top, with a black bench seat interior, and a 440 with an automatic on the column, so some modification will be required. An interesting side note: I will have to substitute the wheel covers from the ‘68 300 for my model. The hub caps for these cars varied depending how early or late in the season that they were built. The wheel covers included in the ‘67 kit, (on the left) were correct for 1966 and early 1967 cars. The one on the right, (included in the ‘68 kit) were correct for late ‘67 and ‘68 models. My car had the later ‘68 hub caps. Steve

Never said a word about people who use rattle cans being 12 year olds. I use plenty of spray cans. what I implied was people that hose on a coat of paint and throw together a kit in a weekend are using exactly the same build philosophy that I had when I was 12. That might rub some folks the wrong way, but it is a fact in any event. Steve

Probably just because you like it? As good or better than any other reason! ? Steve

No, they’re not mine, although at one point, I believe I had almost all of them. The jewel in the crown was of course the HUGE Tyrannosaurus Rex! Steve

For me it’s cars, cars and cars! I’ve been a car guy since I was old enough to push around a Matchbox car, and when I got a little older, it morphed into model cars. Since then, it’s just been a way to stay immersed in the classic car scene without having to spend boat loads of money, and spend every waking moment working on the real thing. That’s it. Nothing at all having to do with looking for something......just any old thing, to keep me occupied or busy, or to exercise my brain or hands. Nothing more than an outlet for my love of 50s and 60s American iron. Steve

The only one that I EVER remember that actually grabbed my attention was the same Revell ‘57 Nomad that Tom posted. Although I do remember quite a bit of excitement when I was a kid when a new one of these popped up In the stores. Steve

Yeah, I hadn't even thought of that. Apparently box art was of very little importance at the dawn of the model car kit era. The early boxes were pretty much all the same, regardless of what was inside, with only a small sticker or some additional print on an end panel to indicate the contents. That was pretty much the norm from about 1958, through to the mid 60s. Steve

I'll say it......They're cheap!!!! But in all seriousness, I think while "frugality" may be part of it, I will always believe that there are a number of different factors. One seems to be the strange desire among what appears to be a large segment of the model car building community, to build something.....anything......as fast as possible. If you can go to Home Depot right after lunch, buy a can of paint, and have the body of your new kit painted before dinner, you're doing great! I guess that I have to confess that that is pretty much the same attitude that I had when I was twelve, but it appears to be a difficult thing to shake for many. Steve

Well, I appreciate that Jeff, but in the end, even if I were building simple, straight OOB models, the picture on the outside of the box still would have no interest for me. This is the only picture on the box that means much to me! Steve

Oh, don't misunderstand me. Some box art is fabulous! But in the end, I'll never base a purchase upon it, or pass on a purchase because of it. Steve

Sure, but my understanding of the question was....... .....And I guess by now you know what my answer is. Steve

In all seriousness, does it matter? Neither one shows any indication of the contents, so it’s a wild guess in any event. The box art could be a complete ruse. We’ve all seen this reincarnation as of late. Beautiful box art of a pretty suspect kit. The picture on the box means nothing for all intents and purposes. Steve

At least it’s “actual” art work instead of retouched photographs of a mediocre build. If you really want to talk about pretty nice kits with highly uninspiring artwork....... Steve

Too bad the kit wasn’t anywhere near as nice as the box. Granted, advertising makes quite a difference as you said, to the “casual buyer”, but even with other items, such as food products, if you’ve been around longer than 15 minutes, we know that it has no indication of what’s within the packaging. As an example, I know that I like Heinz ketchup, so It’s the product that I’m looking for, even if Hunts has a Van Gogh painting on the label, and the Heinz is in a crumpled plain brown wrapper, I’m still buying Heinz. Steve

I might have been somewhat influenced to buy a kit by box art when I was a kid, but I’ve been around long enough to know that it has nothing to do with the contents of the box. I’ve seen some kits that have been re-issued numerous times, sometimes with nice box art, and other times with terrible box art. In the end, I’m a builder, and what is depicted on the box can often have no correlation whatsoever with the quality of what’s inside. Sure, some box art may be well done and pleasing to look at, but at the end of the day, unless you’re buying as a collector, you’re going to have to deal with what’s inside, and when I build something, my intention is to make it my own unique creation. I’ve never done a “box art build”, and have no intention of ever doing so. When I finish building the kit, regardless of the quality of the box art, the box is either going into the dumpster, or it will be recycled as a parts receptacle. That’s all that it’s worth to me. Steve

Nope. Box art means absolutely zero to me. It’s nothing more than a vessel to carry the parts. I feel the same way about any product packaging. It serves absolutely no purpose to me other than identification of what’s contained within. Steve

Yeah, they moved from Ohio to North Carolina quite some time ago. whatever site the OP was accessing must have been defunct for quite a while. Steve

As have I. Those paint jobs have usually been done with a very heavy hand with the clear, and in recent years, 2K clear has become the rage and has made that phenomenon all too common. In my opinion, the main reason why it has become so common is precisely because of the fact that far too many builders are seeking that super high gloss finish, and rather than taking the time to do a little cutting and polishing at the end, they're looking for ways to avoid it, and instead are trying to achieve it by hosing on massive amounts of clear. Sometimes it pays to apply a little extra time and effort and not always look for the fast or easy solutions for everything. Steve

Mainly because you're probably more likely to be unlucky and wind up with numerous flaws in a finished paint job as you are to end up with a flawless one. It's great if you can manage a perfect paint job every time, but that's improbable. That is entirely dependent on your materials and techniques as well. These models, (as are the majority of my builds) wear numerous coats of primer, as well as 5 coats of color, and 5 more coats of clear. I don't think you could possibly describe them as looking as if they were "dipped". Steve

I may not have used the same terminology, but I agree. The only time I sand between coats is if it's absolutely necessary, and that applies to primer, color and clear, and I use a LOT of coats. As many as 14 or 15 coats when it's all said and done. Of course I'm using all lacquer based products, so there's never any issues with bond where sanding or scuffing is really a necessity. A very sound recommendation. You're far better off starting out with tested and reliable products before you begin "experimenting" with others. Some of those "others" might be quite easy to master and work with, while others, regardless of how much experience you might feel that you have with them, can be very unpredictable, and you never know when they're going to sneak up and bite you right on your posterior! Steve

Not sure what you’re finding, but MCW is in operation and the site is working fine. You’re probably searching for the wrong URL. Use the link provided by Bill above. Steve

And of course that's a big part of the problem, especially for inexperienced builders. They will often expect that all of the products offered by one manufacturer or another should work hand in glove with one and another, and that is certainly not the case. It can be extremely confusing, and in most cases, they're left to just guess, and that's very often where they wind up running into trouble. This is one of the primary reasons why I went to an air brush. What I frequently see is individuals making choices of the paint that they want to use based almost entirely on color, having no indication at all if the paint they choose will work with the other materials that they normally use, or if they are even aware of the basic properties of the paint they have chosen. (ie, even whether it's an enamel, lacquer, etc.) Once graduated to an airbrush, you can take a HUGE amount of the guess work out of the equation. Color selection is more or less taken out of the equation if you commit to using products such as MCW or Scale Finishes. You can then choose any color that you desire from hundreds, or even thousands of choices, and still remain within the boundaries of the overall paint regimen you've chosen. In other words, there's no longer any guessing as to whether your primer, paint and clear will work with one and other, or not. You're guaranteed that your process remains secure. Steve

Marcy helping me fix a ceiling fan. Steve

My "ceiling fan repair" helper! Marcy. Steve

Picked up a little more bling for the wall this past Sunday. Steve