StevenGuthmiller

No problem Ace, I understand where you're coming from. Just try to understand my position. I really don't care what I "could have" gotten a particular item for. When I place my bid, that is what I expect to pay. Anything less is just a bonus to me. I understand who the "frenzy bidders" are. that was just my way of saying that I don't care about them, because I don't deal with them. You see, I have no love for the "auction" thing in general. Some guys love to mess around on ebay. It's like a game or sport to them. Me, I deplore it! Ebay is just a means for me to find what I'm looking for & I have no interest sitting in front of my computer at 2:00 AM to pound in that last second bid. I'd rather just find out in the morning whether I won or lost. By the way Mr Buick, I always pay for my items the instant that I know that I've won! I don't place a bid unless I have the cash to pay for it. Steve Steve

I agree. Nothing wrong with it at all as far as I'm concerned. I just have no interest in it myself. To me ebay is just another online store where I can buy the things I want. When I decide I want something I'll try to buy it at my price. If the store is out, or the price isn't right......I'll try another day. Steve

I don't see how bidding early drives up the price. Makes no sense at all. If I bid $200.00 on an item, nobody knows that figure but me. Those people bidding $1.00 & $5.00 increments will be there anyway playing leap frog with each other. If their not "looking for the ceiling" they're trying to get the other guy to drop out. I prefer to find an item I want, decide what "my" price is, put in a bid & let all of those guys play all of their dopey games without me. Half of the time, I have no idea whether or not I won an auction until I happen to stumble across the "you won" message in my e-mail inbox. I've probably won 90% of the auctions I've participated in too. I don't generally bother bidding unless it's something I really want, in which case I'm not afraid to pay for it. Or occasionally I'll bid on an item that interests me but bidding is stagnant, so I'll throw a bid at it in the last couple of hours of the auction. I don't even know what a "frenzy bidder" is. I'm not even on ebay when my auctions are ending, & I could care less what they're doing. Steve

Agreed. Doesn't matter when you bid, it matters how much. If you're fighting over something with 3 other bidders, & your at $50.00 with 10 seconds left and someone has already bid $200.00, when you bid $75.00 makes no difference at all. You still lose. Funny part is, when the smoke clears, that $200.00 bidder just won it for $75.01. Steve

Nice haul Ken! That '60 Buick hardtop is a pretty tough one to find! Steve

Doesn't matter. I'm still planning on only paying what I bid. They can talk to themselves all they want, I still will not pay a penny over what I'm willing to pay. I go back occasionally & see what's happening. Invariably, you'll get some schmo at some point bidding 12 times in a row in $5.00 increments, thinking he's being a real pro, & then at the end, you'll get the sniper jumping the price up no telling how much. In the end, I just sit & watch them fall all over each other & wait for the auction to end to see whether I won or not. Makes no difference to me one way or the other. There will always be a next time. Steve

If you're using Testors silver, gold or copper enamel spray paint, there is no fix. I've had these same problems over the years with these three paints. There is nothing you can do to make them stick better. Steve

It's simple. Bid the maximum amount you're willing to pay & leave it at that. You wouldn't go through all of this headache if you were say, buying a car. You tell the guy how much you're willing to pay for it, & if he doesn't go for it, you walk. At least that's how I do it. Works well for ebay too. All of the sniping in the world will do you no good if someone else is still willing to pay more. I've won auctions at the last moment when I've been sniped. Raised the price on me, but I still won. If I lost, no big deal. It was more than I wanted to pay for it anyway. Steve

Against my better judgement, I went ahead & placed a bid on this little gem today just on a whim. As is usual for me, when a bid on a whim, I usually win the auction. Not a bad price, depending on what's under all of that dirt. I'll just have to wait & see when it gets here. Steve

That's quite the handy dandy little tool! Great idea! Steve

This is just my personal opinion, but it seems like an awful lot of work for something that will rarely, if ever be seen. I guess to each his own but I would never use up my valuable building time messing with something like this. But we all have our own thing. I won first place in the stock category at my first ever contest last summer with one of these Johan Mopar chassis. Good enough for me. Steve

There are a ton of things that seem relatively simple & universal to car modelers that seem to be impossible to find. Places like "Fireball Modelworks" offer things like beautifully cast exterior door handles for different GM & Mopar cars. Why is it nobody seems to want to cast items like stock exterior mirrors for 1/25th cars from the 50s & 60s. We all know how fun it is to steal any mirrors we can find out of our kit stash. Or another great opportunity for decal producers would seem to me to be small detail decals mostly for applications under the hood. I have a request in the wanted section as we speak for Mopar valve cover decals for the early 60s wedge engines. I would think it would be a relatively simple operation to do a whole sheet of decals consisting of nothing more than a bunch of valve cover & air cleaner decals for various cars. If I had the capability of making nice decals, I would jump all over something like that! Seems like a no brainer to me. I have found a source for a few smaller detail decals like battery logos & other small warning labels, but you'd think that things like this would be very common, & much better sellers than some obscure race car graphics. Just a couple of the many basic things that I have a hard time believing that nobody has capitalized on........yet. Steve

I know you said you had problems with clear parts cement, but that's all that I use & I've never had problems with it. The method that you're using may be more the issue. I place the glass where it's supposed to go & then fasten it in place with a few thin strips of tape. When I'm happy with the positioning, I run a bead of the clear parts cement all of the way around the glass on the inside of the body, staying away from the tape of course. Then just set the body aside upside down for 24 hours & let it dry. Once it's dry, carefully remove the tape & you're good to go. Where most people run into trouble with glass installation is when they apply the glue to either the glass or the body & then try to position it with the glue applied. If you do manage to get it in position without smearing glue all over, then you're stuck holding it in place with your fingers until the glue at least sets. A perfect recipe for having glue seep under your fingers & completely ruining the glass. By setting the glass in place & then taping it there, you'll avoid all of those issues & then the type of glue you use matters little. As long as it's transparent & non-fogging. Steve

I remember it Ray! It was sweet! Ironically, I'm planning on white for mine as well, but I think I'm doing a metallic aqua interior. Not sure when I'll get going on it. I've got a couple dozen prospective projects waiting in the wings along with it. Steve

Kind of looks like it's exactly "that wide" Chris! Sure looks like that's the one! I measured it for you. looks like about 2 & 5/16ths inches. Steve

I do something very similar. Being as I usually like to tint my glass anyway, I polish out the plastic & then shoot a light coat of Testors #2949 "Transparent Black Window Tint" lacquer on the inside. Adds a light tint & shines it up very nicely. Steve

Ha ha! I spent more for this kit than any other kit I've ever bought! It was basically brand new in the box! You could say, I spent too much! Steve

Glad to hear it Bill. I'll look forward to seeing what you do with the Olds also! I'm thinking I'll do pretty much the same thing with this '63 Plymouth that I was planning for the '62 Dodge. A cross ram 413 or 426 wedge with a set of vintage mags of some sort. I'm thinking black with a metallic green or blue interior. By the way, would anyone happen to know where I can get a set of "Ramcharger 413" & "Super Stock 413" valve cover decals? Steve

AAAAH!! Somebody kill it! Steve

Probably not as bad as Palmer kits, but yeah, I agree. Steve

Just arrived today courtesy of my good friend Bill Allphin, (gtx6970). We did a little trading & this was what I got on my end. A pretty much pristine Johan 1963 Plymouth Fury! I was a little amazed at how well the chrome looked on this kit! A lot of these old Johan kits had less than stellar chrome right from the factory. This is one of their better examples, plus the fact that it survived this many years without even a blemish is astounding to me. Thanks Bill!! Steve

Depends a lot on the condition & thickness of the plastic. I got away with it once recently. I happened to have this '61 Plymouth that was molded in yellow & looked too good to paint. I still sanded off the mold lines & luckily there were no sink marks to repair. Polished out the bare plastic & left it alone. No clear coat required. Steve

I love the '61 Olds! One of my absolute favorite cars. Not real big on 4 doors so I picked up a Flintstone 88 hardtop a while back. A little thick but very nicely cast. Steve

It's the USA Oldies one. Most of the parts are from the newer kit. The green parts, like the top, are the annual parts. Steve

Tamiya tape is my "go to" for paint lines as well. It sticks very well so there's no "bleed under" but doesn't stick too much so there's little danger of leaving adhesive residue, or damaging the paint when removed. I also use blue painters tape & masking paper to fill in the large areas. Steve