mikemodeler

For those of you wanting one of these, Wes's Model Corner is getting them in this week and will be shipping them out. Link below: https://wesmodelcarcorner.myshopify.com/ I have ordered from Wes multiple times and the service is outstanding. His prices are very competitive and he ships very economically. I ordered mine last night and it's less than $39 shipped to my door.

Set up a table of kits to sell off at the CKM show in Clemmons NC Saturday. Shared the table with FatBrian and while he bought as much as he sold, I restrained myself and came home with a few more dollars than I left with. Had a great time talking to folks, got to meet Driptroit71 (Brian) and he was kind enough to buy some of my stuff I was selling.

Charles, Thank you for stepping up and working with Scott. I have a couple of questions: 1. Is Scott creating the file and you are doing the printing? I ask because on the S-10 grill I sent Scott a body and he designed it and had you print them. Not sure if you or him have the body but I would like it back (I did buy two grilles from you). 2. In the future, should we contact you beforehand to make sure one of us isn't requesting the same thing? Thanks!

Heard last night on a FB live event that the Bronco should be hitting stores next week. Good news for those that have wanted one and have been waiting.

Careful, don't let our government know that cattle are the top emitters of methane, they will slap more taxes on our beef and I won't be able to buy a burger!

Come on down South Rob, we have all kinds of older vehicles with barely any rust on them.

Let's not forget the byproduct of burning coal- coal ash. One of the worst polluters to fresh water is coal ash, and most coal powered plant operators have done a lousy job of protecting the environment from it, hoping the EPA will do their dirty work, literally.

As I said, it is based on local vehicle registrations, so if the cars you are working on are not in large demand in your market, the parts won't be on the shelf, but they will be available. Much like any retailer, auto parts are monitored for movement and only the ones with a high turnover are stocked locally.

Not to get into an argument, but in the automotive aftermarket parts business, companies look at the "sweet spot" of vehicle ages as they determine which parts to stock locally at your neighborhood auto parts store. In most cases, depending on the parts category, they go back as far as 20 years or more based on local vehicle registration. High frequency replaced items like brakes, filters and wipers, they will carry parts for 20 year old cars readily. Less frequent repairs or items that are costly, they have in regional warehouses that can be had in a day or two. The bottom line is that while the industry is a changing, the parts retailers would not be building new stores, warehouses and distribution networks if they thought the business wasn't going to be there. I personally don't see how in roughly 20 years the vast majority of 280 million ICE powered vehicles will be gone.

That's the plan.

No, it will take decades to rid the earth of ICE powered vehicles. Currently there are approximately 280 million registered vehicles in the United States, the majority of which run on fossil fuel. Not everyone can or will make the transition to EVs, whether it be cost or preference. What needs to be understood is that the ability to recycle all of those ICE vehicles is costly and will take time. In the past, many vehicles that were junked had parts salvaged to re-use like body parts and drive trains. There will still be a market for the parts as not every one will make the $$$ needed to buy an EV and the charging set up at home. On an episode of This Old House, they were discussing the electrical needs of a house they were working on and the homeowners were thinking ahead and wanted charging stations installed in the garage. Before the electrician could run the service, they had to calculate the total power the house could possibly demand and check with the power company to see if they could provide it. That is going to cause issues as they have to retrofit the power grid to handle the increased demand.

I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last night, does that make me qualified to comment?

Toyota is working on hydrogen powered vehicles in addition to EVs. Reality is that there is not infinite supplies of minerals to build batteries forever. The environmental damage caused by mining the minerals needed for batteries is severe, but we won't talk about that. Fossil fueled power plants to supply electricity will still contribute to the pollution and as long as India and China do little to nothing to curb their pollution, the problem will continue. Any time you let governments dictate the economy, you should expect the worse. The push to EVs was not initiated by auto manufacturers.

I remember getting the 1/32 kits as a kid because they were cheap and I could knock them out quickly. I grabbed these two off of eBay earlier this year, also have the Atlantis 69 Nova that was reissued as well as the Revell 07 Shelby Mustang.

Very nice, those tires look period correct on those two.

Texas 3D Custom has a new printed grille for the Chevy van, might want to check it out.

Don Mills makes some really nice slam locks that will make that look spot on.

Not sure how they add new items, might be based on the ability to get a full container shipped in from China, but would guess that is the case and with shipping coming down in price, maybe some new stuff will finally be on the way.

I believe the frames are identical so in theory it should work. I am not an expert on the Ford drivetrain so it could be the transfer case is different for the 78 and newer Fords so that might be the one thing to look at if you are going for accuracy. As far as the Bronco? One could swap the heavier axles and leaf springs, especially if you are building one with larger tires and lift, remember some doing that back in the late 70's/early 80's.

The problem as I understand it is that the molds have a shelf life and only so many parts can be made before they have to be replaced. Now that 3D printing has emerged as an alternative to molding and casting, I wonder how long before resin vendors decide it isn't worth the work?

I have ordered from them probably 6 or 7 times, never had a problem, always got my order within 10 days. Last order was earlier this year.

Look at this listing, it should help you understand how they built these vans in the 1:1 world. This is an actual kit from long ago. https://www.ebay.com/itm/134192544320?hash=item1f3e7fba40:g:f0MAAOSw7J5i7q9T

Considering that you are talking about using a Ford axle under a GM and while it may fit, would be considered incorrect. The 4x4 conversions of the GM vans used leaf springs and not the coil spring/control arm set up that Ford used.

Why not use the chassis from an MPC GMC Deserter pickup? It's the correct scale and more accurate for a GM van than using Ford running gear.

Just saw where Olivia Newton John has passed away from cancer at the age of 73.