mikemodeler

Yet another story of a great resin caster who has let bad customer service tarnish his product and cost him business! I know there are several things that they offer that I want but have not ordered for the reasons stated in this post. For what it is worth, Randy was scaling back his resin business as he has opened a brick & mortar hobby shop. That doesn't excuse him from not replying to messages or updating his website/online store, just gives you some insight. Sure hope he gets things worked out, I would love to drop over $100 on a few of his things.

Bill & Len, Your buildups and details are an inspiration to us all. I hope my version of this kit looks half as good as yours. Thank you for doing the reviews and showing us how these new kits can be built, it really helps and motivates me to get started on mine. I will probably have to pick up another one or two so I can build different versions like you did. The AMT '62 Bubbletop was the kit that got me back into the hobby some 17 years ago so any '62 Impala kit is a reminder of getting back to building for me. Thanks again but I gotta ask..............."What's next?"

Michael, Great name you have there, it has served me well for over 40 years! Welcome to the hobby and be sure to soak everything up that you can. Joining this forum is a great start to learning about this hobby because you will find all skill levels here and a great bunch of modelers who are willing to help you with just about anything. Not sure what the scene is like "down under" but I am sure some other countrymen will chime in and guide you to places locally that will have what you are looking for. In terms of American Muscle Cars, both AMT & Revell offer quite a few kits. It depends on whether you want a specific brand (Mopar, GM, Ford) or a certain era ( early 60's, mid 60's, etc) as to what kit or brand to buy. Both companies offer some great kits as well as some real klunkers so it is best to ask or surf the forum to see what others think or have built. It sounds like you have most of the basic skills and tools, I would say that you pick a kit and build it straight out of the box before you jump into foiling & flocking. Foiling and flocking take some practice and patience and I am sure you will pick it up quickly, it just might be easier to find some kits to practice on first. Keep us posted on your builds. Mike

In today's newspaper ad for Hobby Lobby there is a 40% off coupon. As most of us know, you can also go to their website and print off the coupon too. Stopped in a Michaels yesterday and they were registering folks for their website so they could send you the coupons electronically. They are trying to reduce costs of printing and distributing paper ads. Have found some great deals at both stores. Yesterday I got a '66 GTO from Michaels for $9.99 on clearance and the other day I got a '69 Yenko Camaro from HL for $10.49. I didn't need either kit but I hadto help the economy 'cuz thats what they say on the TV!

Marc, Glad to see a different color as your choice. I like the color you picked but as was posted above, that bright blue or a purple for the stripe might be a better choice. Whatever you decide, I am certain we will like it. Got it done yet?

Not another red Camaro! Marc, how about some other color? Black with a gray stripe? Blue with silver? I am liking this and can't wait to see what you do with it. Your builds always impress me and I know whatever color you choose it will be done right. Mike

That should look real nice with those wheels, I am thinking a Ross Gibson TPI motor with a 5 Speed. I will be following this one!

This is going to be a good one to watch. I wish they would re-issue this body instead of using the '68 Camaro body with some vent windows molded into the windshield. I have several of the recent '67 Camaro AMT kits and the wing windows just don't look as nice as the ones on this body. Is it safe to say this will get your usual pro-tour treatment with lowered suspension and custom wheels? I always like your builds!

Living in Charlotte, one gets a little more NASCAR news than in other parts of the country as NASCAR is a big part of the economy and history here. The news about Brian Vickers has been all over the local stations and I think one of them had an interview with a doctor trying to explain his condition and treatment. Brian said the other night "I can race, I am just not allowed to crash!", which I think is a great outlook on his situation. He will have to find a way to rid his body of the blood clots and get off the blood thinners if he ever wants to drive a race car again. In an article in the local paper it said that he is limited in what he can do for awhile as they treat him. I know when my dad was on blood thinners he had to be careful as to not cut himself. He used an electric razor, wore gloves and avoided situations where he might get hurt, not easy to do in the construction trade. I too hope he makes a full recovery and is back behind the wheel soon. He seems like a class guy and has talent.

Check out The Modelhaus, they have quite a selection of wheels and tires so I think you should be able to find what you are looking for. Set # T-802 is a copy of the wheels and tires from the AMT Chevy Dually pickup and is $13.00 unplated/$15.00 plated. Set # T-800 is a copy of 1950's Medium Duty wheels and tires (17.5 inch) and are $16.00 set. Their catalog doesn't have pictures but a quick phone call should get you the information you are looking for. web site- www.modelhaus.com phone- 217-864-4402 Don and Carol are great people to do business with and have outstanding products and service.

Geez, unless they are in a convertible, how would one see them? I have a hard enough time remembering some of the easy details, let alone some decal on a visor!

Considering I have a weakness for wagons, especially resin ones, I will take at least 1, and probably two. Keep the new stuff coming Matt, at this rate I will never save for retirement! Thanks

said it before and I will say it again, that 'Camino is SWEEEEEEET ! Nice job on it Irv and enjoy cruising in it this summer! I am envious of it but have enjoyed watching it come back to life through your posts here.

Nick, Kevin is trying to tell you what he learned the hard way. All of us want to see this forum and hobby thrive and we must be willing to accept some praise and criticism. Two things to remember: 1. An email or post is a one-way conversation that can be hard to understand at times. Take a breath, read and re-read a post before hitting reply. 2. Concentrate on your building and the critics will look for someone else to pick on. Hang in there, the skills will come with time and practice.

my wife is not always happy about my purchases but she knows I am not sitting on a bar stool wasting money either. While the hobby can get to be expensive, I try to justify my purchases (at least in my mind I needed that '32 5 window!) to her. She does get mad sometimes but at the end of the day she realizes there are worse things to spend our money on. Enjoy it!

James, Be safe and follow the advice others here have given. Ft. Jackson is not a bad place, unless we get some hot weather, but then again you are from Las Vegas! There is a thing called humidity here that will make 85 degrees here feel warmer than 105 in LV, but you will get used to it. My son is 16 and in the JROTC program at high school and will probably be in the military within 3 years. He gets to go to Camp Lejeune this summer for 1 week of boot camp so he can get a taste of life as a Marine and I think it will make him appreciate life a lot more. Best of luck, take care and keep your head down! Thank you for your service.

There are some that have been modified into other kits and therefore unlikely to be re-issued. Case in point, the old MPC Dodge pickup kits from the '70's, they were transformed into the Monster trucks and supposedly can't be returned to their former glory. There was some thought that The Model King was going to fix the molds but the cost was going to be pretty high. Not sure with Round 2 in charge if they will bring them back but I would definitely buy 6, as would many others here. It sure would be nice to have some of the old MPC kits from the '70's & '80's but most of them have been updated over the years so they probably are long gone. I agree, unless the molds have been lost or severely damaged, I can't say "Never" !

sounds sweet, can't wait to see pictures!

I got mine last Friday or Saturday and I gotta admit, it has kept me reading it over and over! There is a ton of info that is holding my interest. Of course I did find the April Fool jokes funny but there were several articles that I think tell more about our hobby and the folks in it that make the magazine a keeper. I was disappointed that the magazine was late but I think Gregg & Company made up for it with all that I found in it.

nice job, looks good. If you want to match the wheels on the 1:1, look for a AMT Tahoe snap fast kit as it has those wheels in the kit. As a matter of fact, the chassis swaps in nicely under that stepside body as well.

Not to mention that the price of oil is creeping back up again, almost double of what it was a year ago. Could it be they tried to set the MSRP artificially higher so the discounts could be taken, giving the illusion that we were getting a "deal" ? Na, that sounds like a used car sales trick to me !

Harry, I think you have it thought out and it should cover it. I would like to see a category for drama, seems like that is the only one missing!

nice to see her hard work pay off! That is a very good looking model and I happen to like those Revell snappers! I took my 12 year old daughter to a hobby shop a week ago for a 90 minute "How to build better models" seminar and she enjoyed herself. Of course she wanted me to buy a few kits and we did. Now that some of the craziness of the last few weeks is over I think she and I will be in the garage spray painting and then building them! My 16 year old son has never showed as much interest in cars as he did planes but at least we could build something together. Now he is all involved in school and his ROTC unit so his kits are boxed up. His buddies stop by and ask if HE is building the models and when he tells them it is ME, they think it is kinda cool! I usually find a gearhead amongst the group and they start drooling over the stash in the garage( if they only knew about the other 200 kits boxed up!). Keep her building, it makes for some great father/daughter time and before you know it boys will take your place!

You didn't mention where in Southern Wisconsin you were going to be, but if you have time on your hands, there was a hobby shop in Racine called Gary's Hobbies. It catered mostly to R/C but was a great source for paints & supplies, although their prices tend to run a little higher. Not sure if it is finally closed, but in Kenosha was Don's Hobbies. Don was a great guy and had a ton of old kits and unlike some stores, did not re-price them up as they were discontinued by the manufacturers. He was scheduled to close last Christmas but might still be there if he couldn't sell his building. Another thing to check out is Hobby Lobby. They haven't made it to the west coast but for those of us that have them, it sometimes is the closest thing to a hobby shop we have. Do a Google search and use the store locator to find a store near where you will be. They allow you to print off coupons and use them in the store (if they are running a coupon that week, otherwise they will run them on sale, like this week at 30% off. They sometimes run a little behind in getting new releases but they are a viable source for kits. They might even have some clearance kits! The comments about Happy Hobby, Model Empire and Greenfield News & Hobby are spot on. I never knew how much I would miss them after I moved from the area 5 years ago! I try to make it to them when I go back and yes, I have shipped kits back! If you can ship them via the post office, you will save yourself some money over UPS or FedEx. Enjoy and let us know what you bring home!

A trip to an Auto Paint speciality store should yield the correct prep procedures to make sure that paint sticks properly. Nothing worse that than watching paint start peeling at 100 MPH