RancheroSteve

I added some trim around the bed and the back window (to be foiled after paint): And some channel along the bottom edge of the body (for a couple of reasons - more about that later):

And at the back, the rear quarters are going to need some work, especially where they meet the bumper and taillights: I'll shoot a little primer on it and see what I've got so far.

Time for a new one! Here's what I'll be working with: http://jimmyflintstonestudios.com/?product=nb262-1962-el-ponchomino Not exactly shake & bake, but a decent place to start. Those window openings were a bit vague, so I bent some brass strip to give the openings more crispness and also simulate a drip rail. Stay tuned.

Harold is a great guy and makes fine products. The Replicas & Miniatures kit is very similar to the HRM kit pictured at the Fotki link, and of course excellent. Norm's delivery times are very fast, too. [Edit]: Oh, now that I look at my R&M Weber kit, I see that Harold worked on the master, so I suspect the two are practically identical.

Here's one from 1964.

Very clean bug (frog) eye Sprite:

I saw Jay Leno at least a couple of times at the old Autobooks. He'd drive up in some interesting ride, show it off, and browse the store for a while. He knew he was among car guys - not celebrity hounds - so he was pretty approachable and happy to chat.

House of Hobbies has a website that's updated daily and lists what they have in stock: http://www.houseofhobbies.com/ Also, the internet is your friend - if you do a Google search it will bring up photos of the store, inside & out. It's not necessarily a place I'd drive miles out of my way to go to, but I mention it because it is a well-stocked LHS. Kind of funny for me to hear Autobooks referred to as "huge", because I remember a few years ago when it was a couple of miles west on Magnolia and was about three times the current size, but it's still a good place.

Burbank's House of Hobbies and Kit Kraft are my go-to shops.

Jaguar F Type parked at a local diner:

Jere Kirkpatrick was one of the drivers and mechanics on the first (blue) Dragonsnake. He has a long and colorful history working with cars, bikes and all kinds of metal. He now lives in Northern California. http://www.jerekirkpatrick.com/

I built the 1/72 scale one - pretty tiny:

Instrument panel, I'd guess. To me, this is another one of those great iconic Revell kits from the sixties that were too tough for me to build when I was ten, but that I had a great time building as an adult. Just remember, the design and tooling on this kit is fifty years old. Good to see it on the shelves again.

That looks a lot like a kit I built as a kid - "The Lord Mayor's Coach" - except it didn't have the horses pulling it. I had relatives in the UK that sent it to me as a gift. My mom helped with with some of the detail painting and it turned out pretty good. I've got a photo somewhere, I think. Wish I still had it!

Then again, I just found a photo online that looks vintage and shows the engine block as RED.

You are correct about semi-gloss black being the correct color for a Ford block before 1966, so in the absence of any better info I'd go with that. There's usually a lot of hype that goes along with TV, movie, and show cars as well, so I'd be willing to bet that the only thing really "Cobra" about those engines was the valve covers and some dress-up bits. And I'm still unclear as to how they got ten carbs on that Koach engine . . . All that aside, I dug these cars as a kid, I have the kits and plan to build them (again) some day.

Excellent - really captures the look!

Good to meet you too, Danno. I really enjoyed hearing about Bob Peeples and his Cobras, and seeing some of his fine work up close. Very moving. Fabrizio - congratulations on your first GSL - you really made a splash! I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with next. This was my fifth time at GSL, and for some reason it made me think of how far I've come: the first time around (2005) I didn't know anyone and felt kinda out of place - now it's an opportunity for me to reconnect with old friends and a chance to get to know folks better. I had a very hectic but enjoyable weekend, now I'm having GSL withdrawal. 2017 will be here sooner than we think - gotta get busy on finishing some builds.

And my pictures are up: http://public.fotki.com/Roullier/other_peoples_model_cars/gsl-xxv/

Some of the "On the tables" photos are deceptive because they were probably taken Thursday or Friday - early in the event. As people arrived, the tables filled up. By Saturday they were pretty full, and at times the isles were packed. There were over 300 models entered in competition, plus areas for non-competing models, a big historical display of the Fisher Body Guild, and a preview of the Lynx Project. I think because of the nature of GSL there usually aren't a lot of spectators, but I've always found it worth going to whether I have something to enter or not. I didn't make it over to the Museum this year (the bus had a minor accident and my tour got cancelled), but the Museum has grown A LOT in the last 15 years - check it out when you can. We had to duck out a little early on the awards presentation to catch a flight and just got back a few hours ago - I'll have my photos up in a day or so.

Apparently, Testors couldn't make up their minds either: the Vantastic I have says 1/24, while the Coupster (based on the same tool) says 1/25. I haven't tried to measure and scale it out.

Yes - they should line up better than that. It's been a while, but I don't remember having a problem when I built mine.

This is the only other choice for the Chaparral 2E that I know of: http://www.fishermodels.com/product/chaparral-2e-usrrc-can-am-124 A curbside and not cheap, but Fisher makes an excellent product. They also do the 2F Coupe.

Great concept and execution, Phil. Well done!

Google is our friend: here's a review of the kit from 1999: http://www.internetmodeler.com/1999/april/cars/vantastic.htm It shares most of the tooling with the Smoothster, except it has a sedan delivery body instead of a roadster body.