Mark

.020" is available in rolls also, it's a matter of how much of the stuff you want and how much room you have to store it. I used to sell hoods and conversion parts. I didn't produce them, I had them run by a company that made packaging for commercial products. That shop (at the time, not sure about now) made the blister packs for McGard wheel locks. They had a huge machine (plenty of vacuum and heat, much more than a home unit) and used .020" sheet styrene by the roll. They'd stick my molds on the side of other jobs, in areas that would otherwise go to waste. My stuff would be in the cutoff area, after they ran off a job they'd pile it up and the owner of the company would give me a call. I then had to cut everything out of the sheet and package them. Molds were made of two-part epoxy. The guy who ran the parts sold me a can of the stuff. I'd make one master out of kit parts, putty, etc. and he'd stick it in the machine before it got hot enough to damage the master and run me a few. I'd then put the epoxy into those, however many molds I wanted (usually just one), and then work on the epoxy molds. Those were epoxied to a wooden base, polished, and drilled with small gauge drills through the epoxy and wood so the plastic would pull down in critical areas. Later I made the molds in reverse by pouring the epoxy over the master, like making RTV molds for resin casting. I had it figured out to where I made masters for the upper and lower sides of a hood, and the finished pieces fit together when trimmed. In the reverse molds, when the machine really heated up, the details came out pretty sharp, in some cases as sharp as a molded piece. It would pick up detail from the drilled holes (they would show up as tiny bumps on the part) and even sanding scratches in the waste areas. Remembering how good the industrial machine was made me give up on the Mattel unit pretty quickly, even after adding the upgrades. There is just no comparison between the two.

I'm hearing and reading that FedEx is busier now than they are during a "normal" Christmas season. I'd imagine USPS is no different. Patience, patience. Actually I'm surprised that items I have bought lately have arrived so quickly. Last Tuesday or Wednesday I ordered a set of interior kick panels for my Fairlane...they were on my porch early Saturday afternoon.

The dental unit uses 5" x 5" sheets. You might be able to find a plastic supplier locally, and buy sheets up to 4' x 8'. You can get plastic sheets on eBay, and probably Amazon too. .020" and thinner can be shipped rolled up in a cardboard tube. Get a razor knife/"carpet cutter" and a long straightedge, and you're in business.

Reuse, as in take one off of something and put it on something else? Don't see that happening, no way, no how.

6 hours one way...do it. Start during the night, have breakfast near the destination, take as long as you need to check everything in person, pay in cash and load up. Stop for lunch/dinner right after, hit the road, be home before dark.

Does this kit include clear parts? All of the glass would be flat, no big deal either way. Anyone know which kit has a 1/48 scale Allison engine?

The supermarkets will also move things around every so often. They don't want people to walk directly to the items on the shopping list, and walk past everything else. The longer they have you in the store, the more they can sell you.

Actually, they didn't have very many in stock. They'd have had to order one for me anyway. That was even more the case with the Dodge dealer...this was a large dealer, and they only had two Dakotas, both of which they wanted to keep as demonstrators. They did do a search before placing the order, they found one in Ohio with the options and powertrain I wanted (V6/stick) but I didn't want the color it was in. I ordered the first three new vehicles I bought, the most recent one I bought off the lot because there really aren't any choices beyond trim level and color anymore.

I just checked the brochure that I got when pricing the truck in early 1988. Looks like the salesman was trying to stick me for an extra thousand dollars or so, by saying the automatic was necessary. I ended up buying a Dodge Dakota, which I kept for 16 years, so I guess I didn't go wrong in passing up the Chevy.

Nope, New York. NY does now have California emissions standards (nothing but the best, when the taxpayer foots the bill!) but that was not the case in 1988.

Did Chevrolet offer a V8/manual transmission in the '88 Silverado? I shopped trucks in early '88, the Chevy dealer told me you had to take an automatic (another $1,000 or so) to get a V8, even a 305. I drove a V6/stick but it was on the pokey side. I probably still have the brochure, as I remember it did not contradict what I was told at the time. They knew they'd lose the sale over that, so if they were fibbing just to sell the automatic they'd have changed their minds and just sold me what I wanted.

Is that Dremel drill press the type that holds the drill in one position, and moves the table up and down? I had one of those, just couldn't get used to it. I was lucky to sell it for about what I paid for it.

No different from the supermarkets, where at the checkouts the candy is at eye level for kids in shopping carts...

What's the big deal about the area looking the same in all of the stores? I'd call it smart...an employee splits his/her time between two stores, they know where everything is. K-Mart used to be that way too: for the most part, you could walk into any store in the country and be able to find what you were there for without walking all over the store. It was when they dumped that and tried to go "upscale" that caused them to lose their way...

There won't be a convertible option because Studebaker didn't build one. They didn't build any convertibles from 1953 until about 1960, when they added one to the Lark lineup. The Hawks based on the '53 coupe never did get a convertible. Studebaker started their downslide around 1955, and weren't selling enough of those cars to justify a convertible.

Be wary of eBay listings that say it hasn't been tested, so the seller doesn't know whether or not it heats up. In all probability that means they did test it and it doesn't work. It only takes a minute or two, and an electrical outlet, to figure that out. Knowing it heats up would add to the value of the unit, so it's only logical to take a minute or two and plug it in. Sometimes the (hand operated) vacuum doesn't work. There are (or at least were) eBay sellers that offered an "upgrade kit" that included some grease to regain the seal needed to get vacuum. You don't get a lot, but you need all of what you can get. Don't pay stupid money for one, even if you stumble into a never-used one. The accessories and plastic included won't be of any use for model building anyway. Most of these didn't get much use, they only got used until the plastic sheets supplied with it ran out. The eBay upgrade kit cost about twenty bucks as I remember, and that was a while back. For about $100 you can get a dental lab machine (used to make trays for impressions) that will outperform the Mattel unit.

Exhibit A, "what happens when eBay dishes out free listings in order to inflate the number of listings..."

Premier made a few other interesting car kits. Their Studebaker Lark is a two-door sedan, unfortunately it is just a bit under 1/25 scale. I've got an unbuilt one, and have been looking for another one, to piece them together into one that measures out to 1/25 scale.

I've got a couple of built ones. Haven't measured one, but I'd bet it is very close to 1/25 scale. Besides the long quarter panels, the shapes of things like window openings and wheel openings are quite crude. But the overall shape of the body looks close. With builtups, the hood is usually missing (I think I have one hood between the two cars, might have one each front and rear bumpers, and one too-small headlight).

But, after widening the street, will they likewise have to move the sidewalks on both sides also? Otherwise they may end up closer to the street than allowed for a residential area...

(A) are Edsel station wagon taillights, a bit oversize. That set is from an AMT '63 Thunderbird kit. (D) might be fender skirts from the Bird. (B) and (E) are from a Lincoln Continental kit. Not sure what (B) is or where it goes, (E) is a custom rear grille. (C) might be a custom front end piece from the Lincoln. Not sure about (F).

Because (in most cases, possibly not all) the slowest speed available with the internal control is still faster than what you want. I think mine has a "slow" speed of 5,000 rpm. In fact, with that tool, I seldom go beyond the minimum. With the external speed control and cheapie Harbor Freight rotary tool, I can slow it down to near nothing. Better for resin (no flying dust to inhale) or for removing molded-in detail like exhaust pipes.

The scanning produces the data needed to create masters from which the kit will be designed. It replaces creating the masters by hand, from measurements and drawings. The kit still has to be designed: assemblies like the engine, chassis, and interior still have to be broken down into individual parts that can be molded like any other car kit.

Does the Black & Decker grinder have a speed control built in, or is it a single-speed unit? I'm thinking that the ability to use a speed control attachment will depend on whether or not the tool already has one built in; that is, if one is already part of the tool, then an external one should not be used with that tool.

I remember them being in the Vega annual kits from '74 on. Maybe see if you can scare one up in a box of leftover parts from someone who built the kit without it.