Snake45

You're so right about those. That aluminum was darn good stuff. Its only problem was that it would begin to "turn" after you opened it. I think I still have one, maybe two, bottles of the stuff I have never opened--saving them for some "special" project. (I'm now getting to the age where I should start thinking about using some of this stuff I've been hoarding for 30-40-50 years.)

On mine it was a dark gray.

Here's a fun crime for you to use: Mopery with Intent to Drungle.

Never used it but have heard many good things about it over the years. For a while, Walmart's cheap Flat Black Primer was kind of in the same ballpark, I think--a very, VERY dark gray, "not quite" black. I REALLY miss Pactra's Flat Aluminum and Flat Steel, especially the former. Yah, I know Testor has "flat aluminum" and "flat steel" but they're not even close to the wonderful old Pactra stuff.

Re-watched Days of Thunder yesterday, for the first time since it was on HBO, what, 30 or so years ago? It was just as bad as I'd remembered. There's not a scene in the movie that's not absolutely preposterous. Still, Cruise and Robert Duvall do their best to pull off the ridiculous tale. Randy Quaid and Fred Thompson were fun to see, too. The only way to enjoy this movie is...just as a fantasy movie, akin to science fiction...or maybe a live-action Road Runner cartoon. Bad as it was, and even knowing how it ends, my eyes were a little misty at the happy ending. Not realistic at all, but it's still a good story well told.

I think I still have Testor bottles marked 10c, 11c, 12c, 13c, and 15c. For some reason, they skipped right over 14c. I think they were 15 cents for quite a while through the late '60s. I have some Pactra paints of similar vintage, too. And some of this paint is still usable.

Fog it along the edges. But don't forget that the front subframe is all semigloss black--it was installed later--so don't get any fogging on the subframe.

Thanks, Xingu.

Bob Odenkirk. Very unexpected movie. Best moment is when the killers come to off his dad.

When man bites dog it's news, they say...this little girl even tops that: https://www.timesnownews.com/viral/brave-2-year-old-girl-kills-snake-in-revenge-for-biting-her-lip-article-93564494

I have bad news for you: It's not gonna get any easier.

I didn't say it was a car. I said the post is "car-related." Apparently the editors of Hot Rod magazine thought it was car-related enough for ten pages and the cover.

WWII fan Ace-Garageguy, can you drop me an email at SnakeACP45 at AOL dot com--Thanks!

What HE said! Well done and model on!

Saw two new (to me) movies this week on Netflix. 1. The Nice Guys. Action-comedy-noir film set in 1977. Reminded me in some ways of LA Confidential, Chinatown, Big Lebowski, Paper Moon, and maybe some more. Russell Crowe seems to be channeling John Goodman. Worth watching just to spot cool cars, which included late-'70s Firebird and Z/28, '68-'70 Toronado, '78 Corvette, '66 GTO, and an Avanti (). Entertaining, worth the time, and Snakeworthy! 2. Day Shift. Action-comedy; think Ghostbusters meets Fearless Vampire Killers. If there's not quite enough violent action in the Matrix or John Wick or zombie films to suit you, then this is your movie. Not many cool cars, but a hella car chase sequence. A few cool guns, too. High point of the movie might be Snoop Dogg laying waste to a whole warehouse full of vampires with a M134 minigun (). It's not for everyone, but a certain type of viewer will really enjoy it. I am such a viewer. If you are too, it's entertaining, worth the time, and Extremely Snakeworthy. Snake out.

Thanks, all. It was actually my worst birthday ever for reasons I won't get into here, but after surviving a stroke in April, I guess any birthday on this side of the grass at this point is a happy birthday, and I give thanks to God for it.

What part of "Big Block Chevy" did you not understand? Well, it was "car related" enough for ten pages and the cover of Hot Rod magazine, so there's that....

I did the same thing at some point a couple seasons ago. It got ridiculous watching JJ "mansplaining" the situation to his harem again and again. It became apparent that the producers were just trying to fill time. There was also a certain amount of this in last season's America's List. Every episode could easily have been cut down to two hours, but at least it wasn't the same thing over and over and over.

I turned 68 TODAY, so I guess I'm not even in the running.

I noticed a complete lack of coverage about installing the new front end, or anything at all about the rear end/suspension.

Very detailed list, thanks for taking the time, although I don't necessarily understand what you're talking about in some cases. If you can compare the AMT body to an original JoHan--the '69 Road Runner is probably easiest to find, being the last one reissued--many of the problems in the back half of the car become more apparent. A proper fix is a lot of work, as you describe. Next one I build, I'm just gonna adjust the shape at the lower edge of the quarter windows, reshape the rear wheel openings, and call it good to go. Oh, and then never display it next to my original JoHan '69 Road Runner.

Unless you've read the story, you really have no idea! The engine was built around the propeller, which was selected because it was the closest thing available in appearance. So the engine had to be converted to run "backwards." Then the prop tips can't go supersonic or (long story short) bad things happen, so the max prop speed is calculated to keep the tips just under supersonic, and then max engine RPM is figured from that, hence the 4650 figure. And then this one has had special work so it can continue to run normally in case of complete electrical failure, which means the whole fuel system (including a carburetor--not fuel injection) is set up to be powered from the engine. Whole lotta custom design and fabrication in those systems. Truly an awesome feat of engineering.

I googled it and found quite a few of them extant. That one is the one in the Hot Rod article.

7/10 scale. And it really flies! And seats two! Keep your eye open for the October issue of Hot Rod magazine. It's the cover story. (I just got mine in the mail, so it's not on the newsstand yet.) Powered by a 540 CI all-aluminum Big Block Chevy that rocks 640 HP at 4650 RPM, top speed is 330 mph, with cruise at 230 mph. We've seen mini (scaled) replicas of WWII fighters before, but they usually look like ass in some aspect or another (and are usually powered by VW or other air-cooled engines). This thing looks pretty darn good. Several of the HRM photos could be mistaken for the real deal to the casual observer. I actually have several commercial P-51D “scale model” kits that aren't as accurate in appearance. The only area that looks a bit “off” is the bubble canopy, which looks a little large/out of proportion. I think if it were fitted with a canopy shaped more like the one on the Temco TF-51 trainer conversions, the deception would be even better (and give the passenger more headroom besides). I didn't see any web links in the article. You might be able to find something about it by googling Stewart S-51.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Who among us has NOT thought this at least a dozen times in our modeling careers?