BDSchindler

So a couple of months back I was in the grocery store and passed by the magazine rack looking to see what was there...automotive speaking, that is. I noticed a different magazine that I've never seen before..."Street Trucks Innovation" and on the cover was a really striking 52 Chevy 3100 street truck in bright orange, black grill, wheels and window trim. Built by HPI Customs in Canada for the owners father. The background story is touching...and long so I won't go into it (google "Vicarious Chevy Street truck"). Here's the original art for the truck...the final product changed just a bit... Pretty much, it appeared to be a near stock 52 cab with minor body changes and the bed is from a more recent Chevy P/U with shaved sides and original 52 fenders. Here's the finished version: so with a few changes, I figured it would be an easy enough build using the 50 Chevy 3100 from AMT as a base with pirated bed sides. For stuff and giggles, I emailed HPI and told them that I thought they did a beautiful job and intended on an attempt at replicating it in scale. HPI could not have been nicer and provided all sorts of pictures from the build. After trading emails and looking at the build pics...typical with street rods, about the only thing in common with the stock 52 is the general design of the cab. After looking at the frame (below) I knew a scratch built frame was on order and while I thought I could do it with plastic I also thought...what about a simple frame in Brass? Enter Randy and his impressive soldering that makes you want to toss everything into a wood chipper and take up whittling tree branches into sharp pointy sticks to shove in your eyes (just kidding randy, really beautiful work)! We recently had our water heater take a dump on us so while the plumber was installing it, I started asking about soldering. He was intrigued with the amount of Danbury Mint diecast (don't hate...I used to collect and review them for magazines) that lined the basement (man cave) walls (especially the butter nut yellow 68 Chevelle of which he had a similar 1:1 of) and he asked if I had the brass, solder and a torch and he would show me a few pointers. Just so happened that I had brass already cut and a handheld torch. So he took 30 minutes and gave me a quick lesson in what he called "micro soldering". Fairly simple, measure the brass, cut the shape, clean it while roughing it up a bit, "tin" it, hold it together with some sort of clamp/hold down to keep it from moving, heat the brass up hot, remove the heat and immediately touch the solder to it. If it is hot enough, it will flow into the seam and hold it tight. I had solder with flux in the core and my new-found plumber friend mentioned I was better off using flux paste and silver solder for better hold. Paid his bill for the water heater and gave him the Danbury Mint Chevelle as a thank you for his lesson in micro soldering. Granted, this is a simple soldering job but it is my first attempt. what's more is...it actually held together tightly and still at 90 degree angles! Maybe attempting the basic frame out of brass isn't too far out of the realm of possibilities...(d*mn you, Randy Ditton, d*mn you!)

Scott...who makes those wheels and where did you get them from Frank...I'd seriously be interested in those wheels, shoot me a message or email me SFHESS...thanks, I'll take a look

I am attempting to replicate a Street Sport Custom truck that I saw and it uses Budnik Remington wheels like the one below from their online site. Doesn't have to exact although that would be preferred. Anybody have any leads to this in 1/24th scale or something close?

Totally speechless! I look at builds like this and then look at my own little world of projects and tools combined with my skill level and all I can think of is... "For Sale: 50+ kits Unbuilt, various hand tools, 4 airbrushes, compressor, dremel paints assorted parts" Now I know why some people collect higher end higher detailed diecast models.

Well, my first FINISHED automotive model in 30 years and I gotta say...I need lots of practice to rebuild skills! But it is officially done and just in time since my daughter's birthday is tomorrow.

So many great things in the thread, makes a guy of my skill level go "who the hell was I trying to fool!" I have posted this in other forums but prior to getting back into this hobby again I was heavily involved in diecast collecting and reviewing 1/24th scale diecast. After an unpaid 3-year stint for The Car Room Magazine, I took a serious look at the hobby and created this diorama. It has a whole 4 page background story to it but the bottom line is that the dumpster is filled with items from different companies that were a part of the diecast industry/hobby that once had a dream before going out of business. Hence the name of the diorama..."Broken Dreams" Not everything is scratch built but the 1/12th scale dumpster, decals on the dumpster, diecast boxes and the Magazines are photo-reduced to 1/12th scale included in the trash are.

Well, this helps to rectify the situation. I received an email from Matt at Gravity Colors. I had sent an email recapping the transaction much like the initial post in this thread. Matt apologized as the transaction was just bad from the start and even though I have not received the product yet...HE REFUNDED THE ENTIRE ORDER INCLUDING THE SHIPPING! Granted the order was less than $60 with the discount but that, my friends, speaks VOLUMES for Gravity Colors and shows confidence and passion in the products they offer not to mention just GREAT customer service. I'm impressed and will be back.

After I read a few things including publicity articles in both SAE and Model Cars Magazine about Gravity Colors, I decided to pull the plug and make a purchase using their first time purchase discount. About a week later I checked the status of the order and the site said it was still pending...so I sent an inquiry to see what was going on. No answer. My second inquiry 5 days later was replied to and I was given a USPS tracking number told on February 11 that the package was shipped 6 days earlier on the 5th . When I checked the tracking number, the items purchased were not shipped yet but USPS was notified the item was ready to shipped but not rec'd yet. I was given the excuse that the tracking software they use was having issues but when I tracked the package at the USPS site, it told me the same thing as their tracking software. Now they tell me that the package was dropped off at 6 pm tonight, Friday 2/12 (a full week after they originally told me it was shipped) and I won’t get it until Tuesday although it was supposedly shipped 2-day priority mail. As a former writer for Toy Cars and Models Magazine and The Car Room Magazine, I recognize the excellent press that Gravity Colors has gotten in magazines lately, based on this transaction...I’m just not seeing it. I'm not saying I was lied to but...well draw your own conclusions. My opinion, buyer beware.

We have an 8-year old Great Pyrenees (Harley) that still thinks he's a puppy. I couple of years ago, I was building an N scaled diorama for work involving a Grain Silo (8 silos) when he swiped off the desk and ran off in an effort to get some attention. Harley is certainly Mommy's baby and garners more attention than everything else in the house combined...that was just him being a huge goofball. Like your Newfy...excellent guard dog. Fortunately, I was able to use paper towel tubes to repair the silo's he crushed.

I was a huge collector of 1/18th scale at one time and over the course of 3 years, sold nearly 500 on ebay. I never ran across this issue but having been involved in the hobby between collecting, reviewing for Magazines and working with the manufactures, I have seen the end result several times over. One of the cars that I sold on ebay nearly 15 years go suddenly developed the problem. It was a rare car that went for large money. The guy that bought it (remember, 15 years ago) messaged me through ebay as I have had the same handle on there for YEARS and wanted his money back. I told him 1). I did not remember him but I do remember selling the car and 2) he had to talk to the manufacture as it was a manufacturing issue. It sucks, especially if you paid an enormous amount of money for something that is rare.

Jeez...I have an 18 year old who isn't at all interested in getting his license.

I've been picking up a couple of insignificant kits lately (read: CHEAP!) to practice with and get my skills and (most importantly) patience back up to par. Especially painting skills that weren't always so great anyway. Well, my daughter's 14th birthday is this Valentines day. She is obsessed with the color pink and recently, she became doubly obsessed with the new Mini Cooper. So I seized the moment and picked up Revell's Mini Cooper and tonite, it got painted...pink. I figured I'll build it for her Birthday. And boy is this thing PINK! Going to be a standard build. The kit I picked up I didn't realize it was a curbside model but just the practice I wanted. I also picked up the Photoetch kit for the Mini from MCG. Should a fun build. Besides, how many guys can say they bought their little girl a new car for her 14th birthday!

Years ago when I wrote for Toy Cars and Models Magazine, I did an in depth article on Revell-Monogram's Creative Masters 1/20th scale diecast cars. This line was top of the line in so far as detail went in the mid to late 80's. I was fortunate to interview 4 of the executives that were behind the line, Roger Harney, Ed Sexton, Ken Merker and Bob Johnson. Bob Johnson was one of the founders of Accurate Miniatures. When he and I were talking one day about the model kits that A-M did, he also mentioned that they had intended on doing a 427 Cobra to include in the line but funding was an issue towards the end and it never made it to fruition. About a week later, Bob sent me one of the original kits out of the blue complete with the higher end decals and photoetched and strict instructions to contact Harold Bradford at HRM to get the aftermarket suspension pieces from HRM. Also picked up the oil cooler from Norm with Replicas and Miniatures at the last MAMA's meeting. Now I just need to figure when I can get this one started!

My point was in the price reference from Brian's post regarding a 1/8th scale model to surround the subject of this topic. While not 1/8th, Tony's 1/10th diecast does hit the ballpark of what Brian suggested. The quality of an Exoto diecast car was not the point of my response nor the point of this topic.

Well, not 1/8 but Exoto did a 1/10th scale diecast (fully assembled/painted) of the GT-40 that while it had issues, is/was nicely done. To that, prices range from $1,798 for the 1966 Exoto Ford GT40 Mk II #2 (Shelby signed version for $2,7470) to $4,495. They have retired models of the MK II for just under $9k. tHE 1967 Exoto Ford GT40 Mk IV in a variety of liveries runs $4,495 ($5,495 for a Shelby Signed Version). The owner of the company has a history of replicas of cars without doing the licensing, however. Exoto Website

Thanks Bill. I appreciate it as I said, I had no idea of what scale so I just assumed it was 1/8th.

I know people are familiar with the Revell 1/8th scale Big T but I am looking for one that was recently released. The one I am looking for has the name "HARNEY" on the decal sheet for the license plate. Here's why... I was a former writer for Toy Cars and Models and The Car Room Magazines. My standard column was reviewing 1/24th scale diecast cars and trucks as well as a number of Feature articles...one of which was on Revell-Monogram line of Creative Masters 1/20th scale Diecast Cars. These were highly detailed for their time (early 80's to early 90's) and consisted of only 7 models in just a handful of liveries. One of them was a Yellow 69 Z/28 Camaro that reportedly only 200 of them were done and sent to Germany. This model drifted back into the US and some sold as high as $6,000.00 (I know someone who actually paid that much for it via Ebay). Many collectors never knew anything about the line so there was this air of mystery about it. Before long, many tales and stories of industrial espionage and outlandish stories started to rise out of the woodwork. Many dealers took a lot of advantage of the folklore and used it to bring in enormous amounts of money in secondary sales. I loved the line and my thirst for it sent me on a fact-finding mission. I did the research and found the 4 men that were the backbone of the line. One of them was Roger Harney. Roger started with Revell when he was very young and spent his entire working career with them spanning 57 years. He started as a model builder just building models according to the directions to ensure there were no issues. At the time of his death in 2014, he was the Sr. VP of Revell-Monogram Inc. in charge of Manufacturing and Tooling. During his tenure, Roger was responsible for designing a majority of the models we all love in a variety of scales both military and nonmilitary. Roger and I became fast friends and even though he was in Chicago and I was Maryland, we talked often mostly about nothing at all...just sharing a friendship, one that I miss tremendously. Roger's wife sent the yearly Xmas card to my family and in it she enclosed a note that Revell did a 29 Ford Hot Rod and in the decal sheet, enclosed the name "HARNEY" as a tribute to the man that was a modeling legend. But his wife never mentioned the scale so I am trying to find it. The reason I pinpointed the 1/8th scale one was when the original Big T was designed, it was actually a fluke. Roger was tasked with designing/building 1/8th scale engines kits for display and eventual Marketing when he mentioned to his then boss that it would be better if there was a complete car to go with it. His boss told him there was no budget for the R&D to develop the car. Roger being the ever creative modeler went home on that Friday and returned to work on Monday with the Big T Chassis and complete drive train totally and 100% scratch built. The executives loved it so much that was immediately approved with the kit being released less than a year later. When he told me this story, the hair on the back of my neck stood up as I built that model when I was younger and here, 45 years later, I was talking to the man that designed it. Roger was one of the most kindest and generous men I ever knew. I want to find this kit with the license plate name of "HARNEY" to build as a tribute to him and present it to his wife as my thanks for sharing her husband for so many years and bringing so much joy to so many people for so many years. Without him in place, I doubt this hobby would be where it is today.

Not a model of mine, mind you, but hot rod and Beach Boys fans will rejoice over the new Hallmark ornament available in the Hallmark Card Stores for $17. it's roughly 1/25th scale. Push the tail light and it plays an excerpt from the Beach Boys Xmas Classic "Lil St. Nick". Since everyone at work knows I love Hot Rods, this will be a good mix on my desk for the holiday season...also somewhat inspiring in so far as modeling goes.

so I did another for hand tools like cutter, pliers and a section to hold files.

using the 6 foot rule, yes it does...hold it in your hand and see the issues up close, you'll think twice, especially for the money

MANNY!!!! I thought you were out here. How ya been? Manny has done some work for me in the past on a 1/12th GMP GT-40 and was featured in a couple of my columns in The Car Room Magazine!

OK, as promised, here is the review of the Franklin Mint 1965 Lambandi...this was a part of my column as submitted to the mis-managed The Car Room Magazine, July August 2009: Chirping Crickets One of the things that makes this diecast hobby so exciting is the anticipation of a new release. For many collectors, the announcement of a new diecast release is akin to kids hearing the ice cream man coming down the street. Reading through the literature of a release, you spy the words “new tooling” and “available now” combined with pictures and soon a new world speed record for phone dialing has been logged in the record books! While exaggerated a bit (ok, a lot!), that is pretty much how I felt when the announcement of The Franklin Mint’s 1965 Lambandi Mk II, Signature Edition was made. The pictures were sleek and sexy looking like a combination of several of Europe’s finest automobiles. You also need to understand that the Lambandi is not a real car but a very creative design from Raffi Minasian for The Franklin Mint. However, once I opened up the Lambandi, I found the uniqueness of the creative design to be no less than a “kit car”. Under the ill fitting, custom crafted “fiberglass” body, the chassis, tires, wheels, engine and interior are all from The Franklin Mint 427 Cobra. The Halibrand wheels are painted silver and run on no-name tires. Chassis is the Cobra tube style chassis but the Lambandi uses a silver body pan that wraps around to the rocker panels. Chromed exhaust tips are attached to the underside of the rear. While they look very European from the top, the exhaust system would interfere with the rear suspension if it was an actual car. Attached to the chassis pan is Franklin’s serial number plate that includes Minasian’s smeared signature. The interior is painted beige and the only difference to the Cobra interior is the conventional shifter that sits too far back to be useful (Cobra’s use a reverse mounted shifter because of this). The horn button proudly displays the Lambandi fictional crest. The engine bay has the same nicely detailed 427 “side-oiler” engine but with a few moderate changes. The tech specs (enclosed pamphlet) say this engine is capable of having “580 hp with 520 pounds of torque.” The specs add that the induction system is via a pair of 4-bbl carbs hooked up to a pressurized intake plenum utilizing a “four-gearicol hypersonic injection!” (Queue the crickets now please) OK, we’ll chalk the “four-gearicol hypersonic injection” up to imagination, but even at that, it’s a stretch. The plenum is there, but where are the dual 4-bbls? Maybe a little more imagination is needed here than we originally thought. Don’t go looking for opening doors or a trunk. Only the Cobra hood opens. The Ruby Red painted body is a one piece unit (sans hood). While it isn’t unattractive, it is reminiscent of European automotive manufactures in the same manner as the “Avenger” or “Fiber Fab” kit cars were. It utilizes a coke bottle shape that is wide at the wheel wells and narrow at the doors. The windscreen (with its operable wing windows) is straight from the Cobra parts bin and does not mount correctly to the body. Photo-etched emblems abound including the nearly convincing side vents on the front fenders. The nose uses a large center opening for the grill with 2 smaller openings presumably for brake ventilation. Headlamps are deep set into the fenders with clear covers that are nicely trimmed in chrome. Outback the rear clip hangs too far beyond the rear wheel-wells and the rear tires sit to the rear of the wheel-wells throwing off the balance of the car. The taillight panel is also deep set with license plate, taillights and no backup lights. All in all, it is an interesting concept car based on the Cobra underpinnings and a fabricated body. There is a whole fictitious story that goes with the car and it is enclosed in the paperwork if you have the time to read it. I didn’t. I concentrated on what had a lot of hype and potential but delivered less in person. It is different and attractive and will be an eye catcher in your collection, however.

yep...they are all pre-production samples. The white one was done to copy the Elvis Presley Spinout Cobra has the Elvis Box Art. Since Icons didn't get the rights to sell it as the Spinout car, they were forced to change the box art. There are only 6 of the Elvis cars in an Elvis box...the cars are exactly the same. When the "Never had a serious idea of his own" designer contracted by Franklin Mint (Not George Bojacuik) found out about Icons doing the Elvis car, he was quick to get FM to contact the power that be that granted the Elvis rights/licesnses and get the rights to do the car. It was rumored that they paid considerably more than the Icons contract would ultimately be worth to secure the rights...kind of a middle finger salute to Icons for doing a rival cobra that was close to what FM's Cobra was. This is FM's Spinout Cobra. What bothers me is they advertized celebrity cars like this as an autographed version of the car. Here is that Autograph... it is not a true autograph as the King had been dead for what 40 years? I explained this to the head of the Diecast Division that this sort of thing does not add value to a diecast unless it is a true signature not a tampo'd on replica of a signature. They did this with Steve McQueen on the Bullit Mustang and others. Unless FM got in bed with Disney and figured a way to bring back the dead for a signing session...leave it off the car! Remember the FM Designer I mentioned earlier that never had an idea of his own (NOT George Bojacuik)? Raffi Miniasian took the FM Cobra, removed the body and came up with this mess calling it a "Lambandi"...a fictitious car from someone's brain. Which is fine...I am not knocking creative designs...what appalled me was that FM actually liked this enough to build it and charge $150+ for it. The car has more "issues" than the average 2 year old modeler building a skill level 3 Revell model! I'll do a separate post with my review as it was written in 2010 on this.

I have reviewed both the Franklin Mint and Wix models for The Car Room Magazine and Toy Cars and Models Magazine. The WIX model is actually designed and manufactured by Icons Incorporated, a small firm out of Charlotte, North Carolina at the Executive Offices in Lowes Motor Speedway. Icons was commissioned by Wix Oil Filters to manufacture cars for their annual program. One that was previously done by ERTL, Brooklin and others. Icons actually manufactured a GT-40 based on the Holman Moody car currently raced by Lee Holman in Historic races. Icons made 3 versions of the Cobra...Dark Blue, Silver and White. The white was to replicate the car that Elvis drove in spinout but the licensing could never be secured. The Cobra's were actually part of a sales counter promotion or "Impulse Buy" for around $20-30 and only sold via the NAPA Auto Parts Store. The Icons Cobra is very good, especially for the money, over the Franklin Mint model. Well, let me clarify that one also...FM has taken the Cobra image originally designed by George Bojacuik and over produced the snot out of it until the new owners raised the white flag on producing diecast. None of the FM cobras were as good as the original one (aluminum bodied #98 Racer Car) The biggest issue with the FM car was that Ford never granted licensing but since the actual car was built by Shelby, FM already had that license. if you look at the FM #98 car, you will not see the "Powered by FORD" on it. The did a reasonable facsimile or the fender emblem but did not include Ford on it. Icons did take certain liberties with their model and seriously did a very nice image for the less than $35 price point. As compared to the FM model at $130 retail price, most collectors gave the nod to Icons. Icons also did the aforementioned GT-40, Richard Petty's Torino Talladega and a 67 GTO based off a 67 GTO owned by Walt Hollifield in Mint Hil NC that has only 14 miles on it. Yes 14 miles, not 14,000...14...1 more than 13 miles and less than 15 miles...14! Walt is known for his outstanding collection of GTO...he has one of each model from each year including the first and last 64 Pontiac Tempest that had the GTO package on it. Icons targeted Danbury Mint's 67 GTO and claimed it to be better. It wasn't.

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the feedback. A couple of things I forgot to mention regarding the correlation between The Car Room Magazine and Broken Dreams. The Motto of the magazine was always "For Collectors, BY Collectors" The Magazine was always referred to as "TCRM" in forums...an acronym for The Car Rom Magazine it just so happened that when I created and applied the fictitious name of the refuse company that SUDDENLY some similarities came surging forward perhaps in a Freudian manner See anything similar?