restoman

A 21 year old driver, in a 21 year old car... that has to be a good luck omen, right there!

Taken in 2016. The Great Dane - Big Otto - stands 38" high at the withers, and tips the scale at just under 150lbs. Big & dumb, but has his own way of doing things. He's my wife's dog, shown here occupying their attention with some kind of doggie num nums. Roscoe and Lola are English Springer Spaniels. That's Lola in the chair, gazing and drooling at whatever Marieanne has. Food is about the only way we could ever get Roscoe to sit still long enough for a pic. Otto is now 8, and likes his Big Comfy Couch more than anything. He's working on becoming a sundial in his later years. Lola is 11, and still rules the roost. Smart, smart girl! Roscoe turned 9 in September, and just recently lost his sight. He's doing ok, but it's a bit of a heartbreaker. Lola is my favourite, but Roscoe is my buddy!

Nice! I built the Warlock way back when I was a teen. I've loved the truck ever since. Wish I still had it...

I missed it, too! I'm nearing the finish line of the RPU version, hope it turns out half as nice as yours!

Yup. The problem appears to originate in the colour being topcoated before it was ready. The primer may have been too green for colour as well, but the shrinkage pictured is a colour coat issue.

Who, me? Yup, 57 this March.

I built that truck a long, long time ago. As I recall, it looked pretty decent, at least to the teenage kid I was when I built it.

A huge shout-out to Ed at Drag City! Got a parcel from him yesterday, full of some of the absolute nicest resin I've ever seen! Ever. If anyone is ever wondering if what he offers is worth it, or if he's difficult to deal with, or slow to respond, or whatever: rest assured, the guy and his products are top-notch! Thanks, Ed!

This town lost its only real hobby shop late in 2019,and all that's left is the Michael's store, which has little in the way of plastic kits. The next nearest real store is an hour away. I was a fairly regular visitor to the real shop, perhaps 8-10 visits a year, sometimes many more, sometimes less. I talked to anyone and everyone while there (have to say, that is something that doesn't happen much at the bigger hobby shops, in my experience). The shop owner became a friend, and he was very up-to-date on what sells, what piques interest and where the current trends were, in this town at least. He carried a LOT of military, maybe because that was his own primary interest, and the shelves always seemed to be rotated as far as stock goes. I never asked how these guys felt about prices, but based on his shelves, it wasn't a big issue for him. American cars sold ok for him, and he did tell me a few times that those buyers were pretty much all in my category - gearheads, car guys, and nostalgia buyers. Most of them were budget shoppers, in his opinion, and would go somewhere else to save a buck or two. I genuinely felt embarrassed when he told me this... I know a lot of those guys. Import cars did ok for him, too, as did dedicated race cars like Rally, or F1, but he didn't stock a lot of those, due to stocking costs. He was quick to tell you that he could order in just about anything and those buyers seemed happy with that. A MUCH smaller group, those buyers. Price didn't seem to be much of an issue. A younger group than the domestic buyers. He told me that most domestic car kit buyers stuck mainly to domestics, but a few like me at least would look at imports. Most of his import and race car buyers stuck to that genre only. Military buyers, he said, just walked past cars and trucks. They did spend time in his electric train section, but most didn't buy. The trains sold VERY well, but to much smaller group, and they didn't seem to care anything about price. I'm thinking a much more affluent buyer, probably in the close-to-retirement age. Sci-Fi and related sold well for him, but I never paid much attention to what he carried. That aisle always seemed to have someone in it whenever I visited. He said many times that the Sci-Fi buyers usually started as young kids with their parents. Some were still coming back well into their adult lives. His shop was off the beaten path, and that may have been a factor in most of the above. At one time, I was seriously considering buying him out when he retired, and quizzed him on his business model, but it just seemed to hit-or-miss to me...

Nice job! I like the Day 2 look.

Man, do I ever love that!!! Any more pics on this beauty?

I have thought about that! In primer, it looks a little chunky. I'm hoping that when I scribe in the reveal moldings and liftgate seams, that it'll slim things down a bit, visually. I think the 1:1 picture is a photoshop... I couldn't see an easy path to getting that sloping rear roof look, without a LOT of effort. It does look good, though, photoshop or real.

A few small spots to putty and then it's time to scribe some reveal moldings in, as well as the liftgate gaps... I think I'll be using an old lid off of a food storage container for the roof glass. A nice purple tint should look good with the planned Silver grey paint and woodgrain. Comments always welcome.

I thought I spotted someone offering one a while back, but darned if I can find it now. Anyone know if such a beast exists?

Nascar cares not one wit about tradition or keeping costs low... they're only interested in making more money. After watching their core fan base drift away due to all the PC shenanigans, the vanilla-flavoured drivers (at least the ones that are in front of a camera), and the real lack of diversity among cars, they realized if they want to stay in the game, they'd better get some more fans. That's what this car is all about: new fans and more money. I watched exactly two races this year - I was a guy who never missed one, nor did I miss many race-related Nascar shows - and can't really say that I've missed it. I do like the sound of these cars , though.

Losing weight ain't easy! I've dropped 20 lbs in the past two years, and with very limited mobility or stamina these day, it's been a REAL challenge! I do feel better, though. Keep it up!

Even the good voice isn't really required anymore... there is a reason live shows are full of bright lights, distracting video screens and dance moves: to take away from the lack of musical ability. Ever hear Taylor Swift sing on one of those award shows? Cute, she may be, but she couldn't carry a tune with a dumptruck and a 40' float trailer.

Yes! Do it!

Been a while since this one got some love, but on this grey & wet day, it's getting some now. Bondo time! Sorry 'bout the small-ish pics... for some reason, I couldn't re-size them. Comments always welcome.

My sincere condolences, Carl. It's a tough time to go through.

Mmm mmm good! Actually, it's pretty awesome.

Good to know! I ordered two of them, along with a bunch of his other parts. Can't wait!

My Dad had a collection of Louis L'Amour westerns that I discovered around the age of 7 or 8. I think I've read all them many times over. To this day, a well-written western will get me lost every time. Other early favourites are Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe., and Earl Stanley Gardner's Perry Mason. Still re-read them. And, of course, National Geographic, though it doesn't really fit the "book" description.

I really like that. What a missed opportunity for Chrysler...

Steven... you're not playing fair. We all post pics of our model builds, while you photoshop real cars onto scale backgrounds. Not fair. J/K. Absolutely stellar!!!!!!