restoman

I use glossy business cards, cut to work with whatever job I'm doing. They literally give these things away...

I picked up a resin short box on E Bay last winter, without side moldings. Mustang_Mom (?)was the seller. I'll see if I can find her info. It was better than nothing but the box needed a LOT of work to make it presentable. It looks good in Root Beer, though. mustang_mom44820 is her Ebay name, but it's listed as no longer a member. hoppersbazaar is another seller that might have some short box listings.

That Liquid Ebony was the absolute best on 1:1 cars. Nothing could finish off a black car like that stuff and a soft foam pad. For years, I looked high and low for it. Nowhere to be found... until I spied a nearly -full bottle in a buddy's cabinet. He hated the stuff and traded me for a large coffee. The bottle was so old, the plastic started to crack the first time I shook it. Still have half the bottle.. I like Meguier's Final Inspection on scale cars.

If you're using rattle cans, there are a few little tricks to try, but it's a BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH-shoot. We regularly get 75% and higher humidity levels in the warmer months here. Here are a few things I've learned over the years: Warm your spray cans a bit. I use an old electric frying pan, set at it's lowest setting. Keep and inch or two of water in the pan, let the can warm for at least 20 minutes before use, and set the can back in the water between coats. Don't forget to dry the can off before going near whatever you're painting. Keep some air moving in your spray area. Not enough to move curtains but enough that you can feel a very slight breeze on your face. Of course, your spray area and the area on the supply side of the air needs to be clean... I like to spray at first light. The air is typically calmer and cooler. Cooler means less moisture. Let whatever you're spraying sit wherever you're spraying for at least 20 minutes. Moving a cool object into a warm spray area is not a good idea when you're trying to defeat moisture. Wear latex or nitrile gloves. Oils from your skin are death to a paint job, and it's a much bigger problems when your skin is moist. Take your time. Let every coat off-gas before loading on another. Humid air will always slow down flash times and off-gas windows, and plays heck with through-cure times. Hope some of this helps. I was a bodyman/painter for over 30 years and humid air is always a challenge, no matter what you're doing. I've sprayed in mid-90% humidity levels in a cross-draft booth with no air dryer... and had good luck, but it would literally take up most - if not all - of an entire day. Those were the days I really felt like I was under-paid... and I was self-employed!

B and RB series Mopar engines all had their distributors in the front, angled off to the right. While those pictured valve covers look to be B/RB style, no one seems to really know what engine is in the Christine kit... And that intake is most definitely NOT a big block intake.

If I recall from my build a few years ago, the water pump on the L700 engine is truck-specific, and of course, the bell housing and transmission are different. I added some HP exhaust manifolds and a round Road Runner-style air breather to mine, so the basic engine dimensions are close enough to get away with. It's a lump of an engine, though. Not much detail there...

Originally from Sydney, Nova Scotia, been in Sarnia, Ontario for 34 years...

Hopefully, they'll put out relatively small batches for a little more money, instead of flooding the market for a little less money like in the past. Some re-releases of a some 80s era cars would be a very good thing.

I see this only as a very good thing!

I've bought from him twice, now. The first time it took almost three weeks to get the package, though it WAS shipped in a day or two. Shipping cost seemed high, but it was coming to Canada. A little irritating but I get it. The second time, I got the stuff in just over a week, which I thought was pretty darned good. Shipping cost was only slightly higher than the first time, even though it was the primo shipping option. Both times each order was for six or seven kits. I'm in a self-imposed "no more for awhile" state right now, or I'm sure my Mastercard would be taking another hit or two.

Yes. An old electric fry pan and an inch or two of water worked wonders, especially in the winter. Up till I retired from the booth, I would still warm single layer paint and clears in the electric pan, even in warmer months. It takes some getting used to, spraying heated paint, but once you're onto it... We had a rep for a heated nitrogen air system in the shop before I left (can't remember the actual name of the system), but I thought it should work much the same as warmed paint product at a much higher price... Of course, it would be much, much better for water-borne base, especially in humid SW Ontario summers.

At any given time, I've got at least three in the active build category, with usually three or four more in the "once in a while I'll tinker with them" zone. I've tried several times to get down to one at a time but I've found I lose interest in them quickly. I need variety, I guess. Through the summer months, I typically trial fit everything and get most of the paint work done while it's warmer. My spray area is my un-heated garage... It's not uncommon for me to have 9 or 10 bodies ready for assembly by the time winter rolls around. Sometimes I get through them all, sometimes not. There are two or three I didn't get to from last year's pile, still waiting to get put together, and two from the year before that. Maybe this will be their year...

I recall one of my jobber reps showing up in the early 90s and telling me about this great new paste by Farecla, specially formulated for keying blend areas. "The best stuff we've ever seen...!" was his line. I showed him my recipe using water, Comet and a grey Scotchbrite. I told him if there was anything else I could teach him, just let me know... He didn't stay long...

To further muddy the waters: Nascar racers ( in all of the top 3 series as well as the Canadian Pinty's series) are ALL unitized construction and have been since at least the 80s. I suspect the adoption of unitized construction happened in the mid sixties/early seventies throughout, but there may have been a few hold-outs...

Very nice! I'm part-way through my own Manx build - hope it turns out half as nice as yours. Love that colour!

I kinda like the Beatles, but I've never been to England...

The guy who gave us permission to get our kicks...

This gave me a good chuckle!

Very Nice!!! Derrick Copes favourite car...

Very nice!

Very nice work! I just picked up this kit last week, looks like it builds up pretty well. I'm 5 minutes from the Bluewater Bridge, where in Ontario are you?

I love it! A great hot rod, built the way hot rods used to be built. Nice job.

The main reason I don't get much time at the model bench is because of all the other nerd stuff... I thought once I retired, I'd have more time for hobbies. That hasn't worked out... A big amateur photography buff, woodworking, tinkering with our Super Beetle, still have my hand in auto body repair and paint work, but on a much smaller scale than in my working days, and I spend an inordinate amount of time, it seems, with our three dogs. Oh, yeah... I've been tinkering with blacksmithing the last year or so. Built my own forge, picked up a nice NC farrier's anvil and just got an old Champion #400 blower to replace the hair dryer I've been using. The Champion needs work, so we'll see if it was a good deal or not... The feel and smell of a forge and hot steel is something else!

My LHS tells me they've not been released yet...