93Z34

Just curious if there is anyone here who has the ability to make a decal or two for me. I can supply the artwork, no worries. I just need someone who has the capability to do the actual printing for me. If so, please im or e-mail me off the boards....Thanks!!!!

Are you kidding me Al???? That car looks simply beautiful! :shock: :shock: :shock: What a fantastic job on that car, and I'm not even a huge fan of the 64-66 'Stangs. That car looks simply awesome though. You sure did that thing justice!!! Keep up the fantastic work!!!

This car looks great so far Bill! I love the newer 'Vettes and I can't wait to see this one come together! You don't see many of these cars painted this color so yours will be a refreshing take on a great subject!!! You also did a great job with the grille work and it will really add to the overall appearance when the car is done! Keep us updated Buddy!!!!

How many times do we go to the lhs or a show and hit the vendor's arena and come across a kit and think, "Wow...I could build this kit into this version or do this with it, or whatever.." So, we go ahead and fork out the money for the kit and happily carry it home. We don't stop to think about the 6 different projects currently scattered abroad on our benches already and the limited space we have to store any new kits we pick up. We get home and see the started projects and decide to put our new plans on hold or we pack up our started projects and dig into another new one. Either way, we end up with more unfinished or unstarted kits and it tends to be a never ending cycle. The first year we went to the NNL East I got stupid when it came to buying kits. We walked out of there at least 8 times during the day with our hands full of kits, resin and what-not. Last year wasn't so bad, but it was still bad enough. This year I am cutting back even more and concentrating on purchasing resin parts, paints, and other aftermarket items. The kit buying will be way down from years past simply because I don't have anymore room and it's time I start finishing some of the 1500 some-odd kits I have in my collection. There are some kits I will be looking for, but that number is only a handful and if I don't find them at a reasonable price then I will pass them up. I do still buy Nascar kits simply because of the enormous amount of aftermarket decals I have for them, but I am cutting way back on purchasing other kits I most likely will never build. Stay tuned though as I will be liquidating several kits over the coming months to free up room and to give others a chance to enjoy the hobby a bit more. believe it or not, most of the kits I liquidate will most likely be given away or traded for kits I know I will build. Like everyone here, I have begun to re-think the whole kit buying ideology I have been employing for the past 30 years.

Thanks Matt. The decals are giving me fits on the nose already. With all the curves and so forth, the decals are not settling down the way they should and it looks like ######. I may have to scrounge another set of Viper decals up to redo the nose at this point. It's definitely not beyond hope though!!!!

I think the car looks fantastic Chris! That style of Mercedes always caught my eye and you have done a great job so far on this one. I also think Desert Sand would be a more appropriate color for this car and I think it would set the whole car off as well. Black is too common in my book, ya know? Keep us posted on this project. It looks fantastic!!!

Welcome aboard Aaron. Definitely alot of talent here, that's for sure. I guess I look at forums like this in the way that if I don't learn something each time I visit, then it's a wasted trip. I have yet to see one project where I couldn't learn something from the build, whether it's a paint technique or something as simple as a wheel masking issue. Always keep your eyes peeled when you are viewing the "eye candy" of other builders and try to apply the techniques you see here to some of your projects. Always keep in mind the nuts and bolts of good, sound modeling is mastering the basics Aaron. Removing mold lines, ensuring good fit between parts and achieving an overall clean build is the ultimate goal. Aftermarket detailing and fancy mods and paint are cool, but messy basic modeling will negate the other fancy things everytime. Trust me, I know from experience. I have spent the past several months getting back to the basics of modeling and not worrying so much about the photoetched parts, fancy paint and other non-essential parts to a good, solid build. I find that by doing this I'm able to enjoy the hobby just a bit more and the end results of my efforts are more enjoyable as well. Again, welcome to the site and have fun. After all, that's what this hobby is all about, right?

I sure do appreciate the how-to on the wheel masking Daniel! Seeing your fish really makes me anxious to get to work on my Barracuda. I doubt it'll turn out as nice as yours is though. I was never really a huge fan of this bodystyle, but seeing your rendition has really given this car a different look and attitude. That is going to be one sick car when it's done!!!!

Sure enough Chris...that's the Earnhardt kit I'm looking for...You lucky dog!!!

Is this the current offering by AMT? I picked one of those kits up awhile back simply 'cause it was a Mopar kit and I love the old Mopars. Your project looks beautiful to put it mildly. I love the color you chose for the body and if you hadn't said anything, one would swear that T/A spoiler came factory from Chrysler on that thing! The wheels also look fantastic and a how-to sure would be appreciated as I have several cars with this style wheel that I will be using on future projects. I can't wait to see how this thing comes together! Keep us posted!!!

I actually started this kit back in 1991 when I was living in Little Rock, Ark. The car was originally painted a Sapphire Metallic Blue but I decided to strip the old paint job last year when I dug this car out and decided to get back to work on it. The car is painted Moulin Rouge. According to the documentation I could scrounge up regarding the 70 GTX, there were only 7 of these cars produced with this paint code. I love the high impact colors Chrysler used back in the late 60's and early 70's so this was a perfect choice. I originally planned on this car being a box stock build, but I got a bit carried away when I found a really good picture of a '70 440 6-Pack car. I decided to add a bit of engine detailing to the car and so far have gotten the fuel lines from the pump to the carbs run and also a couple of vacuum lines routed. I will add spark plug wiring as well and most likely some various electrical wiring and so forth in the engine bay. This is another project I'm looking at wrapping up in the next month or so if all goes according to plan. Anyways, I hope y'all like the pics...

This is another kit I started quite awhile ago and decided it was time to finish it up. I currently have 4 different projects going right now but I am going to get this one wrapped up in the near future. This is Revell's Dodge Ram SVT concept truck. I decided to go with red and white stripes vs the blue that the truck on the box depicted. I don't know...something about a bright colore I guess...anyways, the kit is a great one and the parts fit is very nice so far. Not much in the way of detailing on this one though. Pretty much a box stock build, plus there really isn't a whole lot of detailing that shows on the Viper engines anyways as most everything is under cover in terms of wiring and so forth. All in all though, a very enjoyable kit to build!

After the rough and tumble year I've had I guess I've been forced to look at the hobby a bit differently now than I did before. My family went for over 4 months with no income and at one point I was looking at liquidating my whole model collection to satisfy the burning desire for things like food and rent. When something like this comes at you totally out of the blue, it tends to shift your focus on other "grails" that mean just a bit more than kits of plastic. With that being said, I have scaled WAY back on buying and stockpiling kits. I still check out the shelves at Wallyworld and the lhs, but my actual spending has dropped off considerably. I am trying to save a sizeable amount for the NNL East next March so I can get some of the kits I can't find around here though. Whether I'll be able to muster any money to spend there remains to be seen. I have dug out some old kits I had originally started, some dating back to the early 90's in an attempt to build what I have and not keep stockpiling kits. I do still pick up the Nascar kits as that is my passion and I have enough decals to build over 300 different Nascar kits from the 80's to the present day. Hopefully by building projects I've already started I can cut the size of my unbuilt collection down some as I'm currently over 1500 models, most of which are still factory sealed. As I sit here this morning and think though, there are some kits I would really like to get my hands on and hopefully I will one day be able to track said kits down: 1) Monogram Wrangler Dale Earnhardt 1983 T-Bird 2) Budweiser Peterbilt 352 Cabover & Trailer 3) International Paystar Logging Trailer Kit 4) International Trans Star II Cabover 5) Autocar Tractor 6) JoHan Sox & Martin Cuda 7) Monogram Bobby Allison Miller Buick Regal (White w/red numbers) I guess that about covers it for now. I'm sure I'll think of more, but these are the ones that immediately come to mind. I've also begun channeling money to my 1:1 toys as well. I am putting money into our 2003 Monte Carlo SS and my 2000 Dodge Ram pickup as well. We'll just have to wait and see what 2007 brings...

What a great retro modern car!!!! If Chevy really cared about their customers, they'd put this option into production post haste!!! Personally, I think GM felt pressure with Chrysler's release of the new Challenger to come up with something of their own. I think Chrysler thought the Challenger through quite a bit more than GM did with this Camaro. It also hasn't helped that Ford's new Mustang is storming the new car market. Chevy should have never dropped the Camaro from it's line and it's a shame this is what we are relegated to in terms of the next generation GM musclecar. Had GM had the time to more thoroughly think through and design this car, it could have easily been the car to make the other manufacturers sit up and take notice. I'm afraid though it's just going to be another futile attempt by the General to try to regain it's former glory. Regardless, the execution of this model is simply unbelievable! You did a fantastic job on that Camaro and I can't wait to see more from your bench! Ever thought about applying for a position in the design studios of GM?

Ya know, the last two paint jobs I tackled I just basically went ahead and threw color down without any serious prepping of the body. I know it's taboo to do this, but I have gotten so frustrated with spending hours and days prepping a body for paint only to have it screw up that I figured I didn't have anything to lose by trying this method a time or two. I mean, the worst that could happen is I have to strip the body and start over and it's not like I haven't been doing that to just about every car I've tried to paint in the past two years anyways. For whatever reason, I just haven't had good luck with primering, painting, wetsanding and clearcoating. This paint job was probably the quickest I've ever done and it's probably one of the smoothest I've ever laid down. Just goes to show if you don't care about the project at hand it'll give you the least amount of headaches and trouble. :roll:

I was just messing about at the desk tonight while I was working on my Ram SVT truck. I decided to break out one of the Viper kits I had sitting on the shelf to see what I could do with it. Well, when I opened the box I was less than impressed with the amount of mold lines and flash that was on the body and different pieces. I spent quite awhile sanding the mold lines and rescribing some panel lines to restore the body to it's original configuration. I then temporarily put the front and rear fascias on the body and decided I'd try the GTS Blue Pearl from Model Master's new Lacquer line. I went downstairs and just quickly laid down a few quick coats of the blue right over the white plastic. I didn't expect the car to turn out decent at all. Imagine my surprise!!! :D :o :o :o Never in my wildest dreams did I expect the paint to turn out the way it did! I'll let the pics speak for themselves, but even they don't do the paintjob justice. Anyways, here we go with some pics. Now I'm going to get busy on this car as well! What a night!!!!

This past weekend I was able to come in contact with an actual Mustang that was used in Nicholas Cage's remake of "Gone in 60 Seconds". The owner of this car bought it directly from the movie company in a total state of disrepair. As you can see from the pics this owner took of the car when he picked it up, the car had definitely seen better days. He painstakingly redid the whole car to the specs the car was configured in for the movie. And yes, Nicholas Cage did indeed drive this actual car in the movie before it was used for one of the jump scenes and suffering the fate seen in the pics. Click on the link to view the images of the car and I hope y'all enjoy! http://90redsc.proboards36.com/index.cgi?a...read=1158083771

I have been prepping the body for my 70 Challenger kit for awhile now. I had chosen Panther Pink for the color and was optomistic all was going fine.... However, that theory was shot to hell when I laid the color coat on the body this afternoon. The paint crazed something wicked on this body and has rendered it useless. I now have another parts kit to add to the collection. :x What kind of luck have y'all had with this line of spraypaint? My luck with it has been absolutely terrible and I'm wondering if it isn't the pastic these kits are being molded in now rather than the paint. I am open to any and all suggestions at this point.

I have gotten some more done on this car. I decided to build the front rollcage out of aluminum, so I started this undertaking a couple nights ago. This is as far as I got so far...and don't ask me why I decided to go this route with the car... :? I will get back to work on this assembly tomorrow afternoon or evening, most likely. I will also begin to build my crush panels for the car and start measuring my fender bracing and so forth for the body as well tomorrow...Hope y'all enjoy the pics...

I think I have surpassed ridiculous with this car tonight. As I was sitting at my desk grafting the lower nose onto the body I got the idea of installing an aluminum front cage. I started bending aluminum and after about 90 minutes I ended up with what you see in the pics below. The whole front rollbar assembly in this car will now be aluminum tubing bent to shape. This way I can update the cage accordingly and be able to build the radiator airflow box as well. This will definitely take some serious time to build and build accurately, but I'm encouraged by what has happened so far. Anyways...here are the pics...

I wasn't able to work on this car last night due to work, but I have puttered with it a bit this morning. I have finished the inner reinforcements for the rear deck lid. The trunk fits perfectly on the body as well, so I did a good job measuring the distance from the edges of the trunk for the bracing. I will now proced to install the trunk pin plates on the body and then measure to drill the holes for the deck lid pins. I will also use the reinforcing bars to mount the trunk hinges. I am not looking forward to installing the hinges though. Should be interesting...

Absolutely beautiful work Mark! There is no car like the winged wonders of the Golden Era of Nascar. Charlie's car looks fantastic and I love the shade of purple you used on that car. Your other birds look fantastic as well and you are building up quite a collection of Winged Warriors! Kep up the great work!!!! :wink:

The teams actually reinforced the noses for the short track cars because of the constant bumping. The car Johnny ran at Phoenix also saw action at Richmond and Rockingham, hence the reinforced panels. :wink:

I dug this car out last night and re-oriented myself with where I left off. It's been several months since I touched it and decided I was ready to once again get back into some serious building. I finished reinforcing the lower front nose on the car as well as filling the joints in the firewall and applying the first coat of primer to bring out the imperfections. I also added the aluminum reinforcing bar to rear bumper as well as the angled reinforcing bars on the lower rear 1/4's. Not really a whole lot that is going to be seen once the body is on the chassis unless there are mirrors under the car. Overall though, the mods will add to the total package of the car and the general appearance. My goal with this car is to make this car as accurate and real as possible. I have obtained numerous reference pics of the 1:1 car which ran at Phoenix Raceway. I was originally upset with the front grilles I cut out because they were the dual grille style and not the tripple grille, however, the car that ran the race actually had the dual grilles on each side. The car that ran the race was the backup car after the primary was damaged in practice. That's a huge relief to me at this point. Several of the lower budget teams used the same cars for Richmond, North Carolina, and Phoenix, hence the short track grilles on some of the cars which were taped off for the race. Johnny Benson's team was once such team that used the same cars for different tracks with minimal changes. Most of the changes were made to the chassis and suspension, not the body for obvious reasons. Anyways, here are some pics of what I did tonight. I will primer the nose tomorrow once the super glue and filler has dried overnight.

I had put this away for awhile after I got burned out earlier this year. I dug it out tonight after talking to my buddy Jeff and will once again start hacking away at this project. So far I opened the short track style grilles as well as the other grilles. I also opened the trunk, roof flap, and fuel filler on the body. This will be Johnny Benson's Valvoline Pontiac...HOPEFULLY. Anyways, here are some pics of what I have accomplished so far: What the car will look like when it's done..