MGL

What would you have in your perfect world? For example, in my perfect world Round 2 would re-issue the AMT 71 Duster but they would also include the Slant 6 from the Lindberg 64 Dodge and Plymouth kits. Then I would have 2 of my favorite Mopar engines in one readily available kit. I could rob one engine and still build the kit or I could use the body on a Nascar or Pro-stock, or Pro-street chassis and still have a complete chassis with choice of engines for the AMT 69 Barracuda or any number of resin bodies. Also in my perfect world I would be able to order OEM paints in spray cans or for airbrush easily from a web site without having to use pay-pal, money orders, or hand written, mail in order forms. I know most of the venders are small operations run by people like me that struggle with computers but I tend to order most of my stuff when I am at sea and I'm not able to get a money order or willing to drop an order into an overseas mailbox. Let us know what your perfect world looks like.

Inspired by but not an exact copy of a van I found on the inter-webs. The original is a groovy little Econoline but I used the Jimmy Flintstone Dodge A-100 van with a LRW. The stuff I've ordered from Jimmy Flintstones web site has been ok but I got this from Model Round Up and I wonder if he is sending them the less than desirable castings. This one took hours of sanding and 4 coats of primer to get it half way smooth. I have also heard somebody is making an Econoline or Falcon van body that works with the LRW chassis. I sure would like a couple of those. Enough talk, Pictures; The inspiration, On the shelf with other A-100's I might go back some day and make some nerf bars and replace the bumpers. The CB antenna is guitar string. Solder exhaust. Playboy shop calendar from the 70's. CB, tape deck, and EQ for the overhead console. I wish I had an 8 track. Rita Hayworth poster. I like to think wherever Andy Dufresne and Red are, they are driving something cool. Thanks for looking, I hope you have a great Christmas.

I shop there all the time when I'm in port and the owner always remembers me and asks about my kids, very friendly place and well stocked. Prices are compatible with ordering online if you are only looking for one or two kits and he has supplies you would otherwise only be able to get online. Next year when I leave California the only thing I'm going to miss is this shop.

Chris! Looking good, whatever your doing with the chrome is working, I tend to have a heavy hand and mine gets over done but this looks about right.

The site has an auto edit feature of some kind that will turn any word on it's list into the BLAH_BLAH that you are seeing. For example you can type carp and that will be fine but if you switch the a and r you will get BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH.

Harry, I've had 4 MRI's and they all go about the same as your experience. My last one was a full spine so I was in the machine for about an hour and 20 minutes. It seems like most places give you headphones that only block enough noise to keep you from going deaf. I bring good foam earplugs to wear with the ear muffs or headphones they provide, this cuts the noise to less than a dull roar. They can be purchased at most drug stores for fairly cheap. Kind of off topic but I also wear the foam earplugs when I ride my motorcycle and on long trips I feel considerably less fatigue. Having spent most of my adult life as an engineer on a ship I know a thing or two about tight, loud places and its incredible how fatiguing loud noises are. Good luck with the orthopedist, I had discectomies(sp?) on 2 discs and it not only greatly improved my back pain but saved my career.

I have not tried this but another idea would be to use black Plasti Dip ( this, http://www.homedepot.com/p/Plasti-Dip-14-5-oz-Black-Rubber-Coating-11603-6/202196703 ). Maybe lay out all the seams with pin strip tape, mask off the area you don't want covered, dip it, after it dries cut inside the edge of the body and peel it off the inside, run a bead of canopy glue or white glue along the cut edge to keep it from peeling up. As a bonus, any wrinkles would make it look more realistic. I have never had any luck with the spray but the dip works great for tools. As I said, I have never tried this for what you are trying to do but the texture should be about right. I'm not sure what would work for the grill area, maybe that fine mesh material for speaker covers?

Sorry it took so long to reply back, I am currently at sea. The tires and wheels came with the kit and include a nice set of Ford hubcaps and whitewall decals.

Nice, the salt looks great!

Wow, thanks for all the kind words! My original plan was shiny paint so I just kind of winged it when I went with this style. I don't normally build pre-war or weathered models and I took most of my inspiration from models I've seen on this forum so again, thanks for the complements and the inspiration.

This is cool, can't wait to see more!

Wow, I love it! Great job on this, it makes me want to build one.

I covered the whole thing with BMF one panel at a time, then lightly sanded with different light to medium grit sanding sticks, then I used some black, rust, and steel washes, then some more sanding.

The 57 is cool but I really like the Hemi Under glass, one of my favorite cars. I'm planning one getting one of these soon, I hope mine comes out as nice as yours.

I had planned on painting this pearl white with a black frame and black and white interior but after spraying the base coat of white and the frame black it just wasn't working for me. After staring at it for awhile I started looking through my stash for some inspiration and knocked a AMT engine parts pack and a sheet of BMF off the shelf just I spotted my unbuilt Rat Fink model. I decided to go with more of an un-finished look rather than a true rat rod, hence the complete interior and some chrome and clean paint. I had to have a crazy Rat Fink shifter and I wanted a ridiculous engine. The 421 Pontiac posed a couple of issues, there is no water pump or alternator, and no water hose inlet on the intake so I had to move the belt drive for the blower forward, make a water pump, alternator, pulleys, brackets, drive belt, and hoses. By the time I did all that, in order to get the radiator close to where I wanted it I hade to notch the firewall. I would have liked to have moved the engine back a little more but I would have had to redo the transmission tunnel and I didn't want to fool with that. The radiator support rods are guitar string, the shift rod is a paper clip and I didn't want to fight with the kit "eye" decal for the shift knob so I painted my own. The drive shaft had to be lengthened so I used some aluminum tube and the fuel line and plug wires are beading wire. I'm pretty happy with it although if I were to build this again I would probably use a 427 SOHC engine and brace the frame. Of course that would require some major surgery to fit. I'm not much of a hot rod guy but I do like this model. I am curious why it came with a 4 speed shifter and an automatic transmission. I'm also wondering if anybody has used the rusty decals that come with the kit.

Having lived in the South and Mid-Atlantic all my life, whenever I find myself in the middle of the country I stop at every Culvers I come across. For a fast food joint they sure do have a great menu. I'm looking forward to leaving CA next year just so I can stop there again.

My son is 13 and has Asperger syndrome which is an autism spectrum disorder. He has built several snap together models over the years including the Speedracer Mach 5, and a newer style Camaro molded in yellow so it looked like bumblebee from the Transformer movies. He has a couple of glue together kits that he has attempted but he can't seem to get past the "invisioning the goal" stage. What I mean by that is he starts painting it one way and then decides he wants something else. He also see's all the possibilities of kitbashing and scratchbuilding and without knowing what he wants to build he just stalls out. I would recommend you try some of the newer kits that are already painted or molded in color, by limiting the options it will focus him on the end goal and still let him learn some fundamental skills. Maybe have him detail paint the exhaust and other chassis plate bits and if it has an opening hood have him paint the engine. My youngest (10) really enjoyed building this http://www.revell.com/model-kits/snaptite/85-1982.html#.Vz_gdK3mr4g although he didn't paint it. He is planning on starting this http://www.revell.com/model-kits/snaptite/85-1977.html#.Vz_g2q3mr4g this weekend but he is planning on painting it. I don't think I'm going to have him worry about removing mold lines or ejector pin marks though, I did that with my 13 year old and I think it took some of the fun out of it for him by making him spend so much time with no assembly. I'm sure others will disagree but I think this younger generation needs to see some tangible progress quickly or they will lose interest.

That's funny! I bet the oysters were part of either the 75,000 pounds of fresh meat or the 11,000 pounds of fresh fish.

In my almost 13 years at sea and over 20 years with first the U.S. Navy, and now the U.S. Coast Guard I speak with some authority when I say 2200 pounds of coffee is not enough.

Ha! Too funny! (and true).

On the show they didn't have to worry about war babies so I think it would only be fair to those born during the war to be able to pick anything from the 40's. If it was me I'd go with a '40 Ford sedan delivery.

I didn't know this kit existed, I wonder how hard it would be to turn it into a 78 cordoba?

I immediately rip open new Hot Wheels and play with them, car sounds and all. At my last unit I had a desk and always had a couple of Hot Wheels on it. You should have seen peoples faces when they would walk in and see a 40 year old Chief playing with Hot Wheels at work.

I was stationed at Indian Head, MD and living in Rose Hill off of Telegraph Rd in Fairfax county VA during the blizzard in 2003 and my daily driver was a 90 K-5 blazer, 350 with posi in the rear differential and an eaton locker in the front. I was at the base from the start of the storm and didn't get to leave until after 5 pm the next day and drove home about 40 miles, never even had to put it in 4 wheel drive, just eased on down the road. Re-modeled my house in Mississippi after Katrina in 2005-2006 hauling full sheets of drywall, lumber, fencing, even put a Troy-Built riding mower in the back, with the roof still on. When I got some bad gas it gave me the opportunity to convince my wife I needed a Holly throttle body, knocked the mileage down to about 7 or 8 MPG but would lite up all for tires. Still one of my favorite vehicles and I'm a Mopar guy.

Looking good!