Spex84

Aw, nuts. ^^^I need some! Better get that order in before they're gone.

Funny you should mention the Isabella, just last week I was thinking it could make a cool custom. '54 Merc taillights, '52 and '55 packard side trim, shaved hood, a healthy chop and lowering. Boom, done! Had to guess at the scale of the taillights; I think it's a pretty small car compared to the Mercury.

Nicely done!! The green one is my favorite. From a technical perspective, I like the way you handled the chrome, vignette effect, and grounding the car with that black shadow mass. I've never had the patience to draw a car entirely with paths...I keep meaning to sit down and make it happen, but it never does!

That's spectacular, but I'd like to see the WIP photos!!

Interesting. I checked that address on Google Street View Jonathan; it appears to be a prep school. ??

Apparently Central America has been deleted from the registry. Huh, how 'bout that.

Right on. Subtle, but all business. The photo-etch grille makes the car...it's a fantastic accent piece on an otherwise understated build! I dig the primered hood and slightly faded body, too.

Wow, incredibly clean build of a beautiful car. Love it! The little machined parts really stand out, same with the immaculate paint and detailing. The polyglas GT tires are perfect for it.

Let someone else take the colossal depreciation hit...and buy used. Mexico has all the trucks I'd actually consider buying, but they aren't offered in North America. I love cars, but today's offerings bum me out. I don't want to spend 30-50k on something that sucks premium gas (turbos are becoming common), has high repair costs (fancy headlights, buggy electronics, enormous windshield, 20" wheels and tires, aluminum and carbon-fiber parts, etc)...and that's just for a minivan, ya know?? Not even something "nice". A new vehicle might be safer and get better mileage...but is it really $35,000 worth of safe and efficient over an older, used vehicle? I'll keep driving my 20 year-old Jeep, thanks. And when it dies, I'll do my best to resurrect it, because there are very few vehicles I'd even remotely consider buying to replace it. The only time I'd consider buying new-ish is if I lived in a place with extremely stringent and regular inspections (Much of Europe, California...) that would FORCE me to fix every little thing at high cost. Then it would almost be better to buy something as new as possible, and get rid of it before problems crop up. I figure if vehicles are going to become throw-away products, the prices need to come WAY down.

This is ambitious!! I like it already Good luck!

Killer! Looks the part, great weathering. It's been ages since I've seen someone build a fenderless car with the aprons still attached, very authentic touch there.

If you pay for entire kits just to get a particular piece, you can always sell or trade off the remainder! Or just sock those parts away for when your tastes change and you want a change of pace. I've written off a lot of parts as trash, only to discover later that they were actually pretty good--just not appropriate to the build style or time period I was exploring at the time. Luckily, I still have them.

Cale, I'm pretty sure the Revell/Monogram '31 sedan doesn't have a quickchange. It does have good early axle housings that will fit on the QC center section from the Orange Crate, Double Dragster, etc.

Nicely done with the '29 wheels adapted to the '41 Lincoln tires! I'm liking those engine mounts too.

I used to find the McMullen roadster kind of...I don't know, over-done, generic somehow. Now I realize it's because the car was so dang cool that it inspired a thousand clones, and it was the clones I was tired of. I love that shot in front of the Beckman building (50s modern breeze blocks!) Absolutely an iconic car! The pinstripes might be tough to replicate. The Revell '32 roadster combined with the front suspension from the '29 roadster and a rear axle/quickchange and headlight stands from the Double T will get you most of the way there. The tires are interesting; I don't know if I've seen anything quite like them in a kit before. Maybe...Revell '50 Ford tires in front and AMT '57 Chrysler tires out back, with the whitewalls painted black.

AMT Double T AMT Double Dragster Tom Daniels Pie Wagon Tom Daniels Paddy Wagon Revell Orange Crate ...there are more, but those are the ones that immediately come to mind!

Hey Bill, PM me, I have some 3D printed 1/16 Firestone tires in 890-18 and 450-18 available. Tried to message you, but it wouldn't send; your inbox must be full or something??

So is it the big center plate/cap on the rear wheels that's buggin' you guys? Maybe some kind of smaller add-on center cap detail could fix that. Funny, it only bothers me when I focus directly on it, otherwise I like the look.

Love the creativity and execution here! The custom work and scratchbuilding is very cool (love those turbos--never knew those widgets were called "hydraulic olives" so I learned something new, thanks!) and the paint finish is great. In particular, I'm enjoying the red-tinted glass...it gives the ensemble a Hot Wheels look and really helps the green paint stand out. She's a beaut!

Casey, that's really cool. Love the vintage packaging! A guy I know has a Cherry Bomb sitting on his desk that he built as a kid in the '60s, back when the kit has green-tinted glass. One of these days I'd like to track down and build one.

One aspect of Shapeways' "quality" is the quality of the individual vendors' 3D models (something Shapeways doesn't have much control over; it's up to the individual content creators to try and make items that print well, don't break and fit together properly). I haven't ordered from Ron Olsen, but the Shapeways materials are consistent across all vendors on the site, so if you like the look of the parts he offers, give them a try! Another aspect is the materials themselves, and for scale models I'd highly recommend Frosted Ultra Detail (FUD) or Frosted Extreme Detail (FXD). The cheaper White Strong Flexible (WSF) material has a rough finish, as shown by Pat above. It's more suited to, say, scale concrete blocks. FUD and FXD are fairly fragile--these materials behave a bit like clear resin or clear styrene, in that they fracture if dropped or cut with a dull blade. These materials can be carved, sawed, drilled, and sanded. If the parts are on sprues, I use a razor saw to remove them rather than clippers or an x-acto blade (which can fracture the sprue and either take a chip out of the part, or send it flying across the room!) With FUD, it helps to seal the parts with a layer or two of Future (which also starts to level out the stepping/layers in the print), then apply a healthy coat of primer and give the parts a light sanding to further level them out--in particular if you plan on getting a very glossy finish in the end (ie, chrome). Here are a few photos of items I've ordered from my own Shapeways store (full disclosure--I sell stuff there). I'm still experimenting,and so far I've found that spot application of Tamiya Surface Primer (the brush-on stuff) can be quite effective, and with some careful sanding parts can become smooth enough to chrome with a Molotow pen.

The Slingster kit comes with both wire wheels and 12-spoke spindle-mounts. The slicks in the kit are fairly tiny though, which is why Cale is using those big ol' M&H parts pack slicks, much better suited to the 1/24 body. Up to this point, I hadn't noticed that the box art fails to depict the spindle-mounts. Huh!

Maybe thin metal sheets (like a foil cake pan), stamped with a hole-cutter made from crimped pipe, using a thick plastic hole template to aid layout?

That looks good Doug! Any chance you could get a really, really clear photo? Maybe more light, setting the camera up on a stable surface and using the timer feature to eliminate shake...I think it's a testament to the detail of this print that it's too small to see anything to criticize!

Beautiful work, love the T! It turned out very dignified. I also love the juxtaposition of that stock T against the modified versions, particularly the crazy Indy-inspired black and yellow creation. That thing is nuts!