Spex84

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!

Rough deal, Dan...glad you were able to find some time to build models, this one turned out nicely. Looks like the MPC kit? Homemade headers, those massive velocity stacks--pretty mean!

Cool fade job! I love the shine that green flake is picking up on the tops of the fenders and roof. This is a very cleanly assembled for 15 years out of the game, nice work! Fun, isn't it?

Nice update! I approve of the chrome, haha. You've got a bit of a downward slope on the hood; the grille probably needs to come up just a tad. I kinda dig the grille insert; it's looking very show n' go, but I can't help but wonder if maybe a stock-ish grille would let the engine strut its stuff without distraction. How about blacking it out, but leaving a chrome bead around the perimeter and maybe a chrome bar in the center, like the Hollenbeck '32? I don't know if you're into Alclad or Molotow, but with the level of bling going on here, might as well chrome the drums too!!

These are all super cool. I like the chopped Porsche, hard-topped Prowler, and Willys panel in particular. Definitely some aggressive customizing, to excellent effect! I'd love to see some of these get built up. *Edit* I missed the Silhouette-truck. That thing is awesome!! Very creative.

I thought the timing was suspicious Looking forward to seeing more of this project!

Everything! But by "hoarding", if I mean "items I wouldn't trade away"...I'd have to say: wheels and tires, chrome reverse wheels, good big n' little tires, well-molded headlights, vintage customizing parts, engines with excellent detailed vintage speed parts and accessories, '32 Ford grilles and shells (I'm always 1 short). Oh, never have enough wheel backs either!

Killer. I was just about to ask you whatever happened to that 80s-style project! Funny that the plan is a newstalgia '32 sedan...I had plans to build up an Orange Crate in a very similar way, but probably using the Revell '30 wheels and tires. This is looking great, love all the finned accessories to give it that gold-chainer Rodders Journal appeal

Yep, any flaws are definitely eclipsed by how nicely the kit goes together and how useful it is as a parts source for other hot rod projects. I would like to see it on the shelves again, better slightly imperfect (and nothing's ever perfect!) than completely unavailable. I've enjoyed the boost the '29 and '30 kits have given to the numbers of traditional-styled hot rods being built and posted on the forums. I have yet to see someone combining the '30 coupe with, say, the Phantom Vicky for a retro-modern street rod. Lots of potential there!

Well that's sharp! I like the modifications you've made to the basic kit, back-dating it to the 50s/early 60s. I've always thought the Tweedy Pie was a little too short, but looking at this, the proportions seem AOK! The color-combo is just right. What paint did you use on the body, by the way?

I miss the '30 kit. I don't have the budget to buy a lot of them...but I feel better knowing that they're out there, somewhere! Here's hopin' it returns...with the Nailhead. If that's the case, I'll shell out for another for sure.

This project is looking great so far! I dig the headlights and other modifications, looking forward to seeing where it goes!

Beautiful. I am very, very curious to know exactly what kind of printer this was printed on, because the results appear to be excellent.

Very clean and nicely detailed, excellent work! These are great-looking cars.

Cool beans. The chassis looks useful for scratchbuilt customs! I have a project going right now that could possibly do with a frame/suspension like that.

That HAMB thread pretty much spells it out. An odd decision, but one heck of an attention getter!

That's crazy, I like it! Needs some super deep turbine-style wheels and wild paint

Well this is crazy! I like the engineering in the frame and body so far. I've seen photos of the 1:1 car before, but never a model of it!

Brilliant! I love this thing. Lots of cool mechanical details, but they're sympathetic to the shape and feel of the original Beetle. The weathered paint really suits it...is that the hairspray technique?