Spex84

Mike, I'm totally going to check out that book! I've been reading a lot of free ebooks lately that are out of copyright, so generally about 100-120 years old. I've been repeatedly struck by the fact that the people of 1890 or so were _exactly like us_. Their clothing, technology, and social codes were a little different, but their relationship to all those things was the same as we experience today. Sometimes I have to stop and remind myself that I'm reading something written in 1900 when it seems directly relevant to my life or the world around me, as if it was written yesterday. And I'll probably get at least one '30 coupe kit when they return. If only I'd invested in tulips, I could afford more

Lookin' good! When it comes to saving gluebombs, glass and headlights are an issue. Replacing curved glass is tricky. As for body blemishes and glue spots--as long as they aren't on critical trim or details, cleaning that stuff up isn't really much harder than dealing with the mold lines, sink marks, and general wonkiness of brand-new kits! Especially the re-issues of older tooling. And if the blemishes are on critical trim...I build customs, so trim often gets shaved anyway. Looks like you're "going with the flow" on this project. The last mockup looks great; just be careful to get that hood/grille shell lined up so the hood doesn't run uphill.

I feel like the "glue-bomb" thing has caught on enough that prices are ridiculous on the 'bay. $15 each for terrible (and common) badly-painted glue-smeared kits....$50 for boxes of loose parts and sprue that can't be used to build anything. It's a little frustrating...local garage sales are a source, but I haven't scored anything in over a year now.

I like a challenge; part of the fun is figuring out what a kit "wants to be" based on the parts I have available. Starting with a glue bomb adds new constraints and can push a project into fun and unintended directions! *that '32 is severe. Whoa!*

Very sorry to hear of Harry's passing The hobby has definitely lost a powerful force. It will be hard for me to build anything without thinking of his comments here. I was not even aware until recently that he was an artist in his own right,not just a builder of excellent scale models. I hope the community he contributed so much time and effort to remains strong. My condolences to his family. Rest in peace, Harry.

I've used those chrome 90s rims in exactly the way 62rebel describes. And after writing off the seats as "lame", I recently saw a fairly stunning Mustang project on this forum that I believe utilized the '57s Recaro-style seats, and it looked fantastic. It's all about correct application! Glad to see the diamond buckets. I have a 90s issue of this kit without those parts, and I'll have to fabricate some custom buckets similar to the original 60s parts if I want to get the "look".

Ok...my first guess is Cuba, second guess is eastern Europe. This must be a promotional car for the hit song "We all live in a submersible housing collective"! Who am I kidding, I'd totally drive that

Looks cool so far! There's a 1-off (as far as I know) '52 Ford flower car not far from where I live. It's basically a 3-window coupe-ute. I think it would look awesome as a hot rod

Well, that's just spectacular! The razor-sharp trim and perfect black paint make this one a stunner. Beautiful work. Good luck with the move

Those Lindberg '40s are such pigs that I feel completely OK cutting them up! Hoping to have an update soon on my own '40 adventure. Looking forward to seeing where this goes

I agree that the Dodge PowerWagon has a lot of potential. It would sell to parents who are buying models for their kids; it would sell to lovers of mud trucks and offroading, and it would appeal to the military crowd. Service vehicle modelers could enjoy it too: logging vehicles, bush trucks, ambulances... Another iconic truck that I don't think is available in 1/25: The '49-'53 Studebaker 2R trucks. They have that apple-pie americana look, and can be built as farm trucks, customs, or mud trucks. They're a love-it-or-hate-it design, both stylish and ungainly. I think they're neat-o. (Can't remember if I already posted that suggestion to this thread, haha)

I read about this elsewhere, lots of people arguing about the relative condition of the cars and their worth etc. Doesn't matter. It's BC, next door to the lakes...desirable climate, zoned commercial, has a house and a shop on it...It's probably worth what he's asking just for that, and the cars are just garnish. If the seller tries to sell the cars individually, it'll take all his time and patience, and clearly he wants to move on. His sentiment that they're all restoration candidates is kinda sad, though...sure, in a perfect world. Realistically, they're mostly parts cars or scrap. Hopefully some will be saved! I always love checking out the cars stored outside as I pass by; a couple years ago I stopped in and scoped out the cars inside (some nice stuff in there!). My fave from checking out the photos is the faded black Chrysler (?) sedan with flames licking all down the body. Who does that to a Chrysler sedan??? Gotta love it. Would make such a cool cruiser if it was restored. Thing is, you can run out and buy a running and driving example for FAR less than it would cost to restore one...and they're not worth much once you're done, either.

I think the main benefit of affordable and high-precision 3D scanner tech will be that people without 3D-modeling experience could potentially make masters using traditional materials (Plaster, MDF, wood, foam, etc), perhaps even in relatively large scale, scan them, and send the resulting files to someone more knowledgeable who can clean up the scans and produce a printable file. For many objects, it would be easier to just model them in CAD to begin with. It would be faster, cleaner, and easier to produce a printable file. Cleaning up 3D scans can be really difficult, or so I've been told. The film industry uses this tech all the time, and it's beginning to appear in video games. However, the main problem with 3D scanning scale models is that we're hoping to scan very small parts....it's very difficult to create a blemish-free scan of tiny objects. It would be much better to scan a large object (ensuring that the various blemishes will be smaller in proportion compared to the whole object), and then reduce the resulting 3D model in size, kind of like the pantograph-reduction process of old.

I enjoy the restrained color on this one, and the fog lights/running lights are awesome. The woodgrained interior looks just like the real thing. I have one of these kits in the mail; can't wait to build it.

The vibrant colors work really well on this car. Nice work! The pen chrome looks pretty convincing, too. I haven't built any lowriders yet, but when I see projects like this I'm reminded that someday I should build a few

Definitely unique and unusual subject matter! Very nice result too. I don't know much about early REO or Dodge, so I find it hard to see what you modified!

Nicely done!! I love the detailing on the boat, the jet nozzles, the paintwork...you've built a killer rig

Absolutely spectacular and an inspiration to all of us. Thanks for sharing the build process! Those 3D printed woodlite headlights turned out beautifully, as did everything else.

A close relative

Ace, your comment about the windshield inspired a stroke of inspiration...why not go 180 degrees from trying to do a laid-back windshield?? ....in retrospect, it might have been a bad idea >.< But here's a sketch anyway!

Cool! This could also work as a drift car or autocross car....Independent suspension, maybe inboard brakes and shocks, and a set-back engine to even out the weight distribution. How about an AWD version? Sort of like a hot-rod Ken Block Hoonicorn.

I've never built one but about 2 weeks ago I discovered that the AMT studebaker optional chopped roof and blue-tinted glass fit on the old Monogram '41 Lincoln body....so I was thinking of doing a retro-hi-tech Lincoln with a bank of batteries under the hood. Funny you should bring up the idea, and here's another weird coincidence: just yesterday I was reading a thread on the HAMB about Steve's Auto Restorations; they're building a custom-bodied '41 Lincoln limousine that will be electric-powered! I say...go for it!

Too cool! Lots of interesting fabrication and engineering in this one...thanks for sharing it here!

Thanks Tim! Great tips for those builders who can see the difference between a kit-stock car and a carefully tweaked version, but don't quite know how replicate the magic!

Great photos! I had little luck in googling for reference photos. Those shots illustrate the divergence in engineering that the rules allowed, always nice when trying to make an "accurate" model but wanting to just eyeball stuff and make creative decisions, too.