Harry Joy

I've been using the same bottle for about 16 years. And I use it on every model I build. A little goes a long way.

General fiction, James Gardner (not the mystery writer, the other one); science fiction - Ben Bova, Allan Steele, Kim Stanley Robinson, Robert Charles Wilson; theater - Antonin Artaud, Samuel Beckett, Peter Brook; history (currently writing) - Giles Milton, Simon Winchester.

By the way, on the Baldwin Motion Camaro I am building, the large dimple on the roof and the swirling plastic flaws were completely eradicated with sanding alone, no need for filler. I primed last night to check on the sanding from the previous night, and all was fine.

I almost hate to admit this, but I never have read the book or seen the movie. When it was new, I had a general aversion to Stephen King. I had read Salem's Lot, but after that he was everywhere all the time, and it just turned me off. I finally read the Dark Tower series about five years ago, but mainly because the first book was more of a Western, and I dig Westerns. But the horror genre doesn't do anything for me. Even if they have cool cars.

Agreed, and customs rarely catch my eye. This one works all around!

I spent some time last night sanding out the dimple, heavy grit then progressively finer. Then heavy again, then finer. Then heavier... I think I managed to not only sand the dimple out, but I also brought the roof to scale thickness.

A few years ago, I was divorced and rather settled into an easy routine with work, and was able to slam out about two builds a month. now I am re-married, and in a bit higher stress job. At best I can finish a kit in about 30 days. If work is being difficult, or a lot of life stuff comes up, it can take about two months. But not that long ago I did a vacation build, and slammed one out in a week.

Thanks everyone.

My wife picked the Baldwin Motion for my next build, which surprised me. I thought she was going to pull a 50s Impala out of the pile. Mine is the green Round 2 reissue. There is very little flash overall, but plenty of mold seams on the body. They are all in easy to sand areas. A few dimples on the top too, but easily fixable.

No shelf of doom in my house. When a kit frustrates me, bores me, or suffers catastrophic failure. I toss it. The only exception in the 2009 Finnish P-36 I finished after the 2009 Nats.

Thanks guys. Viewed on the shelf, the trim problem doesn't really stand out. I found this to be one of my most fun builds to date. Even though it looks like any old AMT kit when you open the box, it is really well engineered and it went together really easy. I wish they were all this easy!

Thanks guys. The primary color is metallic black, and the top and flash are champagne gold, both from Tamiya cans.

Wow and wow. I never noticed they were seams! I just thought they were meant to be that way, but looking at the finished model now, yeppers, I should have fixed them. This is yet another reason I should take pics and examine them closely before dubbing any model complete. You would be surprised how often I find big goofs that way, even without close examination.

Loved building this kit. Lots of fun.

1965 GTO.

I use thick CA glues for all glasswork, whether it is a car or an airplane or science fiction/fact. I give the clear parts a dip in Future, let it set a few days, and go to work. The clear parts will not fog. If I screw up and get glue on the clear part, I pop it out, soak it in Windex to remove the Future (and the glue). The repeat from the very first step. Never really got why this is so mysterious, but I'd say 90+% of my real life modeling buds think I am insane. But I have never had a catastrophe because of CA + Future.

Wow.

Balsa is easier to sand and shape, but basswood is a bit stronger. It compresses less and absorbs less moisture. When I still built balsa airplanes, I kept basswood around for the more structural pieces. In that application, it weighs a feather or two more, so it is best used sparingly. Other than that, they are very similar. If I needed them in a car model, I might lean towards the basswood. And Snake has the right of it with HL and why I don't frequent them. In the past when I did, I also figured they were losing money on me.

Michaels and the others I am cool with. Just not the one.

My oldest survivors - not sure if they count though. From the early 70s, back in the day when pine car derby racers started as a solid block and four tires:

Nutbush, TN

This is a picture of me, leaving home for my freshman year of college. I loved my Mustang II and drove it all over the eastern and Southern US until I got to my third motor. While it did not have speed or power, it was incredibly sensitive and reacted to the slightest move of the wheel. It was a car you had to drive wide awake at all times. Lots of people hated that about it, but not me. Wish I still had it. Just noticed the boxes in the back seat. I used to say I never wanted to own more than what would fit in the back seat and trunk of that car.

Luckily, I have an excellent local hobby shop. But even if it weren't around, I wouldn't give a dime to Hobby Lobby.

Some hardware store thinners melt kit plastic, horribly. Some are relatively kind to plastic. Some techniques work reliably for one type of paint, others work better for others. Even among specific types of paints, different paint brands respond differently to different stripping methods. In short, more specificity will get you more relevant replies.

Oops. Missed that, my apologies. Unfortunately, that shortens the list considerably. Not many bands that aren't one-hit-wonders or novelty acts. How about: Sorry - had to edit out the band I picked. I forgot that even though they don't speak English all that well, they cuss a lot.