E St. Kruiser50

Hi there Happy b-day. Hope all goes well for you on your special day .

Hey there Hope you have a great birthday, and you get all the TOYZ you wanted - dave

YUM I love pizza Thanks again everyone. My favorite little brunette cutie took me out to lunch and dessert, and spoiled me with some very nice presents, so it's been a super B-Day. To everyone else having a birthday today, I wish you all well too - dave

Thanks guy's This getting older thing is really "COOOOOOL" . Retirement hasn't hurt anything either . Still feel young and full of energy, just don't have to be anywhere I don't want to now, or put up with anyone's #$%&* - well, you know .

hey Mike Just did a windshield yesterday with the Model Master window tint. Knowing that this is an alcohol based product helps a lot. Can say's lacquer, just like Alclad say's lacquer - THEY LIE - WHO KNOWS WHY . All you gotta do is smell the product's to tell. I spray one very light coat in three over-lapping passes, and if it has a gloss, that's it. If not, I have a bottle of rubbing alcohol standing by, and I just put some on a kleenex tissue and wipe away and "Do over". Works great..... . Don't use lacquer thinner, as it will melt and eat into your glass. Took me about 6 tries to get it right this time- dust mostly, or too much tint. Remember to tape off the other side so over-spray doesn't spoil a great job. If you have a spare clear piece, use it as a test sample and practice on it. Have fun. Hope this helps - dave

Hey Mike Don't know how much work you want to put in those seat's, but I like to cut them up with a #11 Exacto blade, and then cover with real cloth of your choice. There are several fabric store's in my area, and I like going there when I have a new project and "Lurk" , looking at all the new stuff and little "odd's and end's". I alway's find some new little cool thing to use for a future project, or stash away like a squirrel, till later . Some guy's "Manhood can't stand going in "THOSE PLACES ALONE" , so "enter at your own risk" LOL.

THANK YOU DON Don was kind enough to pass this "KEEPER" on to me from his collection of magazines, and I received it today, and wanted to share it again with everyone. I had owned a copy of this issue years ago, when it first came out, but lost it in the move here to Oregon. Several people had requested seeing the pic's of the model I built in '62, and was voted as one of the top ten models. Mine is the one at the top of the first page. Thanks again Don for bringing this out of the "Archive's" from almost 50 year's ago - dave

Thanks Mike Yeah, the windshield frame has been there, but like you said, the contrast makes it stand out more. I'll spray it semi-gloss black, and the windshield will get a black tint, using Testor's spray tint. The green color is a two-stage urethane I had custom mixed. Kinda bright, but I like it. The wheels that go on it are beautiful. Can't wait to get everything fitted together and finish assembling it.

I cut the seats and door panels into more pieces to get the detail and color's I wanted without having to tape everything off. Yeah, more work, but much more realistic and more cleanly built, with seperate pieces. This way I could shoot urethanes and lacquers, and not worry about cross system problems. Also I used a lot of intricate decaling to get the colors, contrasts, and style that I wanted to create. I wanted the interior to have a Crisp", almost "Machined look", using gloss aluminum on the door panels, lower portion of the dash integrated into a part of the center console, seat inserts, and the silver suede carpet. I polished the urethane clear about 16 hours after it was sprayed, according to the HOK Tech Manual. Here's some pic's - hope you enjoy.

Hey Bernard I like the KISS method of building too, and having a plan, so you know what you want to accomplish. "IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU'RE GOING, HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN YOU'VE ARRIVED ???

Great job on the "MERC" . Everything everyone else said, plus I like the "Bumperettes" .

Harry, Harry, Harry Mustangs are the "ALL TIME #1 SELLING PONY CAR" . WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO SAY . The first one's are collectors cars, and there's jillions of them old one's still on the road - RUNNING. I bought a brand new '67 in Dec. 66 for my Christmas present. A dark metallic green fast back, with a Police interceptor Hi-Pro 390, that was a screamer. That car was as solid as any car I ever drove, so the new one's just gotta be killer. Take it out for a drive and scare yourself and the salesman

Cool topic I started this probably 6 years ago, and like all my stuff at some point rise to the surface to be finished. Two projects ahead of this, so will start on this late this summer or early fall to finish it. Depends on how much I enjoy summer . It's a scratch-built 1950 Lincoln Cosmopolatin Capri lead-sled. THIS IS THE STUFF FUN IS MADE OF - EEEEEEEEEEHAH .

Hey all Took 3 or 4 days off from building to think about the interior colors and get some other stuff done - LIKE PLAY IN THE SUN. WE GO CRAZY WHEN THE SUN COME'S OUT, HERE IN OREGON . Got some serious sun and am I BROWN - LOVE THE TAN . Anyhow, got a chance to cut up the seats for a multi-color paint scheme, and did some other detailing. Changed the color combo, and I really like it now. Also doing some final detail finishing. Got the dash drilled out for some knob's. A photo-etched steering wheel assembled, and the rotors covered with foil and ready to punch out the cooling holes that I drilled out like on the "RETRO-VETTE. Doing some final detailing on the firewall, and on the under-side of the hood. Coupla day's and everything will get covered with urethane primer. Here's an update pic.

Hey - I think I know this guy Is this FA-brizio FROM ITALY, who just moved here not long ago to be with your NEW BRIDE???, and your joining our club - SABA??? RIGHT ??? This is Dave, the Vise Pres. WELCOME MY FRIEND WE'RE ARE IN TROUBLE HERE IN OREGON - THIS GUY'S A SCRATCH-BUILDER PRO. HE BUILDS SCARY GOOD STUFF

WELL, YOU COULD USE CALIPER'S TO MEASURE EACH....... NOT !! I do like you do - I JUST EYEBALL IT ( Shhhhh - don't tell anybody - VEWY SEEKWATIVE STUFF )

I enjoy fine detailing when I'm in the right mood. For bolt heads, I use mini straight pins that I get in a package at JoAnns fabric shop. Their chrome and so I just use a mini file to do the hex shape. Takes a while, but sure looks real when done. Chuck up a mini-drill, make a hole, snip the pin to the length you want, and "Slide 'er in" .

Some may call this kit-bashing, but....?? Several years ago, about 5 or 6, a couple different things came together at the same time to cause me to build this somewhat unusual subject - at least for me. Pontiac had just come out with the "VIBE, and Toyota the "MATRIX". I wondered what a full size SUV would be like with that same receeding roof-line to the rear. The newer Lexus's and Nissan'' hadn't come out yet, so this was my attempt at a custom version. I found a Cadillac truck die-cast for the front end, and bought 5 different truck and SUV kits, to create what I wanted. At the same time I had been wondering if I still "HAD IT", like I did in the days of LANCER CO., and sculpting and mastering all those dozens of slot car molds. Because REVELL hadn't created any of their CAD kits yet, the front end was hand shaped out of sheet styrene and EVERCOAT RAGE, and I used the narrowed die-cast grill/headlight assembly. The side body panels, especially, and the rear valance, were where I put in the most effort to test myself. They're all hand sculpted with crisp "Razor-edge sharpness" in the style I like to create. It has that "Socal look" to it that has been so popular. The paint is HOK metalflake, with a HOK Kandy tangerine top-coat and then HOK clear- coated. The wheel/tires are scale 30"er's . THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' ABOUT - LOVE IT. This car has only been shown once and has never been contested. Many of my builds are just for my own enjoyment. Here's some pic's - Hope you enjoy

This looks like a pretty good deal to me, and definetly a very nice build. $$ for the kit, paint, special decals and his labor. I'd have a reserve on it higher than that. Never sold anything on eBay, but have sold plenty to collectors, and would never have let anything go for that low price. Good deal for whoever get's it - dave .

You're work is legendary Another beautiful piece of "ART". I didn't know you had joined here. I hope you share more of your beautiful work with us - dave

In this hobby of ours, you have to think "WAY BEYOND" hobby shops to reach a level of building anywhere beyond "BASIC", which is fine if that'd where you want to stay. There is so much out there available to make this interest of our's so much more fun and enjoyable. The leather I use is not much thicker than a cigaette wrapper, and comes in "FULL SKINS". It comes from the country of DENMARK , and is tanned in SWEDEN, and is very soft and stretches wonderfully around compound curves. The wood??....We'll I buy mine from a rare wood importer and hand carve everything to shape - dashes, door panel moldings, etc. Zebra wood, Lignum vitae, cochabola, or I buy or make my own veneers. Go to places that sell leather and wood as a business, and you'll discover a whole new world waiting for you - dave

Well my friend you sound like quite an expert on the subject of scale leather interiors. That's pretty cool. Maybe you'd have a suggestion on how I could have done a better job on this scratch-built all leather interior in this 1/25 scale Hollywood Graham that won a first at the GSL in 2005. I could use any help I can get on this - dave

In my experience with the resin bodies I have purchased and resin parts I have cast myself, is that the first thing you do before any prep, other than trimming the flash, is to soak your parts and spray the body with "Wesleys Bleach White", and let them sit about an hour. Silicone residue is on the surface and needs to be removed. I think guy's here use other things that they say works good too. I've never had a problem with Wesleys, and I DO USE DUPLI-COLOR PRIMER OVER RESIN WITH BEAUTIFUL RESULTS.

This is a fun topic Someone else here mentioned what I'm going to say. Wet-in-wet painting is a method that oil painters use on their canvas, and is very affective creating woodgrain on any surface, even metal window frames and dashes on real cars, like was done in the 30's through the 50's. I have done it several times and it "fools the eye". No one even guessed it was paint. The leather...well - nothing like the real thing. I use an imported leather that comes in "Skins", but you can go to thrift stores and buy used women's purses and gloves. And leathers can be dyed and painted to get whatever color you want to match. FYI - dave