E St. Kruiser50

Yeah Cal - I agree, fall is probably closer Merry Christmas Cal to you and your family. Gos Bless - dave

Thanks Peter Yeah - some of us can't help ourserlves. We're "NATURALLY TWISTED AND SORTA WEIRD" Merry Christmas and God Bless - dave

Hey Santiago Thanks Sounds like a fun project. This is a Revell 1/25 scale. I have built a few of the Revell 1/16 '34's, which is a very nice kit, that goes together really well. Would look very nice similar to mine here. Make sure you keep us up to date if you choose to do it, I would love to watch the progress. Have a great holiday Santiago. God Bless - dave

Hey Mike Thank you. Yes it would be nice to meet you too . I'm sure you will build many more beautiful projects in the future. In my experience it takes time, desire, and drive to better yourself at anything. Over the years I discovered a deep joy of living, pushing my limits, and discovering my own personal talents, and working hard to develope them. Nothing ever comes easy worth having, but there is a day you discover the rewards for all that committment and hard work, on your job and in your personal life. God blesses us with a multitude of talents and abilities in raw form, for us to use to mold and shape our lives, any way we want. Growing and learning can be hard. There are always failures to deal with. But I learned that these can be the teachers to help us get better, if we'll embrass them, accept their purpose, and allow them to make us better during the challanging times. Everything you see that I build, that comes easy now, always had a price to pay to get there. My personal life is easy now too, but there were the struggles to get there also. Yes, this is just a hobby, but what I'm saying is that there is a cross-over affect to your real life and to your hobby, in how you approach life in general, what the foundation of your beliefs are about life, and that approach will determine the level of your sucess in all of your lifes choices. Good luck and God Bless on increasing your skills and talents - dave

Thanks buba Yeah, we're just jokin' around. Have a great Holiday my friend - dave

Be very careful as heatlamps will soften and warp the plastic, which I'm sure you already know. Good luck - dave

Hey again One of the things you'll learn about me is I'm an artist first, then a model builder. It's not an agenda, it's probably just the glue Building for me is about expression and my love of cars and design. Always has been since I was just a kid. Who cares if it can work or not, sometimes it's just about art, the way I see it. Hard for some people to understand . It's just weird Dave , and I like it. Someone has to see things differently, so I guess it has to be me . Oh well. I like me the way I am with my strangeness. Be cool - dave How about this? Wheels are half gone, but I love it. What's wrong with me??? My really outrages one's are in private collections. One guy has 20 of mine in his collection . Must be weirder than I am He's been after one of my '40 Fords for years, but he ain't gonna get it.

Hey Jantrix Just jokin around. No seriousness intended I love friendly banter

Hey George Thanks for the history lesson my friend. Yes, I believe in Christ too, and with all my hypocricies and short comings, somehow He still loves me. Grace and mercy George - Gotta love it . dave

Hi all Wanted to say Merry Christmas , and I hope that you all get what you wanted and maybe more. Also I hope and pray your holiday is safe and meaningfull. God Bless - dave

Thanks Erik And good question. To me, and this is only my opinion, there are several different styles and kinds of scratch building, and somewhere in the mix is that gray area about kit-bashing. Everyone seems to have a bit of a different opinion, so this is only my opinion that I build by, and how I explain my work. To answer your question, in this build, as well as all my other "Scratche's" , I use donor parts, and bodies made of styrene, like you mentioned. I cut up parts from different bodies, that have a general shape that I want, glue all the pieces together, add some styrene stock and sheet pieces, as I did in this build, add whatever "Evercoat Rage" I need, then file and sand to shape before I add the details. There are at least two other styles of "Scratch-building" in my way of classifying. This next style of scratch-building is what I did in my career as a pattern maker for around twenty years. Like I did at LANCER SLOT RACING BODIES for 13 years in the 60's and 70's, and several other companies I worked for later. You start with nothing but a design or idea. Depending on the compexity of the project, you may make some sketches, or several detailed drawings, and eventually a series of templates, so the body will be symmetrical, or a "Mirror image" of the other side. The next step is number crunching for the scale of the car, and add those numbers to the drawings. If there wil be a chassis and interior, all that has to be figured in also. A project design can take from several day's to several weeks depending on how complicted it is. On several projects at work, I spent many hundreds of hours, just designing and engineering the project. The next step, is to decide on the material to be used fot the Master pattern. Usually plaster or a good pattern wood. I bought some pattern wood this year, and have plans to do my first model car project like this in 2009. I'll start with a pattern wood called "Perfect Plank", which is a well seasoned, reverse grained "Sugar Pine". Very stable and doesn't warp . After shaping it and adding all the details and sealing it, I will then make a 4 or 5 piece mold off of it using fiberglass, and a gel-coat. From this mold, I will spray a gel-coat and back it with fiberglass and a "Veil" cloth, instead of casting it, as this makes a much thinner, stronger and warp free body. The original wood master pattern may be made in several pieces so that door, trunk and hood jams can be made as part of the body, and then the wooden door, trunk and hood piece can be replaced into the body later so they can be made. I hope I didn't try to explain too much here in too great a detail. I tend to go on and on sometimes The last scratch-building style I know of is hand shaping thin sheets of brass, copper or aluminum. I'm starting to sound like a coupla other guy's here who post long responses Anyway, I hope I answered your question without too much information. I can "Ramble

YUP I know what Ya mean about about them big 'Ol wheels and tires. Guy's in the clubs I belong to give me a bad time too. Seems like most hate 'um, but "Oh well", I likes 'um . Keep on doin' what ya love - dave ( Hey, why is it that the latest look on 1 to 1's is the big tire/wheel package that ye see on nearly everything late and cool, but the model guy's hate it on small scale??? Me no understand !! Who sticks whitewalls or "Stockers" on late models to look "Cool"??? Ever see a brand new Lexus or Corvette in the parking lot with whitewalls and hubcaps or "Steelies" and baby moons??? Go figure !!! WONDERING MINDS WANT TO KNOW ) Oh well

Good luck on that one Robert I live in Oregon where the humidity is 100% alot of the time (Raining) . All paints just loves to absorb moisture. A common frustration and anomaly with all paints, not just rattle cans, and will do the same with paint coming out of an air brush or regular spray gun. Blushing will always be a problem, spraying under the conditions you describe. To me, buying a good quality spray paint like Duplicolor, that was suggested here, is great advise. I'd stay away from the cheaper brands that some recommend, as I've seen the results in contest and shows, and while they look good here on the forum, up close and personal is a different story and you'll probably continue to be dissapointed with your results, especially when the "Cheaper" brand blushes. You get what you pay for. I hope this helps along with any other advise you get - dave

Howdy guy's One of the nice things about being an "Older" builder, and being retired for about 6 years, and been buildin' "awhile", is that you get a nice collection of things you've built over time. Fun to have. Got some fun things stashed away in the 'Ol Cellar" where I keep the "Prime Stock" you understand ,. Built this 1/20 scale hand made '34 about 7 years ago. Sometimes I see bits and pieces that just "Trigger" me, along with other stuff in my head and the next thing ya know, I'm doin' it . Most of my bigger builds "Simmer" on the back burner for a year or two as I collect parts for them, and as I'm building other stuff. I'm pretty patient about my projects. Don't do contests anymore, so I'm freed up to build at my leisure. Everything get's finished, even if it takes a few years. This build was inspired by the suspension on a diecast designed by Tom Taylor. I wanted to build something kinda "Swoopy" that would showcase the incredible front and rear suspension/wheel package and use a windshield/interior set that would compliment the design. I decided on the Plymouth Prowler, as the size and style fit perfectly and the windshild was just right to get the contemporary look that I thought might work. I was originally going to incorporate yellow and orange flames all over the car, but the eventual pureness of the design was so clean, that I didn't want to destroy the simplicity that I enjoyed about it. I built the body void of any lines or moldings, like the one around the rear wheel opening and goes the full length of the bottom of the body, and added those later. The rear end of the car was built up pretty high, for the rear suspension to be exposed. To keep the body clean and simple, the only thing added to it was the tiny tail lights, and the grill. That was a long post, just to say I had fun Anyhow, I hope you enjoy. Thanks - dave I see I knocked the windshield loose handling it for the photo's. Maybe I should glue that back in

YUP - For sure Been eyeballin' a project like this for a while, and I think this "BEAUTY" just put me over the top. This is absolutely "STUNNINGINGLY GORGEOUS" A true "JOHN D'AGOSTINO" jewel. Every styling cue is perfect. This is my all time favorite catagorie of build - dave

Hey George 'ol buddy Bought a lot of stuff on eBay - Mostly kits Glad myself they went this way, as there were enough dishonest buyers and sellers out there, that it became necessary. We'll probably hear a lot about PayPal and putting them down, but personally, I like the change and the security that the changes bring. I got burned a coupla times, and almost quit. I still got 100% feedback still after nearly 200 transactions, but a few of those were tough. Had to eat the loss a few times to keep my ratings, so for me glad they changed it. I don't personally think it's about the money, like I hear so many whinning about( Lota whinners out there - they need a life ). I think they wanted to keep their customers happy. Anyway, it is what it is "That's my story and I'm stickin to it " See ya - dave

Glad you've got a good heart and conscience my friend . It makes this site a better place for us all. keep on doin' what ya love - dave

Well everyone, thanks for taking the time to think about this and post some of your thoughts. That was the original intent was to get people thinkin' and talkin'. Sometimes this sort of thing can make a difference, sometimes not, but I don't think it ever hurts to try. A lot of new people out there who'll be new to this hobby in the coming month's and years, and it sure would be a shame to see it ruined for them . If a little bit of this goes back to a club, or helps someone to be a better part of the modeling community, then speaking out here may have helped some. Thanks again - dave

Hey John Yeah. "Necker knobs" or "Speed Knobs" as we called them . I get my "Knobs" outta the '49 AMT Merc kit. On the chrome tree there are a buncha tools, including a tire iron. The socket end of the tire iron can be cut off with just a skoch of the handle left. After you glue that on, you can paint your favorite candy color over the the top of the chrome and you'll have a perfect plastic looking insert, and a scale "KNOB". Just a little tip - dave

Hi Dave Good to hear from you again. What I hear you and a few others here talking about is the 'MECHANICS" of judging, numbers or systems. What I've been talking about is more of the "HEART", or the "INTENT" of the event and the people doing the shows. No matter how hard contest promotors try to make things look honest, it doesn't take long to catch on to "Bias". If there is a way and people want to be biased, they'll figure out how. Basically, what I see, is there are two choices here really, at least to me, sorta like in a marriage. In a marriage the two of you talk and decide how things will go to make you happy, and the other person happy, so that hopefully, both of you together can make the relationship work, hopefully pretty equally for both. Discussion and compromise Or you can choose to be selfish, and destroy the relationdhip like over 50% of marriage partners do now. IE - Divorce rate = It's all about ME !!! Now - MODEL STUFF SIMPLE CHOICE as in marriage. WILL WE BE SELFISH AND WATCH THE HOBBY SUFFER OR PRETTY NEARLY END, because IT'S ALL ABOUT ME, or will we talk about it and figure out how to CHOOSE THE IMPORTANCE OF THE HOBBY. To me this isn't rocket science, it's just about choice. Do we want to continue being childish and selfish, or do we want to grow up??? I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just sayin' what too many people are afraid to say. Is it all going to stay the same or are we going to try to change it?? It's up to all of us to decide. This thread may just get buried, like all the others, but at least I said something instead of just whinning . Thanks all - dave

"WAY OUTA THE BOX AND COOL " Hey, we all love new idea's Kevin . "Dub City Rules". You guy's know how I love those 24 inchers You go boy - dave

Hey, this is really nice Love the color and graphics. The engine work and detail looks great and so does the interior detail. Great subject and finish work. I like it - dave

Hey Todd A great start. I see a faint pencil line above the door area that George mentioned, and it look's like you left some extra material there for window and post re-shaping. That's the kinda thing I do sometimes, at least if that was your intent here. If so, good planning, if not OOP'S Anyway, it look's real good. It'll be fun to watch and see your idea's come to life Have fun - dave

Hi Ken I must say I've really enjoyed reading your posts here and in other threads. Although I haven't been able to take up a whole page yet of posting, thanks to your great example, I'm getting closer :lol: I'm a little confused though about your suggestion for a contest this early in the discussion, when many of us are responding to our various reasons for dissatisfaction at times about contests, and attitudes. To me it's kinda like jumpin into a 'PILE OF DENIAL" and just hopin' the problem will go away by itself, without more discussion here. Now don't get me wrong, I like a good contest like anyone, but I think there are some ISSUE'S here that need to be discussed a little further, kinda why I brought this up, and the topic of a contest at this point to me is a distraction, when maybe we could be changing some things and some attitudes, by having some more dialogue first. MAYBE A NEW THREAD SHOULD BE STARTED FOR A CONTEST that you mentioned, as I think at this point it's way "off topic" here on this thread. I hope this isn't offensive to anyone here, including you Ken, but I think we should stay focused and not get off on a " RABBIT S TRAIL" , and forget what we're talkin' about here. If you guy's decide to do a new thread and start a contest, It'll be fun to watch and see all the great results. Just not ready for that YET myself. Anyway, I look forward to more posts on the "ORIGINAL TOPIC" on "Bias or Fair at Contests and Clubs" Thanks again everyone for your reponses - dave

ajulia my friend Thank you so much. And nice to hear from you I love your sign off that you use - "Keep on wit the keepin on" . I have signed off several times refering to you saying, " And as Ajulia would say - Keep on wit the keepin on". I hope you don't mind, as it's kinda fun to use it. So my friend, as Ajulia would say, "Keep on wit the keepin on" - dave