Danno

A tool-handling assistant like Heidi. (Think "Home Improvement").

Somebody else already said it ... 'You can't fix stupid.'

Nice looking build regardless of the wheels. I, too, like the brighter color on the 'Eleanor' body. Nice to see something different. One thing about Greg Wann's castings ... even his "seconds" are better than most casters' "firsts."

Nice.

Outstanding!!

My reference is Mark D. Jones and a couple of other people I know personally. They are the only people I know who have had personal interactions with members of the Tamiya family on more than one occasion. They independently agree and cross-validate on another on the pronunciation. Thus, I personally place great credibility on their information.

Achtung! Vatch dis! ...

Dukes of Hazzard is pronounced 'Pee yooks of Hah zarred' ... if it has to be pronounced at all. And, you're right about the correct pronounciation of 'Sushi.' But it's more universal than just Georgia. BTW - 'Byurrrick' is a much more common pronounciation than Harry might think ... it's a dialect thing.

Then ... PLEASE DO! Don't waste our bandwith.

You should let the Tamiya family know ... they've been mispronouncing their own name for a long, long time.

Nice looking!

Nice!

Nice!

Point-Counterpoint: I also recall the great clamor that erupted the first time a box-stock factory replica won best paint at GSL. Many/Most of the attendees hadn't even paid any attention to the model on the table because it looked so plain. But the execution was beyond belief and was unmatched by any other entries, even the exotic customs and impeccable street rods, etc. 'On any given Sunday ...'

Oh, we've had our share of quirks ... young girls and teenagers voting for the pink jeep because it looked like a Barbie Jeep; people voting for a model because they had a car like that when they were younger; people voting for their favorite color; people voting for the biggest model; people voting for a certain year-make-version just because the 1:1 was their favorite; people voting for the model that looked most like theirs; people voting for the only monster truck or the only motorcycle or the only foreign make or ... you name it. However, with a large pool of ballots, those quirks quickly disappeared into the field of also-rans. The fingernail polish is only gonna match so many women out of a large sampling of spectators. What I observed over several trials was that usually the best models got enough votes to be within the "Top Twelve" and the "Top Twelve" often mirrored pretty closely what we would have selected through critical judging anyway (~~ understand, the alternative would have been 'table-top' or 'curbside' style judging, primarily due to the number of entrants and time constraints). I also observed that the entry garnering the top number of votes was almost always very deserving of the award. It's hard to fool a lot of people, especially when the audience is primarily 1:1 rodders and custom car owners and their families, friends, and entourages. I agree on one level; I would be hesitant to use the all-peoples choice balloting system if the audience was primarily people who knew nothing about cars. While Rob makes a poignant point about a single somewhat flakey vote making a difference, our experience has been that none of the awards came down that close. And, we reserved the "Best of Show" award to selection by my staff and myself to ensure that a truly deserving model did not get completely shut out just because it lacked the 'gotcha factor' that would attract lots of 'uninformed' or 'non-modeler' votes. Again, several events, hundreds of entries, entrants from multiple states, local entrants and long-distance entrants, and no complaints. Everybody understands exactly what peoples choice entails and takes their chances. Actually, we had more complaints about award selections when we busted our buttolas to critically judge every entry. And, the local IPMS contest typically takes "critical judging" to stratospheric heights and generates far more 'fairness/unfairness' or 'I got robbed' complaints. Just sayin'. It works very well for us! Disclaimer: Like anything in life, your results may vary.

Most excellent!! Love the curb feelers. Nice touch.

Wow! Exceptional!!!

Cool.

Very, very nice!

Dittoes!!

Jes' little ole me. Shucks.

Dave, Thanks for the kind words! It's finished but a few adjustments and touchups need to be completed. I will get 'er done and post the final stages. I also have a hell of a story to tell about the Cosma Ray with the final instalment, as I've had the singular and exceptional honor of speaking at length about the car with the 1:1 Cosma Ray's longtime owner.

The Desert Scale Classic is operated by the Cactus Car Modelers Club of Phoenix. I'm the head judge at DSC. We critically judge the contest classes and many of the judges are club members. Club members are not eligible to enter the contest's classes. However, we have a separate display table for club members, and we ask the contest entrants (not club members) and spectators to cast ballots for several categories (Best Club Entry, Best Paint, Best Engine, Best Interior). Thus, the club members are not competing against DSC entrants, but they still have an opportunity to show, enter, compete and possibly win an award. That's important in a geographical area where there are not many contests. And, it gives the DSC entrants the rare opportunity to judge the judges' models!! We haven't heard any complaints about DSC's integrity since we initiated this system several years ago. As an aside, I also serve GoodGuys Rod & Custom Association as Model Car & Pedal Car Show Director for the two events in Scottsdale, the Spring Nationals and the Southwest Nationals. It was always awkward having the majority of entries being from membership of the two local clubs, Moonlight Modelers and Cactus Car Modelers, especially since several very prolific members have been volunteers who help me put on the GoodGuys shows. And, with as many excellent models as we've always had on the tables, critical judging became too onerous in the short timeframe available. A couple of years ago, I hit upon an outstanding solution. We now run the events as completely peoples-choice balloting. We invite, encourage, and urge spectators to view the models and pick their favorite. The model receiving the most votes receives the "Peoples Choice Award," and the next ten top vote-getters are awarded "Top Twelve " plaques. We round out the "Top Twelve" by awarding a "Best of Show" Award which is selected by the staff who help me run the event. This way, even the guys and gals who help operate the event can enter models and have a fair and equal chance to receive an award and there is no possibility of bias. We get between 1000 and 1300 ballots per event, so there's not much chance of ballot-stuffing, either. This system has generated zero complaints, and it has reinvigorated my volunteer staff as they now have two more major model car contests they can legitimately and honestly enter in this geographical area, without the potential of bias accusations.

Dittoes, Andy. All too often young modelers come online with bigger opinions of themselves and their builds than deserved. Most of the time, they never learn or develop the humility you've just expressed ... or, sometimes it occurs to them after much conflct plays out. Far better to recognize it yourself than to stubborn it out and have to learn life's lessons the hard way. You show great promise, young man! I, for one, am eager to witness you continue to mature at the same time your skills improve.

Outstanding!