Danno

Dittos!

And to you, Jim! Good luck with the surgery, hope you have a speedy and uneventful recovery. Looking forward to seeing you back here, all healed up, again!

I think one of the most interesting things about the Lil Coffin ~~~ the 1:1 ~~~ is that it is one of the world's most revered and honored show cars of all time; it is one of the most recognized show cars of all time; and it is about the only show car of distinction that George Barris never claimed as his own creation! Another of the interesting things about the Lil Coffin is the number of variations, redesigns, and rebuilds it has been through over the years. Here are many of them, although there were a couple of unfortunately less attractive rebuilds, and a substantial destruction by fire. Darryl Starbird has the Lil Coffin in his museum and has restored it to its most famous visage. Long live the Lil Coffin, the show rod with nine (or more) lives!

Can a more accurate Ala Kart be built out of the Moebius Hudson Hornet??

Wayne, Deepest sympathies for the loss of your friend. Perhaps God had sudden need for another centurion. The holiday season really seems to bring it on and make it all the worse at the same time. Last week was a rough one for my circle of friends and I, too. We lost two colleagues, long time friends, great guys, brothers in blue, to massive heart attacks. Both sudden and unexpected; both gone quickly. Perhaps a squad of centurions was needed, but it makes heavy on the hearts of those left behind. Another friend of mine lost his wife's mother last week after a long illness, but in God's special way, their family was also blessed with a brand new baby daughter/granddaughter the next day. God does His work in mysterious, wonderous ways and the life he gives us always keeps us guessing. Bless you and your friends, and the grieving family. Go forth to make the Merriest Christmas you can! Best,

You know, I really hope Moebius gets that Hudson kit out soon, because the more discussion there is, the more kits I decide to buy. Before long, I'm gonna have to add on to the garage to hold them all! Did I ever mention my grandfather had a Hornet police car in the early 50's when he was 'on the job'? Yep, another project!! C'mon, Hornet!

Great chassis going there. And those wheels and tires are spectacular!

Uhhhh .... you forgot the windshield!

Gee, $2500 isn't such a bad deal for an original, undocumented Debris GT. It's in "minefield" condition! Be afwaid, very afwaid!

While you're at it with those wheels, you ought to open up the slots. It would make a world of difference!

Sweet. Love Corvairs; too bad not enough people did ... when it counted. Nader has long been on my adam henry list for what he did ... just goes to show how gullible many people can be. Thanks for sharing a nice build and nice reason for building it.

Neat idea, well executed. Good job.

This dio just keeps getting better and better! Dropping in from time to time is pure pleasure. Thanks, Cranks! Well, now. That's interesting. Double post. Guess I stutter-typed it.

This dio just keeps getting better and better! Dropping in from time to time is pure pleasure. Thanks, Cranks!

Outstanding dio work! Looking forward to seeing more as it develops. Thanks for coming on board and showing it to us.

Welcome aboard, Phillip. Nice builds! Great transition from wingy-things to wheely-things.

Wow. Very informative builds and tutorials. Thanks!!

That seems to be correct. It's a temporary shortage everywhere in the U.S. Maybe Santa will bring a sleighload from the North Pole next week!

And another nicely executed build, Dave!

Another great showrod build, Dave! Home run.

The Cosma Ray kit by MPC (kit# 505-200) was issued once and only once, in early 1967 or late 1966. It has never been reissued, and sealed, complete, unbuilt kits generally sell for around $200-$300 when you can find them. That's why the Cosma Ray kit is not well known; it truly is * RARE *. I've never heard an explanation as to why the Cosma Ray kit was never reissued, but an interesting thing about the Cosma Ray might explain it. The Cosma Ray was designed and built by Darryl Starbird. The Cosma Ray was the first custom to win the so-called Triple Crown ~ three major custom car shows in the USA in one year. At the time, Starbird was under contract to Monogram models as a consultant to design and develop kits. For some reason, Monogram apparently wasn't interested in kitting the Cosma Ray. However, the Cosma Ray's owner sold the car to George Barris, who was under contract to AMT as a design and development consultant. MPC was another model manufacturer, closely tied to and eventually obtained by AMT. While Barris owned the Cosma Ray, he began claiming he designed and built the Cosma Ray. MPC developed and released the Cosma Ray kit. But it is interesting to note that nowhere in the box art, instructions or promotional material surrounding the kit does it mention or credit its designer/builder, contrary to customary practice at the time. It may be that MPC invested the time and money in developing the kit based on Barris' representations (the model has tiny Barris Kustoms emblems on its front fenders) but fear of potential litigation caused the absence of any designer/builder credit and may have led to the decision to release only one run. Throughout my research of the 1:1 Cosma Ray and of the history of the model kit, I've never found any definitive evidence to prove or disprove that legendary story, nor have I found any other credible information as to why the Cosma Ray kit was issued by someone other than Monogram, why Darryl Starbird was not credited by MPC as its creator, and why the kit was never reissued. Regardless, last year Arizona's 'Master Caster' Greg Wann created a resin reproduction of the Cosma Ray. His kit is amazing! Accurate parts, even the delicate parts that build into working suspension; flawless clear bubble top; immaculate fine white resin body; absence of voids or pinholes; scale fidelity; excellent replication of all parts; it's all there in Greg's Cosma Ray kit. The best part is, unlike the original MPC kit, it is readily available at a fraction of the rare kit's usual cost. I'm nearing completion of my first Cosma Ray build, and I can tell you Greg's kit is a delight to work with. I'll post additional pix of the buildup once it's done.

Yes! That's nice.

Thanks, Aaron. Looks like all he has is a single seat, two door day cab. I'm looking for a 4 door, 4 man cab. Appreciate the reference, though. Best,