MrBuick

Thanks guys, that's what I thought...now time to paint and detail and see if I can get them looking a little more realistic.

So far eBay has been a pretty good source for me, as has this forum, and as have other kits I own. I probably get most of my spare parts on eBay...I can usually find something I want or very similar to what I want for pretty cheap...for me the trick has not been to search for the part I want, but to search for junk kits that contain the parts I want, or look for bulk sales (often called "lots" on eBay). I've bought 20 sets of miscellaneous tires (80 tires) for like $25+ shipping...for me that was an acceptable and good deal, and I'd consider that cheap...for others, they'd say I'm a "sucker" and would have never paid that much themselves, so it all boils down to what you want and what you're willing to pay (if anything). I always look at it as, I can easily earn money, and I can't easily scrap-build a lot of the parts I want (at least, not yet). I've also had good luck trading with other members too, but usually you have to have something you're willing to trade that someone else wants.

How is the quality of ARII kits? I'm not a huge stickler for 100% body accuracy, but just overall general quality...fit/finish, etc. Specifically I'm looking at the '58 Cadillac ElDorado Biarritz.

I'd go with the scallops as well, I think it'd fit the style better....also, what body/kit are you using for this? I'm liking the look so far!

These are from the Revell 32 Ford Sedan kit...should the front and rear spokes line up like this... ...or be staggered, like this? From looking at a 1:1 picture, it looks to me that they should be staggered, like in the second picture...can anyone confirm?

I feel the same as most...as a general rule of politeness you probably shouldn't post your build in someone else's thread unless they asked for advice and you're showing an example. I've seen it happen more in the "In Progress" section, where someone starts a topic of a build they're starting/working on and someone else comes along and says "I built that" and posts a few pictures. It's really not a HUGE deal, but is a little tacky. It's easy enough for threads to get unintentionally sidetracked without having people deliberately trying to make it about themselves.

That's so cool!

Or just glue them in place leave them untouched!

Awesome tip, I just picked some up and tried it...works great! Thanks Snake!

http://www.b-n-lresins.com/shoppingopencart/nitrous-bottle-model-N.O.S.-nos-with-Decal

So, I decided to do a little practicing with some modeling putty. I had a spare hood from a '68 Corvette sitting around that had a very recessed part because a hole was supposed to be cut in the hood for a blower. I decided to fill it, because I've done plenty of body work with putty but never really any large areas, and I've got another build that I actually need to do something similar on...anyway, I figured I'd get a little practice in first and I'm glad I did. I guess what happened is I used too much putty at once, and when it started to harden, it sucked the thin plastic area from the hood that was meant to be trimmed away into it instead of just filling the gap...it makes complete sense, I just never really thought about this happening. The more you know.........

Great trade with thatz4u, will trade again!

That's too bad...I've been thinking about subscribing as a way to support the forum (and I'm sure there's a lot of good information that I could benefit from). I hope they get the issues resolved soon, at least for existing subscribers. If a decision-maker from MCM happens to read this, I'll make this suggestion again. I think it would be worth looking into what would be needed to offer a digital subscription. I think there should be minimal cost to do so considering you must already have a digital version before it goes to the printer, and you could offer like a $5 or so annual discount to encourage people to get the digital version (no printing, shipping, packaging costs, so the discount would pay for itself), and it'd be a way to expand your subscriber base to the newer "digital" generations, or those of us who don't want to store stacks of old magazines in the basement. I know there are a lot of "I prefer the paper in my hands" guys out there, but I think there are also a lot of us who prefer digital versions, for a variety of reasons.

Wow, I hope my stock GSX comes out looking half this good...I'm putting it off because of the hood. Seems to be it would have been easier to do the entire black area as a decal...I'm worried that the yellow decal won't match the paint and that my masking to lay the black won't get clean enough lines....still need to practice that.

Great build! The paint is beautiful. I'm not usually a big fan of fender skirts, but I dig 'em on this!

Wow...."Oh, here, pay $30k+ for a car and you can drive it, but if you want to do anything to it, even maintenance, you need to have us do that for you...and you have to pay us more. If you try to do anything yourself, even if you change the transmission fluid and then the cooling system develops a leak, we're not going to honor the warranty."

Your site says that one (Maverick) is coming back soon...I'm completely ignorant about casting and what's required, how long it takes, etc, but if you're waiting on interest to pick up for that kit, I'd certainly order one providing the cost is in keeping with most of your other kits. Any insight on when those might come available?

LOL! Really? Well I hope that sensor doesn't quit working.

Okay, I'll bite....so? That doesn't automatically make a company any better or worse than any other company, or immune to complaints and from wrong-doings. Example: There's a barber shop less than a mile from my house. I've been there once and will never go again. His Facebook page and shop are both littered with Bible verses, "pray for this person's", crosses hanging on the wall etc, but the guy is a total jerk to his customers. The one time I was there I witnessed him literally scream at two customers in a 15 minute window...one was because her kid got a handful of candy from one of those quarter, turn-the-knob machines and he dropped some of it on the floor (I can see how that's annoying, but yelling is not the way to handle it, and the mother was cleaning it up as he started yelling at her anyway), the other was because somebody came in like 20 minutes before closing and he told him "we're closed" and he said, "I thought you didn't close until 6:30, can I not still get a haircut?" He [the owner] then proceeded to berate the customer about how "only an a-hole would come into a business that close to closing time and expect service." There's also a review on his Facebook page that turned into a hateful argument between him and another customer for pretty much the exact same thing when another employee was working. If he doesn't want to cut hair past 6:30, that's fine...but maybe he should "close" at 5 or 5:30 so he can be done by 6:30 instead of screaming like an idiot when someone dares to come in during business hours. As I was paying I told him I wouldn't be coming back because of the way he disrespectfully treats his customers...he said "like I give a 'expletive', we don't want customers like you anyway." The guy may be a Christian, and he may have just been having a bad day, but that's not an excuse. From what I've seen, Christian or not, he's simply not a decent person, and he sure doesn't seem to be embracing the Christian lifestyle.

That doesn't surprise me...I've got a buddy who tows for AAA who said they're pretty common for him as well (though he says they're far from the numbers of Honda's, Toyota's, Ford's, Chevy's and other, lower-cost and more common brands). I think it has more to do with the electronics than the cars themselves being unreliable. Mechanically, most newer cars are very reliable (there are exceptions) and can probably last hundreds of thousands of miles if properly maintained, but there are so many electronics and gizmo's in modern cars that they seem to commonly start having issues around the 8-10 year mark, and the electronics sometimes don't last as long as the mechanical parts. Most of the time it's not even a major issue and can frequently just be ignored if you're willing to deal with an idiot light, but a little sensor can just as easily render the car inoperable or unsafe and cost a grand to fix. My sister owns a 2009 Altima. It's been a great car for her, it's mechanically sound, and she loves it. Recently however, there was a steering lock sensor that failed, which apparently is fairly common on this model\year combination. She couldn't even start the car because of it, and it just had to happen when she was in town with her 1-year-old son. So, she had it towed to a dealership and fixed there. 1000-something dollars later, it was fixed. On the whole, that's not a huge deal, because she's only had a few other issues with it and those happened when it was still under warranty, so 1000 in non-maintenance repairs on a 7 year old car isn't bad, but it was certainly unexpected, and it was just a stupid sensor. Nothing was actually wrong with the car. The most frustrating thing is the issue is common enough for Nissan to recognize it and extend the warranty on all 2009's by 6 years for this problem instead of issuing a recall (with would undoubtedly cost them more), but she fell just short of that warranty extension...as far as I know, she's still fighting with them over trying to get them to cover it anyway. But, I figure the more gadgets and gizmo's a car has, the more likely some stupid, small, expensive repair is going to be needed, many of which the DIY home 'mechanic' won't be able to easily\quickly\not willing to fix (that's one reason I'm willing to sacrifice the cookie-cutter creature comforts and drive older vehicles). With the brands you listed all being luxury cars, they're packed to the gills with electronics, so I'm not shocked that they're commonly towed.

http://jimmyflintstonestudios.com/?product=nb88-1955-57-chevy-panel-delivery http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jimmy-Flintstone-55-57-Chevy-Panel-Delivery-Resin-Body-88-/200691330643 Not sure if this would be easy to convert to a sedan delivery or not.

I volunteer at a few different local animal shelters. Most of the animals that come in that I see were simply found wondering without identification or were simply not wanted, which is sad enough. But a few times a month I'll see a dog (usually) that has been grossly neglected or abused...it sickens me greatly. I'd like to get ahold of the people who did it to the animal and share with them the same amount of love and respect...it'd be nice if you could chain those people up in an abandoned lot without access to food or water for a few days.

When it comes to getting stuff locally in my area, Hobby Lobby is about the best place to go. There are a few hobby shops, but they're pretty much 90% RC stuff and carry less than HL in the way of modeling supplies and kits.

Thanks for the suggestions guys...I'll try to see if I can make it look a little more like a 1:1 and if it's too much work I'll look at getting either a parts pack engine or a BNL engine.

'35 Buick Coupe '47 Buick Roadmaster '49 Cadillac Coupe Deville '53 Buick Skylark '56 Buick Special '66 Pontiac Bonneville Hurst Wagon '68-'69 Chevelle Wagon '68-'69 Barracuda (modern tool with more detail) '69 Buick Sport Wagon '71-'72 Chevelle, Chevelle Wagon, El Camino '72 Barracuda