echoxrayniner

@1972coronet: Thanks! I have considered it a few times, lord knows I've gotten most the states covered for one year or another by now, but I keep hitting the crossroads of "should I do every plate from a state across the years or should I do every plate of a year/period from X to Y", reckon I might be doing the Bicentennial Plates for certain though given I've gotten most of those done. Guess in the end it depends on which plates people want the most! And a small update before the Christmas/New Years pause rolls around, got the first of the two Denimachines finished. I haven't got a friggin' clue how well the fit is for the main flame decals but we'll find out soon enough. Now I gotta do the stitching, the main Denimachine logo and the sponsor list for the US version, here we go. On top of that, I'm buying the '72 Ranchero resin kit from Motor City Resin any day now to give myself a in on the '72-'73 Torinos for decal sheets as well as having a Ranchero kit to build cause lawdy they're a sexy bunch of cars - did do the '76 and '79 GTs. Currently also actively working on the '73 and '75 El Camino SS, the '78 Black Knight and a re-do of the '78 Royal Knight with engine decals, dash, so forth. 1977 Ford Econoline 150 "Denimachine" - Canadian Edition: 1976 Ford Ranchero GT: 1979 Ford Ranchero GT:

@DoctorLarry: You mean just have the red inner stripe in yellow, sort of like this? Anything's possible! And don't mean to bankrupt ya' hah, can't help it, especially with your resin bodies in the world! @Merkur XR4Ti: I've actually got that one on my to-do list, along with the '72 Ranchero GT(both color fade and over the fender stripe versions, the colors folks can just ask for as any color is possible) - the only issue I have is matching it to the Jo-Han and/or Motor City Resin '72 Torino body. Unless I feel like chalking up 50 bucks for a NASCAR kit I'd never build just to get in the neighborhood. Anyone got one of those kits lying around they could perhaps do some side-body shots of? I'd love to do the Torino line through the seventies along with the Rancheros, already got the groundwork for the '70 GT, Cobra and King Cobra. Also I've been working on the Denimachine for the past entire two days, holy mother of God it's a ton of work. Apparently Hot Rod Mag did two versions as well, one for Canada and one for the USA which have subtle yet big differences, to name a few that are being a right pain in the rear; the stitch effect is completely different on both versions, one has rivets and one doesn't, the stitching pattern and locations are different as are the flames, the credits on the sliding door, the friggin' Denimachine logos themselves are different, so forth. So I've resorted to doing four versions of the Denimachine(and I'm swamped with work, both on this and at my actual work, plus Christmas, go figure). Both the USA and Canadian versions in their respective E150 Custom size and the AMT E150 Chateau short-frame version for both as well. I'm already hand-crafting the whole stitching effect and most the flame effects, so shortening it all for the short frame isn't too much extra work. Once those are done, it's back to the seventies muscle cars and the handful of custom requests I've had piling up due to my inability to sort and time stuff out properly. Did manage to get a few more sheets done in the past week, specifically one for the recently re-released AMT Monaco, did the Brougham and the Brougham 2-door. 1978 Dodge Monaco Brougham: 1978 Dodge Monaco Brougham 2-door/Coupe: It's 1AM, but its weekend so back to work!

They helped a bit actually, the trunk spoiler stripe as well as the license plate surround was a bit of a guess on my end using a ton of pictures from for sale Can Ams as well as using some vaguely similar model kits. Also I figured I'd include both the thick outline and thin outline Can Am logos given they might be a bit hard to spot, cause why not just add both. Also both 6.6 LITRE and T/A 6.6 shaker decals, the chrome door and rear fender trim and LeMans Super Coupe emblems for completions' sake. 1977 Pontiac LeMans Can Am:

Ahh, I only had some horrible pictures and that one particular Ford ad from 1981 to work with on which they all looked white, but of course - metallic silver tends to look white when reflecting light, hah - fixed it! As for the other color schemes, I just run the preview in one color, I can print 'em in just about any shade desired. On top of that, I am working on the normal version for the lack of a better term that fits the regular F150 and flareside trucks with both lengths on there at once - just awaiting the Monogram kit to get here so I can get it designed proper, always hard to work with rounded angles. Right now if you'd like! I based 'em on both the '75 Cutlass and the '73 Grand Am pictures you provided so I'm not 100% certain they fit absolutely perfectly, but I got a good feeling about it. I'm working on the '77 Can Am at the moment, down to the little stripes on the wing mirrors. Awh man... Well I've gotten enough source material plus a Ford Econoline kit to actually do the decals for the Denimachine. Decided I'd just do the white flames as a decal, I think that would be the nicest middle ground in terms of the body, otherwise folks would have to match two paints to the print. On top of the '77 Chevy G20 "Wild Cherry" van I'm doing, it'll be a whole, whole lot of work to replicate the Denimachine but I reckon it'll be a fun one to apply in the end.

Man that Charger is gorgeous! Also I've finally gotten around to delving into 3D printing and resin casting spare parts/improved parts, on top of trying to re-learn friggin' 3D CAD. Between that and massive amounts of work I've been trying to squeeze out some designs - the Pontiac A-bodies are finally getting their turn. As well as something I have no idea why I've fallen in love with; the dingy, forgotten Plymouth Scamp and Dodge Ramcharger, you know - that thing based on the new Charger L-body. I've been working on getting a bed designed, as well as an elongated frame to work with... I know I could use my time in far better ways, on far better cars but I don't quite know why this thing has grabbed me the way it did. I'm doing literally every livery the thing came in as well as scratch-designing the bed. 1981 Ford Bronco Free Wheelin': 1981 Ford Bronco XLS "Lion in Winter" Prototype: 1982 Plymouth Scamp GT: 1983 Plymouth Scamp GT: 1973 Pontiac LeMans GTO(thanks to @DoctorLarry): 1973 Pontiac LeMans "Formula X" Prototype: 1973 Pontiac LeMans GT Sport Coupe:

Man, I'd been printing Freewheeling decal sets one after another for folks for the '78-'79 F-150 and Bronco kits and I couldn't help but feel that I really wanted to do one myself, but couldn't cause 1/25th scale Broncos are unimaginably rare. So, in lieu of a MPC/AMT Bronco - the Revell/Monogram one will have to do and fortunately Ford gave the Freewheeling sticker-palooza one last go with the 1981 Bronco and it was just a vertical color fade instead of a horizontal one but alas, I still like it and it gave me reason to touch the horribly warped to all hell kit I had sitting under a pile of other kits for like a year and a half. I might just wire the thing up, I haven't a clue yet - just wanna get the body and the interior in order first - that being said though, the removable top had been squished in the parts baggie and even after a bunch of massaging and hot water, it only got close to sitting flush. After a brief moment of dispair, I just superglued the thing to the bed and shrugged, followed by a bunch of deep black paint. The top might be slightly positioned inwards but what the hell, at least the decals sit neatly! Now onto the front fascia and tailgate clutter like the spare tire and whatnot.

Ah balls I always forget the registration stickers only go on one plate for California! Appreciated!

Holy moly this topic is something special to wade through, not gonna lie. My 2 cents, I genuinely hope one day sooner rather than later our hobby gets revamped, retooled and reinvigorated via the fast encroaching new affordable means to manhandle plastic into the shapes we like 'em to be. 'til then the billioneth re-release of X will have to do along with the occasional new tool kit from the American kit manufacturers. I'm knee deep in 3D printing and CAD myself and got high hopes for what that'll bring us when it becomes even more commercial than it already is, and all the stuff Ace Garage Guy posted honestly is nothing short of truly fascinating, amazing stuff. But seriously though, buddy, these kinds of topics... I cant tell you to stop but man, its like you enjoy getting your soap box kicked out from underneath you every single time, this is what, the 7th in like 6 months?

Small update, finished a bunch of the Charger sheets for the Revell kits, left pretty much all the emblems for the similar year models on each sheet, reckon folks like having extras/spares/etc. Still gotta do the Coronet R/T and Super Bees, the Daytonas, then onwards to the L-body Chargers and finally the Fury body Chargers. In the meantime, I'm still working on the many mid-seventies GMs like the '73 LeMans GTO, '75 Laguna S3, '76 Cutlass 442 and so forth(thanks to DoctorLarry!). And also the gargantuan amount of emblems for the S-10/S-15/Jimmy series, the Dodge Ram series for the 1980s onwards and Adventurer series for the 1970s kits. And the '81 Bronco Freewheeling for the Revell/Monogram Bronco, just to finish the set and cause I love that Bronco kit. Also quick question, did they lower the side marker light on the Dodge Charger kit? I compared the stripes for the '70 and '69 and the side markers sit at a fair bit higher for some reason even though from my half-fried brain's view it looks like they sit identically high. Either way I just left the position the same from the 1970 design down to the '69, if it turns out to be wrong I'll just correct it quickly. Anyway! 1969 Dodge Charger R/T: 1969 Dodge Charger 500: 1969 Dodge Charger 440 "Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry" with extra engine call-outs(to join the Gone in 60 Seconds '71 Charger): 1970 Dodge Charger R/T 440: 1970 Dodge Charger R/T HEMI: 1970 Dodge Charger C-Stripe/Pinstripe: 1980 Ford Pinto Wagon "Squire"(tribute): Besides the one random Ford Pinto... This one's for the MOPAR lovers I suppose! Edit: Coming to think of it, I should just begin making a sheet with license plates per state - I just noticed I friggin' near got every plate and state from 1969 through 1985 covered. Reckon anyone'd be interested?

Right so since I'm away from my PC for a few days during the weekend(this month's been a busy one with a lot less PC time), gives me some time to come up with more ideas(even though I'm encroaching on 400 unique sets), the Charger should be a easy one for me to pull off, though if someone has a scan of the '70 Charger sheet to well, to put it bluntly, more or less copy off - can't argue with something that's 95% correct, would just need to add a notch to it. For the Chargers/Coronets here's what I've got planned down the line; 1969 Dodge Coronet R/T 1969 Dodge Coronet Super Bee 1969 Dodge Charger 500 1969 Dodge Charger R/T 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona - Keith Black(with LA Orange County Dodge Dealership logos) 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona - Keith Black(advertiser free) 1970 Dodge Charger R/T - Door Pinstripes 1970 Dodge Charger R/T - 440 & HEMI call-outs 1971 Dodge Charger R/T 1971 Dodge Charger Super Bee 1976 Dodge Charger Sport(the rare as hell Coronet/Fury-based one) 1976 Dodge Charger Sport Custom 1984 Dodge Shelby Charger 1987 Dodge Shelby Charger 1987 Dodge Shelby Charger GLHS

Some side shots of the Can Am, LeMans and Grand Am with a ruler would be legendary - would literally allow me to nail it rather than vaguely work via similarly shaped Chevy's and Olds'. Also I've got this plan in mind to 3D model the rear valance(with the tail lights), a set of front fenders and a engine bay(albeit rough) to compliment the NASCAR kit so we can at least transform the Laguna S3 into a stock vehicle without too much hand-crafty works. Got a 3D printer on hand, just need to get to doing the 3D CAD work. @Geno & @Mr mopar: Certainly can, added doing the '69 Charger R/T, 500 & Daytona to the list(along with Keith Black's Daytona) to the list so I've been doing a fair bit of tail-end wrap-around stripes. I've got the Monogram Super Bee already so the moment I get to it making that sheet won't be any trouble at all. Thanks for the idea, actually! Wish Hart's Parts wasn't literally only shipping to the US and Canada so I could also get in on making an R/T but... yeah, never gonna happen unless he goes worldwide. Also, some updates and minor updates aside: I've had a birthday weekend so I've been away for the most part, with some computer time here and there. And orders have been piling up a bit in the meantime, especially since last week. I'm awaiting my paycheck to literally be able to afford to get everything send off to print, that's how many people I've got awaiting their stuff at the moment. So if you get a message/email sometime this week asking me to pay even though I don't actually have the physical print in hand yet, I apologize - it's getting nuts and need advance payments to see all of it being printed. Anyway: 1999 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am 30th Anniversary Edition: 1969 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am: 1970 Pontiac GTO "The Judge" Rally Stripes(1970 D98 option): 1978 Ford Mustang II King Cobra(I worked a stupendous amount of time on this, my God): 1991 GMC Syclone Marlboro Edition(revamped):

Do you perchance have some side shots of those? They'd make an excellent canvas to work from! Not to mention they literally all are subjects for like 14 sheets I'm trying to do haha

Thanks man! Normally, especially with blacks and whatnot I still do use enamel paints like a dolt, if not to just go through the absolutely idiotic amount of enamel paints I got left. But on this one I used a paint can, been using 'em more often lately to save some time and they come out a hell of a lot better that way, but just happened to have this color sitting around anyway from a old Pontiac Firebird build from a while ago.

Absolutely, just drop me a message!

Nope, just applied 'em as they were - designed them to fit the seats and doors without much hassle. And thanks! Thanks man! I saw it built prior as white with gold stripes and I initially wanted to build it as one I spotted on Google with the same yellow and interior, just had a wide hood stripe and Plymouth call outs on the rear fenders, liked the cleaner look a bit better in the end. That and I desperately wanted to put on vector wheels, just couldn't bring myself to spend 20$ plus 23$ shipping for a Charger with the vectors in there. I realized after it all that I missed the little bits of woodgrain on the dashboard(even though I did do the panel above the gearstick) and above the glovebox, but alas those I'll just add to the sheet later on. Still though, I dunno what it is about the near random beige-to-yellow stripes on the interior but I absolutely love it. This is the decal sheet for those interested:

I'd been looking for one of those old MPC '75 Road Runner kits for years and never got lucky, until I scored, of all things, a sparkly, may-as-well-be new MPC promo from the same year in this nasty metallic brown. But was happy nonetheless, curbside or not, did have to absolutely shred the entire chassis apart to be able to replace the boredom inducing standard hubcap wheels cause of course promos have arguably the best rolling wheels axle set-up of anything. Replaced the ripped asunder metal axles with some Torino GT wheels, tires and wheel backings, also used the door mirrors from the same kit to at least give the model some mirrors, even if they don't match/fit. To make up for the lack of a engine I tried to give the interior some extra love, just couldn't get the seats out from the tub but ah well, still came out rather lovely. Used my own decal sheet for the whole shebang.

So thanks to Maindrian Pace the start into Bronco territory is beginning, the triple stripe is coming up next and afterwards I'm going into the 1980s generation with the one Free Wheelin' Bronco with the vertical sunset theme, as well as the XLS Bronco that was seen in the 1982 Lion in Winter Ford ad. Gotta admit, man, those F-150s were a bunch of work... The sunset one I had to mostly entirely by hand instead of a colored gradient, and the Speedway Package had a unique Ford font that was nearly impossible to mimic but I managed! Aside from that to ward off artist's block I did some random designs(while fighting the curves of Laguna S3 fenders that I basically have to scratch up from zilch cause why in the hell there isn't a stock variety of is beyond me and doing the near-impossible-to-guess-angle of Pontiac LeMans' & Can Ams) in the meantime. But the F-150 series from '78-'79 are covered at least! They're absolutely friggin' gargantuan, though - the smallest sheet is 8x16cm. I wanted to do the whole interior as well with the red covered dash bezel and the silver/red seats but I'm doing those a separate little sheet for those who really want it, it just would've become a 25$+ sheet due to sheer size alone. @Merkur XR4Ti: Thanks dude, it's been a busy... it's been nearly a year already, woof, time flies man! Anyway! 1978 Ford F-150 Free Wheelin'(Segmented stripes, posted again just to have them all together): 1979 Ford F-150 Free Wheelin'(Sunset): 1979 Ford F-150 Indy Pace Truck("Speedway Package"): 1979 Ford Bronco Free Wheelin'(Sunset): 1977 Plymouth Volare Roadrunner: 1976 Pontiac Firebird Formula 400: Woah... weird, on every license plate I made I now noticed I use atleast two of the same digits.

Yeah, those will absolutely do! Thanks man!

Ahh they're still silly expensive on eBay but at least a hell of a lot more affordable than anything, or I suppose I could wait for the Cruisin' Van re-release to hit the market which should be hopefully this year still. But on the other hand, I actually might have to take you up on your offer with the Bronco, if you could run a scan of it or some pictures of the body with a ruler or something that would be absolutely beautiful! I've gotten the Super Stones F-150 in the mail today so at least I can get started on doing those sheets, just finished one of the two Free Wheelin' pick-ups(the segmented/striped one) and working on the cab-over/door wrap with the smoother sunset graphics as we speak, which isn't too difficult all-in-all and fortunately I can keep most of the color designs for the Bronco as well! Next up, the aforementioned sunset stripes, the Indy Pace Truck(along with the Indy Pace Car Mustang) and afterwards the Bronco Free Wheelin' and the triple stripe Free Wheelin' Bronco as well. 1978 Ford F-150 Free Wheelin': @Dave Toups: I could, there's a handful of International Scout II sets I'd love to do, like the Bicentennial and oh man, the Rallye especially, so I've got reasons plenty to do them and those tailgate stripes. I'd have to score a Scout II kit for it though.

I've ordered my second Super Stones F-150 kit as the previous one just... never showed up, which is apparently gonna be here next friday so then I'll be able to start a gargantuan amount of F-150 sheets, like the '79 Freewheelin', '79 Indy Pace Truck, '79 Bronco Freewheelin' with the cab wrap and... it kinda goes on. Also, I've actually been trying to look for a Cruisin' Van to work with(those AMT vans are stupidly, ungodly expensive) to match the set of the Pintos, but one day perhaps. While I'm doing the '79 Indy Pace Truck F-150 I'm also doing the Indy Mustang in 1/24th and 1/25th, cause the colors and fonts are pretty much the same. On the other hand, the files I'm currently actually working on are the '75 Chevy Chevelle Laguna S-3, '77 Oldsmobile 442, '73 Pontiac LeMans GTO, '73 Pontiac LeMans Formula X(and the '73 Ventura and Firebird as well, seriously give Pontiac Formula X a Google, shame they didnt get put into production) and the '77 Pontiac Can Am - so a lot of A-body GM stuff for now, some AMC and Ford stuff in between but I'm primarily doing those first as they're similar enough to get 'em done rather quick. @Jordan White: The sheet will have pretty much every badge/emblem/etc for every S-10 and S-15/Sonoma from 1982 through 2004, since there's not a giant amount of difference and unique versions bar a few. Also holy balls of fire, is that Levis/Coke van for real? Good lord thats... extreme. I'd do a sheet of that thing in a heartbeat if I had a Econoline kit on hand. Also some updates to the sheet list of doom: 1975 Plymouth Road Runner: 2007 Ford Mustang GT "Warriors in Pink" Edition: 1974 AMC Javelin AMX(Horned Stripes): 1974 AMC Javelin AMX(T-Stripe): 1971 Plymouth 'Cuda Gran Coupe(V7 Stripes): 1978 Ford Pinto Cruising Wagon "Special Edition": 1970 Pontiac GTO: 1971 Pontiac GTO:

I found a cheap sale on the '71 Cuda Nash Bridges kit and thought why the hell not, I've messed up making a '71 Cuda twice before, lets see if the third's a charm. Used the recent gen. Challenger's Plum Crazy Purple color, Molotow chrome on the chrome bits(never, ever gonna use BMF anymore, goodness it's such good stuff) and one of the recently designed 'Cuda 440 decals I did. It's mostly, if not entirely box-stock though I did have to steal/rip/tear/surgically remove a 440 engine with part of the exhausts from a '69 Dodge Super Bee along with the wheels to make it pop a little bit more though I couldn't for the life of me change the intake manifold to fit the carbs so the shaker is simply glued to the hood along with the carbs stuck to the bottom - shortcuttin' to success. Also used the 'Cuda 440 PE parts I had left over, cause why not.

No you're totally right, all four of the tires have it one way or another, just one sadly had it on both sides so no way to hide it. This was one of those kits with at the time radically new vinyl tires, little Firestone S/S Radials that are genuinely kinda nice - if they hadn't dried up like a prune over the years, they were left in the box outside of the plastic wrapping so they dried up and cracked like glass the moment the rim went in. And thanks!

Thanks y'all! Didn't think the ugly duckling of the Mustangs would get a lot of love, but glad to see it did!

God this one was one of those old Mustang based kits from Revell where they basically did a nose swap, rear swap and some new wheels, didn't really bother much with the rest but still I figured it'd be nice to build the rarely seen Capri RS. Gotta admit, it kind of went together rather poorly, either due to the kit's age or the kit being designed in a meh way(the whole interior is literally devoid of detail), but I figured I'd whip up the factory stripes and emblems for it and give it a go. Did have to steal the louvers and the wing from a '79 Turbo Mustang kit to complete it, but alas.

Worked on it a bit more the other day, desperately working through the horror show suspension, which is nice and complicated but prone to bending, snapping, breaking with even the littlest amount of force applied. Think I gotta crank the rear end up a fair bit, make some little blocks for the suspension arms to stand on so the ride height goes up a bit cause it looks ****in' near a lowrider in the back by itself. Anyone who desires a set, just drop me a message! No problemo!