robdebie

Now with a photo. The folded box measures 70x30 mm. Rob

I think I saw the same Ebay auction, a few months ago. You could maybe find them on Ebay as 'completed items', or on Worthpoint, that saves all sold Ebay auctions. I just tried, but I cannot find the magic set of search terms. The auction inspired me to try to do it myself. I scanned the five printed sides of two boxes, pasted the scans together, and had it printed on heavy paper in a copy shop. It worked well! Rob

Jon and Chad, Thank you for your comments too. Rob

I like that idea of making a tribute display at a show. I've never seen that done at any show I attended. That members page is great, with excellent photography (by you ?). For our club, that's a bridge too far, we're not that organized. But with a little work, we could make a tribute, using the photos made during regular club meetings. Your club is really well organized, wow.. I'll save that idea for later. Rob

I'm a member of an IPMS-NL chapter that has monthly meetings with 30-35 members. All in all, we're having good fun. But there's one thing we're not prepared for: members that pass away. We've had only one death in the last 15-20 years, which is amazing, but this cannot go on forever. We share the feeling that we should prepare ourselves, with some kind of protocol. In a few days, we'll have a meeting on that subject. We want to discuss in which ways we can help the families, dealing with collections of built, unbuilt and partially built models, plus paint, tools, decals, books, etc. At the same time, we cannot overload the club with large collections that take months or years to offload. Plus: how to remember former members, what kind of tribute is suited. We would like to learn from others, therefore the question: how does your club deal with members passing away? Any ideas or experiences will help us. Thanks in advance! Rob

Or 13$ on Ebay, in a water-damaged box: https://www.ebay.com/itm/115731789767 Rob

There's an identical kit for sale (from a US seller) for just 10$ on Scalemates: https://www.scalemates.com/nl/kits/monogram-2792-mac-tools-planters-buick-lola-indy-car--176404 You'll have to subscribe before you can contact the seller. Rob

I can heartily recommend MRP (Mr Paint). It's an acylic lacquer, very thin, ready for use. I was never happy with my painting results until I found this paint. Here are three examples: There's no overview of all ~400 colors on their own site, so I made one myself: https://robdebie.home.xs4all.nl/models/mrp-list-all.htm You can also view the 'American colors' only list. I count 96 colors in that range. Rob

Here's my system. My collection of Evergreen, Slaters and Plastruct bags with strip and rod drove me nuts. I could never find the size I was looking for. I solved that problem a few years ago. I used plastic sleeves that are used to put documents in a folder. I used a temperature-controled soldering iron set at 225C to make (say) ten vertical pockets in each sleeve. I made around ten sleeves, and put them together in a paper folder. And then I filled nearly all 100 pockets with all my strip and rod and profiles and metal wire and Albion tubing. I even made small stickers with the dimensions of the content of each pocket. All in all it was a couple of hours work. But it works really well. Every time that I used it ever since made me very happy. Rob

If you have an ultrasonic cleaner, try the cleaning agents mentioned by others in that bath, or in a separate container in that bath. The cleaning power is multiplied many times by the ultrasonic action. Rob

I maintain a 'visible engine' kit list: https://robdebie.home.xs4all.nl/models/visible-engines.htm The slant six is pretty nice once built, but's a rough kit. A club member built one, or better rebuilt one, he bought it half done. It's rare, never reissued since the mid-sixties. Rob

Maybe I should have asked first how rare 1967–1976 Dodge Darts are as hobby cars? It seems no one here has one.. In the mean time, I watched a few restoration videos on YouTube, and here's my best guess of the rocker panel layout. I only need the two dimensions indicated: This is probably what I want to model, the bare chassis, maybe with a separate engine: Any suggestions are welcome! For example, is there a Chrysler car forum where I can launch my question? Rob

Bill and Trevor, thanks for the kind comments. In the mean time I found a six page article on the Chrysler kit car in 'Stock car model kit encyclopedia and price guide'. It contains some interesting details of the slightly troubled history of both the real thing and the scale models. But nothing on the chassis - it's a classic full body build. The research continues! Rob

I want to build an AMT 'Chrysler kit car' model as a chassis only, less sheet metal, just like you could order back then. I'm slowly understanding the real kit car, and what AMT made of it. One of the lessons learned is that the standard A-body rocker panels were used, as can be seen here (zoom in!) with one roll cage tube welded on top: https://libwww.freelibrary.org/digital/item/zoom/45220 What I cannot find on the internet are the cross section dimensions of the rocker panels - the width and height. I'm guessing roughly 6 x 6 inches. But maybe someone here owns the real thing, and can measure it? Thanks in advance! Rob

I'm slowly learning more about the Chrysler kit car chassis. What I called 'cabin section beams' are most likely standard rocker panels. In this great photo (zoom in) you can see the typical rocker panel shape, with a recess for the door's lower edge: https://libwww.freelibrary.org/digital/item/zoom/45220 I think the lower tubes of the side protection of the roll cage are already welded in / on, on both sides. One problem is that nearly every chassis photo shows something different. For example, these tubes are missing on this chassis: http://www.moparchat.com/forums/817679-post93.html The distance between the model's chassis rocker panels is too small, roughly by the same amount as the rear clip, some 4-5 mm. The position of the partial rocker panels on the body appears to be spot on. I'm starting to consider to widen the whole thing. The roll hoop would then also fit better. Rob

Bill, thanks for your comments! I'm apparently not very good at eyeballing sizes ? Hence my search for numbers. I had found the first link too, but the second requires a Facebook login, which I won't do. It would be a great place to ask my questions though.. Thanks for the Ebay tip! I found the issue, and I think it shows a very early (first ?) prototype of the 'kit car'. The end product looked quite a bit different, and I even think there were different generations. I still have to sort out the history. Rob

I always mix two-part epoxy putties by squashing the components with a blade knife, a few times, until they are mixed nicely. I would recommend to minimize skin contact, since epoxies are known to cause allergic reactions with maybe 10% of people. Kneading with your bare fingers doesn't sound like a good idea to me, in the long term. Rob

I have the one of AMT's Chrysler kit car models (this one: https://www.scalemates.com/kits/amt-ertl-30271-dodge-dart-kit-car--1068943), but without a body. That made me consider building it as a bare frame, less the sheet metal, one of four order options back then. I've studied the old brochures, and I think the idea could work. However, the chassis itself looks a bit anemic to me, especially the cabin part, and maybe the engine bay part too. The rear part looks good to my eye, but needs filling of the inverted top hat section. I made photos of the three sections: The nose clip chassis beams, scaled to 1:1, are 3.3" tall and 2.3" wide. The cabin section beams are 3.3" tall and ~2" wide. The rear section has beams that are 4.8" tall and 3.3" wide (5.2" including flanges) at their front side. The width tapers to 2.6" at the rear. Is there any way to figure out the correct sizes, or the approximate sizes, of those chassis members? Also, is the K-member open on the lower side, or is there another piece of thick sheet metal there? Thanks in advance! Rob

There are companies providing that service, but I only know the ones on the east side of the Atlantic: https://www.graingeandhodder.co.uk/ https://www.photofab.co.uk/ http://www.photo-etch.co.uk https://www.ppdltd.com/ https://www.saemann-aetztechnik.de/ https://sites.google.com/site/tinyland/ I'm pretty sure there are many more, especially in Eastern Europe. Rob

Last weekend I went to Euro Scale Modeling in Houten, The Netherlands. To my surprise a (relatively) new manufacturer was present: Wicked Model Cars. They have issued two 1/24 scale Hypercar models so far: Peugeot 9X8 Porsche 963 LMDh All parts are 3D printed, and looked great. Pricing is reasonable I think, slightly below LMM / Profil 24 I think. They also have a fairly large range of slot car models. https://www.wickedmodelcars.com Rob

Not a straight answer to your question, but still a solution: with the technique shown in the video link below, I learned how to paint a body super smooth without orange peel in one go. No sanding between coats required. The Paasche H (or equivalent) is essential I believe, it doesn't work with a more sophisticated airbrush. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCKZ_fo4eW0 Here are some test parts that I painted with various brands of enamel paint. Rob

To mention the obvious: have them 3D printed? I designed two sets of louvers for the Lancia LC2 race car. My designs were too thin, so they came out crooked, but you can see the potential. Rob

Les, Dave and Gerry: if anyone of you guys could take some pictures of these boat kits, I would be a very happy modeler! Thanks in advance. Rob

Based on the above, I decided to change the ellipse on the front side by taking off 5-6 mm on the lower side. I removed the sheet of plastic card that I glued on earlier, modified the plastic card bulkheads, and glued on a new piece of plastic card. Two more large pieces of sheet were glued on the bottom of the tank, and it was finally closed. I still need to change the curvature of the front bulkhead. The decrease in height towards the front can be seen here. I will admit the effect is fairly subtle. On the rear side, I made a 17 degree canted cut, and glued on another piece of plastic card. The rear bulkhead will need more more work, since it is bulged on the real thing. Next is an extensive round of adding filler. Rob

That is excellent news! I had wanted to mention that I did not look into the history of that trailer. This could be the bit of information I was looking for! Back to the drawing board. Rob