coopdad

Fourfourty, I ran across a guy this morning that was using those electric "tea" lights found at Craft Stores. He takes them apart and, depending on where the light will go, add some length to the wire coming off the LED. He also mentioned using blinking necklaces found in Toy sections of crafts stores. John

Man, that it too bad about the kit. I have been waiting for this kit for years. John

When they go "public" will they send me a check since technically I own part of GM now? In the mean time, I want a silver company car to drive... make it a Vette! John

Caine and others, I originally did print them onto decal paper but because it is so thin I just left them on the paper. You could probably print them on any paper but would think the best detail would come fom that glossy, high end photo paper. I found the photo of the lights in Google images. John

I had pretty good luck printing out real headlights and sticking them into the headlight holes... Good luck, John

Great job so far (for a Chevy ), Seriously, keep posting pix as you build. Awesome work. Hey, were did you get your seat? John

A few updates... the ends: The grill on the real truck and the toy are VERY different so I pretty much had to totally hand build it. The only thing I was able to use was the strip across the center with the F O R D on it: To the rear: And of course there is no tailgate... built the area where gas tanks will go: John

LOL Still, post pix! And there is nothing wrong with mild. John

Mustanglover1951, when I originally put the flares on I hadn't notice how high they really were on the real truck. So yes, now I think it will be too obvious to leave so I am raising them up right now. 84Vanagon, yes, hard to believe nobody has made one. I heard rumors Tamiya was going to make one as they were spotted at a show last year measuring and photographing a Bronco but it turned out to be an RC version that should be coming out, well, now. The Gay Toys is surprisingly accurate (all except that darn grill. Luckily Oly has a different one.) Again, thanks for the comments. John

Gang, I thought I would start posting the WIP I am in the process of building. Read on and find out why this is going to take a while. I have always loved Broncos and racing so I thought I would combine both in one: "Big Oly." It was one of the first ground up, purpose-built vehicle for desert racing. Built by Bill Stroppe's shop, it went on to win the '71 and '72 Baja 1000s and a few others in the hands of Parnelli Jones. Since there are NO early Broncos kits other than a few resin bodies, I will have to scratch-build almost totally. I started with a plastic toy made in the 70's. It is almost exactly 1:24 scale. Here is my first and fourth attempt at casting the sides: Good enough to work with (hopefully). The real Bronco has been channeled and width reduced by 3". Luckily my miter saw blade scales out to very close to 3" scale inches so... The fender shapes and flares were no where near what the real truck has so I cut these out so styrene and superglued on: Then after A LOT of work sanding, shaping, filling, filing the flares look much closer... we will see after I get some primer on. I will try to post often. If anyone has questions feel free to ask. John

SoReal sells 44" Boggers and another Interco tire (SS I think) http://sorealconcepts.com/ Also, if you want to kitbash, I have a pretty big list of kits/tires out there: http://www.magazinepublisher.com/models/tires/tires.html Be sure to post pix as you build. John

Oh, Mike, you forgot that the Jag is British and if it is British, it WILL rust (no matter what it is made of!) Nice work Ben. What did you use for leaves/trash sitting at the bottom of the windshield? John

Have you cast anything before? I assume you haven't. It is not hard (but can be difficult to perfect). I am no expert but have cast a few parts. Check out this link: http://www.alumilite.com/HowTos/OnePieceMold.cfm While you are there, check out their other how to's. Wheels can be make using this "one part" mold. Tires probably should be made from a "two part" mold. Engines should probably be made the same way the original kit maker did... in many pieces that are glued together later. John

I too have been waiting and hoping for this kit to come out. Too bad about the windshield... it looks like a toy rather than a model. Oh well, it is better to have one that needs work than not having it at all. I seem to remember Triumphs having ugly hubcaps about that time (1970ish). Maybe the wheels are meant to look like them. Give this link a look for more GT6 photos (and information). John

I am not totally sure but I believe they now call the Simple Text software TextEdit. And the text stuff is built into the system... Go to the software's main pull down and look for "Services". Then select "Speech". It will have options to start speaking and stop. Not sure which softwares speech works in but I know it works in TextEdit. John

FujimiLover, Until now I have been using .1" rod (Evergreen #213) for my cages. It works well but is a little hard to bend often requiring heat. And is just a little large looking, especially for 1/25 models. But recently I found .093 TUBE (Evergreen #223). To me it looks a little more correct. And the big advantage, it is tube so it has a couple of advantages over rod: 1. it bends much easier 2a. it is so bendable that it will allow you to adjust the curve radius and location very easily. 2b. it holds its curve better. The rod would not stay at the desired radius, heating was often required to force it to stay. 2c. being a tube you can insert wire inside... this makes it hold exactly the curve with NO snap back. 3. it seems less breakable. The .1 rod always seemed to snap when making tight curves 4. and the wire inside the tube works great as locating pegs allowing you to drill holes in the floor and mount it exactly where you want it. There are disadvantages though. Because it flexes so well, the first hoop starts out very flimsy until you have a few bars in place... this is a little un-nerving to me knowing the cage will be correct... later. Assuming your project is 1/25/24 I would probably start with the bottom "square" and work up. It seems that everything branches off the bottom. Good luck and post the progress. John

Give The Parts Box a try. They are adding many offroad tires often. The tires are under the "wheels" link... look for 4x4. http://www.thepartsbox.com There should be something there that work. John

Great info. Thanks for the interesting history lesson. John p.s. congrats on the blue ribbon also!

Gasser, it will be held tomorrow at the Civic Coliseum in Knoxville. http://www.magazinepublisher.com/models/minicon2009.pdf I am going to try to make it but my den is also having their pinewood derby at noon. Everything seems to happen on the same weekends. Thanks all for the paint options. I have to go out tonight and will see what I can find at the local hobby store. John

Their paint might be over rated but their cars/trucks are aren't! I live on your side, the West side (Cedar Bluff area). Are you going to the model contest tomorrow? John

This is the cage I am building on a 1969 Bronco. I have been told is called "metallic blue" and was used a lot back then on racers back then. And yes, this racer was not built by Ford. Thanks for the info about Calypos Coral. John

There has got to be someone here that knows a lot about Ford paint from the 60's and 70's. I need to find paint to match Poppy Red, metallic blue, and Wimbledon White. Anyone know a source for these colors, preferably in spray cans? Thanks, John

Excuse my ignorance but I have a question about Alclad. Is it a "paint" or something else? I keep getting hearing problems, special handling, coatings, etc. when people talk about it implying to me that it is something different. Most of what I build is not shiny so I have never asked before but this would be the perfect time to get educated. John

Ditto here. The guy was one of those that DO have the patience and said never again. John

At this past model show I went to, I too saw a car that had its plastic polished rather than being painted. It was black so the shine kinda hid the "plastic look". The owner said he wet polished, polished and polished more. After that, he polished even more. He told me spent HOURS as a challenge to himself, just to see if he could do it. He also said the plastic is much harder than paint taking much more time and "elbow grease" to achieve the same results (shine) and would never do that again... paint was much better and easier. John