Frank Steffens

Awesome work!

Funny you should mention it Dave! Yes I do...I started on the engine and chassis. I have most of the major painting done. I went with Tamiya TS-30 Silver Leaf for the sheet metal, and the roll cage and chassis is Tamiya TS-39 Mica Red over TS-30 Silver Leaf. The engine and tranny is a mixture of Testors Metallizers. It has MCG dominator carbs and a Detail Master distributor. The disc brakes up front are Detail Master rotors with MCG calipers. The rest is box stock. Here's some pics: (Yikes! I just looked at the carbs in that picture and they look crunchy! Funny, they don't look like that in reality!) Thanks for the compliment Gabriel! Unfortunately, health problems kept me out of the service, but I've always had a huge respect for those that serve our country, and in particular, the United States Marine Corps. I'm building this one to honor them, and hope to have it finished for the LIARS' (Long Island Auto Replica Society) Model Car Challenge on November 8th (two days before the Marine Corps' 288th birthday).

Ditto. On all counts.

Ok, that's it, I quit. One of you guys can come over here and get all my kits, paints, decals, tools, airbrushes....all of it. I can't slam a curbside together without it looking like a 6 year old did it and this guy's building that stuff.... Seriously though, that's amazing work.

Awesome work buddy! Very nice job on the diorama also!

Hey! Congratulations on the wedding! Nice work on the Camaro!

Whew! The stone passed this morning, about an hour before my doctor's appointment. I'm just glad I don't have to go through the surgery again. The worst part, for me at least, is the stent removal. They have to go up and retrieve it WHILE I'M AWAKE! Thankfully I won't have to endure that this time!

Not much progress of late. I finished up the body and I'm slowly working on the engine/chassis. I've gotta get some carbon fiber decals for the manifolds and valve covers, but I have just about everything else I need to keep going. More pics comin' soon! Thanks! There is no 1:1 for this one. Its all in my crazy head!

Hmm, off of that flyer, I'm going to get the Mustangs, the Fairlane, the '57 Chevy, the AT-6 Trainer, and the B-58 Hustler (I think that one is 1/48, and REALLY nice) and maybe the Hind.

That looks sweet Jose! I like the wheel and tire combo, are you going to make the tires whitewalls?

Chevy SSR?

I was thinking the exact same thing! Lyle, with your skill, I wouldn't have been in the least bit surprised if you started this thread by saying "This one started out as the Revell Speedwagon kit, but with some reworking and putty, here's a 69 Nova"

This is my 18th (!!!) bout with 'em. Hopefully this one will pass without surgery (I've had the surgery three times already, twice on the left side, once on the right). The problem is, I have another hobby besides building models: Sweating. I sweat even if I think too hard. During the summer months, even though I drink more than a gallon of water a day, I sweat too much of it out. Genetics plays another part of it also. I get it from my father's side of the family. My dad and his brothers are all very handsome, in-shape men, with a propensity for developing stones. Of the three genetic traits listed there, I had to get the kidney stones. Folks all I can tell you to avoid these nasty little buggers is to drink LOTS of water (especially if you live in a warm climate), avoid combinations of calcium and caffeine (or limit their intake), and especially avoid powdered iced tea in large quantities. I wouldn't wish this pain on my worst enemy. Hopefully I'll get some nice goofy pills when I go to the doctor tomorrow to help with the pain.

I was drinking in a bar in Hell's Kitchen in NYC when I was in my early twenties. A guy wanders in, sits down, orders his drink and begins talking about Mayor Dinkins. The bartender gives him his drink and tells him "This one is on the house. Finish it and be on your way." When the guy asked the bartender why he had to leave, the bartender told him "Hell's Kitchen Rules: No Politics. No Religion. People are here to relax and have a good time, you can't do either discussing those two topics." Good call Gregg.

More pics with the decals on: I'm gonna wait a couple of days for the decals to dry, then clear it with semigloss. I used Testor's decal sealer for the first time on the homemade decals, and it worked REALLY well. Previously, I had used Micro Decal Film, and the decals still chipped when applied. Not this time! Clay, do you notice the USMC reference in one of the sponsor decals? There's another USMC reference in the driver's name on the door: Lewis "Chesty" Puller...it's hard to see in that pic, but its there!

The Mid '90s parts pack that was referred to in the first post (the one with the Allison and TV Cameras) comes with a "hot rod chassis" that looks like it may work with the T-body. I just picked up the new Parts Pack at the LHS, I might have to give it a shot!

I totally agree...my Escape is no sports car and it sure ain't fun. At stop signs, you have to be sure you'll make it, because it is NOT fast off the line. On the whole, the car has worked for me (so far). I owned a V6 Escape before this one, and the savings in gas has made it worth it for me on my 100 mile a day round trip commute. The poor thing is less than 3 years old and already has 80,000 miles on it. If I behave and do 55mph, I can get an average of 32-33 mpg. If I do around 65-70 mph, its around 28-29 mpg, which isn't too bad for a small AWD SUV (the V6 Escape got around 16 to 18, or almost a half tank a day). Coupled with the 2500 dollar tax credit I got on my income taxes the year after I bought it, I broke even on the added expense of the hybrid system after the first year and a half or so. Would I recommend it? Just like CAL said, if you're paying cash, and you like Ford Escapes and have a choice between a regular Escape and a Hybrid and they both have similar options, and you have a long commute and only will own one car in your family, I wholeheartedly recommend it.

An interesting read: Coffee Lawsuit As for the picture, I think its fake. Its probably nothing more than a rudimentary photoshop job. But even if it is real, it says in the original post that the signs were placed by the owners of the strip mall. If that's the case, then frankly, they can put whatever signs they choose. They could put signs that say Preferred Parking for Brunettes and really, the only recourse is to not shop there. I own a hybrid, and I don't preach the good news about it to anyone, nor do I think I should get preffered [sic] parking because of it. I have however been yelled at by people who say I was crazy to buy it because: 1. Firefighters will refuse to cut me out of it in a bad accident for fear of being electrocuted. (a myth) 2. It will cost $5,000.00 to dispose of the hybrid battery. (a myth) 3. I have to plug it in every night. (a myth) 4. The hybrid battery will explode, or even better, liquify the passengers in the event I'm rear ended. (um, yeah, a myth) 5. The hybrid battery will explode, with the same results as above, for no particular reason at all. (sense a pattern here?) I wouldn't get too worked up about the political correctness of posting such a sign, like all things, we'll either get used to it, or find out two months from now on snopes.com that it was a hoax.

Congratulations Clay and Andrea! God Bless all four of you!

Every new phone guy is always sent from the job site back to the truck to look for a can of dial tone, a left handed wrench, or a cable stretcher. Then, we'll have him call the dispatch center and ask for "Amanda". The dispatchers are in on the joke, so they ask for the last name. We tell him her last name is "Dancewith". The dispatcher will then say "You're looking for Amanda Dancewith? Well you hang in there sweetie, I'm sure you'll find one!" Sometimes "Amanda Dancewith" is replaced with "Agatha Fugg-owda-here" (say it out loud fast, and keep in mind its said with a New York accent and you'll get the joke)

I agree wholeheartedly on the BMF issue Bill. I've never been a big fan of foiling as it is, but lately every sheet of BMF I've bought has been a real dud, its either cracked and unusable as soon as I open the package, or the adhesive won't stick, or it just rips when I cut it (and yeah, I use a brand new blade). Its gotten so annoying, I've even masked off the trim and painted it with Alclad a few times (with mixed results). I'll have to give the Detail Master foil a try. Keep up the great work, I'm sure this one will turn out to be another show stopper!

Sure, here's a link: http://www.airliners.net/photo/USA---Marin...-18C/1337208/M/ I'm glad you like it so far Clay....here's some more pics with the camo painting done:

My wife got me this kit for father's day...she was really disappointed when she found out I already had two of them. I wanted to do something special with it, so I decided to build it as if its a United States Marine Corps sponsored match racer. I made up some decals for it in Paint Shop Pro, and printed them out. I wanted the decals to be kinda like the "lo-vis" line jets, but repurposed for a car that would essentially be used as a recruiting tool if it really existed. Here's the decal art (the image is compressed into a jpeg, so it has lost resolution): I had previously built a model of the Marine Corps' "Black Knights" Squadron's (VMFA-314) Boss Bird in digital camouflage. The real F/A-18C was painted as a tribute to the new MARPAT camouflage pattern that is used on the Marine's fatigues, only it uses varying shades of gray. Here's a couple of pics of the 1/72 model: So I started by cleaning up the body and painting it Model Master Dark Gull Gray, then I cut up pieces of masking tape that will be the "pixels" in the digital camouflage pattern, and arranged them in a random pattern over the body...here's what it looked like waiting for the next color, Medium Gray: And after the Medium Gray (kinda hard to tell the difference): Next up will be Dark Ghost Gray, then more masking, and the final color, Light Ghost Gray. Then detail painting and the decals. It will have a semi-gloss finish. More photos coming soon....

Thanks all...this one went together with almost no fit problems...a real pleasure to build. Now I have stock up on the '69 Novas without the Mrs. finding out!

I knew this one would turn out awesome! Great job Ron!