TonyW

That's a very good looking Pontiac. Thanks for the detailed pictures of the printed parts. I get the feeling one or two of these kits will be appearing here in the future. Tony.

You may well have a few titles from this company, I do and up to now I've been happy with their product. They have released many really good titles over the years including Car Model Reference titles by our own Tim Boyd. However... I've just bought a CarTech book on the Sox and Martin race team. It's for reference on a couple of Super Stock builds. I'm far from happy with it. I've complained direct to the company. Here's my note to them: Hi there, I've been a customer of yours for many years and have a couple of dozen of your titles on my bookshelves. I've just taken delivery of your Sox and Martin book by James Schild ISBN 978-1-61325-478-3 The book was bought new from a seller here in the UK. The purchase invoice is enclosed below. The written and pictured contents are up to your usual high standards. The physical book itself is terrible. The soft cover is thin and flimsy compared with all my other titles It feels shoddy compared with any of my other books from you. The photographs are fuzzy and are nowhere near as sharp as they should be in a photo specific volume. This is due to the paper used, not the quality of the original negative. The paper used is cheap and feels almost like newsprint. The pages are already taking on a wavy appearance. The pages are see through! I can see the next page details before I turn the page. The book has been here a couple of days only. I would normally return a book in this poor condition but I can't see how it's the fault of the seller. They packed well and delivered securely and in as new condition and are not at fault. The book itself is of poor quality and not up to your usual standards. Is there more than one edition of this book, in hardback for instance, and with better printing and paper used? If that is so, how do I order one to replace the unsatisfactory one I have. Is it possible to return the book direct to you in exchange? I'm more interested in getting a decent copy of the book than getting a refund. I am in the UK which doesn't help, but I'm happy to work with you on this. Thank you for your attention and best wishes from the UK, Tony. I got a reply the following day. Hello Tony, The book you purchased is a print on demand. Those are created when a book goes out of print and we no longer stock them and they are not always the best quality. Unfortunately I have no other copies to offer than what you purchased. Thank you, Nancy Kuhnz Customer Service CarTech Basically, tough luck. We know they are rubbish but we will happily sell substandard books to you. It seems that you now need to check with whoever you are buying from to see if they actually have the book in front of them, and specifically ask if it's Print on Demand. Without checking thoroughly there's a chance you will get a pretty poor book for your money. I'll not be using CarTech again. Tony.

That is one of the nicest early GTOs I've seen. A beautiful job.

Unrecognizable as a Heller kit, those wire wheels make all the difference. The front shocks look beautiful as well.

I'll agree with Tim here, Silver undercoat with metallic green over that. The problem you are going to have with matching, is that the green looks very thin in some places, and seems to have pooled in others. The body line at the base of the cowl has what looks like pooled paint in the crease. That bit is probably the closest you will get to the pure color. It looks thinnest at the lower rear quarter with silver showing through on the door seam in that area as well. The silver is having a different effect on different parts of the paintjob. Good luck with whatever course of action you take. Tony.

I've been using a product called Green Stuff World chrome paint. I'm in the UK and it's available through Games Workshop type stores It's really bright and just about the best chrome effect I've seen so far. I airbrush the brushable version of the paint and it goes on well if you keep a wet edge at all times. I sit the finished model on a radiator or other warm place and leave it to harden. On its own it's fairly durable but marks eventually. The heat does help a lot. To get around that I coat the model or parts with another product, Gauzy Shine Enhancer. It doesn't dull the finish at all. How bright is the finish? This bright...

Thanks for posting a very informative article. It's also really good to hear from a Hobby outlet that is doing well. Tony

That's a stunning build. Well done. Tom Daniel would approve.

For a clouds worth of Angel Hair, and what car show display doesn't need Angel Hair?, pull apart a plush toy or a cushion. Blame it on the dog... The Hurst Olds I built a while back has a sort of car show display made out of the kit box. There's also a shot of it sat on wool stuffing used a tire smoke. The same stuff makes perfect Angel Hair.

Perfect stance and probably the best woodgrain panels I have ever see. Stunning work. Tony.

I use a number of different bases. All are quick and easy to do. The easiest is to spray the underside of a bit of glass with black paint. Sit the model topside and the job is done. A bit of heavy card covered in PVA glue or spray glue then sprinkled with sand and small stones, plus a piece or two of railway modelling scenic stuff is fine for a 4x4 or off road display. There's a P40 on this one, but the ideas the same whatever sits on it. White foamboard can be sprayed any color and cuts real easy for very quick displays. Patterns or textures can be found on the internet, printed off and spray mounted to card for yet more easy displays. A bit of imagination goes a long way. Tony. .

It's like reading through a copy of Car Craft from 1978. You have nailed the OTT look to perfection.

That's one tough looking Mopar. Hard as nails, and period perfect.

That color is just perfect for the car, they were made for each other.

That is just outstanding! The overhead shot would make a good poster. Tony.

A superb model. The engine compartment is just about perfect. That air cleaner had my eyes open a bit wider when I saw it!

I'm unsure how I feel about the whole 3D printing thing as it applies to modelling. We seem to be at the point that computer skills are overtaking what's possible for a modeller to replicate. That's both good and bad. Check out some of the available shipbuilding 3D parts as an example. 1.700 scale multiple anti aircraft gun platforms with scale ring sights, ammo feeds and deck grids and so on. You might be able to build one yourself if you have quite amazing skills but a dozen for an aircraft carrier would take some doing. I would class this sort of thing as part assembly though, no different to opening a kit box and working with what's in there. The idea of defining what constitutes scratch building is an interesting one. Sit at your bench with a pile of plastic card, wood or metal along with the tools to shape the material and then proceeed to make a complete model with what's sat there. Scratch built right? You didnt make the plastic, or grow the wood though. No personal mining or smelting to get the brass sheet or ally strut. Those tools needed making by someone as well. Take things right back and we can argue about the creation of the universe and work forwards from there. Good luck with that one! Life is constant change and there's not a lot to be done about that. CAD and 3D printing are here now and they compliment etch and resin to help us make of them what we will. It's the builders choice as to how much or how little of the available tech he or she uses. Having another choice added to the list is a good thing if it pleases the modeller and adds to the enjoyment of the hobby. Contest judges are in for a hard time though! Tony.

I like to display old boxes alongside built kits. Old paints and glue get a look in as well. Box tops can make nice looking backdrops for built models as well

A beautiful car. Well done with the award. The perfect fit of the tire bead to the wheel rims is my favourite detail.

A friend of mine once told me " To make something beautiful, you have to take away all the ugly" That one works really well for workspaces. All the empty sprues, W+D paper, dirty thinners, half filled paint jars, tins and so on are the ugly on the way to what will hopefully be the beautiful. It's part of the proccess. I try to work tidy and store stuff in an orderly fashion but once construction starts things go south really quickly. By the end of a decent modelling session the bench is covered in paint tins, brushes, tools, glues, upended boxes, reference books and magazines and a whole lot of general untidy. Sat in the middle of it all is maybe a wired engine or a body ready for primer. I've given up trying to stay tidy while working, it is what it is. Here's my bench/shed on a good day. This is a long way from how it usually looks! This was after a full on revamp. It's had a bit of fine tuning since but it's never going to be finished. There's a constant search for the ideal workspace. I doubt I'll ever find it. About normal... Once the ugly is gone, if I'm lucky I end up with something like this... Tony.

A beautiful build of one of my favourite muscle cars. The stripe package really pops agains the base color.

The first picture of the box top got me excited to see the model. The following pictures didn't disappoint one bit, a very clean build indeed. There's something about a red car with redline tires that just looks so cool.

Killer stance! You really nailed that one.

That is a stunning model. A first class build. The photography and overall presentation are also top notch. Tony.

That's a hot 'steppin Hemi with a four on the floor. The Springsteen link ends at that point. What a cool build!