Jantrix

Glad you liked it. I didn't care for the kit supplied tires/wheels so I grabbed some from the parts bins. I don't recall where they came from. But I did dechome them and use an aluminum satin paint so that they aren't so eye grabbing. The decals are really good quality and look great on the purple. The 3/4 windows are easy to remove just use the back side of a #11 razor blade and slowly remove material until they come off clean. Then just sand it smooth. Congrats on a great looking model.

Winter sure does suck. Yesterday I actually had to wear a long sleeve shirt.

First off. Where are your pics posted from? Fotki, Photobucket? Another site? If we can get this info, then another member who uses the same album site can direct you further.

Yep, they sure are. You and me both brother.

Dave, I don't think model guys hate the big wheels per se, just when it's obvious that if the car had been 1:1, it would not have been a functional car. No steering room, suspension travel etc., or they just look horribly out of scale. However that is not the case with this 34, it looks great. I know I kid you about it, but that's all it is, just friendly banter.

That's a great kit and you have done it justice. Nice work.

You know I don't think this Chopper person exists. I think ViperDave has hired some little elves who just sprinkle magic dust on some styrene and WHAMMO! instant best of show winner. Some guys have all the luck.

Oh Harry, you and I had a long discussion a while back on SA about this vehicle. You finally made an easy one for me, thanks.

That looks great CP, that's some imagineering alright. You should post up your tuner from the Cannonball CBP, there's plenty here that would appreciate that.

Hmm.......them big wheels again. Well at least they're not cut off at the top. Just kidding Dave, that one really works for me. It's a nice package all around, great work.

I'm in Florida where humidity is high 8 months of the year. I have better luck with Duplicolor lacquers (painting at night) but regardless most of the time I still get a "blush" in the paint. Most of the time it will polish out though. Enamels take forever to dry and acrylics seem to dry very matte that even polishing doesn't fix.

The fact that this topic is here to chat about says a lot. I have only entered four contests. Each one was my first experience with that group of modelers. Two out of four I came home with awards and in one that I didn't, I ended up in a SAE contest annual (much cooler). Yet I enjoyed each one immensely. Hanging with like minded folks is the absolute limit. I have done one IPMS contest here locally and I really liked that. The club members judged the contest (myself included) and were allowed to enter models, yet they could not judge a catagory they were entered in. The armor guys judged the sci-fi, the air craft guys judged autos, so on and so forth. I did not see a single winner I did not think was worthy. I guess I have been lucky. If you are in the unfortunate situation with a local club that awards only their members, then you have three choices. Stay home, work harder and enter anyway, or bring your models for display only and mark them as such. And when asked why they are not entered in the contest be honest- brutally honest. Regardless of whom you tell it will get back to the club president I promise you. Then you take it from there. Nothing like a quiet confrontation to get your point across. It is an unfortunate truth that no matter what, we are going to find clubs like this. And from what I've heard the grander the trophy/plaque/ribbon the more likely it is for non-members to get the shaft.

I can't believe I'm saying this but I gotta agree with the rest. That actually looks kinda cool. The wheels certainly compliment the cars lines. I'm sorta wishing you hadn't put the decals on and made it sort of a pro-tour kinda thingie. Nice work.

Hmm. I have the Revell 41 Willys kit though I'm not a big fan of that model car, so I'm gonna give this some serious thought. The Chevy looks great.

Apparantly my unicorn is my 300C Deathracer. I've gone so completely off the deep end with it, I can't stand to look at it.

From my perspective anything you put 21 years into deserves a bit more love than a flat black paint job. You can still go old school with it, but let that baby shine.

Well here she sits prior to paint. After this it went right to the paint booth for a coat of gold and afterwards..................I hate it. I'm kicking around the idea of painting it a semi-gloss black and just using the gold on the side armor pannels with my red graphics. A big part of the problem was that I've made it so huge and tank like it looks terrible in such a bright color. I have also let the laws of physics haunt me. I have modified the chassis to allow some huge military HumVee wheels and tires rather than the Corvette street tires I'd planned. It looks more "real" now but doesn't look as low and aggressive. It looks like a anti-riot vehicle more than a racer. I feel I've totally overdone the vehicle. I'll post up a pic before I do anything drastic so that we can all share an "eww!" moment. If I had not completely destroyed the chassis to make the HumVee tires fit, I'd scrap the whole exo-cage idea and tear the thing appart.

I'm LIKIN" it! Looking forward to more.

The ideal situation here would be for someone to build something box stock, no added details, no fancy paintwork, no scratched parts and do a step by step photo tutorial on how it was done. This would easily cover all the basics as far as tools, paint prep, glue, etc. So who has something box stock planned that has the time, patience and the photographic expertise to do smething like this? I have a box stock planned, but it's many builds down the priority list, and a half dozen WIP's screaming for my attention.

Dennis check your camera for a macro setting (usually denoted using a flower icon). This used for shooting something within 12 inches or so. Great work on the duece.

Some people are either right brained (creative/artistic) and/or left brained (analytical/clever). I seem to have a bit of both, like most of us here, I'm sure. The ability to imagine and then engineer and then create, satisfies me in ways I can't begin to describe. I grew up in a car family and grew to understand my fathers love and appreciation for the automotive world. So when he handed me my first car kit at age 10 or so I took to it and have been in love with the hobby and the genre ever since. I've gotten my share of ribbing from co-workers and friends over the years, but I don't let it bother me. In fact that doesn't happen as often anymore as I've started putting my latest builds up on my PC desktop at work. It's kind of funny how many of them will stop and check it out when they think no one is looking.

Hey Lownslow, does your girl perhaps dust with a chemical (Pledge) that may have reacted with the clear?

Aaron that's a tough one. A first model and the outcome will certainly make or break a beginner modeler depending on their level of maturity and stick-to-it-ivness. I don't know of any beginner tutorial but that certainly sounds like a worthy endevour. Depending on the age of your friend, I'd perhaps recommend a simpler kit? Send him to Big Lots for some $5 car kits and let him cut his teeth on those before he digs into that LaFrance. Also as far as painting find out where he lives and warn him about the effects weather and humidity can have on paint. A lot of my lousy paint jobs from my teens I thought were a personal failure, but found out years later that painting in July in Florida with enamels is a waste of paint. I'd start him out on Testors liquid glue (easy to use but dry time stinks) and a gap filling CA. Good luck.

Hey Hotrod, I have that kit too and was considering a simple box stock build (gasp!!!) on it. How is that kit to build up? Your's came out very nice.

Somebody get George a beer or three and find him someplace quiet to sit, okay?