robertw

Very well done. I'd be proud to have that model sitting on my Corvette shelf.

The first car I ever bought with my own money was a 1961 Comet. It was white with the clear vinyl seat covers. Your model brings back memories.....very...very old memories. Well done.

Drove Jeep Cherokees for nearly 20 years and loved them. The only problems were minor and the Jeep never failed to get me to my destination no matter what the weather or road conditions. I got rid of my last one when the price of gas went up and retirement meant I had less money to feed the gas tank. Still see the new owner from time to time and he claims that it's the best vehicle he's ever owned. I always wish there had been a kit of one, unfortunately that's not likely to happen. rob

A very interesting thread, thanks for starting it. After 32 years in education as a teacher and in-school administrator I retired six years ago to dedicate my life to putting a dent in my huge pile of unbuilt kits. Still put in some time each month as a substitute teacher but more and more I'm just enjoying my summers driving my C4 Corvette and my winters playing with plastic.

I, like others in this thread, was very sorry to hear that Dennis was closing up shop. As a Canadian buying from the US can be difficult at times so having a mail order shop like Model Express in Canada with its excellent selection of kits at reasonable prices has been very fortunate for me. While I may have lots of Dennis's kits in my stash to build in the coming years I'll certainly miss his excellent service and the unusual kits that often showed up on his site.

That is a beaut and the gunmetal/red combo a sharp colour choice and, oh ya the excellent photography sets the model off perfectly. You should be proud to have this one on your shelf. rw

Ban white painted ones from rural areas, they'd get lost in snow storms.

I feel your pain. This was one of the main reasons while attending university I didn't stay in residence even if it meant that I'd be renting a small place that was less then classy or in a better part of the city. I may not have gotten a lot done during thise years but at least I had a couple of finished models with me and a few tools and kits for those times that I might have a few spare minutes. robw

Beatiful job and love your choice of colours. I agree with you that with a little effort even a basic simple kit can produce a model to be proud of. I've built a couple of Italeri's classic cars and have been pleased with the final results. robw

This is an often unappreciated kit simply because it was a curbside but as you discovered it is very nicely detailed and quite accurate. Good job on making improvements to make it even better. robw

Another model to be proud of using a kit that most modellers wouldn't think of building. I like and you've done a fine job. robw

Like the concept, like the work you've done and love your interior work. robw

Another well done job of portraying an unusual car using a rarely seen kit. I look forward in the future to seeing further interesting builds from you. Keep up the good work. robw

Sharp!! I built the old Futura kit last winter and enjoyed the challenge so much that I dug this kit out for building this winter. After looking at it and doing some dry fitting I realized what a challenge it will be to turn it into a presentable model so I am doubly impressed by the excellent job that you have done. robw

Car related, I recently read Chrysler's Turbine Car by Steve Lehto. Have been interested in the Turbine since I tried building the Jo-Han kit as a kid (failed then but someday I'll try again). It was an interesting book that provided a great deal of history & insight that I'd never considered. Loved the stories of families who'd had the chance to drive these cars. I became interested in the 1908 Great Race a few years back when there was a failed plan to rerun it with both period and modern cars. I've been hunting used book stores ever since for volumes on the original race. I think I now have all books that were written in English ( there was a book written in German & one in Italian). The difficulties those car crews went through at the beginning of the 20th century was unbelievable. Now to find a couple of the AMT Thomas Flyer kits to build before & after models. Non car related but I just finished 11/22/63 by Stephen King. Having never been a fan of Kings horror novels and looking at the size of this book I had reservations about tackling the book but once I got a chapter into it I couldn't put in down. The man is a good author and while the topic is one we are all familiar with the story that he wove was fasinating with all kinds of unexpected twists and turns. For those of you who haven't heard of this book it tells the story of a man who goes back in time to try to prevent the assination of JFK.

Don't just spend your time setting up pages of photos, get back to the work bench and build one, my friend. LOL rob w

I enjoy building the older kits. They certainly can be a challenge sometimes but there is certainly a satisfaction in turning a kit that is not state of the art into a presentable model. Sometimes these vintage kits are the only game in town so you may end up with a kit on the shelf that few other modellers are displaying. Older kits usually don't have p/e sets to improve them so you may have to choose to do some scratch building to improve them and it is sometimes just not worth the effort to correct some of the weakenesses in the old kits but since they are old I never worry about building them to contest quality anyway. Earlier this year I built the ancient Revell Futura and I'm currently working on the Revell multi piece body Austin Healey and hope to tackle the Club de Mer this winter. In each case I've enjoyed the challenge and appreciated the result even if they merely become shelf models in the end. I've appreciated the companies reissuing some of these old kits and hope it continues. rob

Some guys dream of owning a big new boat or an RV or classic/sports car etc but a few of us weird ones merely dream about having a bigger and better modelling space. Thanks for your ideas on maximizing the small spaces that we often have to live in to pursue our hobby. rob

The Elvira T-Bird was released twice but only one of the releases came with the figure and according to the box the number with the figure were limited to 10,000. rob

I was passing through Bismark N.D. (and spending the night) at the end of July and expecting to spend a boring night in a motel room. Stopped in at Banes & Noble and bought the last copy of Model Cars on their shelf. My evening went from boring to an enjoyable couple of hours. My only criticism is that the mag only took a couple of hours to go through in detail. rob

Thanks for the advice gentlemen. Since we don't have Harbor Freight in Saskatchewan I didn't realize they had retail stores but on the various boards I've heard good things about them in regards to things such as airbrushes & compressors and I'll check out Hobby Hut. rob

I'm headed into North Dakota from Canada this weekend, Minot, Bismark, Grand Forks & Fargo/Moorhead areas and am wondering what I'll find in hobby shops. In particular I'm in the market for a new compressor probably an Iwata. Any recommendations from modellers in the area or others who've also been though the area would be appreciated. RobW

And Third Place in the Ugly Car Contest is..............

Looking good. For a curbside/promo this shark I kit was actually quite good, the exception being the big screw holes in the front and rear clips. Are you aware that MCG also did a p/e set for this model. I'm glad to see that you've redone the bottom in correct white rather then the silver that they did the promo in. Entex also did a model of this car but it was in 1/20 scale and not nearly as good but it did come with the clear top. I remember when this kit came out about '98 and shortly later AMT was trying to get rid of them in the big box stores for five bucks apiece. They were worth it for the cool wheels and exhausts alone. For anyone wanting one they shouldn't be too hard to find on the used kit sites as its last reissue was 2002. The Mako Shark II kit was the one that mpc (also released by Airfix) did but it had only one release. The molds were then modified for the future Street Fever Vette, Custom Corvette and Street Shark releases. I doubt that we'll ever see a stock Shark II kit re-issued but at some point Round2 will probably re-issue the Shark I kit since those molds should be in excellent shape. robw

I'm not a big fan of the fat fender look but I can admire this because of its clean build and your paint finish is spectacular. Well done.