Claude Thibodeau

Encripted satanic messages?

Hi Ryan! Thank you for the images, and Bravo to the young Lady. She has a sense for colors, certainly! CT

Hi David. Thank you. I'm ready to paint it black... for some serious money. Anyone listening in Gotham City? CT

Thank you Greg! I'm too old for those things. It's free for the taking, I guess ... LOL CT

Thank you Steve! At the start, I planned to mount the hydaulic ramp in the MPC Ramcharger "futuristic" transport truck that was re-released last year. But the rear platform was ultimately a smidge too narrow. Hence the scratchbuilt trailer... CT

Doesn't love hurtt?

love is blind...

HI! With so many rigid hard tails and even rigid front forks... I wonder how smooth their roads are? There is a sea of Sportster tanks, but curiously, very few Sportsters. CT

Thank you Mike! To your question: funny, my wife comes-up with that question very often... I wonder why? CT

Hi David! Thank you so much for the comments. Happy to make you smile. At the beginning, I wanted to make one side of the camper "folded-out" (as on the pics), and the other only partially open, or "in process" if you will. But the logistics of having everything mid-way was too much for my old eyes. Next time maybe... LOL. CT

HI! I did mix some of the custom parts from the 49 & 50, and modified the grille to fit a lower roll pan in lieu of a bumper. Fun you did notice! CT

Hi Jim! If you have access to one, a 70 Monte-Carlo roof would do well. I have one that I've removed from an AMT Carlo to make a Nomad out of it, and I was testing it lately on a similar Tbird as yours. Almost a shoe-in, and would spare the precious Impale. Just thinking aloud... Also, if you don't absolutely need to keep your TBird windshield, a 90 Cougar greenhouse would make it very contemporary. See below on a 58 'Bird. Good luck with your project! CT CT

Any specific requests?

Thank you Joe. Much appreciated! CT

Quick, call security!

HI! Once in a while, I like to get out of my usual subjects (pro-Touring, street-rods, Bonneville cars) to scratch-built something different. Last fall, I saw a nice Westfalia camping van built by a young man at a model show in Montreal, and it got me remembering a 1/1 '66 Chevy van I converted to a camper in the 70's. So... I took an AMT Chevy S10 X-treme pick-up, modified it, and straddled the box with a totally scratchbuilt "fold-away" camping cabin of my own design. Look closely, and you'll see all the composite panels can pivot, slide-out and pop-up in position to allow 4 adults to sleep in dry comfort on a wide flat floor, and still be able to use the PU box to carry stuff concealed from view, and the weather. In the morning, you just climb down the ladder, stack the mattresses, tilt and slide-in the side extensions, flip-up the front and rear walls (with window and door) inside the roof, and lower the roof/cap to seal it all. Ready to go, with minimal wind drag behind the PU cabin. Unless you load the roof rack with bulky objects, but you know... While at it, I made a custom "base" to recreate camping life around the charcoal BBQ. How would you like your steak? Hours of fun with styrene... CT

Thank you Sir! CT

Merci Mario! My problem is I have a mountain of leftover parts, and I'm not getting any younger. Oh well... CT

IPhones are rolling...

HI! Obviously, when using a can, nothing enters the paint mix that was not designed to do by the factory. Airbrush cleaning and its use for multiple paints and mediums can leave minute residues inside the airbrush, along the needle, in the jar, cap, etc. When I clean my jars before shooting, I use alcohol disposable wipes, soaked with cheap thinner. The better ones are made of a synthetic fiber that leaves virtually no fibers behind. Also, I do NOT use a spraying booth, because I have a large shop/garage in which I don't mind accumulating some overspray. In most situation, the air flow pulled by the typical hobbyist booth will drag any dust, lint, clothes micro-fibers and all toward your subject, on its way to the fan (!). Not an ideal situation. Finally, over the years, the most "perfect" viscosity in a lacquer clear, for me, was Testor's Extreme Lacquer Wet Look clear (the brown labeled can). Alas, not avail anymore in Canada, but I know most Michael's stores in the US still carry it. I bought a few cans last fall in New-Hampshire, and saved it for my contest models only. BUT... I discovered that they changed the recipe somehow, and that if you use, let's say, half a can on a project... The next time you want to use the remaining clear in the can a few days later... It seems to "crater" in some places on the model. So, now, I plan my clear-coating with two models at once, to use all of the clear in a single session. You got to do what you got to do LOL. Here's a 49 Ford I painted with a Model Master acrylic custom mix with an airbrush, then cleared with the Wet Look clear. Almost no rubbing, believe it or not... CT

Hi Len! Adding to all of the above, I remember we had frequent fisheyes in House of Kolor high-end clear a few years ago, at a custom bike paint shop I was working for. We discovered that even with all the care, cleaning, and even a state-of-the art downdraft paint booth, the source of our problem was microscopic contamination in the air, emanating from the tailpipe of the food truck that showed-up outside our door every morning at break time. The truck was a diesel, idling, so you can connect the dots. As soon as we closed the shop door before he showed-up, the fisheyes stopped occuring... Goes to show that even virtually invisible airborne particles can induce the dreaded fish-eyes. I always blow my parts with filtered air at low pressure, but close range, before shooting. Rarely have any blemish. Good luck with your project! CT

Thanks Jim! CT

Hi! From what I read at the time, Bradley designed it, and both MPC AND Barris got at work building the design, only in different scales. Oh well... CT

Hi Curtis! Great work. Those of us who were there in the late 60's remember that color. Nostalgia... CT

Thank you Bob. Happy you like it! CT