Claude Thibodeau

Hi Michelle! May-I request a picture in direct sunlight? This thing must certainly glow! Great job! CT

Hi Steve! That is why we old folks are often of the opinion that "sleeping on it" for a few hours brings a new perspective. What some see as "stillness" is indeed... reflection! I'll follow your adventures with the multi-part bumper. Keep on! And about this 300C: I look forward for your unique take on this classic: should be captivating! CT

Hi Douglas! Great concept, very OEM looking. I suspect the only thing that would have made the bean counters at GM cringe about... would have been the need for exclusive upper quarter panel stampings, to crown the rear box. Yours look dead-on! CT

Hi RRR! well, it appears your cranium is chockfull of great ideas. Keep on! CT

Hi Francis! A good news, and a bad news... First: this is great, microscopic precision. Bravo! Now the bad news: I'm sorry to inform you that DELRIN is forbidden on this forum. Therefore, you'll have to carve a new 'chute... Styrene only will pass inspection. Just kidding! CT

Hi Alan! Wow, even the gapping of your exhaust outlets to the belly pan is even and just perfect. Great work! CT

Hi Steve! Magnificient interior, bravo! To your bumper problem... I'm thinkink aloud here, but... Could you do a mashup of the narrower bumper's upper section (it might match the rear panel width...) with the wider bumper lower section) ? I bet the seam would be barely noticeable, if you take a sharp Tamya panel scriber blade. And the two bumpers must have mostly the same profiles, only in different "scales". Then again, I'm judging just from your pictures, but you be the judge. This way, you would still enjoy the OEM chrome on both parts, and you could even move the lower section further forward, making for a cleaner contemporary look. Just my two cents, for what it's worth... Good luck! CT

Hi Mike! Spectacular work. I'm in awe of your brass tube inserts: perfect way to get intake & exhaust ports to line up perfectly! I'll borrow your trick in a future build, for certain! CT

Hi Ian! Very nice, a real blast of pure nostalgia. Bravo! CT

Hi Steve! I'll be watching, tnen. I would not miss it for all the money in the world! CT

Thanks Bob! CT

Hi RRR! The compact packaging on this beast makes it all the more brutal. Very nice, Bravo! CT

Hi Bill! Very neat build, with a distinct personnality. The various paint textures are dead-on. Bravo! CT

Hi Eric! Now, we will have to call you Doctor Ritz, Surgeon. Obviously, MD in PLASTIC surgery! This concept drips of good ideas. Bravo! CT

Hi Steve! Forget my "warped" sense of curiosity, but... Whats will this next project be? Just curious... CT

Hi Peter! Having worked a few years in a print shop, I'm reasonnably aware of ink composition, and I've experienced different "recipies" that required varied "hotness" in the cleaning solvents depending on type of ink. I can't pretend to master the composition of Molotow's chrome, I'm just relaying what worked at my end. Voilà! Regards, CT

Hi Jon! Definetely the Boyd Coddington chassis that comes with the Lindberg's 37 Ford coupe / Vantasic / Coupester kit variations, followed by Revell's 41 Willys coupe in street-rod or Pro-Street variation (NOT the gasser). Both are easy to modify if needed. CT

Hi Monty! My stash of Testor's Wet look clear melting away, I tried all sorts of spray-can alternatives: Revell's new clear, Rustoleum's lacquer, and many more. But all my tests so far indicate that Mr Hobby's Super clear is the most smooth and glossy, even before polishing. But twice the price of Tamya's TS13, which is a close second behind it. I read somewhere that Mr Hobby also has has second clear, kind of a "Top coat" or "flash-coat" if you will. But I haven't seen it here in Canada so far. Maybe someone who tried it can comment further? CT

Hi Hien! Sorry for your paint problem. I've worked extensively with Molotow's chrome lately, and here's what I know. First, it is described as an INK, which may surprise us, but I take them at their word. Second, I apply a lot of Molotow's chrome with a brush (!), saturating or flooding the part, but without EVER second strokes until it is fully dried. Spectacular results for me. But working with brushes required cleaning said brushes afterward... So, third: the only cleaning fluid that works fast and clean for me is Tamya's lacquer thinner. Therefore, even if it is technically ink, it seems to have some kinship with lacquer. As you may know, you must never put lacquer on top of urethane, even more so if it is "fresh". Even after many years of drying, shooting lacquer on a urethane finish will often craze it. Laws of chemistery, somehow. The very nature of your clear is what allows it to flow so smoothly, but also what would make it boil under Molotow. Just my two cents, FWIW... CT

Hi Mike! Great details, and the color combo is absolutely gorgeous! Bravo! CT

Merci Philippe! CT

Happy you like it, Andrew! CT

Hi! To Carl's point: the chassis/powertrain of the J2000 lives in the Beretta ProStreet, and also in one Corvette whose kit's name escapes me right now. I guess the main obstacle to a Dobertain reissue was some form of royalties, impossible to escape with the J2000 bodywork. .. CT

HI! Having been in the TV biz for a good part of my life, you have to consider that TV land is a universe of its own. Therefore, what succeds on the tube must match the expectations of the producer, who risks his own money, and allows his reading of the "audience expectations" to rule the show. We modelers tend to be perfectionnists, paying great attention to details. But TV producers somehow don't feel that this is what hooks viewers. Hence, drama and strange plots and behavior on many of those shows. Let's reflect on the notion of notoriety and competence. Remember the TV shows about choppers? Arlen Ness was on top of the heap, but you never saw a weekly show about the adventures in his shop. Orange County Choppers? What a TV and licencing succe$$. But you get my point. Arlen was an industry icon, OCC a TV phenomenon. Talented guys, of course. But they "played the game", and reaped the rewards for a while. And to say they call it "reality shows". Funny. CT

Hi Andrew! I control the voting shares, so... LOL. CT