Wickersham Humble

Once again, thx for the insights! I'm sorry I asked about availability; a quick ebay search answered that question fast! Another 4x4 I'd like to find (I've asked/searched before) is the 1960 Dodge Power Wagon 3/4 T fleetside pickup, to build a replica of the last USFS Class IV tanker I was Foreman on; though I have no pics; would have to be from memory! Not, incidentally, the old skool military type Power Wagon ( my USFS retired bro-in-law has restored a couple of these 1/1 Flintstone Flyers) but the new squarish Dodge with the dual headlites, etc. Our tanker had only about 50-gal tank, and a 1" live reel, plus side tool boxes, etc. And, only three man capacity, for a four man crew! Well, it was 1968! Our FS issued equipment consisted of one (1) only hard-hat, not like the turn-out gear that encumbers Smokeys today! Boots, gloves, all apparel were supplied by we crewmen, at our expense! I had a lead on one of the here today/gone tomorrow resin kits a few years ago, but... I had a lot more experience on the regular Class III 2-ton flatbed tankers, both Chevy and Dodge. The 265 Chevy V-8 was lively, but lacked torque, and the 318 Dodges were prone to breaking down, especially cracked intake and exhaust manifolds. The Slant Six was gutless for a heavy truck -- my fire-season experience anyway, as a Tank Truck Operator. I should bid on that $10 Scout, but oc the shipping brings it to $30 +-! Happy 2025... :-<) Wick

Clarity: is the Scout II kit still available? I went back and found the original AMT/Ertl kit announcement, etc. I'd get the half-cab, and then probably make the top removable. Making a 'slant four' from a parts-box V-8 wouldn't be too hard; FoMoCo probably, for dist location, etc. Or just SBC... I have a 1/24 DC 'Jeepster Commando' toy that I blew apart, and did a "4x4" graphic on, like the one we had in the late '80s. The Welly-brand toy has some nice features, but some drawbacks, as most DC prod do; I made a few changes, but... Ours was the ex-Buick V-6 with TH400 (shift-kit too!) and I put Jackman-type 8-spoker white rims with os tires on it; nice performer! The toy cam in almost the right shade of aqua metallic. Wish someone would resin-cast or 3D repro it. Thanks for the info!! Great group on the forums! Wick

Al (et al)*, "There never seems to be the time to do all the thing that you want to do -- when you find them!" Jim Croce? That's the exact reason I'm finishing up two 1961(2?) AMT Styline Kits: T-bird and Lincoln that I began as a Sophomore in HS! But, so far, they're turning out okay... One is now a Lincoln two-door 'sports roadster' I call "Hyannis' HotRod", with POTUS seals -- for JFK, with a V-12, no less. The other is" Big Bird" a pure streamliner for B'Ville, all painted Krylon Yellow (for 'Cat Yellow) with a diesel V-16 -- I know, I know -- with R-R P-100 headlites and (I claim) twin intercooled turbos in the trunk area, and a removable wing. Also, a rehabbed JoHan '60 Chrysler sitting on a Revell Duke's Charger chassis/tub as "CHIP'S Chizler" a door-slammer (hemi, oc) painted and badged as a CHP cruiser! Actually, I'm glad I waited -- while life got in the way for sixty years! As soon as I get better at photography -- and manipulating images on this #!%**&! laptop, I'll post some fuzzy, ill-lit pics on MCM forum. Thanks! Wick Amazing what I've spent in $$ and time on these!

Ain't it great? Happy Holidaze, all! Ho ho hooooo...

"For what it's worth" Something happenin' here... what it is ain't exactly clear... So far, in my latest usefullness-check of my Testor's bottles, every single one that went 'curds and whey' on me had my infamous B.B. treatment! And in all cases, the copper covering on the B.B. had been neatly stripped off... so chemists out there...?? No more B.B. agitators for me! Ole' Wick

No man is an island -- he's a peninsula! Jefferson Airplane I know that there were other brands too, but don't have any left -- probably just as well! Five cents was about in my budget, in the 'fifties! Thx! Wick PS/ Due to a hacker, I had to change my email address, so my forum status is back to rookie Jr, Woodchuck!

Yeah, sad to say, but I guess when the clock starts ticking on paint, it has a finite life left. I was mostly just speculating on the addition of the B.B.'s since so many of those have tanked. Outsmarted my ole' self?! I've rebottled a lot of colors and paint types, having done the mixing job (along with delivery route) at our local PPG outlet, Martin Auto Color: my wife saves those tallish square spice jars for me, and with a big sticky label to spell out all the details of the paint (type, source, name and application -- if known -- and whether catalyzer required, etc.) paint-stain-proofed by a wrap of clear shipping tape, and mostly it's been okay. The spice jars usually have a poly-ethylene perforated shaker lid beneath the cap, so I trim that out leaving the perimeter to serve as a cap gasket. OC, they go through the dish-washer first. Until the gasket seal tactic, those often leaked or dried up, I must admit. I have lots and lots of 1/1 car finishes, naturally, and almost overwhelmingly they work okay on styrene models if they're primered properly first; eg. so far no failures in forty years! Doing 1/1 restos, I just accumulate them. Anyone want a pour off from a gallon of PPG Hemi orange, slightly metallic? Before y'all jump on this as bogus (as I was inclined to do) the store manager, a life-long MoPar guy, said that it was a rare exterior color one year... I dunno. I even have most of a gallon of USAF-issue o.d. (olive drab, to you civilians) lacquer that I got from CA state surplus. If you're ever in town...? I even have a few of the very old Aurora rectangular paint jars left; the paint long defunct. Surprisingly, when I used it c. 1962, it brushed-on gratifyingly well, dried slick and fast! Actually, I did my MA thesis and show on using air-sprayed paint for sculpture, etc. Mine were mostly - not surprisingly - race and custom-car, aircraft, and truck shapes and colors. I'm too 'senior' to convert to water-based stuff; it's a whole different world. Thanks again for the enthusiastic responses; count on MCM Forums for a helping hand! Wick in N CA

Reasonable strategies; sorry you're having problems with them too. I wasn't sure many avid modelers still use them with all the well-publicized alternatives. I just bought a little jug of lacquer (Japanese WWII a/c) from MCW, and a Pontiac OHC six which fascinated me, but I have no kit for; maybe a street rod? Yeah, I've had some issues with Tamaiya colors too, but usually not until the jar gets past the half-used level; I like 'jet exhaust' for carbs, m-cyls, stuff like that. Also, I need 'stop light red' fairly often, and the 'smoke' hue. I paint my kits with mostly PPG auto colors, bec I used to work for them (retirement job, got laid off at age 71) and I had/have access to a lot of mis-match colors, even in gallon lots!! Never had a problem on styrene; knock on plastic! I do toss the old Testor's jars and lids into my gallon soaker of lac thinner, and rebottle some colors in them; not always successfully, I'll admit. The little craft store glass jugs seem to leak air; noticed a number of mine had gone away already, darn. But no info on B.B.'s causing problems, so that's good. Wick

Thanks for the ref; I couldn't resist ordering one! Now to find a kit for it? Pontiac fan Wick

I wish my folks had bought that in '62 instead of our Catalina -- nine-passenger wagon! Nice build! Good color! The 2x4 manifold I assume came with the SD 421; it's obviously not the same one that came with the annual '62 AMT Bonneville kit; it had impossibly low, unauthentic Carter AFT carbs more or less indicated. I made a bunch of pretty good resin copies of it, but as a bare manifold to accept other realistic carbs. Pontiac made a crazy 2x4 set-up before GM pulled them out of racing in 1963 that fans now call 'the bathtub' manifold. Wish there was a version of that one! I have photos, but... Pontiac fan Wick

I have quite a large collection of Testor's Pla and other small-bottle paints. The latest cost $2.69 per at Hobby Lobby, but some still have the 15-cent label on the lid! Now, I'm not surprised at some of them 'going bad' considering the age of a few, but a number of bottles only one/two years old have gotten hard, or turned to clumpy glue recently. I wonder: Iike the marbles in the bottom of our aerosol cans (the famous 'rattle') I have been adding 3-4 metal B.B.'s to each of my bottles to help keep them well agitated until needed. However, does anyone think that good old Daisy copper-plated B.B.'s would have an effect on hobby enamel paints? I'm beginning to wonder... Some I can rehabilitate by adding lacquer thinner, some not. Ideas? I'm not switching to water-based. Thx! Wick PS/ Now I appreciate why Testors and a few other brands use square-cornered bottles: I can put the old ones in a vice, and use pliers to dislodge the painted-shut lids! Tamiya and others with round containers, take note! (Only had one break in my experience, and it was dried out anyway!)

About me: I've been a modeler since 1953, and doing exclusively car kits since about 1959; now I'm finishing up my builds and if permissible, announcing a series of young adult/historic-fiction nostalgia stories I've published on Kindle (Amazon), the A PLACE ON MARS Series. Six books (eBook or paperback) comprising three full novels and three 'novelettes', about teens growing up in a small Western town from the late 'fifties through the early 'sixties. Asking the modeling community: folks, I need some readers who can do ratings, and reviews. Kindle lets an author's books literally get buried beneath newer releases without either ratings (even poor ones) and review action! These stories are about five teen-agers, as we used to be known, who are good friends, and who play in a struggling garage-band. Cars are a very big part of their lives, of course, as easily accessible as decent rides were back in those dear, dead days! The group is, like our society, very diverse and all have distinctive personalities. Dean, who is a ranch kid, plays football, and is the drummer for 'The Crusaders' band. Ramon (or Ray, as he prefers) plays lead guitar, plays shortstop on the Ferris Bridge High team, and helps run the family Flying A Station, with attached shop -- and dismantling yard! David, the president of the HS Honor Society also plays classical music on his Bechstein baby grand, and Little Richard/Jerry Lee on the school's old upright; he's also the only Jewish kid in town. 'Rabbit' is likewise the only black teen in little F.B., and though a year younger is rapidly becoming a good bassist, though he'll never be able to date girls at FBHS. And Shirl is the pretty, sensitive and resourceful gal in the mix; one that suffers from the mixed-blessing of being the daughter of the tough but understanding County Sheriff! Plus, she has the younger brother from hell, Kippy. There are other characters throughout the tales, some good, and a few really awful. The stories and years depicted are: 'The Flood', 1959; 'The Wildfire', 1962; 'The Explosion', 1964, all novels, plus shorter novelettes: 'The Hazardous Hunt', 1960; 'The Hit and Run', 1961, and 'The Deadly Derby,' 1963. Dare I mention it? But, all are 2.99 for eBook on Kindle, or 5.99 for paperback (for now) on the same site. All, of course, involve events of which I personally have had some experience, directly or indirectly; all are probably considered at worst PG-13 for content. They begin as Sophomores, and finish as college undergrads; and have all the typical issues that we faced in that era, including having to earn the respect of adults and their community! No wizards or witches, no 'personal electronic devices', and though some street-racing and dangerous adventures, I omitted drinking, drugs, and overt sex. I also have a longer novel called "Bird of Ill Omen" on Kindle; more adult, and about a pioneer aviator in war and peace that is just being released. It's closer to an 'R' rating. Please don't think I'm exploiting our forum; but besides models, this is what I'm into; with more to come. After all, in the first story, Ray is considering the cost of taking a date to the Sophomore Hop, and complains that 'Heck, I can get an AMT 3-in-1 model kit for about that much money!" Wick Humble

Withe N CA getting a decent rainy season this fall, I've taken a break from doing 1/1 restoration --restomod work, and devoting time to my ancient kit collection. Also, though I do'nt have a shelf more than 18"-wide of old MCM, SA,Model Car Journal, and some other more ancient model car publications, I've enjoyed leafing through the venerable issues for what they can offer -- and I wish I had a 72"-wide shelf, or more! So different than now, but so similar, really. The stuff that supported our hobby before the web became dominant was so chuck-full of advertisers, products, and event notices; fun to read and in many ways sad to be missing now. I realized that I actually got a better impression of all the products that were 'out there' from the print adverts, even those tiny ones (and the classifieds, so irrevocably gone now) than I have with 95% of the sellers being on-line as currently done! Worse (tiny!) illustrations, probably sketchier descriptions, and seldom any reference to prices, but still organized into an accessible array that could so easily be resourced as needed: just fold over the page corner, and draw a circle around the ad or offering with a Hi-Liter pen, huh? And, so many make my mouth water, even now, to purchase even if just for my stash shelf -- modest as it is -- but mostly which are long gone, and if available at all costly as collectibles beyond all possibility! How-tos; always valuable and inspiring, even though the materials suggested (like Shrinky-Dink plastic, etc.) superseded by much better stuff nowadays. I was able recently to scan and share a very old article about shortening a '61 Pontiac Bonneville to Catalina size for some forum adherents, which hopefully avoided 're-inventing the wheel' on that topic. I like MCM's modern version better, of course, with the sharp color digital images, and techniques that take advantage of modern materials, but... Also, I had to face the fact that in performing that trick on my original-purchase annual AMT kit some years ago (and adding a bubble hardtop from a GB Chevy BA kit) I mistakenly shortened the body in the interior tub area, and not the trunk, as was really appropriate! Wipe egg off face... ! My first model kit inspiration was the famous Spotlite Series 'little book' of mostly 'Kustom' car models. It showed stuff a small, rural town kid could only imagine! I didn't even know that Chevy made a 'Cameo Carrier' pickup until I saw one customized in that mag! I immediately got a razor blade and hack saw and began opening hoods and swapping what few engines were available in the very early 'sixties! I'm still finishing up a half-dozen kits from 1960-64 that I saved, unfinished! It was amazing how few hardtop kits the stores which we back-woods kids patronized had; the owners must have assumed that we all wanted ragtops! AMT/SMP especially; JoHan usually sold hardtop models (cheap, at the 88-Cent Stores!) and I'm restoring a number of both. One thing that 'used to be' was the use of every square inch of page for text and illustrations which made for small print (hard for 79-year-old eyes to see!) and some clutter -- the old cut-and-paste school that actually used real paste (rubber cement, actually) that was amateurish in some ways, and also charmingly naive! The newer 'design-school graduate' layouts and designs are certainly more attractive, but I must say don't make for larger fonts and waste white paper space that could be effectively utilized for more, and larger photos! I vote for more, larger illustrations, and less arty white areas! And, in getting my MA in Art, I took all those classes too! One thing hasn't changed: the chagrin and frustration I feel at reviewing all those master-class builds that were (and oc, are) featured: when I realize that even with my liking of modeling going back seven decades, I'll never achieve that level of perfection. And, even in old b&w photos on Plus-X Pan film, it shows! I'm enduring the frustrations of loss of visual acuity and finger-coordination that come with accrued age; I know I've passed my peak as a craftsman, despite my accumulated knowledge and experience! Retired now, with time to devote to a hobby that is slipping away from me, but 'when I was making other plans' life took all that time! So, in summation, I have to say thanks for MCM (and the rest!) and all the great master craftsmen, writers (even with their 1/1 errors that I simply must challenge -- Bob, Larry, Bob, Tim, Gregg, etc.!) and aftermarket stalwarts in general. I still read your stuff cover to cover, and among all the other magazine collections of which I've saved, refer to them the most often! I suppose we'll be losing all the paper-based journals before long... Can't have too many model car magazines! Just sayin'... Wick Humble

Yes, that's good enough, all right. The Scout II had a different hood design with the newer style grille, etc. I'll get back on and see if I can afford one! Does the one depicted come with the chassis pan, etc. or anything else? Our '61 had a very basic bench seat, and was a short-cab/pickup style. It was a three-speed with transfer case (hi/lo ranges) and was badly underpowered, if willing little bomb. We had the first big floater-tires I'd ever seen first-hand, bought on special rims from the Wheel Center in L.A., 14' with 9:50x14 M&S cleats, cross-cut for more traction. Also, a beautiful chrome Sun tach -- that went to 3,000-rpm only! It was an implement of husbandry, I guess. The 153 probably would have wound-out at 4,000! White top, over blue; company colors for all his trucks. He later traded it on an I-H 3/4-ton slab-side pickup. Both had four-spoke steering wheels. Happy Holidays! WIck

Thanks again Mike; appreciate your input! Prob have to go with this. Turns out now my daughter is hankering for an early one! Bucks up now, but she and hubby prefer 'sweat equity' builds anyhow. And, an old pal (operative word for us: old!) still has two in his old dismantling yard, one with sbc. I remember it from the late '80s! The early Scout has that accent line from the tail-light to the door, and oc some other details, but sure you're right. Don't think I'd have any probs fabbing that grille (or pretty close ver) etc. I just saw one (phone photos) at cars n' coffee this am for $35K! Sweet resto, tho. I'm sure my kids would do a restomod, anyhow. Wick

"Where were you in '62?" As a guy who was in eleventh grade and crusin' in CA , I agree that AG is about the only movie that is close to accurate about those golden oldie times! Love the dedication I see here; congrats!! "You wanna' be a Pharoah!" I did a mini-diorama of a rear-end-ectomy that predated Officer Holstein's AG by about a decade: When Wally Cleaver and Eddie Haskell chained Lumpy Rutherford's pretty '40 Ford ragtop to a tree, and jerked out his banjo rear end and torque-tube! Only thing that ruins it is not including figurines; I haven't got time/patience for them at age 79; sorry! I'd just about contract them out, if someone wanted the job! BTW, it's funny, but Wolfman Jack's XERB (and later XPRS) were not in Modesto, but across the border; "X" is a Mexican denominator, "K" and "W" are assigned to the USA. "X-P-R-S, en Rosalita, Baja CaliFORnia!" Thanks for the nostalgia trip! Wick (and his '55 Chevy Delray 'post' rod, in '62!)

Mike, thanks for the tip. I looked on the FB page, but only found the 1970-ish Scout; did I miss the early '60s one? Sorry, Wick

I don't know it there is a 'rarity' list, so just guessing: a original-owner Strombecker Scarab 1/24 'sorta' slot car -- battery powered, originally) that I built as a Devin-like sports car back in 1961, now being restored to typical Scarab; as close as I can make it with y olde skills! Hubley Duesenberg SSJ metal kit, unbuilt (poss, disposable now), and several AMT Pontiac early Tempest kits (have a '61 coupe with orig. Buick 215 under restoraton, had a '62 ragtop 4-bbl 4-banger restored, both 1/1) and ?? Wick

No, they fit in recess in the cove under the trunk lip. Chrome bezel, with three red lenses that snap in from behind. I have one, lost the mate, darnit. And after saving the set from 1961, too! My (Atlantis? Polar Lights) new kit is a Ventura-option Catalina, oc. I was going to put the Bonne lites on my '60 Chevy coupe Kustom because I'm using a 389/Tripe engine. Also have a JoHan Plymouth 'square' steering wheel in an original '60 Merc dash; how's that for vintage?? I'm still hoping to find a 1962-63 GM Y-body (Tempest/Special/Cutlass coupe roof to put on my '63 LeMans kit being rebuilt! Tempest/LeMans had sedan coupe roofs, Olds/Buick Y-bodied compacts offered that plus pillarless hardtop coupes. Strange!? I have a 1/1 '61 Tempest coupe with Buick OEM 215 alloy V-8. Wick

As the kids all say, ad nauseum: Perfect! At 79, I'm never sure what I'm doing on the web! Yes, I'm using an old gmail account. Thanks very much! Fast action! Hope to finally be getting some of my better builds photographed and sent to the forums. Wick

I was recently forced to change email address by hacker; and now I get a message about my comments being reviewed. Not getting PMs any more, apparently. Help? Also, >sob< I lost my little rocketship thingie! "Death, taxes -- and hackers!" So, how do I make sure my id with MCM is intact? I'm losing status, here! Wick, modeling since 1953, in my eightieth year now!

Very early Scout model on my wish list; but were these ever produced? Talking about 1961-62-ish. We had a new one as step-dad's work truck-ette, really cool very basic little rig, and definitely set Ford on the way to their later Bronco. Scouty was pretty gutless with half-a-V8 'slant four'-- much like Pontiac's 194.5 which could be got in 166-hp version!* I put lots of time in on it, including 'field time' pulling a big dry fertilizer spreader. Not a huge success; later he bought a surplus REO deuce-and-a-half ex-crash 6X6 truck from Beale AFB, which worked well, in spades! About 1963, with 7K miles on it. Never licensed, registered as "Implement of Husbandry", or tractor in CA. Used to pull up juniper trees with its winch!! Wick, on about the old days again! * I once wrote an article comparing the two fours; never got published.

Larry and all: I had to change my email address because of a hacker (bad!) and am not sure my new one is kicking in with MCM; I didn't get your PM... Sorry! Wick

Okay: resin cast, 3-D printed, made of epoxy spot-filler cast in Fix-All... all are okay, I'm sure, But I can't do 'em. Likewise, buying new kits for an engine or needed bits, esp. on the collector's market, is out at my age and stage of the game. I guess i'm licked unless one of the (seemingly) dwindling repro sources can help. I don't mind the dough so much, on a project like the '51 Chevy, a replica of Dad's car that I'm restomodding for my son, so if anyone has a MII/Pinto front suspension for sale... ? I'm a 1:1 restorer, and I abhor fake-a-loo model details, esp on kits that can be viewed from undersides. On the other hand, I don't have time (life) to start plumbing in brake lines and hose clamps, etc. So... if I can find someone to learn me resin-casting, I guess that's the way to go; amazing how many plastic modelers do not live in my area, it seems. I joined an IPMS chapter an hour's drive away, but haven't been to a meeting yet as they are in the eveining, and now days I don't drive late at night... guess I should just tell it to the chaplain, huh? But, I still think the Parts Pak thing is good, at least for some aftermarketers. BTW, in my kit heyday, I bought all the P.P. series, though some of them were silly (overchromed, etc.) so I know that they did make the mfr. some dough. Still have many of the bits, too. Wick

Guys, thanks! That's what I was afraid of... buying new/collector kits to get a few components. Bear in mind that my interest is in mostly 1940-1965 cars. and that's what I have in my small (preserved) cache. The late model LS engine would almost loosen my purse strings, if I needed that one! The MII front group: couldn't someone who knows more about replicating than I do make some repops of that tree? I always bought the old kits that came with two mills; still have a number of flatheads that I didn't use c. 1960 -- and I'm using them now! I have so many Ford Y-blocks that I'm going to use four to make a 'Hillbilly Showboat' dragster -- eventually. This '51 project isn't going to get an accurate modern front suspension, probably; I don't have time enough left to fab one, at almost 76 years of age. Not and finish up my other priority kits, I guess. Wick Humble Chico CA