OldNYJim

That’s really interesting! Fun idea! I have some long term collections of builds that I’m working on (albeit VERY slowly), but I just add another when I feel like adding another. For example, I’ve been collecting the various Boyd Coddington kits that were issued and I’d like to do all the AMT / Testor’s / resin versions of his cars that I can. I’ve been working through the various Miata kits that are available, and the MPC trikes series that got reissued a couple of years back. Oh, and I’ve been collecting the Atlantis kits so I can build one of each of those too. Come to think of it, I really oughta work on some more of these serieses (seri? Series?) this year - I’ve got too many collections with just one lonely build so far ?

Oramask 813, but if you have a full size plotter something like 3M’s masking material comes in as much as a 40” roll of various lengths…

I meant to measure it or find the packet when I was in the shop today but I forgot…but it’s about paperclip wire thickness, to give you an idea… ? Thank you! It’s not the best…but good enough as a starting point! At least the body looks 40-Ford-ish… I would’ve done more but a 20 minute nap took me 4 hours somehow ? I’m not sure, but yeah, it’s near identical to the AMT one I have here… Thanks fellas! Did one of those kits have a Nailhead in too? I forget…I’ll have to look. The Flathead in this one is kinda blobular but I have a plan… First job today was rough-out a floor for the trunk and some doorcards. Not terribly difficult work, but I wanted to get some styrene cut to make sure I wasn’t going to have any fit issues what with the opening doors… I’m going to use some thinner material for the door-cards, but I know now everything fits how it should and the doors open and close ok… Next job was replacing the trim (actually, rubber) around the windshield…I removed the molded-in wipers and it was easier to remove this line altogether and recreate it rather than try fix it: Next up, figured out tire sizes. I was surprised I could only get a scale 7” tire on the rear before I ran out of room…I’m sure in real life there’s probably some more room back there, but I wasn’t planning on running anything wide anyway. Going for some big ‘n’ littles for some rubber rake…haven’t decided on wheels yet but I keep coming back to a reverse steel wheel. Need to find a good STL for one, or else design my own… I started some work on the interior too but nothing far enough along to show just yet…next thing to tackle is that frame: That’s gonna need some work to get it up to speed… I’m happy with where I’m at so far tho - but a long ways to go yet… More soon, soon as I’ve done more!

The theme idea is interesting - could you give us some for-examples?

Last year, I did an experiment. See, the previous year I made a list of everything I wanted to build and built it, and I was pretty productive. Ended up with I think 13 finished builds of various complexity levels. Last year, I decided to just try building what I felt like, when I felt like it. No list, no particular plan, no feeling bad for not finishing something - just did what I wanted when I wanted. Turns out I don’t work well that way - I did LEARN a bunch and picked up a lot of new skills but I also have a bunch of unfinished projects and a dissatisfied feeling at the end of it. So, experiment completed, this year I have a list of what I’d like to achieve, some new practiced skills with which to achieve it and I want to do the best work I ever did. Going to a bunch of shows last year helped a lot - it’s really humbling to see other people’s work and realize how much there is to learn! I’ve been excited to get started on 2023’s builds!

I picked up this Lindberg 40 Ford at a show last year year for $5…and it was probably not that good of a deal even at that price. But I never build one of these, and I wanted to practice some new skills so I guess here goes nothing… Spent an hour or so fixing the basics on the body - mold lines and flash and whatnot: As you can see, the frame has a molded-in exhaust which I’ll be ‘fixing’ and I’ll be using some variation on a Flathead but probably not the kit engine. That interior tub is probably ok-ish if you paint it a dark color, seeing as it’ll be hard to see unless you opened the doors, so obviously I’m going to make myself a bunch of work and open the doors and go with a white interior instead ? Actually, first, I opened the trunk, which was somewhat tricky cos there wasn’t much of a line to scribe and it kinda disappears at the bottom edge. Once I got it open, I added some material to the opening AND the trunk lid so I had some meat to work with in getting the fit decent: A bunch of sanding and hinge-making later…not finished but a decent start… Then, same deal with the doors…add some material back in to account for the kerf of the saw and the material I lost… Because the back of the doors is a straight edge I could save a little work by using that straight edge as-is and just work the top of the doors and the front edge - got them fairly close to a nice fit. The hinges are a little beefier than I really needed - but I haven’t done many of these and I weighed up having some extra strength to them versus being able to hide them a little better…hopefully they’ll be hidden pretty well by the time I’m done with the doorcards anyway: And that’s about where I got for my 6 hours of bench-time today…it’s a start! More soon, soon as I’ve done more!

Here’s the one I got: https://a.co/d/gRtX8ql

Ahhh, didn't know that! I learned a thing! Mine was only rated at 210hp when new, and I'm sure it's not close to that at this point...

Mine's at 160,000 or so right now...still runs like a champ!

I love that 37 nose on there - looks killer! That would work well on a more 'traditional' Deuce build too! Way cool!

Ironically, that looks like my base model V6 (although mine is a coupe), which is the most gutless of that generation Mustang range. "Need MORE Speed" would be a more accurate vanity plate ? NOTE TO HARDCORE MUSTANG FANS: I love my base-model V6 Mustang; it's fun to drive, plenty fast enough to get me in trouble, plenty practical, cheap to run, kinda almost handles well, has a stick-shift which they didn't offer in the V8...but it's definitely not what you'd call fast.

This one is right by our house: * Insert Indiana joke here *

Outstanding work - masterful!!

I’ve added a tiny amount of Elmers too before, just to make it a little more durable. You don’t need much though…

I ordered one of those 1:25 parking garage display cases after seeing @TimKustom’s review of one in the magazine a couple of months back…was a fun evening project! Of course, I won’t be able to leave well enough alone so it’ll be getting some tweaks to improve the realism - but even out of the box it looks great and LED lighting is a nice touch!

Oh yeah, I've been enjoying that thread - that's probably what put the idea in my head ?

Hey Scott! I was thinking about your question today, and how we can maybe use 3D printers to create missing scripts and fine detail that would normally be something we’d have photoetched. I wondered about the possibility of making a larger piece that could just plug into a slot or groove cut into the body. Quick sketch to show what I imagined (with exaggerated depth, for clarity…): Printing tiny script in 3D is hard (near impossible, probably), but putting it on a ‘block’ like this, making a slot wherever it needs to be placed on the body and inserting this little panel into the body could be a way around that challenge…and achievable with a 3D printer. The edges of the block can be sanded and bodyworked to get the perfect fit, and then prime and paint as normal

This one: https://a.co/d/fih8lZl I’ve been using this for four years - it’s on it’s second blade in all that time (but honestly the original one was still usable when I switched it after a couple of years). Then all you need is whatever material you want to cut…for making masks, I like this: https://a.co/d/4qDFpvA There are larger versions that can cut bigger pieces of material in one go - but for almost every model-related job, even the smallest version is plenty big enough…

Agreed! At our local store they reduced the area for the car kits a little to make room for some robot kits, whatever they’re called…but they still had plenty of stock of those and a LOT of empty spots in their automotive line-up

I checked my local store in the week, and same thing; mostly empty spots and some of the standard ‘shelf warmers’ - only new thing I saw was the new race hauler set and the Celica, but neither followed me home…

@NOBLNG‘s video covered it, but yes, it’s what you figured - a ‘printer’ with a blade that moves left/right up/down to cut vinyl, paper, card or even styrene sheet. Same machine as sign shops use to cut vinyl lettering for vehicles etcetera - but in a much smaller package ??

Not a clue…but here’s the T and the C Cab that I remember being displayed at wherever it was. These screenshots are from a video interview with Jim Keeler: Note the little white tub marked “Chrysler for 27” ?

What kind of paint are you using? Thinning it down some will help eliminate those brush strokes - but for painting a larger piece a rattle can or airbrush will almost always get nicer results than a brush

They had a cool in-progress C-cab that they displayed at a show earlier in the year that I liked! There's a discussion about it on here somewhere...

Apparently a couple of engines…and some different wheels (thankfully)