OldNYJim

Thanks buddy! I'm still not that good at making them yet (this is only the second set that I've done) but I've figured out some things to do differently on the next ones to make them another step better again. I think I want to make a set for that new Mooneyes dragster that Atlantis is releasing about now, so that'll be a good excuse to make some more...

I'll post pics of the contents of mine, when it arrives (if no one beats me to it). I'm REALLY hoping it contains all the stuff in this first post here...

I’m thinking of cutting some treads into them with my lathe - haven’t totally figured out the best tool to achieve that yet…worst case it doesn’t work and I go with some others, but I’d like to make them work if I can! Other option is cut thin strips of styrene with a zig-zag tread pattern and lay them around the tire- make my own treads on my scrapbook cutter! Interesting thing with the Ed Roth Mysterion frame - the original was so flimsy and weak it cracked whilst the car was still on the show circuit. Someone built a replica in the last few years and hid a traditional steel tube frame behind the Swiss-cheesed chrome parts, so I’m building mine in a similar way so that it would actually be feasible in the real world, somewhat. Speaking of the frame, seeing as I’m replying anyway, I’m kinda sketching in some styrene tube to see how this thing would lay out…got a lot of zee in the rear to get the stance how I want it with those big rear tires! ?? Something unusual I want to try with this build is to not have a traditional bed as such, but have the frame form part of the bed sides somehow but have the floor partially open so the axle and suspension setup are easily visible. Maybe a little shelf just behind the cab with a gas tank and the battery. It’s a start anyway - more soon!

I saw in one of their emails that they send out that they were planning to start dispatching the Mooneyes kits late last week...so I guess we might see them THIS week. Guess we'll see! EDIT: didn’t see the above post before posting mine ?

Well darn it - I did some quick research on this engine and apparently didn't get it right...will do more research Thanks for the heads up!

I’ve been building this thing in my head for almost a year now, and decided I oughta start ACTUALLY building it….I’ve been saving pics of 32-34 trucks for about a year now for reference and I think I finally have enough ideas ? Using the cab (and probably not a bunch else) from one of these: Scratchbuilding a frame around one of those nicely detailed old Revell Parts Pak engines, and I picked up some artillery wheels and some big meaty rear tires from (I think?) The Parts Box: Those front tires are the plastic kit tires that come with these 34 trucks - seeing as I’m painting the rear ones anyway I figure these will work just fine - and they pair nicely with the resin rears to make some decent bigs ‘n’ littles. Had to machine both sets of tires on my lathe to get them opened up enough to accept the wheels - seems like the wheels are about a scale 15” and the tires had a 14” or so ID. I’m thinking of a nice low over-engined little hot rod, scratchbuilt frame, super low and mean looking with some unusual little touches that you don’t see every day. I really like this fenderless 34, looks wise… …and I’ve been admiring the (admittedly not very functional) frame on Roth’s Mysterion lately: And a few years back I saw this old 30s Mack truck that the NYPD used to use: So, I’m taking my inspiration for the stance and overall look from the blue one (although I’m going a LITTLE more extreme with mine), some inspiration from the Mysterion for the frame coupled with a ‘what if the NYPD used 34 trucks back in the 30s’ colorscheme to make it look like someone hotrodded a museum-piece and ruined it ? Just getting started on the frame here and stripping all the chrome off of that engine…more soon!

Made some wire wheels for this future project - I don’t really know enough about these 60s FEDs to do this build justice yet, but I felt like making something..,

I read a book once on creative ‘writer’s block’. It suggested ‘zooming out’ from your normal area of interest and finding other sources of inspiration aside from what normally grabs your attention. But, I think, the key there isn’t to just (in the case of overcoming modeller’s block) go build a tuner or a tank or a plane if that doesn’t interest you, but explore some other other areas to find something that DOES get the juices pumping again. Fall down a rabbit hole of vintage hot rod magazines, or racecars, or look at a bunch of interior pictures or Google weird tubular frames or door handles or interesting rare headlights - anything! One of my favorite books for inspiring creativity, even though it’s focused maybe more at artists and writers and musicians, is this one (which you can read for free at this link): https://kingauthor.net/books/Austin Kleon/Steal Like An Artist/Steal Like An Artist - Austin Kleon.pdf It has a bunch of cool ideas and techniques that we can use ourselves to inspire interesting builds, and I absolutely recommend spending a half hour or so going through it and pondering what tricks might work to light your creative fire.

That's a great tutorial - thank you so much for (re)sharing Shawn. You do nice work!

Best I ever got from a Michael's was a 60% off for being a rewards member! And the cashier in my (then) local store told me to try buying a second one right then if I wanted because the coupon might still work for a couple of minutes after being used - got two kits for $20 out the door!

That's SUPER helpful, thank you Bernard! It's often easier just to ask someone who has dealt with these vendors, versus setting up an account and making theoretical order and so on. With the exchange rate as it is, I'd say their shipping works out to be very reasonable! And you're right, they have a tonne of cool stuff! I think I might actually have a few of their resin pieces already, but I suspect I ordered them from someone here in the US at some point - they do nice work! Probably time to order my Christmas gifts to myself

That's a great tip, thanks Bernard! I'm always looking for front axles, so I should order a bunch from them! How are their shipping costs, do you recall?

I just got one of those this past week too - grabbed a 32 5-window kit that I'd been wanting to pick up (but not so much I'd pay MSRP for it ) Would be cool if it's an ongoing thing, or they're semi-regular at least...

Old post - but how DID you make that grille Shawn? Is it photoetched somehow? Looks GREAT!

I’m not sad at all that it rained if you get some more bench time Francis! Truly masterful work as always!

Mine didn’t change yet, but I’m hoping it starts moving this week - did they send you a tracking number?

I'm interested in hearing more about that lemon-scented Tamiya cement ?

Or Clippy the Paperclip ?

Last cars and coffee of the season Impalas: VWs: Drift cars (I think?) Exotics: And more here: https://public.fotki.com/NewYorkSpeedShop/11-cars/car-shows/cars-and-coffee-at/page14.html

You guys need to go check some of John’s WIP threads - so much amazing stuff to see! ?

Never ??

Thanks everyone! Because basically everything attaches to the body on a lot of these TD kits, I really needed to get the body finished and in clear, so that was this week’s project. Used a scan of the original decals that Bob @TooOld kindly provided to redraw them in illustrator: Then cut masks out of Oramask on my plotter, and masked for paint: Shot silver first, then gradually worked through the process, shooting red orange and yellow over top. Decided not to follow the same pattern as the original design, just because I liked my way better ? All done and ready for touch-ups: Because doing all those layers adds those visible paint edges that you can see I used a high-build acrylic clear to help bury those graphics - the acrylic doesn’t polish up as nicely as enamels or lacquers for me, but you can shoot multiple coats quickly and if you get them plenty wet without it pooling you can get decent results: Excited to get this part done so I can actually stick something to something else ?. More soon!

Geez, that hood bulge is ENORMOUS. Good luck seeing, well, anything much whilst driving that thing ?

Herbie at the supermarket

I wonder what "Unity Graphics" are?