The Modeling Hermit

Someplace I've got a picture taken at a late-nineties car show in Des Moines Iowa, of this car. The great part about it, was that my daughter was allowed to pose with it.

I know the others have already stated this, but I have to affirm that this is an awesome job of weathering.

That could be right out of 1965. Great work.

Hey, Vince, it's good to hear from you again. Actually the biggest problem I've had with the Freightliner, was joining the body with thechassis. I'd always followed the instructions, and after nearly pulling all my hair out, which in those years was halfway down my back, I usually just ended up gluing the thing solid. I finally got it through my head to connect the grill to the chassis in the chassis assembly, and then when it comes time to drop the body on, simply slide it onto the grill. Any filling I have to do on the body halves I do from the interior which saves a lot of sanding and replacing rivets on the exterior. I spent hours doing the plumbing and wiring only to cover almost all of it up afterwords, but I know it's there.

Robert, the wheel holes were filled with 2 part epoxy, but I've had just as good of luck with a good quality thick CA. My first conversion was done with Testors putty. The wheels came out super and looked great, until the putty started dropping out of the holes. I've done enough conversions, that I now have minimal sanding, but when I do, I use a white pencil shaped sanding sticks that my wife got for me at a hobby shop in the lower 48 someplace. She doesn't remember which one.

This is my latest build. The cab was shortened to a day cab. Air conditioning was added, and face detail done on it. The 10 hole wheels were altered to 5 hole. One fuel tank was omitted and the battery box was relocated. The color is reminiscent of a color I remember back in the late sixties and early seventies, and the truck represents a small to medium sized town local wrecker. Weathering was kept simple to imply a well maintained but often used rig.

That is a neat, clean build.

Those are beautiful, and I really like the lug nut detail.

George is right. The delivery systems can do some very strange and exotic things to items that are carefully packed, and the less care taken, the more fun they can have. When I send something, I make sure that it is packaged like it's got to survive a demo derby, because it does.

I do go look, but I've been watching the replies to models that I do post, and I've come to the conclusion that I must not be all that great of a modeler. I've got one model build on a couple of other sites that I'll finish, and then I'll not be posting anymore progress builds. I'll leave the community builds to the better modelers, but I'll still follow them and catch some inspiration.

Is it my imagination, or is model building making a comeback? It seems like the offerings and introductions are as strong now as they were in the early years.

I'm wanting to build a 60 Chevy 4 door hardtop, but I have a couple of questions. Do any of the aftermarket suppliers offer a top and back window for the Revell car? If not, does anybody have measurements and suggestions for this undertaking?

That's a very nice job on the weathering. I remember some cars that looked like that and were still being driven.

I also use the binder/photo sleeve system, but mine are also kept on the computer. I've had decals disintegrate when I attempted to use them. What I do now, is to scan them, and keep them filed on my computer. That way I can select the image/s from a decal sheet that I want, and then print off just those that I desire.

I don't have photographic evidence, but years ago when I was into HO scale model railroading, a dog got hold of a coaling tower that I was building. He did such a great job of weathering it, that I placed it on the layout just the way I found it. I got a lot of comments on the excellent weathering job.

It appears to me, that there's less participation on the forums now that facebook has become so popular. I must admit that I'm a member of several groups over there. Is this hurting the forums?

How about a Cruiseliner with multi-colored striping. There are a lot of colors on this one.

This is a JoHan curbside kit that I've had sitting around for several years. I finally decided to build it. In the original form, it's a 2 door sedan, which was not produced in the Starchief series, so I removed the center post. I made the whitewalls using liquid paper and magic marker. Fender skirts and Bare Metal Foil gave the finishing touches. I probably should black out that grill.

This one was done using Testors paints. A coat of gold went down first. A center line was taped off, and then the upper section was taped off along with the the upper section. The lower section was sprayed flat black. The tape was removed from the upper section, and the whole cab was sprayed with Florida Roadstar Orange. The middle tape was removed, and a coat of clear was added. This one got some 2 tone Purple action. Another rattle can job, this one in Sapphire Blue Metallic. I commend those that use air brushes, and they get some beautiful paint jobs. My problem is that air brushes and I never got along, especially after some wonderful person used mine and didn't clean it. I've used Testor's rattle cans for over 40 years, and they've always been fine for me.

That is an impressive build.

I wish my skill were where everybody tells me they are. I've been building since 1960, and I keep thinking that after all these years, I should be much better than I am. I build for others, but only projects that I feel strongly about, and I don't charge for the work. I've built a diorama for the Alutic museum of an ancient village, plus some other displays, and I've done some work for the Kodiak military museum. Right now I'm just starting work on a model of an MRI trailer for the local hospital. It will be used for training and community events. Since I don't work under contract and I don't charge, I don't have to worry if they recipient doesn't like how it turns out. If they don't like it, they don't get it. My biggest strength, at this moment, is that I've finally learned to do the research needed for the projects I work on. Patience is not one of my virtues. I get near the end of a project, and I just want to get it done, so I have a tendency to rush through the last bits and then I make blatant mistakes. I've been caught on a couple that I've displayed here recently, so I'm working on that. Everybody keeps telling me how wonderful my work is, and maybe I'm just too critical, but I see a vast amount of things that I need to improve on. I am not where I should be after all these years, and I wouldn't even start to consider doing paid commissioned work.

You're off to a good start. I like your color choices and paint scheme.

That is one beautiful wagon, and Chevy should have built it.

That's a fantastic build, and I like the short wheelbase too.

I guess that this DiamondReo would be my favorite, because it's the first one where I really extended myself. My pipe load would come in a close second