The Modeling Hermit

...and I thought that I was the only one who did that.

Tim. Someday I'm going to have to borrow your shrink ray. LOL That is an absolutely fabulous model; truly museum quality.

Welcome Sam. There are some great modelers here.

I dropped a 440-6 pack into the race car hauler I built. After listening to your ideas, I think you better get it built, or you might have a lot of unhappy people here. LOL

It also can refer to brake fluid, which is what I've used for the last 30+ years. I've had excellent results, and never any damage. What works best is what you personally have the best results with.

That's a beautiful build. I wish somebody would do a 71-76 98.

Die cast models got off to a bad start, mostly because they we not introduced as models for art's sake, but for monitary investment. One of the big cautions of the introductory years, was don't remove them from the box because you'll ruin they're value. This turned many of us "real modelers" against them. Right or wrong, these models had to earn their place in the modeling world. It was through modelers such as those found on forums such as this one, that they were removed from their boxes, and became "individualized". It took the modelers to turn them from an investment into a work of art. When I see what people are doing with die cast now, I have to admit that I'm blown away. I'm not sure about die cast as its own section. A plus is that having a seperate section would draw attention to the medium, by having it exposed. It would be easy to just click on and go check it out. There's a seperate section for resin, and I've never even noticed it, so this could also be a negative. I'm mostly a big rig truck modeler, so the first place I go is to the truck section. This is what would happen with die cast modelers, as their medium would be placed in its own bubble. They would have a place to showcase their work, but with limited exposer to others. Showcasing their models in with the mainstream models introduces others to what can be done with the medium, but having their own section, means that somebody who is biased against die cast, wouldn't have an arguement by sticking their nose into the "private" section. I currently only have a couple of complaints against die cast models. The first is the weight; 1/24 and smaller are not much of a problem, but larger scales can really be a pain. The second only relates to larger scale models, and that's the size as they take up a lot of display space, but as my wife says "You build truck models, and you're complaining about the space these take up!", so with that in mind, lets just move on. Good & bad are both found in whatever direction you choose to take in presenting this classification. I would lean towards leaving the models in with the mainstream models. Truck models and models of other scales were more readily accepted in their history. Die cast needs all the help it can get, and I feel that including it in with the mainstream will be the most advantageous to its acceptance as a modeling medium.

I recently did a thread on this car. It's a 62 El Camino that's based on the Bel Air level. I did make a couple of minor alterations to it though.

Manny, I hate to mention this, but the engine doesn't appear to be the only thing bad there. LOL You've done some beautiful weathering.

That's a great job of weathering.

That is a beautifully clean build. I like the use of whitwalls. It gives it class.

When I was model railroading in HO scale, I was working on a coaling tower. I left it for a few minutes, and when I came back, my dog was weathering it for me. He actually did a pretty good job, and I just finished it up with paint and chalk. I got many positive comments on it.

Fantastic

On my first one, I set it back a couple of times to take breaks from it, but with patience, it came out pretty ell. I took what I learned from the first one, and those following it have all been much easier to build, and build up into some great kits. If you're wanting a daycab version, I'd recommend getting the resin copy, as it's a massive amount of work to do the conversion.

AITM has some good ones. I usually make my own from 10 hole wheels. It's a lot of work, but I'm frugal, or as my wife would say, a cheapskate.

This 58 Impala looks to have been somebody's abandoned customizing project. Looks like maybe their chop topping didn't work out. I've shown this one several times. It's a build that I made back in Iowa, and survived a move to Kodiak with only a sag in the rear bumper.

That's too incredibly well built to be a model. You've got a shrink ray, and if you don't let me borrow it, I'm going to find the owner of this car and let him know that you shrunk it down and have it. LOL

I like the way that Round2 is showing the parts trees on the bottom of the box. This one clearly shows the chassis with the engine molded in, and does not show an engine on any of the parts trees. I've built several of these over the years, and they are great period kits. Speaking of period, I like the boxart. Sometimes it's nice to take a break from engine building, and just enjoy building a fun curbside.

Fantastic detail and build. I'm not sure about the tow hooks, but the rest sure does work.

That is one beautiful Packard.

That is absolutely amazing. Your attention to detail is museum quality.

It's beautiful.

Dominik. Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. The rear of the top and the bed are simply cut from the 65 El Camino. Thanks to all that gave feedback on this one. The posting was done "tongue in cheek" just to see how many wouldn't catch that it was a phantom.

That is beautiful. I wish my first model had looked that good.

I love it.