Bernard Kron

Gone! I've never considered that approach. I usually place a strip across the back of the radiator, or cut the radiator off where it overlaps the cross member and add a piece of radiator below the cross member, depending on where I need the radiator to be located. Something to consider the next time I build a channeled rod... Thanx!

Wow Shane, love that shiny paint and big wheel modern rod thang you do so well! The more I see that Merc the more it grows on me... And of course the '57 Ford and the Olds are classics!

Nice stuff! I dig the Red Byron car. Where can you get the decals? I'd love to do one myself. Have you read Driving with the Devil: Southern Moonshine, Detroit Wheels, and the Birth of NASCAR by Neal Thompson? It's a great book all about the early years of stock car racing and is mainly about Red Byron and the rise of Bill France.

You're right Niko, you made impressive progress this year and now I think you can feel confident that most things are well within your reach. One thing that happens, 'though, is that your builds take much longer, despite the fact that you make fewer mistakes and generally do things more quickly and confidently. That's because each project contains so much more than it would have a couple of years ago. Beautiful work! Congrats!

In addition to the Revell "Rat Rod" '29 Ford RPU kit, they also are included in the Revell '30 Ford "Rat Rod" Sedan kit . and, I believe, in the latest release of the Tweedy Pie. Frankly, the Rat Rod kits have so many other nice parts (notably the posable I-beam front suspension and the fully chromed rear axle bells that adapt nicely to many quick changes, not to mention the chromed buggy spring rear end), that it's well worth the purchase as a parts kit alone, as compared to the cost of aftermarket tires and wheels. The Tweedy Pie is also an exceptional parts kit for hot rod builds. The tires, in fact, can be purchased separately. They have been reproduced by Modelhaus, modified to fit the "standard" Modelhaus rim size, the 15" AMT wheel. However, they appear to be blackwall only. Modelhaus tires often have a separate sidewall so it's worth an inquiry as to whether they can supplied with whitewalls. Assuming they'll accomodate you, the total effect can be reproduced using either any AMT 15" steely, trim rings from various AMT '39-'40 Ford kits, and a Ford dog dish hubcap, or the equivalent items from the Modelhaus catalog. Here is the item description from Modelhaus ( http://www.modelhaus.com/index.php?page=4&c=0&y=0&pt=33&part=1&Submit=Search ): T-435 four Revell Rat Rod big and little tires modified to fit AMT and Modelhaus wheels, flexible black resin Tires Price : $8.50 But in my case I keep a stash of Revell Rat Rod kits around for all the yummy goodies they offer up!

The grill attachment point is a good idea. I would thin and round it a bit so it's not quite so visible, however, perhaps so most of it conforms to the shape of the grille, and/or is hidden by it. The rounded corners on the chassis helps give it a more finsihed look. The stance is killer!!!

Now that's some very, very fine modeling. One thing I enjoy about the end of year retrospectives is that it reminds me of the wide variety of build styles we are treated to here on the forum. This is very far removed from what I can ever hope to do, with the exception of that very nice '55 Chevy. That's one I'll be studying! Thanks for the inspiration and I hope to see more of your exceptional builds in 2014!

A quality line up, but the maroon '48 is the tour de force. A knockout in every way! It would be a super fine kustom in 1:1. Hope to see more in 2014!

Now that's some sanitary model building! Beautifully turned out builds. The McClaren and the Larry Griffith set are my faves. They get the most out of your build style. Looking forward to seeing more from your bench in 2014!

Nicely done! I especially like the Nissan Gloria. What's the origin of the wonderful upholstery pattern? It makes the model. Hope to see more from you in 2014.

Lovely stuff. The Cord is exceptional! Looking forward to the Willys in 2014!

I'm always envious of the showroom stock look. It takes such discipline to get it right, and you got 'em right. Of course the DeSoto has got to be my fave. Love the Big Fin era. Hope to see more of these in 2014.

Slick stuff, Kennyboy. Love the colors and graphics and the sanitary build style. Looking forward to more in 2014!

Sweet stuff! All very well turned out. I especially like the 510. You had a great 2013. Looking forward to 2014 from your bench.

Welcome Cole. Your introduction reads like a modeling veteran! Can't wait to see your stuff!

As strong as the Aussie dollar is, I've been surprised it took this long for this to come up. It's all about share holder value, whether a company is publicly traded or privately held. Companies will always chase the lowest overall final cost. Global corporations in particular have become highly skilled in squeezing costs out of workers and governments wherever they operate. For domestic US companies competing with foreign companies their salvation will come when the costs embedded in quality and distance turn the equation around and they can once again operate profitably. The owner's of lordairgtar's employer obviously think they can tough it out as their customers do the math and discover they can lower final costs by sourcing domestically. In the meantime the auto industry, worldwide, suffers from huge overcapacity. In Europe Fiat, Opel and Peugeot are all on the ropes, Saab is gone and Volvo is owned by a Chinese company and struggling for survival. In the US some observers are beginning to question whether Chrysler and GM will make it, and US dealerships' inventories are back up to 2008 levels as all the major manufacturers are once again engaged in channel stuffing and agressive discounting. Many auto loans are now out to 7 years as the price of cars march ever higher. In Japan it's been Nissan that's been in trouble for years, now. As is clear from the article, even Toyota is feeling the squeeze. The contradiction in all this is that the foreign factories rely on markets in the developed countries to pay for their operations. In a globalized world it doesn't matter who actually owns those factories. So, if GM and Ford manufacture the next generation of cars in China and the workers in the USA, Japan, Europe or Australia they layed off can't earn the same wage working elsewhere, GM and Ford will ultimately lose customers, and the costs of operating those Chinese factories will be less likely to be covered. At some point the trend reverses, usually through protectionist policies but hopefully through fair currency alignments (like America in the 1800's and in Asia the Japanese and Koreans before them, the Chinese agressively suppress the value of their home currency). Until industrial corporations associate the loss of their home markets with the decline in domestic worker's real wages, it's doubtful they will do anything to preserve their factories there. Meanwhile in China semi-skilled factory wages are rising by as much as 10-15% per year and the Chinese are finally having to face costs they have long ignored, such as rising urban housing prices, health care, environmental impacts and pensions. So we'll see how long they can remain competitive... Global corporations have already established beach heads in some of the poorest and most unstable countries in Central Africa in the hopes of eventually capturing efficiencies based on the low wages and land cost in that part of the world.

So glad to have you back with us. I missed the inspiration of your w.i.p.s What a pleasue to move through your posts of the last few pages and appreciate what great modeling is all about. Condolences on the death of your father. Like others here, I have gone through it too. It's a draining experience and it takes time to re-orient away from the work and responsibilities of caring for someone who mostly likely occupied a large part of your existence in those last months and years. So... welcome back! P.S. I love the self portrait!

Here's how I did mine. Nothing fancy, I just stripped off the chrome plating. sprayed them with Testors Aluminum Plate Metalizer and brush painted the spokes with Testors Burnt Metal Metalizer. The hub cap is a pin head. The rears also were stripped of chrome plating and finished in Testors Aluminum Plate Metalizer.

Great! Thanks guys. I'll have a look and report back.

Thanx Mike. For the small stuff I'll keeep my eye for than kind of collet. Good point about the waggle and breaking stuff. This search is all about drilling really BIG holes (1/4" to 1/2" and maybe more...).

The kit doesn't look bad, in a basic sort of way. The pictures are nice and up close so you get a good impression of what the parts are like. Looks like excellent material for an upgrade working mainly with the parts at hand. The frame in particular looks crisp, thin and in-scale looking. Thanx for the quick build so we can all see! It's much appreciated.

Thanx for all the various inputs. These, and others I got on some other forums, are definitely grist for my mill. Here are my thoughts so far. BTW, for me this kind of fabrication is a frequent and often important activity so that's why I posted the inquiry. Tapered Reamers: This is close to a no-brainer. Yes, there's the possibility of chatter or skipping, like happens with a hobby blade, but I suspect in most cases it might be just the ticket. I looked them up on e-bay and lowest cost Buy-It-Now for a t-handle reamer is about $7.50 for one that that goes out to 1/2 inch. I'll most likely order one today. The importance of actual drill bits: The thing about drill bits is they create an accurate hole with parallel sides in thicker objects. Thinking about it some more, this is an issue mainly when doing conversion work on wheels, more than anything else I do, so I may start with the reamer and go from there. Drill bits with handles: Jeffs296, I'm jealous. A chuck on a screwdriver handle is exactly what I would need! Did you make it? Otherwise, someone on another forum suggested making handles from dowels and epxying them to drill bits. Now that's ingenuous! It's a variant on Foxer's painter's tape! Drill bit sets aren't all that expensive, and neither are dowels, and epoxy is my New Best Friend these days, so... Maybe this is the actual solution! Definitely thinking very hard on this one. Sounds like a productive weekend project. I only need to add handles to sizes that don't fit my pin vise. Drill Chucks: This seems so obvious and yet I didn't think of it! I guess that's why we ask questions. It also seems that in many cases the chuck itself may be sufficient to act as a handle. Unfortunately replacement chucks can be be pretty pricey... I have an old, inactive drill and I'm trying to think of a way to remove the chuck so I can use it... Hole Punches: I have thought about larger hole punches. They would be useful for things like dragster firewalls. Generally they would be useful where the hole is quite large and where a clean, accurately dimensioned circular hole is needed. The material can't be too thick, though, and would probably have to lay flat. I wonder how often I would use them? Thankfully they are not very expensive and I will likely get some eventually. "Eggbeater" Drills: The eggbeater part is of questionable utility to me, but they do have a chuck and a handle... Hmmm.... So, thanx again. I think my plan is to order up a t-handle reamer and add some handles to my larger drill bits!

Finding decent short stacks for high revving motors (especially of the road-racing variety) is the problem if you use auto modeling after market pieces.

Yeah, it looks really "hooked up". The proportions and stance are oustanding. One of the sweetest channel jobs on a Revell Deuce Roadster I've seen in a while. Like many, the grille shell is not to my taste, but, frankly, as beautifully integrated as it is in the overall look, I have to overcome my conservative prejudices and admit it looks very fine indeed. Those long headlight housings may be the key. I was waiting for the windshield to see how it all came together and I like it a lot! Big thumbzupz! What's the source of the door mirror? It's a nice touch.