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very nice. love those wheels.

Looks good so far.

Great Job! gotta love those "decontented" reissues no more weighing you down with extra parts and they probably save .0000000000000004 cents per kit.too bad the kit didn't come with a small scoop to cover up the hole in the hood.

I think you are asking about reissues that have the original artwork a big give away on those is a upc code. the model companies will also have a current copyright date some where as well it will take some time but you will start to figure out what's old and whats new . just watch out on ebay you don't always get a good look at the box.a lot of the reissues shouldn't be more than 30.00 and that would be on the high end.experience is key to avoiding getting taken like Harry saidi f you have something in mind just ask.if you have some favorites that you are looking for in particular post a list and we can probably let you know if it is currently available or if the subject matter has been redone in a more detailed manner .also since you've been away there are tons of extra detailing items like photo etch ,baremetal foil ,resin bodies and conversions and a whole slew of decals for race cars and stock jobs .another thing is try out is lacquer based paint as opposed to the old testors enamels. they dry fast and are pretty easy to work with treehugger dave has an excellent tutorial on painting that I found extremely helpful. hope this helps.

That is one super awesome build very impressive and I really like the big wheels they are sweet !and that is a truly excellent paint job, hope to see more !

here are some more photos.I redid the interior panels this time cutting the windows out of the interfacing first and then cutting the material in diagonal lines and gluing to the back I got a much better result especially on the opera windows.I have also added some more vinyl and brass accents.after seeing this come together I just may do another more serious attempt. I have also decided to either mod the lincoln engine even more or go with a more conventional propulsion source.

My 7 year old son and I built a star wars model the one that comes with a figure it was a two legged contraption he enjoyed it I think some of the moving parts and and particularly the legs were on the difficult side but between the two of us we got it done .I always have Nathan read the directions and get the parts off the trees .I then have him at least attempt to mock it up if it goes well we glue it and if he has trouble I show him how it goes together and have him try again if he still can't manage I will "help" with that step and start the process over until we're done .I find glue pens are good for beginners as well as the acrylic paint markers they dry fast and are water wash up . it probably wouldn't hurt to bring a car/truck to work on also so you can share what you like to build, often the kids like to try the things you like just as much as their own interests. good luck and push safety and patience!

And thank you for joining us glad to have ya here and look forward to seeing what you're working on or hearing what youwould like to work on!

I would just stay away from mek and other solvents for glue especially when you don't know what you are dealing with.those solvents have a specific purpose and are usually mixed with something else so using them straight from the can can be dangerous. how are you using tenax that isn't working for you ?I use an old brush to apply it .some common problems you may run into are the glue drying before you get the pieces together or not prepping the parts (scraping paint and chrome off ,working with clean plastic).hope this helps and seriously get rid of the mek it is horrible nasty stuff!

Here's a couple of photos I took with the interior panels set in place the body painted tamiya candy lime green and the roof set on top . once everthing is all buttoned up I think it will look the way I had it in my head . now I just have to work on the suspension ,engine and figure out what color to paint the seats.

O.k. after the vinyl roof experiment and the discovery of interfacing ,i found some fabric that I had purchased a long time ago and decided to continue the experiment on the inside. It is not the perfect color selection for the exterior color but the goal is to try some new stuff and finish it .I started out by ironing the fabric next I trimmed some interfacing to size put the fabric over the interfacing ironed it on and used fabric glue to hold down the edges until I get the body painted and can install it.I still need to cut out the window openings so I still have room for error.the process took less than an hour. one of these days I will learn how to take better photos.

That is some fine work . I'm glad you finished it and just under 30 years.

Let us know which kit it is .

Dave ,5.00 what a deal .I love those kits also,I would like to put the the vintage chassis underneath with lots of detail .for those that don't know these cars were designed in '66 based on the classic marques chassis rebodied for a then current body style I think it was a contest or something and I also think one or two of them were actully built.I wonder if the tooling for these still exists.It is always fun to watch your builds and I look forward to seeing you finish these in the typical Treehugger fashion.

great job .

It looks really great! was there a purple challenger that ran also?

nice choice,I hadn't seen this car before but I like it thanks for posting the pics and I look forward to seeing your progress!

Thanks Riz,you can but it is really touch and go as evidenced by the first picture it can get bad fast also it shrinks quite a bit .because the back is smooth it doesn't stick well so by heating it you run the risk of losing the stick thus getting air bubbles and having to start over again. I really tried all options and this is pretty close to as good as it gets . I will use this technique on future builds and try to iron it out some more.

this is the roof from the tijuana taxi as is the picture above hope this is helpful.

Thanks for the compliment. It is thin but not very flexible it would be fine on a mostly flat surface but not something like tuck and roll also it is hard to get adhesive to stick to it .and yes there were several colors and textures ,I liked this one because it looked "scale" enough for something like this .

I haven't seen this stuff around since i bought it.

here is the roof I was trying to put on a vinyl top this is the first attempt here is the finished product with some of the supplies this is the stuff I used for the vinyl side and under views this process took a lot of trial and error but I think I have the foundation for future projects . I tried putting the vinyl directly on the roof but every adhesive I tried left lumps and wouldn't smooth out.the secret ingredient for the smooth roof is interfacing used for sewing it has glue on one or both sides and is for firming up material when sewing. on this application I needed something to stick to the roof and the vinyl with out leaving lumps .the interfacing was firm enough but had a little give so I was able to snug everything up around the edges.I sprayed both sides of the interfacing the top of the roof and the back of the vinyl with spray adhesive let it set up then put it all together gently smoothing it out just on top . I then set it aside overnight on top of the ol'dehydrater in the morning it was dry enough to start fiddling around with the sides . the sides were still tacky enough to stick so I just trimmed a little off the corners (the corners will be better next time )and taped the underside later I will add a headliner with superglue to keep everything permanently attached. I went through about three roofs (rooves?) before my wife showed me the interfacing which solved all kinds of problems.she says it comes in all kinds of thicknesses and glue on one or both sides I tried the glue side facing up but since I wasn't using heat(see first pic)the glue left a grid on the vinyl so I flipped it around and bingo nice smooth top !I need to paint the body before adding the second piece that will go around the back and opera windows so more pictures later hope you like it .

I like both ideas ,I like the pikes peak idea better .

When you get your hands on the sheet plastic (evergreen or plastruc)look at the different sizes and shapes they have if you see a size or shape you like get the size you think you need and a size smaller and one bigger you'll thank yourself when you get home.as for filling the window one technique that will help get you close pretty fast, place tape over the opening, trace the opening on the tape,remove tape and place it on your plastic cut out(you can get by with a good pair of scissors up to about .030 or .040 thick) and trim to fit . hope this helps good luck!

those are so cool I wonder if there are more around .It seems like it was a big deal back in the day how well were these documented ?I would love to see more pictures.