Bainford

Me and a buddy who watch the show have speculated that The Stig could be Nigel Mansel. I'm sure there have been a couple of stigs over the years. Sometimes The Stig does seem to have the stature of Mansel. Seems plausible...

The element from automotive tail light bulbs and signal light bulbs make great throttle return springs. Becareful when breaking the bulb open, as there is a vacuum inside, so the glass may fly. I put the bulb in a paper bag, sealed tight at the top, before breaking it.

Great motorsport and sportsmanship both exist today, but you have to go to the grass roots levels to find it. Once megabuck sponsership enters the picture, the joy quickly leaves. The great motorsports succumb to the percieved 'fairness' or even playing field demanded by those paying the big money, and the big money payers play to win, sportsmanship be damned. It's sad but true. Equally sad is that grass roots motorsport no longer makes it to network TV (reserved for the big money payers), so unless these events take place in our local area, we never get to see it. Having said that, though, it may be fortunate that these events do not get major exposure, for fear of them becoming popular, and big money stepping in. Then it all goes away. It's a vicious circle, really. Many of the motorsports that a lot of true enthusiasts have turned their back on in recent years (NASCAR is a perfect example), are victims of their own success.

From May to October, almost no building takes place here. It's my time to enjoy the great outdoors. I do a lot of hiking, mountain biking, camping, fishing, etc, not to mention the yard work and garage projects. This, combined with my typically slow building pace limits my production to about two models a year. During the summer I still think of hitting the model bench, but if the sun is shining, guilt takes over and I'm in the woods or on the beach again. I don't mind, its all good.

Thanks for the info, Steve. I was also thinking of a kit bash with the AMT Challenger, and was wondering if the body in this kit was workable. Aside from that funky looking hood, it seems doable. Think I'll give it a go.

A very impressive build. I love almost anything that's headed for the salt, and modified Avantis are just cool. This is a very clean build, and well detailed. Is this the modified kit engine? Everything under the hood looks right on. A fabulous build, I love it!!

Amen

Agreed. The cost of keeping Mercury alive must be more than it is worth having it around.

Very cool!! I love it.

Two months ago I ordered two sheets of BMF, two '3-packs' of decal paper, and a panel scriber from Bare-Metal. The whole works was shipped to canada for $4.40 US. I think their shipping calculator is out of wack. They originally quoted me $17.00 to ship the order, but only billed me $4.40.

Austin Healey Sprite Coupe WSM

I personally haven't used any thing other than BMF, but many people who have, claim that Bare-Metal makes the very best hobby foil by far. I am quite happy with it myself, and recommend it. If you order it, be sure to order the 'Chrome' foil, not the 'Ultra Bright Chrome'. The ultra bright stuff is an inferior product, thicker than the regular chrome and with a less effective adhesive. When your foil arrives, be sure to store it flat to reduce the possibility of wrinkles/cracks forming in the foil. Some people even seal it in a ziplock bag and keep it in the fridge to prolong its shelf life. When using your foil, be sure to use a fresh exacto blade. You may even need to change to a new blade a couple of times while foiling the same body. Burnish the foil with a small stick of balsa wood, q-tips and toothpicks. I find a very fine pointed pair of tweezers is handy to have on hand for picking off the slivers of trimmed material. Mine has a magnifying glass attached to it, which really helps.

$4.71 /US gallon here. Sorry Mr Biggs, but I can't subscribe to your theories. First of all, gas is not expensive..... yet! Five years from now you will look back and think "Four bucks a gallon...I wish." We are only scratching the surface regarding fuel prices. Besides, there may be an upside to high prices. It just may be the 'kick in the @$$' that we as a society need to get serious about reducing our dependency on petroleum. Like it or not, this has to happen, and it has to happen soon. Fighting to reduce fuel prices may bring a brief respite, but in the end it's a fools errand. I suggest you concentrate your efforts on finding ways to reduce our petrol habbit, rather than the eventually fruitless task of slightly reducing its cost. You will then be the champion of a cause worth supporting (and forget about ethanol, it's a global disaster waiting to happen). Good luck and good health.

When doing fine trimming, I use a quality pair of very fine edge tweezers with a small magnifying glass attached. Very helpful for carefully removing trimmed excess foil bits.

The telescopic antennas from old radios make great thin wall steel tubing with a variety of uses, including hydraulic cylinders for truck models. The element from automotive light bulbs (tail lightd, brake lights, signal lights, etc) make great throttle return springs. As others have mentioned, electronic devices have a ton of model parts hidden inside. Often there is black wire with very small white lettering on it that makes nice rad hoses. If into trick models, there are gears etc in VCRs and CD players that can be used for scratch building, or painted with rust paint and used to simulate a load of industrial junk. And of coarse, a wide variety of fuel filters, cool cans detail wiring. You are limited only by your imagination. The grills of some old radios and tape players sometimes have screen that can be useful. Some product packaging has shiney rigid mylar that can be used for mirror glass. Because it is cut from a flat sheet, it usually looks beter than kit chromed mirror glass. In my house, any type of device from a pen to a VCR is harvested for model parts before it hits the curb.

Nice work on the rebuild. The repairs turned out well, and the paint mis-match isn't even noticeable in the pics. The outdoor pics look almost real. I agree with the others, a black wash in the grill would really bring the front end to life. Well done.

A very interesting and unique build. I quite like this one. Nicely done.

Very well done conversion, and a very nice model of the Chevy coupe.

I also like Model Master Metalisers. On the 1:1 car, individual components are made using different processes (cast, forged, fabricated, machined), and often produced by a variety of subcontractors using a variety of slightly different alloys. If you are building multi piece assemblies to be metalised (eg. suspension and drive train, engine and chassis components all made of aluminum), try painting each part a slightly different shade (MM aluminum plate, MM aluminum buffing [buffed], MM aluminum buffing [unbuffed], Alclad, Humbrol Metal Cote, Testors aluminum, etc). The slightly contrasting shades and textures will provide a realism that can not be achieved if all parts are painted from the same bottle. Also, try using MM Metaliser steel, stainless steel, magnesium in the proper places tp provide further contrast. Using this method along with the black washes mentioned above, and a little buffing in select areas, can produce outstanding results. Obviously, some experimentation is in order to achieve the desired effect, but you may be surprised how easy it is to get good results.

Your Ramchargers Challenger looks great. One of my all time favorites. Did you use Fred Cady decals on this?

Thanks Chris. I live on the Eastern Shore, not too far from Dartmouth.

Sharp looking Merc, Harold. I really like the blue paint, and the engine wiring is very neat and tidy. Nicely done. The cragars are a nice period touch, too. I quite like this kit, but I really wish AMT made it a 66 instead of the 67. The 66 Comet is one of my very favorite 60s cars.

Thanks guys. I appreciate the comments. I really like this one myself. Funny how sometimes its the quick builders that you don't expect much from, that end up being the ones on the shelf that make you stop and think, "That looks pretty cool". I'm not into convertibles, and don't really think the 64 GTO is a great looking car, but for some reason this one keeps catching my eye. Harry, it is a bit cold for a top down cruise, but I thought it made for a neat picture. When I was 18, a buddy had a 68 Barracude convertible, and we would cruise in the dead of winter with the top down. When I was young it seemed like a cool thing to do, now it just seems like a cold thing to do.

Early 70s Datsun Cherry Coupe

Nice work, and looks beautiful in blue. The struggle was worth it. One of the best box stock buildups I've seen of this kit. Nicely done.