Howard Cohen

You can do an internet search in the Yellow Pages for hobby shops in any city in North America

Some of the static AMT kits started out as slot car kits and were released in two fashions, slot and static. Monogram did the same with the Chaparral 2D. I can't remember if the McLaren-Elva and Lola raced in the CanAm or only the USRRC.

I picked up a few things this weekend Revell - Paddy Wagon - no figuresPontiac Grand Prix SE Outlaw - sealed Hurst Hair Olds - no Linda figure 56 Ford custom pickup Monogram - L'il Coffin - 50th - sealed AMT - Penske PC-17 indycar March 88C indycar 37 Chev modified 76 Chev Caprice - no trailer Garlits Wynnsjammer - sealed 6 assorted showcases

I wonder if right now Don and Carol are regretting their decision to give so much notice without putting a limit of the size of orders. I wonder what the modelling community would do if they decided to just close up, return all the money, say 'Thanks, we are done' and go on a very long vacation

Oh, so buying and reselling is wrong...too bad because every time you go to a hobby shop or show and buy a kit from a vendor or from a collection, that is exactly what you are doing

I left some of the trim without foil as it looked too heavy with it. I wanted the gold trim to be stronger.

Testor's White Lightning is a very transparent metallic/pearl white, almost like a candy. If you see primer, get your eyes checked

Revell '65 Impala Foose kit, painted testors White Lightning with some gold trim added to the wheels, interior, rear bumper and on the Lindberg chrome treadplate base

I don't think their son will be making the tires, I believe he was the son that died last year

What I find interesting about this conversation is how it relates to resin casting and photo-etching about 25 years ago. Back then I recall many people saying they would be able to make any part at home with little trouble and little cost. Well, how did that work out? Do 1% of modellers make their own parts by casting them in resin or home-made photo-etch? Even 1/10th of 1%? No, most people rely on someone else to do the work for them. I have a feeling that 3D printing will be the same. Lots of people think they can do it at home themselves until they get started. Then they realize that it is not as easy as they thought. The money to buy the equipment may be the easy part, especially if you are in a club or have a group of friends to share the costs. What stops people is the extra knowledge they need that they didn't know they needed From CAD drawings to whatever else there is. I tried resin casting some parts and to make one or two was not as easy as it looks when you see the parts for sale at a show After many tries and lots of wasted resin, I stopped. I did manage to make the few pieces I needed but the time and cost involved was more than it should have been and took the enjoyment out of the process. I think the same will happen to a lot of people who try 3D printing. It looks easy, there are lots of online tutorials about how to do it, many people are trying it but in the long run, how many will keep at it? Before you start, make sure you know what you are getting into. It's not as easy as it looks.

Sometime in the mid-60s, one of the model magazines...Car Model... did an article about using...iirc... the Cox hard slot car body and parts from the MPC and AMT Corvettes to make a static kit. Even back in the heyday of road racing, when kits were being popped out like candy, none of the companies did a full static kit of the Cheetah. I don't think that even the Modelhaus resin curbside kit was a big seller. To expect a plastic company to shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars on a new full Cheetah kit is dreaming.

Not so hard to find...I have 3

Did you notice that the seats are filled with chicken feathers? I have a feeling that the car will end up in a large museum in the U.S., maybe the Henry Ford or Petersen or something similar If it does leave the U.S. the only other place it should end up is in England where the AC came from

Maybe you should go back to the first diecast body kit made by Monogram a few decades ago...remember the diecast 53 Corvette? I always thought it was ironic that we have been building plastic models of metal cars and now we can build a metal model of a plastic car Nowadays it's all about the cost and the profit and that diecast is probable less to produce with a higher profit margin. Oh, lots of people like the feel of a metal body car, like all the diecast collectors

To win the Indy 500 takes more than luck and fuel economy, it also takes talent, planning, engineering and so many other factors that we could spend all day talking about them. In the end, he drove a car 500 miles without leaving the car to go to the bathroom (ask yourself how they do that ) at speeds of 225MPH plus, sitting in a very small cockpit about the size of a coffin with his head being buffeted by the winds (nature and car induced) and the G-forces and the heat (some drivers will sweat 10-20 pounds in a race) and the smell of the burning rubber and the fuel and the oil someone may spill and many other factors. Don't demean the win because he is a rookie, congratulate him for winning over the more experienced drivers and teams Oh, my car club helps organize the Toronto Indy and has since it's inception. I have been a volunteer the past 5 years and will volunteer again this year. The teams arrive several days before the race to set up their tents and work areas, then test their cars, teach their drivers the many ways around the circuit, adjust their cars, discuss race strategy, talk to thousands of fans and the media and in the end, hope they win the race. I am always amazed at how much work they put into their cars, hundreds or thousands of hours to race for 3 hours. It's ain't just luck http://public.fotki.com/howardcohen/toronto-indy-2015/

FYI...I have been checking the race records of Cheetah cars and I can't find any records. There are a few races listed where it ran but no records of it finishing or winning a race. I can't see any kit manufacturer making a kit of a losing car.

Once again Steve Plunkett invited a few cars to his backyard for a weekend of cruising and talking cars. Okay, he has a slightly larger backyard than most people, and he can accommodate several thousand cars No, I didn't see them all as I volunteered at the 'Cobble Beach Concours' booth all but I did manage a few hundred photos You should see something you like http://public.fotki.com/howardcohen/fleetwood-cruize-2016/

Maybe with the wider tyres, they will remove some of the aero spoilers, wings, do-dads, gizmos, etc. that so often make the cars look like transformers Maybe the new tyres will allow the designers to make the cars more slick and attractive with neat graphics and that may draw in some more fans in addition to making the cars more competitive

Modelhaus made a curbside Cheetah a few years ago, very basic, I don't think a big seller. I built it but I have never seen another one built. Maybe there is just not enough interest outside this forum

At the race last weekend at CTMP?Mosport, I had a media pass which allowed me access to some different, closer parts of the track. For the Clarington 200, a Nascar Canada event, I decided to stick close to the main straight to watch the pit action and to be able to stand about 2 feet from the track Sure, it sounds exciting but it is also a little scary...why? Do I stay or do the standing 10 foot high jump over the fence With about 6 laps to go the yellow flag came out for a crash. They cleaned the track and prepared for a 'White/Checkered' finish...10 cars entered the last corner, bumper to bumper, door to door, fender to fender...some cars decided to mate...they all crossed the finish line, although there were a few bent panels See for yourself https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHNBfIJpJGc

I spent the past four days at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park watching several classes of race cars and taking a few thousand photos and a few short videos. I was trackside due to a media pass and that brought me only a few feet from the cars. It may sound like fun but when they start to crash 50 feet from you, the fun takes a vacation...but I did get the video The variety of cars was from Porsche to Bentley, Chevy, Chrysler and Ford, Aston Martin to Crossbow. Have a look and see some great race cars with lots of potential for new projects and if you get a chance to see a race, bring ear plugs because they are loud http://public.fotki.com/howardcohen/ctmp-victoria-day-s/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTUe-oUWXcX28W3Ev_O9OFA

I have been an organizer, a vendor (still am) and the guy standing in line waiting for the door to open. I like the NNL East idea of printing my entry form at home and having it filled out, then adding the numbers while I am waiting for the doors to open. Their selling tickets in line (starting about an hour before the door opens) works very well and I wish more shows did this As for selling floor trading rights or allowing people to buy a ticket to get in early, I disagree. I have been to many shows where they let people in wheelchairs in first and that works well. As a vendor I am trying to unpack my boxes and get the model kits set up, the accessories set up and whatever else I am selling. I don't need some eager beaver following me around, looking over my shoulder or opening my boxes to see what I am selling, trust me, it happens all too often. If you are that obsessed that you 'have to shop early', maybe you need to step back and take a breath and let the vendors do their jobs. I usually tell those people that everything on the table is $1000 each, just to get them to leave me alone so I can set up. I discourage pre-show shopping when I can. Oh, NNL East also has a rule that there is no trading, buying or selling before the show opens to the public and that works very well. I can set up my table in an hour (lots of pre-show prep time) and any time more than that is spent gabbing to the other vendors. Most vendors are ready in an hour, so having the show open later isn't needed. As for opening the show to vendors at 8AM and the public at 11AM...it would never work. Most shoppers come in at 9AM and are gone by 11AM, not just at model shows but at car swap meets as well. I have some shows I get to at 6AM, and it can take me an hour or two to get there, but I still prefer that to a late opening. Raffles...I like the idea of putting the numbers on a board that I can check when I want to. At shows where I am not vending, I spend a lot of time gabbing to other modellers and I only go to the raffle board towards the end of the day. Finally, if you have some ideas about how to put on a show, offer your services to the groups that put on shows, they can always use extra help Or, start your own show, we can always use another good show

Excellent reference! THANKS

Too often I read about local hobby shops closing, followed closely by 'I shop online' or 'It was too far across town' or some other reason/excuse for not shopping there. If we keep shopping online, more of the local hobby shops will close and then we will complain more and the spiral will go down until there are only a few hobby shops left and 'then there were none' (there is a supposed local model car builder who won't go to the local hobby shop because it is almost a mile away, even though he can be there in a few minutes) When I was a teenager, I could buy model kits and supplies at hobby stores, hardware stores, drugstores, department stores and I had to go and get them. Saturday afternoon, after delivering the newspaper, was my day to meet my friends and ride our bikes to the hobby store and buy a kit and some paint and glue and maybe a special part, like a parts pack. (Westmount Hobby used to save the Revell H-D parts pack bikes for me) Now, we sit at our computers, order online and wait for the delivery. We can't find most of the local hobby stores except in the yellow pages or on Google maps but not in real life, how sad We seem to collect more stuff and build less. Have we become so lazy or so spoiled by online buying that we have lost the thrill of going to a hobby store? I can go to any one of several hobby stores in this area and know that when I arrive a live person will say hello and chat and I might meet some other modellers to chat with. Heck, that's how we started a model club when I was a kid Do you want to stop local hobby shops from closing? Then shop there...in person...talk to the owner and become a regular customer. Okay, you may have to pay an extra dollar or two, you may have to travel a bit, so don't have that extra coffee that day Make the hobby store visit an event Talk to the store owner about building techniques and if he can't help you, he may know someone who can. Build a hobby rapport Funny, we will travel 500 miles to go to a model car event but we won't travel 50 miles to go to a hobby store. The experience may be just as rewarding Your next hobby store visit might get you a new friend and you can't put a price on that