Howard Cohen

It will be kitted the day after you scratchbuild one As for the wood accessories...they are very useful when ice racing...especially the 6x6 bumpers

This is another scratchbuild by Dale King in 1/12th scale.

This is a Cooper formula car built by Dale King. He also has a Porsche 917 that has to be seen and several others. Oh, many of these are 1/12th scratchbuilt.

Let me clarify...there are some local modellers who have built models that are as good as anything you sould see at any contest, yet these modellers do not enter many contests. Could I nominate their models? For example...a friend has a scratchbuilt Divco milk truck that he built in brass about 30 years ago...it is as good as anything I have seen and it deserves to be recognized. Would that qualify?

Do these builders have to be nationally known? Can I suggest some local builders who I believe are as good as anyone else anywhere? I can think of several local builders who over the years have constantly built models of superb quality, some of them going back 30 years or more.

You want to roast Ken for building models, eh! That could be fun. What do you mean, no alcohol? Do you think all modellers stay at home and build and never have a sip? So, a roast with something like, 'Here's to a man who builds models and dioramas as if they were built by Charlie Brown's brother PigPen...covered in dirt...and very interesting to look at.' You mean stuff like that? I met whatisname brieftly at NNL East a few years ago and other than 'hi, how it's going, nice diorama, thanks' we didn't talk much...but his diorama said lots!

I have to say that Hot Wheels definitely had an effect on the hobby and the 1:1 car world. I didn't collect Hot Wheels when I was young but my cousin had a pile of them and we used to race them all the time. I started building model cars and going to car shows in the early 60's and I have been working at car shows since 1964. I got to meet many of the builders and owners and many of them had Hot Wheels, quite often as part of their display. The Deora was a design from Bradley (I think) and built by the Alexander Bros. The Red Baron was a Daniel design built by Chuck Miller on contract from Bob Larivee Sr. who still owns the car. I believe that both cars were model kits and 1:1 cars before they were Hot Wheels or very close in time. We had the Red Baron at our car show in Toronto a few years ago. Bob and Chuck brought it from Detroit and I spent a lot of time with them talking cars and models. The Red Baron does run! I watched it drive around the building during move-in and move-out and my show associates wondered why I was watching it drive. I told them it was a 60's thing. Then there was the effect Hot Wheels had on the worldwide Ferrari model car market when Mattel bought the worldwide rights to Ferrari models. I don't think it worked the way Mattel wanted but they did get a lot of press from it. Look at the CadZilla Hot Wheels car and others like it. There must be a huge following of Hot Wheels collectors. I know there is an online club sponsored by Mattel. I have a few Hot Wheels in my stash, not all in sealed packages and my favourite is the 'L'il Coffin' or whatever they call it. I have been putting BareMetalFoil on Hot Wheels for people for a few years now, although I think I exhausted the local market. At shows in the Toronto area, there are still lots of Hot Wheels collectors, most of whom have never opened a package. Yup...big effect on collectors, builders, kids, adults, car people everywhere.

Hey. it's a retractable hardtop! After that, I'm not sure...

It's the end of the week and some of you guys are right...it is a real car. I took the photo from the R-M auction catalogue from the Amelia Island sale last March and it appears the photos were done in a studio but I don't know where or by whom. The pre-auction estimate was $750,000 to $950,000 and the high bid was $680,000...not quite enough for a sale. The car is one of the original John Paul cars, JLP-3. It is the only car to win both Daytona 24 and Sebring 12 in the same year, according to the catalogue. There is more history listed including a race history. I hope you all had fun with this...now go build a model of it

Some of you are really good at figuring out if a car is real or a model. I found this photo and I want you guys to tell me what you think. I'll tell you all later.

Thanks for sharing those amazing photos! That looks like the largest gathering of marque cars I have ever seen! Any idea how many cars, models & people attended? I have to send the link to a Porsche friend who was unable to make the event.

I met Don at the 50th Roadster show when I was getting a press pass. He handed it to me and my friend and treated us like royalty while we were there, even though we had never met. We talked briefly about the 'King T' and I recall he said it was on the east coast, hopefully being restored. His death was a shock but I am glad I had the chance to meet him. He was a true gentleman. Don built many other cars in addition to the King T but that was his most famous. He also had a speed shop that was very well known in California. I have 2 basket cases that I am slowly restoring and one of these days, they will be done. Now that I see there are other kits that use the same chassis, I can save myself a lot of time and trouble. I bought a parts kit, with original dual car box, off Ebay 2 years ago for about $15. I have attached the 2 different box arts. There are photos of the King T online. Just search Google.

These are just a little less detailed than Bill's obsessive masterpieces The Turbine Bronze is an original promo that I got from a collection many years ago. It had been kept without the box and the vinyl roof has a little wear, probably from rubbing on another model. A few drops of Treatment Model Wax and it looks pretty good for 40. The black car is a Seville promo body molded in black and mated to a recent issue promo kit in white, built during the baseball game Sunday evening.

I have a friend who paints motorcycles and model bodies for a living. His modelling paint starts at $75 plus materials and goes up from there. 2 tones are more expensive as are multiple colours, metalflakes, candies, patterns, fogging, etc. He paints mostly with urethanes but will use other paints on request. The average ends up at about $250. He doesn't do decals. He will only paint an unfinished body that has no primer or colour as the paints don't like to mix in a lot of cases. If there is custom bodywork that has been primered, he will sand off the primer and apply his own so he knows what is on the body. This adds to the price. His motorcycle paint starts at about $500 for a gas tank and he has a waiting list. I have been to his house and seen as many as 6 tanks waiting to be picked up and many more being prepped. His work is very good. In a related manner...I do Bare Metal Foil work for people. I take a painted, finished body, unassembled with no windows, and apply the BMF to whatever trim is needed. I charge $15 an hour and I will give you an estimate on the number of hours to foil a body. I don't do everything if the molding is bad or if the BMF will make the car look heavy and I sometimes use artistic license. For example...a '57 Chevy in 1/24/5th is about 5 hours work...a '58 Chevy Impala is more...my '63 Corvette original coupe took me about 6 hours. I have also done 1/43rd Brooklin cars, Hot Wheels, etc. I would suggest making up a flat rate sheet for solid colours, then add in a time factor for other colours or 2 tones or special effects, charging by the hour and adding materials. I have seen custom flame paint work and I believe he charges about $500 for a flame job.

I say model...looks like the BMF chrome trim on the driver's side 1/4 glass is peeling from the leading edge. Hey! Cut out the formulae! I skipped physics class in college for a reason!

Our club, Group 25 Model Car Builders Club, had our annual contest & flea market in Toronto yesterday and it was a great time. I was vending and didn't have much time to shop but I did find 3 bargains: 61 Valiant, stock; 61 Ranchero, custom; 64 Grand Prix, custom bubble; total spent - $35! The Valiant is now swimming in Super Clean and the others are slated for 'downtheroad' finishing. If you missed this year's show, we have a date for next year, so plan your calendar now, Sunday, Spetember 28, 2008.

I saw that at Toledo a few years ago and it was extremely impressive then...now it's even more so! The Futureliner has to be the most awesome model I have ever seen anywhere! This is one model that deserves to be documented for the masses to see. I await the finished replica however long it takes. Excellence has no time limit.

There are a few things that make me think model, such as the lights (I have a brass one like those) and a few things that make me think real...real wins over model for me, 5-2.

This is a mild custom build with turbine style wheels, Firestone tires on a lowered chassis with custom taillights and red metalflake & clear lacquer paint trimmed with BMF. Other then the wheels & tires, it is out-of-box.

This is almost out-of-box, the only addition being some tools in the reverse opening trunk. The paint is urethane copper with darker copper fogging and clear coated. A friend painted it for me, he's a professional painter of motorcycles and models. I then assembled it painting the interior, chassis and motor to match, the idea being a late 60's show car. I finished it with BMF on the trim including the various vents, grille and taillight panel.

Joe - I have a good friend in Quincy and he builds model cars and 1:1 hot rods, so there is some life there. His name is Chuck and you will meet him as Quincy is not a big place.

My name is Howard and I am a 'Caraholic' Applause! Applause! Applause! (don't want to be cured) I got my first taste of cars watching my cousin work on my uncle's '57 Buick Special. I started building model cars when I was 12. I was in the hospital and my mom's friend brought me a model car kit...it's been uphill since. I attended my first 1:1 custom car show in November 1963 when I was living in Montreal. I bugged my Dad for about a month to take me. There was a Revell-Testors build table and I started the Revell Attempt 1 Bonneville car and didn't finish it (surprise, surprise, surprise). The following year I had my 1st model car display at the car show and showed at several dozen shows over the years. I won a few prizes, met a ton of people and made lots of friends at car shows from Bob Larivee to Darryl Starbird and a few hundred others. I currently help with Performance World Custom Car Show in Toronto every spring. During college, I helped a friend tour his hot rods and showcars around Ontario, Quebec and the northeast U.S. Oh, I also attended a few classes I am currently working on a Big Deuce trying to replicate one of those cars. I build a wide variety of models from showcars to vintage to racers. I often think out of the box and seldom build showroom stock. I build all scales from 1/64th to 1/8th. I often do BMF demos at shows and I have been called the BMF King...by a man who needs new glasses I did some work for Revell-Monogram of Canada about 10 years ago doing some box art builds for shows, make&takes, trade shows and kit research (they gave me a kit to build and I researched the heck out of it). The Jacques Villeneuve F1 car was not my idea but I did some of the work, including the original and a few that were sent to Jacques. I did a few movie models that R-M ordered (they gave me a case of models, asked me to build 3...then sent me $...it was a tough 3 days) I am an original member of Group 25 Model Car Builders Club based in Toronto and stretching across southern Ontario. We used to slot race and at one time had over 60 members. No more slot racing and our membership is about 30. I have an online photo album at WWW.FOTKI.COM/HOWARDCOHEN where you can see some of my photos including my favourite antiques. I play baseball and have since 1958; I used to tap dance; I did DJ work for about 10 years; I played Groucho Marx quite often, and not always on Halloween; I have read every Sherlock Holmes & Nero Wolfe mystery, have a few 'Man From U.N.C.L.E.' paperbacks and I am currently reading 'My Years at General Motors' by Alfred P. Sloane. There are some great car industry books out there. Questions? No? Okay, that's it folks...NEXT!

Just a reminder that the 10th annual Mega City contest hosted by Group 25 Model Car Builders Club is 2 weeks tomorrow. If you're planning on showing, check the flyer for info. There are always lots of great models and the vendors area is almost sold out.

I picked up the Revell '49 Merc and spent a couple of hours digging through my parts boxes looking for more ideas. I have a friend with a chopped '49 and Monday I am going to take a real close look at it and compare it to the kit. His is in suede, so I'll work on him to paint it

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