Ben

uh oh, someone spilled cat on your couch!

Uuuuuuuhhhhhh, now you guys are killin me!!!!!! Last year I lost two of mine to cancer. Percy was acting strange and I could tell he was in pain. I had him sleep next to me all night and I tried to make him as comfortable as I possibly could and the first thing in the morning I took him to the vet. I had to force him into the carrier because he didn't want to go. He had a lump under his belly and I knew the diagnosis was going to be bad. I was so worried that I couldn't go to work and just went home. They called me about an hour later and said that after they opened him up to find out what was wrong, they found that the cancer had really got into his organs. They said the most humane thing to do would be to not wake him up. I never saw him again. He was cremated and is here with me now. I was dead inside. It hurt sooo bad. My other cat that died I had for 18 years and he (Mitsy) was an indoor/outdoor cat. He ended up getting Squamous Cell Carcinoma which is a form of skin cancer. I let him be until he was having trouble eating and it was just too much for him. I had to take him and put him to sleep. I would rather be shot than have to go through that pain again. The sad thing is, I know the cats I have now won't last forever. I just thank god for the time I have with them.

I used to drag race space shuttles! In my off time, I invented water. Nothing special.

There's no telling what kits will be released again. There have been some kits that have been reissued to death and some only once. Some kits like the AMT Kenworth W925 conventional can't be reissued because the tooling was modified to make the AMT Kenworth T600 kits. I think a lot of the tooling is currently being cleaned up and reviewed so there's a good chance we could see more kits that have not been around for a while.

Yep, we do a LOT of glass work. I am currently working on a fifth wheel travel trailer that snagged something with the rear cap and ripped it apart. I'm also rebuilding a 800,000.00 Motor home that was not built correctly and the windshields keep popping out. We had to cut a 10" wide section out across the fiberglass roof so I could go in and fabricate a steel structure to reinforce the front cap. Now we have to glass that all back together! Not fun!

Oh man, you know I'm diggin this post!!!!!!!!!! I thought I was the only cat freak! LOL I have five and they are my kids! They love to "help" and give me advice on building as you'll see in the pics. I almost forgot "The Baby". She was rescued from the shop I work at. She used to sit with me under the Motorhomes I work on and keep me company. "A cat away from home!" My boss hates cats and threatened to have her picked up so I brought her home. She doesn't build models though.

Also, if your interested,. Illini Replicas makes a photo etch set for that kit that has the grill and badges for the hood.

Personally, if I were you, I'd send it home to be safe until you get back home to build it. Then, just maybe, Round Two will have reissued it and you can build the reissued one and leave the original sealed. I personally love having a mint condition hard to get kit thats still sealed after all these years! I'll build it if I really get the urge but I would much rather build a reissue and leave the original as part of my collection. The box art alone makes the original muuuuch more valuable to me as far as visual enjoyment.

Our shop labor rate just went to 115.00 per hour at the beginning of this year. (It was 110.00) We are a full service facility for the very high end motor coaches and travel trailers. Our painter was only making 20.00 per hour and knew he was being (blanked!) He just quit on Thursday and went to an automotive shop. My boss is stupid, he doesn't see the whole picture! He's going to have a fun time finding a competent body man now that can do what the last guy did!

Jim, AKA The KING of aluminum wheels!!!!!!!!!!!! I have a few sets that I had him make for me and they are outstanding!!!!!! Don't miss out on these as they will be highly prized in years to come! Very nice finish! Exact tolerances! I polished one up very easily. I can't thank Jim enough for producing something that I have been trying to have done for YEARS! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That has to be one of the best built examples of those two kits I've ever seen! Beautiful work!

I hadn't realized that this subject had been discussed before. After reading some of the replies, I think some may have missed what I was trying to imply. The ONLY thing my boss did or does with the car is buy it and drive it. One of our shop guys cleans and polishes every square inch of it. Even putting it up on the lift and polishing everything underneath. We joke with him and tell him not to forget the inside of the tires and the exhaust. The shop guys (myself included) have built everything for his fancy trailer to haul it. We even have to load and unload it for him!!! Then, when he brings it back to the shop, it takes up one of our three inside bays to where we are forced to work out in the cold but that's beside the point. It just irks me that he does nothing and reaps the rewards!

If the entrant gives full credit to the designer, builder and painter, I can understand that, but I think my boss just puts the car in the show and takes all the credit for it. I personally would be ashamed to enter a winning vehicle that I had no part in creating while others in the show that built their whole vehicle and may have even painted it themselves, get no awards.

I was just sittin here thinking of how my boss is currently out of town at a big car show where he is entering his show winning 37 ford. All he did was pay for the car. He didn't build it, he doesn't even clean and maintain it! The guys in the shop do! I guess if I was a billionaire, I could have the best car builders in the world build me a show winning car and then go all over snagging up all the best of show trophies?!?! I would think it would matter when dealing with such high end subjects that the true builder should be the only person to deserve any awards or recognition! Just thinkin.

I agree! Tim really has done a lot for our hobby and most people are not aware of just how many things he has had a hand in.

Cool! Can't wait to see more of this one!

Hey guys, there are some newer style Alcoa wheels in the works that will fit the Italeri tires but they are a ways off from being available. The wheels you see in the pics are now also going to be available in the larger 22" size found in the Freightliner cabover kits, Western Star kits, White Road Boss, etc. These new bigger wheels will fit the Italeri tires as well but they are not accurate for a modern truck. The newer wheels being made will be accurate for all the modern trucks. The wheels that are available now are 20" in 1/25 scale and the lock ring is a separate piece. The builder needs the plastic lock rings from an AMT kit.

Ok guys, I thought some of you out there may be interested in these new wheels I designed and teamed up with Jim Littiken to produce by CNC in real aluminum. These won't be for everyone because they are not cheap but I think some of you will be interested. The wheels are going to cost 12.00 each (per wheel) but for a very limited time, If you tell Jim that I sent you, you can purchase them for 10.00 a piece. I designed these as direct replacements for 90% of the AMT and Ertl wheels. They fit all the AMT and ERTL tires other than the bigger Uniroyal's found in the Freightliner cabover kits, Western Star, Road Boss, Etc. I also contracted RB Motion to make some special lug nuts that I designed to go with these wheels. The lug nuts are .45 each. If any of you are interested in purchasing some of these wheels, please contact me directly. More pics can be found on my Fotki site in the "Model Truck Wheels" album. http://www.public.fotki.com/lotso/

Very nice scratchbuilding!

Yep, that poor old girl is a B61. Dave at American Indutrial Truck Models can help you out with the cab, wheels, fuel tanks, even a chassis.

That is actually not a 3208 as even I thought it was. After talking with a very accomplished model truck engine builder as well as being a former diesel mechanic, that is actually the predecessor to the 3208 as it has the longer fuel pump and smaller front cover. It's an 1160.

https://ssl3.world4you.com/modelmakershop/index.php?cat=c73_Photo-Etched-Lights.html&XTCsid=rulgqcpl2g2bbajuvo9vdvd8t5 I hope this works?

That looks really cool Dennis!!!! I like the extra lights!!!!! If your interested, Model Trucks and Parts in Germany sells some really awesome photo etch lights. They look VERY realistic! They are little disc's of photo etch nickle silver and the have a "lens" pattern on them. Then they are coated with a colored resin to replicate the lens itself. They just recently added milled styrene "grommets" to put the lights in so it looks like that have a perfect little gasket around them. They have all kinds of shapes and sizes.

Pretty cool! I like that stretched, split axle cattle hauler!!!!!

Hey Chris, yes, you can buy directly from KFS. Howard is a really great guy to deal with. I usually scan his website and get a decent sized order together to make it worth it as far as shipping price. He has all kinds of cool stuff!