gowjobs

My Purple People Eater characature is making some headway. Lindberg 1/32 1915 T Couplet MPC Skorpion is getting a military look

Beat the mid-July heat at the beach!

You can visit the West Coast Primer Nationals on Saturday, and compete against some of SoCal's finest on Sunday!

Jairus, Nah - I'm not too worried about it. I was just giving you guys a hard time. There were MANY beautiful builds there - and the nostalgia drag class was by far the largest at this show. Many ultra-detailed builds sporting flawless and intricately applied paintjobs there. I really can't fault the judges at all. With so many great subjects to shoot, I couldn't just pick forty or fifty to try to shoot. Darryl has always been so good about spotting my latest builds that I just had to have a little fun at his expense.

It''s a conspiracy, I tell you! Not only did I not place at the Western Scale Classic (okay, it might have something to do with the AWESOME entries by some of the other guys), but Darryl G. put down, "Model Cars wants to shoot your car!" card next to nearly every vintage drag car AROUND the Mess-O-Schmitt! S'all good... maybe he'll get tired of glossy, shiny mile-deep candy paint before the next show, right?

Gunze Messerschmitt three-wheeler. MPC Jawbreaker, Monogram Red Baron, Tamiya F1 car, and a bunch of other stuff.

While tuquoise would be more likely in a baseline model, if you're modeling an R/T (as the stripes would probably indicate), the engine should be Magnum Orange. I think orange will look better with the bronze, anyway.

It's taking place even more quickly than I'd expected. Reports are that Revell has stopped selling to one large mail-order/online retailer in Utah, and has severed ties with all the Southern California hobby distributors save one. I'm sure that there are many more warehouse-level operations affected, but these are two instances that I've gotten good info on so far. In general, my LHS's see it as a positive thing since the distributor that Revell chose to retain is their preferred source. It doesn't bode well however, for their "backup" distribution warehouses where they go when their preferred distributor is backordered or sold out. LHS owners see the loss of a mail-order warehouse retailer as a positive, since these operations are their main competition for the hobby dollars of the serious modelbuilders. Will this shake out to be a positive or negative development for the hobby in general? I think only time will show us the answer to that question.

Hobbico's purchase of Revell has very little chance of ending up as being a good thing for LHS owners and smaller regional hobby distributors. It may be a great thing for modelbuilders, as long as they aren't dependant on a LHS to continue in the hobby. I know that with the questionable future of AMT hanging over their near futures already, the last thing the local distributors wanted to see was the parent company of their largest competitor now in control of the pricing and sale of their supply of Revell/Monogram plastic. It will be interesting to see how badly Hobbico can gouge these smaller distributors without invoking an investigation by the FTC. Speaking with a couple of West coast distributors, they're really trying to find their place in this new world where Great Planes has such a large say in their fates. One is seriously considering dropping domestic lines altogether and concentrating on European and Asian - built kits only. Perhaps specializing will be the only way they can stay afloat. A friend of mine pointed out that with the number of modelbuilders on the constant decline in the U.S., perhaps it's time to cull the herd, and lose some of the distributors and the hobby shops that are just scraping by because they're in areas too sparsely populated to support them at the present-day low percentage of hobbists. Perhaps it was inevitable that someone made the move that would force many of these dinosaurs out of business. The truth hurts, but though Hobbico may provide us with many exciting new tools and old favorites not seen in recent memory, we may all be ordering them online or purchasing them at a chain hobby shop, rather than a mom&pop LHS. I like going to the LHS and shooting the bull with local like-minded hobbyists while I pick through the paint rack and check out the resin in the big glass case. I'll miss it if it leaves, but I hope to heck that diversity in the hobbies they accommodate, including slot cars, model RR, R/C and craft hobbies will allow them to continue being the place that I can go to pick up that new kit, or the dusty one on that shelf way up high in back.

Go for it! I've been considering using it on something else again sometime soon - maybe a small-scale project. I look forward to seeing your results.

I went down and checked it out today, and had a great time checking out the custom diecast area - lots of wild hot wheels and a few modified 1:24 and 1:18 diecasts. Took pics of some customs and upcoming releases: A couple of 1:1's

It's Tamiya Clear Orange over a base of Testors Model Master Dark Bronze. Both were straight out of the spray cans. I just used the Tamiya Clear Orange instead of a clearcoat on the newer Model Master two-stage lacquer.

You know, it's pretty amazing to see how many different techniques we've developed to simulate the same basic feature. A comparison of the methods might make for an interesting article, huh?

It is a nice kit, and not a difficult build. A couple of years ago, I built this one in 24 hours. All I changed were the wheels and removal of the "rubber" strip down the sides. If I had taken a little more time, I would have blacked-out the textured window borders.

I did it in 1/8, but you could do the same in 1/25: I masked both sides of the bead, then layed a thin strip of Squadron green putty down the open strip between them. Once you have it applied, carefully peel the tape away and use a hobby knife blade to layer in the "beads" of the weld, each "on top of" the last.

I feel your pain! Not only do I have no interest in building a box-stock build, but the only way that I've managed to do so lately was to be PAID to do so! I think with me, it's a perceptual problem. I open a model box and don't see a kit, but a mass of cool parts and ideas for projects either already in progress or all the concept seds germinating inside my skull. I doubt there's any help for either of us.

That VW looks GREAT! If I had one critique on any of those builds, it would be that the "hump" in the beltline of the 2-door 300 doesn't match the location of the rear wheelwell. Otherwise, I'm stunned - beautiful builds!

Now even more slippery looking: Shot the pics before the fresh primer dried so you could see how the light reflects off all those curves. Still have more sanding and some pinholes to fill.

If nothing else, those look like they'd be worth buying just for parts and decals. Thanks for the review. Dave

Awesome look! A buddy and I were tempted to buy an early-'70s gasser with a modified Vette body that looked a lot like yours before you lengthened the front end. They'd re-proportioned and flared the stock Vette body panels, then bonded them all together for a funnycar-style flopper, even though it was on a more traditional, SWB side-steer chassis.

The shape looks a little more cohesive with a coat of primer on it: Still needs more sanding, filling and panels added to the rear to close it up around the chute nacelle.

This is my second attempt at an LSR streamliner, so I thought I'd continue with the "Saline Solution" name. This one will be a curbside build - haven't decided whether to add cockpit detail, or just blank out the canopy. I think this little streamliner would look good on a trailer behind a '60s Chevy pickup, don't you? It's made from three (so far) of the old Hawk 1/32 LSR kits. With better planning I could have done it with two, but I only had the Bonnie Buggy and the Alky-Saltzer when I started this project a couple of years back. Recently, we used the Turbo-Go (the yellow one in the pic) version in a club speed-building night, after which we decorated them with sharpies and coasted them down a ramp and across the hardwood floor to compete for distance. In this pic, you can see how I cut up two bodies to make my more wedge-shaped version: The scoop from the front of the Turbo-Go will become the drag chute shroud on the back of my finished model. Lots of possibilities in these inexpensive little kits.

Another swoopy Mopar roadster from Darin! Looks great!

There used to be some available, but I believe the company is out of business. The problem with model railroad nut/bolt/washer castings is all the bolt heads are four-sided, and not six. I'd bet there are brass or zinc ones available from some watchmakers' supply warehouse or something, but I haven't found them yet.