Gregg

The MCM FJ Heh, wait, that sounds dirty.......

Who's Jairus???????

At first, it was an honorable thing, to try to bring in model cars, and promote the hobby I can think of only a handful of charters who do appreciate and welcome model cars. The rest, is like was said above. I have a lot of opinions on this, but they will get me in trouble

A box stock motorcycle Will see if have pic No comments :-)

Unfortunately, I will not be attending another IMPS National Convention. I do have pictures from the 2007 Los Angeles show at: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/IPMS07/ I will probably get in trouble for this, but here goes. I do not feel that the IPMS is an association that cares about the model car builders. They have, and will always be, a military model club No, let the fire begin (hope I don't get fired)

Steve, I have to thank you for starting this post. I will send you another one of your favorite PINK MCM T-Shirts, size small, right? Seriously, what a great thread. I'm glad I thought of it.... Well, for me, not much to say that hasn't been in the rag already. I'm 39 (will always be that age as far as I am concerned), married, twice to the same gorgeous woman who will remain nameless (right, Kelly?), have four kids from a prior "engagement", two grandkids, and a whole lot of debt..... I have been in Hawai'i almost all my life. over 40 years now, so I guess that throws my age thing out the door. I got into building model cars back in `87 or so when my ex-inlaws gave me a kit for christmas to keep me "entertained" following what would be the third of five back surgeries. I was a mechanic who got hurt on the job, broke back, surgery after surgery, and finally voc-rehab put me in the legal field. Did legal work for years, some of the bigger cases in Hawai'i were so much fun and cool to work on (Tyke the elephant, Woolworth fire, etc.). Got me in a position to be able to work for myself, GFH Legal Services, which was a total blast Got an offer from a great attorney, did that for two years. Bought Plastic Fanatic from Roy Sorenson in March of `97 (which I began writing for back in `90 or so). Went to mainland in `98, tried to make PF grow, but I have a problem with money: I get it, I spend it. Needless to say, PF folded, and I started MCM with Golden Bell Press. Got to the point that it was going so good, someone had to throw a stick in the wheel. Major car accident the week before I was set to come back to Hawai'i basically stopped my life Got back to Hawai'i in `01, was discabumalated for the better part of five years, and am now back in better shape and form then I have ever been, minus that huge bald spot on the top of my head. Oh yeah, models, I guess I build them, when I can. I build whatever I can, from rods to bikes to race cars, to Tuners, customs, etc. I have a passion for 43rd, and that is where I will concentrate on in the future Don't have space for the big cool stuff. The best thing about this hobby is the people I have met so many builders who have become life-long friends that my phone's address book is almost filled up!!!!! Seriously, the friendships I have been blessed with are the payment in full for all those years of struggling. I can go litterally anywhere in the country and be able to hang, chill, crash, and maybe indulge in some distilled pleasures with some of the best people in the world. Who says model builders are geeks and dorks? BITE ME, whoever thinks that. I would be honored and blessed to welcome each and everyone of you in my home, well, at least for a drink or two. There's no room with all those darn kits, computers, and women in thongs lying around...... (oops, sorry honey) :-) Well, that's my four cents (It's expensive here in Hawai'i, remember?) Let's keep this thread going. I want every single one of the (hold on, new page to see member total) 1,471 members post their bio here. I will be saving this, maybe for a future article. I will change the names to protect the innocent. And Steve, thanks again for starting this. I have had a great time reading every single one of the responses so far, yes, Billy, even yours :-). (you do write well, I must say) Aloha Mahalo and Mai Tai.....

Welcome, Keith!

Si

I did a photo seminar at the IPMS Nationals last week. At the end of the second day of the seminar (I did it two different days, not two days long), Aaron Woods let me use his Canon S3 camera for a quick how-to with a pocket digital camera. I have to say, I was amazed! I was able to hook the camera up right to my notebook (Mac of course), and I could control every single feature of the camera. I was able to adjust everything from white balance, ISO, F-Stop, Shutter, and best of all, is was in real time!!!!! To say that everyone was impressed is an understatement. I was able to get studio quality shots using his sub-$300 camera, that would be print-worthy! So, my hats off to the Canon S3, and to Aaron for letting me use and abuse his camera for a while.

I hope I am on the right track with this I have used calanders for backgrounds in many picture/dios before Often times there are scenes there that would be perfect for a background Back in the "old" days, I would make a small fence from popsicle sticks and black sandpaper for the street and have at that time what I thought was a cool background setup But, now, with my "trained" eye, things are not as what they seem, but the illusion is still there The calanders are great for backgrounds, but the fences and what is closer to the eye have to be more in scale I will see if I can find some pics of my first attempts at this back in `87 or so

While watching an online show tonight, the real truth was exposed! I knew something was amiss, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Finally, the truth emerged! Yes, it's true, it's him!!!!!

Andi, I am standing up and applauding you! I love to see models built up that are not the norm. I love these old cars, my dad was into them when they were "new" cars. Great build do you have high res shots of the build and final beauty shots?

You made these? Under which name?

Dave, where is the Z kit from?

Thanks, Brendan I still have the Mustang that I'm trying to make into a super detail build Trying to cut out the front end, but it's kinda thick Don't want to mess up anything And JD doesn't help with straight lines and a knife, if you know what I mean. But, I love the Jag will probably do it box stock Maybe I could win IPMS with it too??????? Sorry, couldn't resist that one.....

Brendan, once again I am impressed! I just got mine, and I was supposed to be first I'm going to have to yell at Bill at BHP I'm not happy :-) Just kiddin.... Here's a shot of Bill's Jaguar from the IPMS Nationals:

As far as I know, Robert is still in business. He has some of the greatest stuff around

The show is over, and it's back home again. Here are table shots of what I think is almost every single model car entered. http://www.himcc.org/IPMSNats07/index.html

Please take pics of show and of the winners, please, please, please!

Guys, and Jairus, I went it did it. Back in 2003 I saw the concept car from Toyota in many of the 27 magazines I subscribe too. The new FJ Cruiser is one of the few cars that really got to me. The last one I can remember doing this to me was the Dodge Dakota R/T from `97 or so. Well, when I when I was up on the mainland with Jairus covering the IPMS Nationals (no comment on that!) and the Goodguys Pleasanton show (thanks Mikee and Stan!), I swaggered into the Toyota dealership in Salem looking to see what I could drain my checking account on. I settled on a VooDoo Blue Cruiser 4x4, fully loaded, and was ready to sign the papers. But, this little menehune in the back of my head would stop hitting me, so I said I would go home (Mr. Watson's house actually), and think about it. So, I thought and thought and thought, then took an Asprin cause it hurt so much to think Anyway, I said, HEH STUPID! see what they have at home in Hawaii So, I called the dealer here, and they had what I was looking for, in 4x2 Come on, who needs a four by in Hawaii? I go to the beach, yeah, but to run and look at women in thongs, not to four wheel over sacred lands :-) So, a deal was struck, and I called back the Oregon dealer and said thanks, but no thanks. (If anyone is in the Salem/Oregon area and want a great deal and service, please check out Capital Toyota and ask for Mario). Seriously, I don't plug places or businesses, but these guys went out of their way to help me. I landed back home and took a taxi to the Toyota dealership With all my bags, I looked like quite a site getting out of the cab to buy a car. So, I ended up with not what the deal was, but something better. Something I hope will give Kelly and I years of fun, service, and something to be proud of. Sorry to bother you all with my boring story

Hate to be the devil's advocate here, but I gotta do it :-) Love the builds and setup The walls need some wash in them, something to set off the tiles and the grout A simple black or light grey wash thinned down will really bring out the wall details. That's my two cents, hope it doesn't offend I really love the way the setup is that's the only thing that distracted me you may yell at me now.....

Randy, great job so far. That's one thing I love about this forum You get to see some great builds from start to finish Keep us posted Can you post a pic of the embossing powder bottles? We don't have Michaels here and what breed of dog is that? He/She is so cute!!!!!

Mama mia!!!!! David, your work is incredible I am so impressed with what you can do It's an honor to be able to feature your work