Fletch

The first batch of info packs will be going out in the morning, both by email and snail mail. They will be randomly drawn, an address label attached to the envelope the off to the post office. If you opted for both types of delivery you will also get the same info and artwork via email. Thank you for your interest.

Tom, welcome to the challenge, check your PM and let me know which option you would like and I'll get it on the way to you. Fletch

The 20th Annual PNW Model Car Fest was yesterday March 27th. There were over 350 completed builds on the table of those aprox 100 were on the theme table with another 50+ projects on the primer table. This years theme was "Yeah, It's got a Hemi!", just goes to show when you give builders a broad based theme they will build like crazy. Hosted on Fotki Link to the rest of the 20th PNW Model Car Fest album: http://public.fotki.com/dcfletcher/model-cars/model-contest-show/pacific-nw-nnl-mode/ The Theme for the 21st Annual PNW Model Car Fest is 'Kustoms'.

How many of you have seen Jairus' Artwork in MCM and thought to yourself, 'I need to build that'? Well here's your chance. Yesterday at the PNW Model Car Fest was the official kick-off of the Jairus Watson Artwork Challenge. The idea behind the challenge came from a similar challenge that is going on over on the Kustom Kemps in Miniature Forum with the artwork of Keith Weesner. I have had the good fortune of calling Jairus a friend as well as a fellow club member for the past 15 or so years and felt that something along these lines was do the artwork we all have enjoyed in magazines for years. I presented the idea to Jairus and Gregg and got both their buy-in on the project, of course Gregg's response was, "glad I thought of it." So, here is the premise behind the Jairus Watson Artwork Challenge. 50 pieces of Jairus' artwork were selected, each given a number. Each print was sealed in an envelope with the corresponding number on the outside of the envelope. Then a blind draw followed at yesterdays Model Car Fest. Those who chose to participate in the Challenge drew an envelope, the artwork in that envelope is what they will get to build over the next 12 months. The big reveal will be at the 2011 PNW Model Car Fest with an award given to the build that best replicates the artwork they started with. Don't let the fact that you can't attend the 2011 PNW Model Car Fest stop you from participating in the Challenge as there will also be an award for the Challenge build that best replicates the artwork. A panel of SABA members will determine the best replicated build from photos submitted. So, here is where you the members of the MCM forum come into play. If you weren't able to attend the Model Car Fest yesterday and you would like to participate in the Challenge here is your opportunity. There are still envelopes available crying out for someone to take them on as a Challenge build. PM me your email address or your snail mail address and I will get one of the remaining pieces of Artwork to you. Obviously, the sooner you get your piece of Jairus' Artwork the sooner you can get started on your part of the Challenge build. I will also send you the email address to submit the photos of your completed builds if you aren't able the attend next years Model Car Fest on March 26th, 2011. Let's see how well we can showcase Jairus' Artwork as well as our building skills. Here are the assignments following yesterdays blind draw: Dave Melcher - '65 Mercury Comet Convertible Galen Allen - '38 Woodster Woody Mike Kerns - '47 Chevy Fleetline-Black Chris Millar - Red, White and Blue '32 3 WIndow Coupe Floyd Blakley - '29 Rat Rod Pickup Richard Brown - PT Cruiser Woody Steve Prow - '48 Woody Dave Beach - '60 Starliner Ron Martinolich - '29 Rusto RPU Chuck Carter - '70 Camaro Convertible Dave Fletcher - VW Bus - Bussnano Bob Robinson - '50 Chevy Truckster Jerry MAck - Pie Wagon Woody James Warkentin - '53 Ford Truckster Dick Messner - '58 Plymouth Rick 'Grumpy' Goer - '48 Ford Sportsman Jairus Watson - '29 Roadster Dennis Pierce - '29 Sports Coupe Charles Cochran - '36 Ford Pickup Neal aka Outlaw35 - '41 Chevy Pickup Ken Kilbourn - '34 Woody MikeMc - '48 Chevy 'The Bomb' Tom Kendall - The Beetle Tom Jackson - '53 Ford Custom Jason Vandergriff - Rambunctious Dodge Ram Extended Cab Glenn Nunnally - Silverado Extended Cab I will update the list as others chose to take part in the Challenge.

As the new tease indicates the final assembly is underway. The couple of things that I wasn't real happy with, the floor boards and the valve cover paint have been addressed and changed. The floor boards are now 1/64" birch plywood, I feel it is a bit more period correct. The sheet aluminum for the transmission and drive shaft tunnel are still in place. The forward piece of the trans tunnel still needs shaped other wise that portion of the build is complete. The engine wiring is completed and the 6X2 manifold is in place ready to be drilled for the carbs to be added. This will end up being the longest part of the final assembly what with bending and fitting the fuel lines to the carbs, but with the use of anodized wire it will be worth the effort. I removed the same amount from the bottom of the seat as the door panels which in reality is a bit to much, so the seat will get a couple of riser blocks underneath to bring it back up about .060. The edges in the center of the seat that was cut for clearance for the drive shaft tunnel need to be dressed up with a file then it to should be finished. Which leaves the dashboard and petals as the parts of the interior to be completed. Went with the wife to the fabric store and found a faux leather cloth that is extra thin, it cuts nicely with a standard paper cutter. Rolled it up to represent the roof insert rolled back and strapped down for a day out cruising. I may go back and cover the seat and interior panels with this 'leather', not 100% sure on that just yet. I tried several different taillight treatments on the coupe including the RMoM '41 Studebaker, Revell's round taillights from the '32 Ford 5 Window coupe and didn't like how they sat or looked. I grabbed the misc taillight box and found these, they are from the Ala-Kart, they're a little bit custom and a little bit '58 Biscayne. Hosted on Fotki There is where the we are early this Friday morning. The PNW Model Car Fest is about 40 hours away, if I gave up sleeping, eating, drinking and all other normal bodily functions it might get done in time. But, with the amount of time and effort invested in the build, waiting and using the next 2 weeks to finish before the next show sound a lot more sane. Stay tuned, and as always your comments and suggestions are welcomed. Peace

Thanks Gary, it is somewhat doubtful that the coupe will be 100% completed before Saturday morning. There has been more life this past week then building time. There has been to much time and effort invested in this build to rush it now and managed to screw it up. So, the Bob Paeth Portland Classic Model Car Contest is the middle of April at the Portland Roadster Show and the Coupe will make it's debut there instead of this weekend. It will be there Saturday just not completed. See you there.

Thank you all for your words of encouragement on this build. It has been a learning and growing experience if nothing else. The front fenders are completed and along with the grille surround are now painted, they will get clear coated in the morning and then we're pretty much at time to get this puppy assembled. The bicycle fenders were cut from the spare tire cover from the Revell '37 Ford Panel, they are aprox 1/3 of the cover with the center trimmed out to the proper size and shape. They will be mounted to the brake backing plates with Detail Associates (Model RR) flat brass wire. Hosted on Fotki There are a couple of things that time permitting might get changed. The ALCLAD on the valve covers just is not what I envisioned it to be, so there is a very good chance they will repainted with Testors Stainless Steel Buffing Metalizer to at least give a bit of a shine to them. Also, the other thing that will most likely get addressed is the interior floor boards. The .005 K&S Aluminum works great for the transmission and drive shaft tunnel but is a bit to thin for the actual floor boards. Floating around the work shop I have a couple of sheets of .010 Birch veneer that should work quite nicely for the floor boards in the couple. On to final assembly, starting in the morning. Thank you again, your comments and input are always valued.

Spent the major part of the day getting the headers for the Coupe together. It was one of those should have been simple tasks that took hours. I knew in my minds eye what I wanted to accomplish but just couldn't quite figure it out. It also helped that every time I attempted to bend the K&S or Evergreen tubing it either broke at the bend or collapsed. Finally, after exhausting the supply of aluminum and styrene tubing I went searching and found a piece of sprue that was the right diameter, heated it up to the bend that I wanted, cooled it off in cold water, a couple of cuts and sanding later and the header tips were finished. The headers are a mix of parts from different kits with the exhaust flanges coming from the Revell '32 5 Window Coupe. The headers themselves from the AMT Phantom Vicky, and header flanges from Detail Master. Hosted on Fotki Perfect they are not, but they will serve the purpose, they'll get a trip through the paint booth for some Model Masters Metalizer and be ready for final assembly. More to come soon, the PNW Model Fest is 1 week away.

Great tutorial Mike, once again shows that if we limit ourselves to the hobby market we will end up missing great products. I had thought about using this stuff a couple of years ago, went to Sally's Beauty Supply and bought the Contour sample/starter kit. It's been sitting on the shelf above the bench for at least 2 years, long enough for the super glue to now be a solid bottle. The kit is pretty complete with Primer, Sculpting Liquid, Sculpting Powder, Super Glue, Brush and a dozen fingernails or so. At $12.99 it's not a great investment in case it isn't what you hoped it would be. Hosted on Fotki

Monty, for as bad as the Revell Roadster version is believe it or not this one is probably worse. I have a couple of the Revell Roadsters and they are better overall then the Aurora/Monogram Coupe. What I find amazing is how many of us have a version the XKE, either Coupe or Roadster, sitting in our "Someday" stack. Perhaps, we should turn this into a CBP, after all misery loves company.

Believe me guys I've been around this insane hobby for going on 50 years and have been judging for the past 20+ years. The thing that prompted this post about last Saturday, was that the 15 pieces that the guys that I went to the "NNL" with were all better then the build deemed "Best of Show". I have written a couple of replies to add to this conversation, and as you'll notice neither of them have been added to the topic. One was canceled and the other became a blog entry as both sounded like sour grapes. Let me give you a thumbnail of the 2 winners that I have an issue with. The best theme (kustoms) was a Hasegawa cubrside of the Buick Wildcat. I grant you the paint was nice and it was nicely lowered, some custom pieces molded in and all around a well executed build. There were other full detail builds that were just as nicely built with a lot more work then the winner but...... Guess it helps when you're the president of the host club, I know should have seen that train coming. The Best of Show was a Revell '32 Roadster with 3 Window fenders and a Chevy engine replaced the kit stock Ford 5 Litre. Honestly, if this were entered at a show I had judged it would have gotten a cursory once over and that would have been the extent of it. The fact that the paint was so thick on the fenders that it ran down and filled in the mat area of the running boards should have been enough to eliminate it from consideration. Enough crying over spilled milk, what I'm trying to get straight in my mind is how did we managed to go from structured contests and rules that everyone knew walking, in to the insanity that seems to reign in most contests today. I guess my ethics come from a place and time where it was ok to win and loose. When little Johnny's team lost they went back and tried harder for the next time. When you entered a contest and lost you talked to the winner to make yourself better for the next contest. A time when going the extra mile was applauded not frowned upon because not everyone got to win unless they too excelled. Now at the end of the day, we all gather around sing Kum Ba Ya, get our juice boxes and a cupcake, do a big ol' group hug and tell everyone that they're winners because there are no losers. I know that not everyone agrees with IPMS, I know I don't all the time either, however, with a set of guidelines a contest can be fairly judged, and if the entrants are honest about it, they are happy with the results. Believe me I know the ego thing all to well, I am my own worst critic when something is completed, I am also the one who knows how good my work is as well. Yes, I know the 'ground swell' as I called it has always been there it just seems more and more builders are fed up with the situation and making themselves heard. If this pseudo-NNL lost 20% of it's attendance from the previous year and the trend continues it won't take long before it folds as I don't see the people behind the event asking why people aren't attending. Host clubs and those in the forefront of an event have to be open to why people either attend or don't. If that's because of what we as participants deem to be 'tainted' judging they need to be willing to change for the sake of the event or close the doors. Will we be able to develop and implement a uniform set of judging guidelines, it's doubtful. A couple of years ago I offered a seminar at our Model Car Fest here in Portland on how to judge based on a points system. I sat by myself for an hour. The following year because of the constant complaining over the differences in an NNL and a judged contest, I offered to chair a panel to explain the differences between the 2. Three of us sat and talked for the hour. Most builders want to complain about how bad things are but, when it comes time to put the rubber to the road, they can't be bothered. Will this dialog make a difference, I hope so, but at the same time I'm not foolish enough to believe it will serve anything more then allowing us to vent our frustrations over a screwed up situation. But,hopefully someplace along the way a host club or individual will get it that the event is dying because of their actions and not the economy.

Yes Sir, I was aware of the Aurora connection and that it has been molded in red, silver and white and I have no idea how many other colors. I have built the the Monogram red and silver releases in the past and the bodies were no where as bad as this one molded in white. The other color versions had the sink marks around the rear pans and the extremely deep parting lines running down the hood etc but not nearly as bad as this one. The hood on this particular casting has to be the worst of any of the 2 previous build with sink marks in the center as well as down the sides. The appropriate pieces will get removed from the chrome tree and the rest will get stripped and painted as the build progresses. I'm looking forward to getting this one completed so I can get to the Heller 1/24th scale version waiting on the stack. I'm working on getting the Heller race version. It has some interesting twists in it's construction from the street car. Hosted on Fotki If you're building just for the sake of building the Monogram/Aurora 1/25th scale version will expand your skills for doing body work where the Heller 1/24th scale version will give the proper shape and proportions. Back to the sanding and filling.

Just about anything from Jaguar catches my eye, but I am most fond of the XKE. When painted and maintained properly it's a car that looks fast even when it's parked. Over the years there have been several issues of the XKE from different manufactures. Some good others not so good. This is the story of one of those not so good releases. The 1978 Monogram Jaguar XKE, molded in white (about the only +) with way to much chrome and casting sink marks that would make a mold maker want to start drinking. I did the initial clean-up that allowed the lower front and rear pans to be attached to the body and the hood. After gluing the pieces together I went looking for mold parting lines and sink marks. Hosted on Fotki Needless to say there is a significant amount of body work to be done on this build. The up side is I now have a place to use the wire wheels from the parted out Tamiya Jaguar Salon sitting on the shelf out in the garage. Stay tuned, More to come.

Let me start off with what got this rolling around in my head. I'm sure this will come off sounding like sour grapes, but with the other posts I have seen here in the recent past perhaps it's time to do something other then complain. This past weekend a few of the guys from the local club drove 150 miles to an event noted as being an 'NNL'. The total # of awards was no real big deal as they had 'Best Theme', 'Best Junior' and 'Best of Show'. As with most events you meet up with friends that you see here or at other events throughout the year etc. The fellowship was great, the event was down about 20% from the previous year. About an hour into the event we were informed that the person (singular) who was to be the judge of the event had chosen not to attend. I knew that there were several of us at the event that had decades of judging experience so I wasn't overly concerned. Throughout the day the gentleman who I knew to be the primary person behind the event was walking around the room and talking with the builders myself included. Along with him was one of the host clubs newer members who has been building for a few years. At no point during the day did I see anything that could be considered as judging. Even though it is an NNL there is still some judging that has to take place unless you do it entirely people's choice, and none of this was people's choice. Fast forward to the end of the day, all the thank you's are given, announcements for events coming up, you know the deal. Then we get to the awards, the 'Best Junior' went to the best of the 3 junior modelers at the event. The 'Best Theme' went to a nicely build entry, but not the best of the theme class by any stretch of the imagination. Then came 'Best of Show', there were several entries on the table that could and should win at most any event they were entered. When the winner was announced the room went silent, no one could believe which model got the award. We came back to our senses and did the polite clap thing but were stunned. Believe me, I know the drill of when you're at some other clubs event thing all to well. But, here's the rub for what took place last weekend. When I ask the person who headed up the event, who I know to have limited judging experience and normally only judges with an experienced judge, how the judging was done. He told me that he and the other club member, who had never judged before, talked with each of the builders of what they thought to be potential winners. Yes, they did talk to me about my entries, but I wasn't aware that we were doing what I'm calling "Judging by Interview". Neither of the "Judges" had the experience to judge the contest, neither knew what to look for in determining the best of anything. Getting 1 out of 3 awards right is not very good odds. By the time it was all over and done with the head "judge" told me that because they couldn't decide what was they best model in the Theme or the open entries they just went with what "HE" liked best. These were the same comments I heard from the gentleman who won last year. He was totally amazed when he won, and when he ask how he won with builds that were superior on the table, it was "what I like" was the final determining factor. I understand that judging is very subjective and a good judge can set aside what he likes for what it the best executed build in a given class. A good judge will set himself aside and ask for another judge to help if there are personal reasons he can't get past something. To be told the winner of an event was determined by "what I like" is just wrong, I build to what I like not anticipating what a judge might like. Enough of the rant, let's get to the reason for the post. With the experience of this past weekend and the other rants I have seen here for the past 2 years or so is it time that we the hobby come up with a criteria on how a show should be judged? In years past when Revell and Pactra had their national contests a very specific set of rules were in place with a specific points system. You knew that when you entered those contests that there was a laundry list of things that gave you points and if you didn't have them and the next entry did, they got more points then you did. Is it time that we go back to that kind of system. I know it's very regimented but everyone walks in the door, enters their models and allows their work to speak for it's self. What I am advocating is we on a national basis examine what makes a contest grow and what makes a contest fail. Basically, let's come up with some guidelines that will level the playing field. That if I enter a contest here in Portland I can expect it to be judged by the same criteria as a contest that I flew across the country to enter. We have all seen to many contests go by the wayside because there doesn't seem to be any consistency in judging. The event this past weekend down 20%, next year if the trend continues, I'll attend the IPMS event 20 miles away instead of driving 150 miles. I would hate to see the event go away but if the judging is so out of line with what I believe to be fair I'll spend my entry fee somewhere else. I'm not advocating we all become IPMS but at least I know that my completed build will be judged by the same criteria no matter where I enter it. Harry, Gregg, how do you feel about this, there seems to be a ground swell of discontent by modelers about how events are judged, do you feel it's time for a change? Being politically correct and contest judging don't seem to play well together.

Very Impressive Art. Every time I see someone building in brass it makes me want to get my resistance soldering unit back together and get back to building in metal. Thank you for sharing this labor of love with us.

I had not seen that coupe before, but man that is seriously cool, that is what Traditional Hot Rodding is all about. As for the frame, my best suggestion is do what I did, scratch build it out of Evergreen Styrene. All we know about the frame is that the frame rails that stick out by the Grille are 2X3 rectangular stock, beyond that it's anybodies guess, so you really can't go wrong. Even if the Coupe isn't completed by Saturday I'll bring it along and you can take a look at it.

Different scales the valve covers from the Miss Deal Funny Car may not fit the Lil Coffin Hemi heads, but it's worth a shot if it works then I'd use then.

Made some more progress on the Shadowbox Coupe, it seems things like the daily driver breaking down and needing repaired took precedence over model building. Anyway the 1:1 is back on the road and I get to go back and play at the bench. Since we last visited the frame has gotten a couple of coats of Krylon Semi-Flat Black (about the only color from Krylon worth using anymore). Tire and wheel assemblies are now epoxied to the brake drums. The interior pans are in place, they need a final trim so the trans and drive shaft tunnels can be built. Beings there is so much of this coupe that we don't know about from the single photo a bit of artistic license is coming into play. I have no idea how the steering linkage attaches to the steering column then out to the steering arm. The solution I came up with is to make it cowl steering, using a bit of brass rod, the bell arm from the '31 Sedan I was able to fashion the linkage to the cowl and still have it functional. I'll use brass rod and tubing to build the steering arm during final assembly. The other bit of artistic license that I chose to take is with the Grille and Surround. Instead of converting the '37 Pickup grille and shell to work with an AMT '34 Ford grille I've chosen to shorten the '37 Grille and Surround and do the necessary detail painting to make it work for the build. Hosted on Fotki The valve covers are awaiting a coat of AlcladII chrome then they will go on the heads the we'll get to the wiring. The bicycle fenders are being fashioned out of the spare tire cover from the '37 Pickup, both of them and the grille surround should be ready for paint later today or Thursday morning. That's it for now, the finish line is in sight.

Jon, I don't see anything wrong using the Hemi from the Lil Coffin for a build inspired by the photo of this Hot Rod. Realize of course the valve covers on the Lil Coffin have the covers over the spark plugs so you don't have the open plug wells as you would with these RMoM heads and valve cover replacements for the Hemi out of the Revell '32 Ford 5 Window Coupe. The other thing to take into consideration is from the photo that you and I both are working from you can't tell anything about the exhaust manifolds. There are many details on this Rod that you can't tell from the photo, so use it as the basis of your build but unless you can come up with better photos, it would almost impossible to build a 100% correct replica.

Jon, I've got an extra set of the front caps. If you're interested in them I can bring them along to the NNL this weekend. Let me know.

Jon, I hadn't planned on using one of the MCG photoetched grilles for the project as the grille surround is not complete. Even with gluing it to the cross member it would still be weak enough that I don't think a photoeteched grille would survive very long. Unless you were to build a custom fit box for the completed build to sit in I think just the normal packing/unpacking routine for events would end up damaging the grille in a very short period of time. And the unique feature would end up being more problematic then it would be an attraction. So, I'll use the Revell '37 Pickup surround and an AMT '34 Grille and do the required detail painting. I look froward to seeing your rendition of this great Traditional Hot Rod, keep us posted on your progress.

Decker, I know at one point that HoK was available in spray cans through Black Gold. They would repackage the HoK paints into spray cans and different size cans and bottles then those available from HoK. Going over their website all I see available now is Primer, Base Coats and Clear Coats in spray. The assortment of colors no longer show up on their site but if you were to contact them directly it may be different. http://shop.blackgoldweb.com/main.sc HoK colors are not water soluble, HoK's site does not give them a specific type like Lacquer or Enamel instead it list them as Photochemically Reactive, I guess it's their way of saying "if we told you we'd have to kill you." But they back up their statement of "unique chemical make-up", with the fact that they can be clear coated with either acrylic lacquer or urethane enamel. Being able to be clear coated with Urethane Enamel is not that out of the norm, but to be able to bet clear coated with Acrylic Lacquer as well is somewhat uncommon. I know that there are systems available that allow you to add paint to a container and pressurizer the container and spray from it. I have never tried any or have any idea as to how effective they are but it is an option. I guess my commentary on HoK paints was more along the lines of don't limit yourself to model paints only. In my building and painting I use model paints, craft paints, automotive paints, and a lot of fingernail polish. Model building would be pretty dull if we were confined to the color chart from Tamiya or Testors. Back to the bench, more of the Shadowbox Coupe to come soon.

Well after much tossing and turning The body went back to the paint booth this morning for a makeover. The Tamiya Matte Black became the ground coat for the new base coat of HoK Galaxy Grey. Details such as the corrected body line are now visible, and the main body color doesn't suck the life out of all the other colors. The color is just as it came out of the airbrush no clear coat has been added yet, I plan to gloss clear coat the Dashboard and wheels, not sure about the body at this point. What do you think of the new color? Thumbs up or Thumbs down? I'd like to hear your thoughts on the change. A quick commentary on House of Kolor Paints, if you haven't tried HoK paints you're doing yourself a disservice. This paint goes on thin, coverage is fantastic and the price by comparison to that of Testors or Tamiya, HoK wins hands down. The 4oz Airbrush Bottles retail for $19, the jobber I buy from here in Portland gives a discount to any and every customer, the 4oz bottle runs me $14.50. The Airbrush Bottles come ready to use, just dump it into your color cup and fire up the compressor. Back to the build. Got a couple more tweeks to do with the frame it should be in paint tomorrow afternoon at the latest. The initial pieces were cut for the floor pans using K&S .005 Aluminum sheet (this is the stuff that comes in rolls) they are ok but I think I'll give it another shot and pick the 2 best for the final assembly. Hosted on Fotki That's it for today, what do you think, your comments and critiques are always welcome.

Today was relatively productive with the '$0 Ford Dash modified to fit in place to the stock '30 unit. Got the initial cuts made in the seat bottom to accommodate the drive shaft tunnel. The seat and interior panels were painted with Krylon Make it Suede, I'll go back and do some highlight work prior to final assembly. The Engine block, wheels and dashboard got painted with HoK SG105 Blue Blood Red. The still need a coat of clear as most HoK paints are Base Coat -> Clear Coat operations with the HoK base coat being flat when dried. So here in photos is the progress for the day: The fabrication that still needs completed is to convert the '37 Pickup grille and surround into that of a '35/'36 pickup grille. Fabricate the new floor boards from K&S Aluminum sheet. Most of this should or will be completed over the weekend which will allow next week for detail work and we should be good to go for the Spring Classic NNL on the 13th. I was hoping that with the addition of the other colors that the black hole effect of the Tamiya Matte Black would not be so noticeable but not the case. So, it's time to consider some other color over the Matter Black. The colors that I am considering to use as the base coat over the Matte Black as ground coat are: HoK BC03 Galaxy Grey Tamiya TS40 Metallic Black Hosted on Fotki Both are Greyish Black with graphite metal flake, both would lighten up the overall color of the build. The HoK Galaxy Grey is sitting on the bench the Tamiya Metallic Black wil require a trip to the LHS (how could that be a bad thing?).

Alyn, I haven't been paying a lot of attention your '29 Roadster build, but it sure looks like I should have been taking note of it just in case there was a test at the end. The only words I can find to describe what you've done with this build is 'Classic'. This is what a Hot Rod was meant to be. Love the brass work, I need to get my resistance soldering unit back together and get back to learning those tricks. Keep going you've got us drooling.