Brett Barrow

Great job!!! It's not my kind of car (I'm a Replica Stock kinda guy) but you did a great job on it. Congrats on the hardware.

I agree! You have to do that weird balancing act to get the tip off a single-action external-mix, plus with the Paasche H you'll spend 15 minutes looking for the allen wrench to loosen the set screw, and if you drop that.... I prefer the Badger 350 for a single/external, but it's plastic and feels chanky next to an H. The easiest brush to tear down, by far, is the Badger 155, and I should know, I used to tear down all the different airbrushes in the Hobby Shop when it would get slow!!! I can honestly say I can do it blindfolded, it's been proven! If Donn gets good results with a Paasche H, that's great. We could all get Michealangelo's paintbrush, but that doesn't mean we'd be able to paint the Sistine Chapel. I believe good paint jobs come down to the Five P's- Preparation, Practice, Priming, Polishing, and Preparation!!!!!

There's nothing wrong with building OOB models, Bob Downie - "Zoom Zoom" - is living proof of that. I think he once won "Best of Show" with an OOB model. My advice would be to get subscriptions to MCM and the "other" mag - Scale Auto. Just try to learn one new thing and add it to each new model, don't try to add all these different techniques at the same time. Like, learn how to add wheels from another kit that mount in a different way, then learn how to lower or raise suspensions, then how to add disc brakes, then how to fit a newer motor in an older car; in just a few models, you'll have the skills it takes to make a full-blown resto-rod or whatever they call them. Just focus on learning one new thing with each new model, and you'll get there. And be sure to read at Romell Robinson's - "Aftashox" - thread on his '67 Chevelle, there's 28 pages of some of the best modeling advice you're going to find anywhere. http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=31030

He opens the doors, and bonnet, details the engine, and builds a diorama for it. It's the full 9 parts, but don't bother with part 4, there's no modeling content. I think this is the best automotive one yet. Here's part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeU5BnLVT8E

All my instincts say "real", so I voted "model"!

That looks great, but I've got to wonder what's going on with the windshield in a couple of those real pics?? Is that a 50's version of tear-offs???

Wow, first we had the guy who wrote the book, now we have the guy who turned it into a movie!!!

His Fordson Tractor dio is even more amazing. I'd say Mr. Doan is the best all-around modeler in the world, right now, hands down, no doubt about it. Or at least the most realistic. He's my favorite, anyway! And Mr. Suarez is no slouch, either!

Saw a 2011 Mustang with the same kind of stripes yesterday. I don't think GM can claim any kind of trademark on them , as they're meant to represent the hash marks put onto racing cars back in the old days to tell one driver from another in the same team. It just happens that Grand Sports used them, so that's why they put them on the Vettes.

Thanks for doing that, Mark, it was getting a little snippy, and Bill and Len don't deserve that. One point I'd like to make, and this is coming from someone who works with the "modeling public" on a daily basis, it that not everyone has a deep parts box(I don't, for one), or the skills to thermaform a hood scoop(don't have that, either). Folks need to realize that boards like this don't represent an accurate cross-section of modelers, it's really more like the top 10% percentile that post and participate on the internet.

Strange, since there are Cragar logos on the decal sheet! Guess they're just planning for the inevitable licensing fall-out. I would rather they made them flat and put the center stamping on the decal sheet anyway, probably look more to scale, but the new wheels have a ring on the cap.

Thanks. I may have seen this book yesterday but it was a magazine at the magazine stand? Where can I find this book online? Drew C.

That's perfect!!! That's my experience exactly!!! I have both editions of Bob's book it's great and I highly recommend it! Also, there's a special edition of FineScale Modeler out now called How To Paint and Weather Scale Models #2 that has a great step-by-step painting article from Bob on a Monogram 427 Cobra that's very similar to the content in the book and is a fraction of the price. I hate to pitch the other guys on this forum, I wouldn't do it if Bob wasn't a member here!

You know, I'm not a big fan of full-detail, wheels-off, everything-open models, but that doesn't mean that I don't appreciate and understand the amount of work and talent it takes to make one. Everyone keeps making "shrink-ray" jokes, but there really isn't anything in here that isn't just good old-fashioned fundamentally sound modeling. With the right materials, tools, and lots and lots of practice, there isn't anything here that the average modeler isn't capable of accomplishing, but if they did it I guess they wouldn't be "average" modelers anymore, would they? You've got a great model, Romell, it deserves all the accolades and awards I'm sure it's bound to receive!

Yeah, I'm thinking the ones in the T-Bolt might work, if they're not completely the wrong style for a Dodge(I'm no steel wheel expert) . It looks like the cars were delivered with fairly narrow slicks too. But if you believe that this guy has 2 Hemi Darts that were never converted into full-blown racers you'll notice that he's running pretty deep wheels all the way around. Also notice that the cars do not have roll bars, these would have been installed by the racers, not Hurst. http://www.hotrod.com/featuredvehicles/42502_1968_dodge_hemi_dart/index.html

That's similar to the story of why we had an unlisted phone number while I was growing up. There was a guy in our town that shared the same name as my dad. That guy committed the unthinkable crime of *gasp* marrying outside his race - this is the South we're talking about, not the Deep South, but Southside Virginia - and we started getting about 3-4 death threats every day, so we had our number unlisted. I was taught as a small child that if I answered one of those calls to say "This is Wayne L. Barrow's house - you're looking for Wayne D. Barrow" and hang up!

For those looking for steelies, these from Drag City Casting might work: http://www.dragcitycasting.com/index_files/Page3079.html they don't give an OD, so don't know what tires they fit.

Huh, that's interesting, 'cause this is what they had at iHobbyExpo last year: Note the name change! I'll have to dig around and see what they had at Toy Fair or some of the other shows(not sure which ones they went to last year)

Yeah, that was a "let's stretch the last little bit we can outta these molds" kinda kit, but it also shows how they can paint themselves into a corner if they try to go too all-out accurate on a kit of a super-rare factory lightweight racer. I won't mind cutting the wheel arches, sanding off the GTS emblems, or removing the window cranks on this kit, but I'd have been peeved if they'd done the Hemi Dart first and to make an accurate stock version I'd have to un-do all that stuff. A stock 68 Dart is way farther up my list than a stock 64 Fairlane, but I'm sure others feel differently.

Bill and Len are building production samples of the kit. When the kits reach production Revell sends a few of the first kits over from China via courier to send to magazines and test builders, while the rest of the run of kits are put onto a container ship and sent to the US (the trip usually takes about a month, unless Customs decides to inspect the container, which happens a lot when they contain kits of "tanks" and "missles"). RPP shops should get the kit around the 3rd week of August, while the non-RPP retailers should get them around the 1st week of September.

This is the only pic I've seen circulated from Revell - Note that the wheels are not actual wheels, but 1-dimensional cardboard cut-outs of real Cragars! (You can find the same phenomenon on the box-top of Lindberg's 66 Chevelle.)

Revell probably should have played up the "Stock"/2'n 1 aspect of this kit a little more, rather than calling it a Hemi Dart.(well actually they call it a "68 Dodge Dart Hemi") Like - "Hey, we made a "Stock" GTS (albeit one with a 440, but IIRC all it takes to make a 383 is an air-cleaner decal) and steel top, and oh yeah, we threw in some Hemi stuff to make a killer drag car. In fact it wouldn't take too much extra work to make a real Hemi Dart." It wouldn't be as disappointing, maybe? Seems a lot like the "Black Widow" 57 Chevy. If they had just not put "Black Widow" on the box that would have been a great kit, and I feel that way about this one. I'm going to buy one (I don't have any Darts) but I'm thinking more and more about just building it as a nice streetable Hemi Dart clone.

MaxTyrone Power, he's the man with the name that you'd love to tooooooouch, But you mustn't tooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuccccccchhhhhhhhh.... Wow that's 3 Simpsons references in a row from me, time to quit!

I like - "Guy Incognito" A local radio station does the "Bad Name of the Week" these are real - http://jdbshow.com/bad_name.html

If you're too scared to use your full name on a modeling board, you probably shouldn't leave the house. EVER. And never get a credit card or bank account, or own a car, or pay rent or a mortgage, etc... I ONLY participate in boards that require real names. I always had a hard time refering to another grown man as "chunkylover53"