Brett Barrow

I got a woodie today!!!! Oh, and I bought Revell's 49 Mercury wagon last night.

Instruction sheet scan is done: http://public.fotki.com/barrowb98/revell-49-mercury-wagon/

Wish there were more hot rod parts/surf wagon stuff in there, but overall I like it.

Generally, they're gravity-feed with very small paint reservoirs. Nothing really different from normal airbrushes internally, they're just marketed for cosmetics. You'd probably have to stop and refill the reservoir several times to paint a body. Most of them come with a low pressure/low volume compressor that's based on a fish-tank pump (same as cake-decorating airbrushes). Not really strong enough to move the volume of air and paint we need to paint models, even if you use the "Norbie Method" with low pressure (~10-15 psi) they still don't put out enough volume of air. My rule has always been to buy name-brand airbrushes, because you know you can get parts for them. I've owned pretty much every major brand of airbrush (Iwata, Badger, Paasche, Aztek, et al.) and I don't recommend one brand over the other, they all work fine if you clean them and take care of them and learn each one's idiosyncrasies. They'll all break, and they'll all need parts replaced sooner or later.

ARGH!!! Been lucky with new Revell kits lately, but I finally got hit with the frosty chrome on my hubcaps. Luckily I don't plan on using them, got other plans for wheels (chrome reverse w/ baby moons from AMT's 49 Merc coupe) . I'll have some pics and instruction sheet scans up later today.

Got mine. I'm really impressed. The frame is engineered to be able to be built with a pinched front or as a square box frame, and there are cut marks on the roll bars so you can cut them off and replace with a Dragmaster-style hoop. You can build both motors with injectors or blower. You can change the width of the rear axle by adding spacers or cutting a little off the metal axle and leaving the spacers off. The tires are really nice, the slicks are not too wide, they look just right for the era, and the front motorcycle tires are really skinny. It has the largest instruction manual I've ever seen in a Revell kit, it's magazine-sized and 36 pages long. You're given 6 different building versions, each version has its own start to finish step-by-step instructions. The various parts can be mixed-and-matched for virtually endless combinations. It definitely has a nostalgic vibe, detail is a bit simplified, but it's sharp and crisp when it's there. The way the headers lock into the heads and are captured by the valve/rocker covers is really impressive engineering. The wire wheels are a bit heavy, but stripping the thick factory chrome and thinning the spokes with a Flex-i-file should improve their looks considerably. I'll try to get some pics and instruction sheet scans up sometime later today.

"I don't care how they say it, as long as they buy my cars." - John North Willys Even Willys employees and dealers were known to say "Will-eez". This debate went on even when Willys was still in business. Most folks called them "Will-eez", but yes, it is "Will-is".

World's most expensive (and inefficient) tiller.

I think a 100+MPH Nitro-burning wheelstander is a bit more impressive, but these do have their charm....

Original wheelstander: Most sources agree the Little Red Wagon was the first, followed by the Hemi Under Glass (which like the LRW was built as a experimental true racecar). It's hard to way who built the first actual purpose-built wheelstander, by the end of 1965 they had exploded on the scene.

This one's pretty awesome - A Cuda-based SuperBird! (SuperFish, maybe?)

PP003 are the big Racemasters, 11.75-16" PP004 are the smaller "Sportsman" Racemasters, 10.50-15" PP005 are the Gasser wheels and tires.

Yeah, the 49 Mercurys were a bit bigger than the Fords. Wheelbase is 118" for the Merc and 114" for the Ford. A Merc is about 5" wider. Looks like the roof might be the same, though.

Linkies: http://www.rmauctions.com/results/result.cfm?feature=No&category=All&sort=year&view=list&SaleCode=&fromYear=1949&toYear=1949&lot=&make=mercury&model1=wagon&submit=Search http://www.boldride.com/ride/1949/mercury-woodie-station-wagon Doing the two-tone woodgrained dash is going to be sooooooo much fun!

There's not a lot of margin on R/C cars and trucks since most shops discount them so much from the outrageous "nobody pays that" super-high MSRP. R/C parts, on the other hand, can be a gold mine. Nobody really discounts parts that much, even the onlines. R/C parts and paint racks are the lifeblood of most hobby shops. The first thing I check out when I enter a hobby shop is the paint racks, if they're well-stocked the shop is most likely doing well financially. A shop with empty paint racks is not doing well. I correctly predicted the closure of a couple LHS's when saw they stopped refilling the paint racks. Within a few months they were closed.

There's some good reference pics at boldride.com and rmauctions.com, including interior and underhood shots. I'll post links later, right now I'm on a work computer with IE and I can't get it to paste text or links...

Uschi van der Rosten http://www.uschivdr.com/ Great woodgrain decals, I plan on using them for all the wood (and the woodgrained dashboard - that'll be fun!) on mine.

There does seem to be a lot of room in the 1:1...

Having had a little experience in the wholesale and brick-and-morta retail side of this business, I can say that a hobby shop is totally viable today. I had several customers during my stint in wholesale sales who went from an online-shop they ran out of their homes to opening actual brick-and-mortar stores. The biggest reason most shops close down is not poor sales, it's that the owners want to retire and have no one willing to take over the business. Walmart isn't an excuse anymore because they don't sell kits anymore. Brick-and-mortars have the advantage of being able to provide customer service that the onlines or big-box stores can't provide. They're people out there willing to pay a little more for that. Believe me, I've spent 12 years working full- and part-time in a shop that sells at full list prices, customers will pay more if you provide excellent service. And once you factor in shipping costs for onlines, they're not that great of a deal. And once internet sales tax goes into effect, the field we be even more level.

I'll second Mr Surfacer, but I cut it with cheap lacquer thinner, always more thinner than Surfacer, probably about 2:1. Too little thinner and it'll make cobwebs. Stuff goes on so smooth it has a little shine and it dries just as quick as Tamiya, if not quicker. I've only used 1000, but I'll try some 1200 next time I need some. 1000 is plenty smooth for me, I can't imagine 1200 or 1500 being that much smoother.

What, no love for "Days of Thunder"? I gotta say, as a 13-year-old growing up in a NASCAR town (Martinsville. VA) that one was pretty high up there at the time. After viewing it as an adult, eh... not so much. Best racing movie I've ever seen, as others have mentioned, is the Senna documentary. Haven't seen Rush yet, but I plan on it.

It mentions that his Willys gasser used to win the award had a Cadillac engine. The kit still has the Chevy.

I'm thinking blown Olds...

That looks awesome! I can't wait for this one to hit the shelves.

Probably buying the Tylenol from the hospital. Those things are like $600 a pill....