BigGary

You did a great job on the T-3. Most on this forum will not appresiate how rare the real Type 3 was in the USA. They were never sold here and the ones that are in the lower 48 probably came from Canada. I used to be really into VW's and a t-3 was very desirable. Gary

Have youy seen Obama's pres limo e-mail or history of pres. limos e-mail? I'll e-mail to you if you send me a PM. Basically Obama's in this is a presidential limo with 24s all raised up DONK style. Gary

17/20 best selling car, BMW(not the one I heard), and I forgot the other one, I got wrong. Try these brain teasers. ___________ builds excitement. ___________ boys. Not your father's __________________ . Gary

Different Kind of paint on different parts is not a problem. Putting different kinds of paint on top of each other can cause you a world of hurt. Avoid it, especially enamels and lacquers. Ouch! Gary

Its true. The family that plays together stays together. Great job. Gary

Don't cha' just love fat fenders! Gary

Now that's luscious! Plum Crazy Purple and a Hemi! What more could you ask for? Gary

The Jaguar XJS is hands down one of the greatest looking cars of the 20th century. Just lacks one thing. It needs a HEMI! Then it would be perfect. Gary

The Mitt Romney article was excellent. Much has to change in Detroit for the American auto industry to survive. I've been watching the stock market to see what the stock price is for these 3 companies. Here's what they were at about 10 EST on 11-20-08: Ford 1.29, GM 2.90, & Chrysler 7.20. Notice you can buy 2 shares of GM and 1 share of Ford for less than one share of Chrysler. As we all know, the merger of GM & Chrysler is not going to happen. I did however read an article the other day on Yahoo that the merger should take place to stop Chrysler from continuing to "Make junk". Sounds to me like those fat cats in Detroit need to go back and do some serious house cleaning. I doubt they are capable of doing it. In the late 1970's Chrysler turned around when they brought in new blood. The suggestion that new management come from outside the auto industry is a good one. Let them go & be re-organized from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Its happened before and it can happen again with a different mindset. Gary

I'm always amazed how much better builds look in a diorama setting like Geezer's Garage, especially when they are finished. I'm going to have to put a "Big Gary's Garage" on the build list. I makes a great backdrop for photographing finished cars/trucks, etc. Great job on the '55 Geeze! Gary

To some Chapter 11 bankruptcy is a scary thing. However, Chapter 11 is about re-structuring. That is the way for GM to deal with this situation, not Government money. It would free up GM to get wage concessions from the UAW, re-organize some of its retirement programs, trash redundant programs, and trash divisions that aren't working. Why so many models? Why both GMC and Chevy trucks? Cut back to those models with the most sales potential and build in reliability. There are other ways than a cash infusion from the Feds. When did they run anything well? Gary

Dirk, Check and see if you have a Harbor Freight near you. They have a cheap copy of the Badger 250 for about $8. I bought 2 and they worked fine. They will spray Alclad just fine, but you need to practice using the airbrush first. You'll not regret learning to use it. Patience is the key and practice makes perfect. Any kind of paint will help you learn. Start with 50 cent acrylic from Micheal's, then move on to cheap enamels, then Alclad . You'll be glad you did. I Am! Gary

The situation with the grill on the '70 Mustang kit was mentioned in a review of that kit in the May/June MCM which I bought last Tuesday because its the only one the LHS had left. That sucks! There has been like 3 issues since then and he didn't have any others. Either he's not getting them or he's selling out. ??? I guess I'll spring for the subscription in the future or order from back order dept. Gary

That is one wicked looking wagon! Great job for a geezer, (like I can talk). Gary

Of course now somebody's gonna want to know, "Where can I get a Rolls Royce kit?" Gary

Harry, your on a roll tonight! You mentioned solar and wind, which are fine for generation of electricity. The problem is that the environmentalists are all in favor of wind and solar, right up until the need is to put power cables through prime environments like forests and wildlife preserves, then their not in favor of it any more. That is wacko thinking. The fact remains that our transportation structure is based on fossil fuels and has been for a long time. The most sensable alternative to crude oil-based fuel is natural gas. The most abundant fossil fuel we have. We're sitting on huge quantities of it but enviro extremists don't want us to disturb the land or water to get to it. It seems their goals are conflicted. It will take considerable time to get the infrastructure in place to run cars and trucks on natural gas. It is a great alternative, but the availability is simply not there. there are other issues too. It would seem they want us to go back to horse and buggy, or have the human race disappear completely. Ever been to a parade that includes lots of horses? Remember all the horse ###### on the road? Imagine what it would be like if hundreds of horse walked down the street every day? Go back to the late 19th century and that's what you'll see. It seems to me that environmental extremists want what they can't have because they let their ideas override rational thought and a connection to reality. Same is true with US auto makers. They want us to buy what they and the feds want them to make instead of what the public wants to buy, if it is profitable. In the current climate, drastic cuts will be demanded to remain in business. One or two cars lines, 2 or 3 models in each car line, no low production cars, a lot of market research, and get the feds and green extremists out of the way. Gary

I hope you took the time to read all that Peter and Art had to say. He got it. The fundamental problem for any manufacturer/industry is making what the customers want. Whenever they get away from that, problems start. The auto industry should have been in good shape at the end of WWII but they needed time to start up again from making, trucks, airplanes, tanks, etc. Art mentioned the near failure of Chrysler in the late 70's. Once again, mis-directed priorities. When Lee Iacco took over and got them back on track and paid the loans early, he did it by following the cardinal rule: Make what the people want! The K cars were a huge success, followed by the wildly successful minivan that has been part of Chrysler's profitability since then. The purchase of AMC and Jeep was a coup unmatched. Until the Daimler Chrysler merger it was doing fairly well. Partial blame for the failures of the auto industry can be laid at two doorsteps: UAW and federal emission regs driven by the environmentalist wackos. Presently only about 30-40% of Americans believe climate change is man-made, yet the Al Gore types would have you believe that it is unanimous. The automobile is the most regulated product in the US. The EPA keeps making more and more demands upon the factories and offering no funds for development. Politicians are more interested in making big donors happy than using common sense. The increasing demands of Unions have also hurt the auto industry. They used to shut factories down for weeks at a time. Now the fear of a long strike makes the auto industry give in rather than fighting. Union membership now is only about 11%, but Obama and his buds are wanting to change that to more like 90% with recent legislation that would take the secret ballot out of the voting process for unionization. This would drive up the cost of everything and hurt sales. In an ailing economy the result would be further finacial disaster that the Unions would blame the manufacturers for. Gary

Ken, Here’s my 2 cents. Look carefully at the car and see if you can improve what you did before. Plan each step, consider how to improve it in view of what’s available now, things like photo-etch, Bare Metal Foil, and the much improved engines and wheels we have now. Your experience and thoughtfulness will yield a better model than the old one would have been. Gary

GM will probably file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. There assets will be protected from creditors, but there will be little or no money for development or NASCAR sponsorships and assistance. A court somewhere will hold GM management's feet to the fire and cut fat out of the budget. It will be the end of low production, high profit margin cars like the Solstice/Sky type vehicle. They will probably eventually emerge from bankruptcy as a very different company. If Ford doesn't go into bankruptcy, they will also emerge as a different company. Times will be tough as long as the economy remains stagnant. During the Great Depression many car companies ceased to exist or were bought up by others. Look at a list of car manufactures in the mid 20's, then compare that to the late 40's. There were substantialy fewer in the post WWII world. Some merged and others disappeared. Even in the relative prosperity of the 50's and 60's car companies died away. Notice that at that time is when Kaiser, Studebaker, and Henry J all disappeared. GM, Ford, AMC, and Chrysler were all doing fairly well at this time. Its all about management and producing what the customers want to buy. Trucks and SUV's took off in the 90's because that is what customers wanted. When gas took its rapid climb this year, the market for large vehicles disappeared. Small, fuel efficient cars and hybrids are in demand now, if you can find someone who can to buy one. A used car dealer near me has probably 40 or 50 pickups and SUV's on his lot that he can't sell. The only bright side is that if he can hang on and not lose his shirt, when the economy improves and there are few trucks to buy, he'll be sitting pretty, however, I'm not going to buy into his business anytime soon. Gary

Pleasant surprise for me last week. I checked out the new Revell '68 Charger on line, $13.99 or something. that's cool! Shipping charge was not cool, $10, o.k. $9.99 for the picky. I spent ine dollars worth of gas, went to LHS, paid $19 plus tax. Still saved 3 bucks. Support Local Hobby Shop! Unfortunately, this one doesn't have MCM. Subscription coming soon if I get 12 issues for price of 9. Gary

I blew the model budget! 68 and 69 Chargers from Revell. Lots of goodies in the 68 Charger. 3 sets of wheels, 2 engines, lots of great stuff. I can't believe the 69 charger builds only stock. Mine won't be! Gary

Other possibilities for paint. Most auto parts stores have Dupli-color or some other brand. Big box stores like Home Depot, Lowe's, K-Mart, and Pep Boys also have paints in many varieties. The Ben Franklin Crafts store near me has paint and supplies. For factory colors, try touch-up paint, but its expensive. Try the hundreds of variations of acrylics at Hobby Lobby and Michael's. They are dirt cheap and easy to work with. Some builders also use nail polish, with its great variety and many pearls, metallics, etc. They'll take some practice, because they're lacquer. Practice makes perfect. Nail polish is cheap. Have an open mind. Gary

Flat paint, especially black, dries with a rough surface. If you want a flat finish and decals that sit down tight, try buffing the paint with a blue paper towel or 1500 grit sandpaper. That will even out the surface and leave the decals shiny, unlike over-spraying with flat clear. Gary

Here's a link I found that addresses some of the issues mentioned. I haven't tried it yet but it looks interesting. http://www.bonediggers.com/2-3/doors/doors.html Hope it works for you. Big Gary

Forget it Ed, Your German(?) stinks worse than those tires. lol