Ramcharger

A belt sander! The big industrial model set on kill, that ought to do it! Just Kidding! The purple pond will take them off and the body will be extra clean and ready for primer.

Mid to late spring or fall. The weather is too unpredictable in the early spring and summer is out because people would rather do things outside. As far as people not building in the summer, that's 50/50. Some people can't paint in the winter because they have to spray outside, others model during the winter to fill the long cold months until they can get outside. If you're worried about "debut" models, most people save them for the "big" contests and NNLs anyway. I've seen lots of new stuff at the Toledo NNL and it's in the fall. Just my 2 cents.

Who is this "State Your Name" guy? He sounds like a fantastic builder! What a nice guy to let his trophy go home with that other guy!

Mark, Without intending any disrespect, I'm not a fan of the degree of difficulty system you propose. My biggest problem with it has to do with it being a handicapping system. I'm not so sure I want to build the best built middle of the road model. In my opinion, it promotes mediocrity. One of the reasons I try to build better is because I want to beat the best model on the table. Part of the game in any competition is the fact that you will usually start at the bottom and as you improve you move up the "food chain". Box Stock is a great place to hone and improve the basic skills needed to compete and win. I agree with Donn, grouping the cars by degree of difficulty instead of type would make the show less of a show. I'm also thinking it would be way harder to judge. This could also be a judge's nightmare! Imagine switching from drag to street rod in a single category! We have a hard enough time finding judges as it is. I've been to many contests and I rarely see poor judging. Most of the time the winner is clear from the start. Have I ever felt slighted at a show? Sure. Have I been baffled by a judges decision? Sure. But all in all I can see their point, even when I lose. Even in the case of the green Deuce I mentioned earlier, I may not know why its losing, but they must see something I can't see. The solution is as Donn said, build better. Why water down the competition? I know you can be outspent by another modeler, but that is the price of admission. Donn, I agree wholeheartedly! The most damage done by poor decisions at a show hurt the host club. The guy that walks away mad at the results tells his friends and so on until your show has a poor reputation and no one shows up. I've seen it happen. As far as everyone getting an award, bah! Awards are given to those who are special, if everyone gets one, you ain't so special, are you? Great discussion!

Excellent points, Donn. The problem seems to be that it's very difficult to look at your own stuff with a critical eye. I have a car, a green chopped and sectioned Deuce, that never has won a thing. I pull it out of the box and a crowd gathers to oooh and ahh. I place it on the table and nothing. So I ask some of my buddies what they think, nothing, they love the car. I have other cars that aren't built as well (in my opinion) that get hardware. It would be nice to know what the judges see that I (we) don't. The only thing I see that could be wrong with this system is judges being too lazy to use it, or skewing the results to let their favorite car win. For me it would help me to improve if I knew what the judges could see that I cannot. For most people it is easier to blame the judges or the system or a multitude of other things rather than their abilities. What really bothers me about these threads is that most people don't seem to realize that it is a model car CONTEST. There will be losers and winners and someone will probably build something better than what you did. If you cannot see that going into the contest you should stay home. If you get beat, you need to build better! If you want best of show you have to be willing to put the time, effort and money it takes to win that award. It is not easy to win at any show. I do have some questions about the idea of a points system. What would be the judging categories? Paint is obvious. Build Quality? That could be subjective. Detail? What about box stock? Would these change for each class? Would the ratings be 10 to 1 or 1 to 5? Would the total points be the same in each class? How could a standard set of judging criteria be set up for all shows? I love the idea, but I wonder how to make it work. Thanks, Donn for bringing this up.

Stop Judging Me!!!!! I can't take it! Make it stop! OK, I'm better now. No matter how well these things are judged, somebody will leave mad. It's just human nature. If you didn't think your stuff was the best on the table you'd stay home.

Wow, David! Thanks! I'm not used to such praise and flattery! I really appreciate it, Thanks!

The APPEARANCEof impropriety. I.E. to other it looks like the show is self serving, if you're giving an award to yourself. It has nothing to do with what is the best model on the table. The host club should not even compete in their own show, it looks like they're buying themselves trophies. No matter how good their stuff is and no matter how bad the other stuff is, it looks bad. Would I walk out in a huff if I was at a show where they did that? No, but others do. Again, if I get beat I just build better! This is a problem of perception, not reality. Lots of people, when their stuff gets beat they look to blame others, poor judging, fixed results, the club only gave trophies to themselves, etc., etc. Why would a club want their show to get that reputation? It is waaay to easy to avoid, have a display table for club members to show off their stuff and be as fair when judging as humanly possible. That's how I see it from this side of the keyboard, anyway!

While I'm really in it for the chicks, what I look for is competition, the more the better. I want to go up against the good stuff, competition improves the breed and all that stuff. As far as judging, it's all good. I've been to shows with good judges and bad, but if your stuff is good, I mean really good, it wins no matter what. My buddies and I have a saying, " if you are not winning, build better." My only complaints are about down time, waiting for judging to be finished and guys taking it too seriously. It's just little plastic cars! I like a well organized, well run show. Easy registration and quick but fair judging, that's what makes a good show. Awards that are appealing to display and not cheap looking are good, too. I wouldn't change much about most shows, they all seem pretty well done to me. Oh, by the way, don't give awards to the members of the host club, it has the appearance of impropriety.

Nice! I'd love to see that in person. I wonder if Ed has it still up at his dealership in Cleveland? I know the car was sold after Ed raced it to a guy in Akron who raced it as "Nasty Nick" with a Ramchargers Hemi in it. Sweet car, though.

Thanks a lot, guys! I've been having some paint issues lately and it's good to hear some positive feedback. I'm thinking about doing the '69 Ed Schartman Cougar soon. A Polar Lights Chassis with an old '69 Cougar Funny Car body. Thanks again!

Hey, That hood stripe decal is a real pain to get to lay flat, did you paint yours? Everyone I've talked to complains about it. If you didn't paint it, how did you do it? A firehose shootin' setting solution? A voodoo magic ritual? Pelvic gyrations of the Elvis kind?

I use Auto Air From Createx, it's a water based automotive paint with Testor's Wet Look lacquer over it. The Color is just plain yellow over a white base, the yellow fades at the rear of the car and the blue is Brite Blue. A couple of guys shoot paint waaay better than I do, but I'm catching them. Decals are from Slixx. I think it's the same Cougar, it's originally the Dyno Don Car. Thanks for the comments!

I just finished Fast Eddie Schartman's '68 Cougar Funny Car build from the Model King's reissue of the High Country Cougar kit with Slixx Decals. Not a bad build if you take your time, but it is showing its age. Not an accurate build by any means. I think if you used the body on a shortened Polar Lights Chassis you could end up with a pretty good build. the only major issue is with getting the body to sit well on the chassis and it sits a little too high. Enjoy the pics and as always, comments welcome!

Dude, that is a somkin' paint job on that car! Cool idea doing a slammer funny car. You should put up a painting tutorial for those of us that are "paint challenged". Nice work!

Thanks for posting this, I went to his site to place an order and it was gone! I was really disappointed! I hope he's back up and running soon.

A great turnout for the BSAC March Meet!! We had some new members show up to the meeting with some smokin' models! A great time was had by all, check out the pics: Rob Smorey's Non-Theme winning Deuce - Mike Newport's Phony Car Theme winning Camaro - The model turnout - The project table - More Pics here: March BSAC

OK, but next time you're payin'!

(in my best drag racing announcer voice) Thusrday! Thursady! Thursday! The March Meeting of the Buckeye Scale Auto Club will be Thursday March 4 at 7:30 PM. The Meeting takes place at 8088 Dunaway Ln in Westerville, Ohio. Action! Thrills! Chills! Be there!

Glad I could help. Thanks for the kind reviews, these things are a blast to build. BTW, all of these are out except the VW Bug, I guess there are some licensing issues. Round 2 had the kits at Detroit's Autorama, they only had the 1:1(?) Semi there. I wish they had the others there too. I'll be working on the rest soon. Thanks again!

Excellent!! Thanks for all the kudos on this build! Thanks to Revell for bringing this kit back. The dragon has some detail painted on his back. Too bad once I put him in the cage you can't see it! I used a photo of a real tiger's tail to get the details right on the shifter. Thanks again!

I voted for Bacon & Eggs because Rice Krispies and Beer was not an option. Snap, Crackle, & Burp!

I just finished the Circus Wagon, man, what a fun kit to build. Goes together easy with no problems. I chose to paint it Candy Red with Gold trim instead of yellow with red trim, I thought it looked more "circusy". I reworked the shifter to a tiger tail just like the original. Here's the pics: As always, comments and criticisms welcome!

I just finished this Corvette Zinger. I tried Testor's One Coat Lacquer, not bad. I still need to work out a few bugs with it though. I just love these kits, they're so stupid they are cool! Enjoy! BTW, comments and criticism welcome. Thanks for looking!

The March Meeting of the Buckeye Scale Auto Club will be Thursday March 4 at 7:30 PM. The Meeting takes place at 8088 Dunaway Ln in Westerville, Ohio. If you're local, come and enjoy the fun. Model Car contest and hanging out talking about models and cars. we hope to see you there!