charlie8575

Oh, I know the Berkshires haven't moved....it's my travel and budget that continues to be the elusive target. I'm aiming for this fall. My friends and I are planning a trip out of greater Worcester for a day, possibly overnight just for a change of scenery. I do know I won't be at Classic Plastic this year- my cousin is getting married, and I think it would be very poor form to not show up. Keep an eye for any one of the following: Canon/Bell & Howell FD, a Pentax K1000 (rapidly becoming my favorite despite being a little touchy to load,) or a Pentax SF-10. I'll probably have the Sunpak, too. Charlie Larkin

The black would be appropriate if the car was undercoated, as was very common around here. Nice builds. Charlie Larkin

That's just the starting bid. I suspect it'll probably end up being $50-60,000 once the auction closes. That's very, very cool. Charlie Larkin

If you like the idea, petition your state legislature. It's a growing trend in the northeast, and has been helpful for many stores and service providers, all of whom get their sales taxes waived for the weekend. Charlie Larkin

For most of the last six or seven years, the General Court of the Commonwealth (the state legislature of Massachusetts) has declared usually the second weekend in August a sales tax holiday. Sales tax on all items except restaurants, cars, boats and ATV-type things, up to $2500, is cancelled. This was done to help a lot of retailers, who usually have a tough time paying their bills in August, draw in some business, particularly for big items like white goods, furniture and electronics. With my club discount, I effectively got a 26.25% discount on my model. New York and New Jersey have been doing this off and on for years in one form or another. Charlie Larkin

Nice build. Charlie Larkin

I'm glad I found this one again, Mike! That came out great. I'm especailly impressed with the GMC scripts. Trips to the Berkshires keep getting put off/rescheduled, put off. Due notice will be given when I make it out there. I'm open to car-pooling/room share for NNL next year if you'd like to go, too. Charlie Larkin

This one is just plain cool!

I took advantage of the sales tax holiday and picked up a Moebius Chrysler 300. I really like what I see. Excellent molding quality and molded in natural-color HIPS, which is a cream-white. Nice touch and easy to paint. Charlie Larkin

I'm toying with doing something very similar to one of these for my own firm. Usable for scenes into the 1960s and maybe later. Charlie Larkin

My friend Rob, really the brother I never had, sent me a link to this article on the subject of college. http://blogmaverick.com/2012/05/13/the-coming-meltdown-in-college-education-why-the-economy-wont-get-better-any-time-soon/ I really think we've oversold college myself; we need to return to apprenticeships, business colleges, and similar training opportunities. Community and technical colleges provide those things. If you're not sure if your kids are really ready for college/university, encourage them to do a semester at a local junior school, or perhaps start out with a certificate in something like management, web design, or any one of a number of other things. It'll avoid the huge debts, the uncertainty, and still meets the needs of some type of post-high-school education and give them an opportunity to start out. Many unions and local businesses will also take high school grads on to train them. We need to remember to teach our young that part of being a responsible adult is making responsible, intelligent decisions, and that because all your friends are doing something doesn't mean it's a good idea for you. Charlie Larkin

Those colors look great on it. Charlie Larkin

Very cool. I'll enjoy watching this come together. Charlie Larkin

The Revell "Hot Rod" kit is a modification of the c. 1965 everything-opens-and-functions kits that included a that' 55, a 1956 2-door sedan with separate trim to make a Bel-Air, 210 or 150 at the builder's discretion, and a 1957 Bel Air sport coupe and Nomad. VERY challenging kits to assemble, but they look good when they're completed. Charlie Larkin

Eh? Charlie Larkin

Here are some dimensions to get you started; they're throughout the article. Remember, in 1/25 scale, 15/32" (0.46875" for quick input into a calculator)=1'0". http://www.pickuptrucks.com/html/history/segment3.html Charlie Larkin

Make sure you're priming the parts, Joe. I recommend using Plasti-Kote or Dupli-Color lacquer primer for best protection and coverage. The primer coat makes the difference. If it's simply running off and you are priming, try changing the angle the part is at when you paint it. Charlie Larkin

I like this, too. As I'm in the process of re-doing my bedroom, I may borrow this design for a workbench. Charlie Larkin

Speaking as a "boomerang" myself, at 37, I can attest that it's not fun out there and it's not getting much better, regardless of what the talking heads say. Part of my return (really, about 60% of it,) was economics as 2009 pretty much killed my employment, and the other part was a combination of moving home to help my parents transition officially into senior citizens, as they were having a lot of health and home management problems, and my being 80 miles away in an economically-depressed area (even in good times) wasn't helping them any. I suspect that a lot of people my generation will be facing the same thing soon, especially those like me who have no siblings or anyone else to rely on. I ended up going back to school to re-train and take a year off during the worst of the recession when there was very little point in even looking for work, and a lot of the kids I spoke with at school shared a lot of these concerns, as do the professors, career services director, and even many of the employers who would like to hire, but won't due to continuing economic uncertainty. I will simply advise the following, speaking from life experience and almost a decade of teaching high school. 1. Try not to amass a lot of student debt. Start at a quality community or private junior college or use the CLEP tests to save on tuition charges. 2. Apply for every grant, scholarship, work-study and whatever else you can find for both pocket money, book money, tuition, etc. 3. Don't forget to have fun. The ages of 18-25 are really the best years of your life. I spent too much time being serious and lost out on a lot of the fun in things, which now, as someone in my later 30s, is no longer appropriate to do. 4. Get a well-rounded education, not just in school, but be a student of life. 5. Make sure you have a usable education, with a little extra for skill diversity and maximum employment. 6. Don't give up. 7. I've noticed that many of today's younger people focus so much on one area or another in their formal education that they don't bother to use the opportunities offered them to broaden their horizons and expand their knowledge. This is not a positive trend. 8. Not sure what you want to do yet? Don't feel bad, you'll probably change careers at least two or three times anyway. 9. Be yourself, and don't let the media, your friends, pundits, politicians, or anyone else tell you who to be or what you are. Charlie Larkin

From what I can see, Wal-Mart, Ace, Do-it Best, and True Value have no plans for dropping it. As to the clearance deals...thanks for the tips, Rob! Charlie Larkin

I'm waiting for either Revell or one of the resin guys to do convertibles, Holidays and fastbacks. I could really hold my breath and hope someone will do an 88 wagon, and really, really wait for a 6-cylinder engine to build a 76. Charlie Larkin

Ran across this video and thought it was pretty cool. A 1925 Erie shovel at work at power exhibition in Ontario. I really seriously question if the stuff they're making today would even be capable of occasional exhibition work like this 87 years from now. Does anyone have any idea what the matching truck is? http://www.neatorama.com/2012/08/08/Antique-Steam-Shovel-Still-Going-Strong/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Neatorama+%28Neatorama%29 Charlie Larkin

The Vega discussion is interesting. I always thought they were nice-looking cars, especially in their category. Perhaps I need to revise my thoughts a little. A lot of what I've seen here would definitely go in my Top 10 at the very least. Charlie Larkin

I loaned Don a Jeepster snowplow to copy. He sent that back to me along with a casting. I found his casting to be good. There is some flash, but it's very light and will sandpaper away pretty quickly. His casting is smooth with one or two tiny air bubbles that can fill in very easily. What impressed me most was how quickly he got things underway. It took about two or three days to get the parts to him by mail to North Dakota. About three days later, he reported the mold was made and he was sending everything back out the next morning. They arrived about 2 days later. I will say his service is pretty quick and he was very nice to deal with. Charlie Larkin