charlie8575

Neat idea for the door hinges, I might try that sometime. A full tutorial on your method would be appreciated. Charlie Larkin

Very cool to see a four-place Javelin. The correct (or as close as we'll see) lightweight AMC V8 being available is a nice thing, too. I have an unbuilt 1967 Ambassador that would benefit nicely from that engine to be completely correct...well, except for the torque-tube drive, but I have no idea how to go about rectifying that without making a real mess of things. Once I have a few more bucks, you've got another one of these sold. Charlie Larkin

You might want to soak the car in the stripper of your choice prior to adding anymore paint. It'll prevent a whole host of problems. This will be very interesting to see what you come up with. Charlie Larkin

This is sick, warped, twisted, insane... And I expect nothing less from you. Very, very, cool, Chuck. Do you remember off hand which manufacturer used the term "Malibu Mist?" That's a pretty color. Charlie Larkin

Very cool; if I can't find one of those locally, I may ask to arrange something with you. Charlie Larkin

Solar battery tender? Sounds interesting. Right now, my mother isn't driving too much. We might go get one of those for her car. I'll have to see if I can find one locally. Charlie Larkin

YES! YES! YES! I'd explain how I feel, but this a family forum! I want a dozen each Lakewoods and Greenbriars! Especially if they make it so it can be built as a cargo or passenger van or the camper conversion parts. That would be fun, too. Charlie Larkin

Nice job on the headrests and the interior. Care to do a tutorial on working with clay for objects like that? Charlie Larkin

A Riviera wagon it looks? Painting that bleeding yellow-and-red plastic together will be all kinds of not fun! Remember, one or two coats of gray primer, a THIN coat of silver paint, one more coat of primer, and that'll do a pretty good job of sealing the plastic. Charlie Larkin

If someone did that Fisker in plastic, I'd buy one. That's a pretty car. On the subject of all-electric cars and range, it suprises me that the manufacturers aren't building photo-voltaic cells into the roofs. The prices of those have started to come down dramatically, and would, at worst case, give you a limp-home mode until you get to your house, office, mall or a plug. Charlie Larkin

I think this kit would be an exception in that the sales numbers would probably equal or excel a '57 Bel-Air Sport Coupe. And a Nomad would probably do almost as well. The '57 Chevy is one of America's iconic cars, and as Mark pointed out, it's the car that first springs to mind when a lot of people think "classic"/antique cars, and on that alone, I think a more-than-satisfactory business case is made. You'd need a body, boot, rear seat and door-panels...and maybe an uptop for Roger. The X-brace could be an add-in piece, saving the necessity of a whole new frame (it was on the real car, too, so it wouldn't be that unrealistic,) but the tooling could easily use 3/4 or more of what's already there. The Nomad can use the '56 and then you'd need the body, interior and maybe one or two chrome pieces. Personally, I'd like to see the Nomad with an opening tailgate, as I've never had much luck opening doors and such. The sedan delivery- which I would love dearly to see, woud be a similar case. Huge seller? Maybe not, but so much of the tooling is amortorized already, that the extra investment in the body and interior molds (around $25-30,000 according to those knowledgable in the matter,) would be paid for pretty quickly. An S/D is for racers, rep-stock, light commercial, customizers, and a lot of other people. I think the tool would be paid for pretty quickly. The costs aren't unreasonable. I do think, however, Christian's observation of product planning being a bit drowsy at the switch, if not outright sleeping, is probably the case, hence the lack of action. Charlie Larkin

Hi, Hal. Welcome back to the hobby. Are you in South Shore in Weymouth by chance? On the subject of clubs- MassCar is the model car club that serves Greater Boston and the southeastern part of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. We meet on the second Saturdays and third Wednesdays at the old Rustcraft Greeting Card building, 150 Rustcraft Rd., Dedham. Take 128 to Rt. 1/1A North (Dedham exit, I believe it's exit 14 if heading north.) At WFXT/Fox 25 and the Walgreen's turn right and follow that road to us. The Saturday meetings start around 1:00 or so, we usually try to start the Wednesday meetings no later than 7:00. Visitors sincerely welcome. Feel free to stop by anytime, and don't forget our show March 17, 2013 at the Holiday Inn in Taunton- exit 9 off of 495. Charlie Larkin

Looks good. That metalflake is a bit big, but it does lend a nice custom effect to the paint job, which seems to be in keeping with the rest of the build. Charlie Larkin

Here's a question that I had pop into my mind while watching Duel earlier tonight. I've seen a lot of pictures and movies from earlier times where heavy trucks had several license plates from several states at a time on their front bumper. I also remember seeing some older truck models that had decal sheets that would replicate this practice. Was this done for some ICC or state road-tax purpose? I've always wondered about this, and was hoping someone might have some answers. Charlie Larkin

Now you're just taunting us! I do wish Revell would get on the ball and do this along with a decent '57 Nomad. Or really surprise us and do a 1955-57 Pontiac Safari.... Charlie Larkin

Nice models and some very good photography. Charlie Larkin

Nice job on the side trim, and on the rest of it. The mid-year Dusty Rose was reserved for Bel-Airs from the factory from what I remember, but there's nothing that would've stopped a dealer or body-shop repaint. Charlie Larkin

No price,etc., up yet. I'd be very interested in one of the stock Futuras. I'll have to track down a 200 and suitable wheels, though. I wonder if the Maverick wheels would be close enough? I always liked that A-B-A color scheme I remember seeing on these. I remember a beige/caramel/beige scheme and red/maroon/red. There must be others, too. For curiosity, Scott, how was working with Ford? I remember your were trying to do that. Charlie Larkin

If they can find a way to get that charge cycle down to a little more reasonable time, I would seriously consider something like that. I can see the growth in demand for solar-powered charging stations, which, as Rick pointed out, is, for intents and purposes, really the only way for an electric car to be as environmentally positive as its proponents would like us to think it is. Charlie Larkin

Nicely-done. I might go grab one of those kits, it looks good put together. I'd probably do mine in Imperial Blue with the cashmere/black interior. Charlie Larkin

I like this a lot. Nice color, one of the nicer designs of the period, too. And a great build. Charlie Larkin

Nice job on that, especially the canvas roof. The beater-Beetle is pretty cool, too. What did you use for that, or was it a kit-supplied part? Charlie Larkin

Excellent work on the model. Photography tip: stand back a little bit more, and use your zoom lens (if you have that) a little more. The photos are a bit out-of-focus. That might help correct the focus issue. Charlie Larkin

Nice job. The vinyl rub-strip down the center of the side should have a bright outer lip with an insert to approximately match the interior. I would recommend using the interior paint for it. Also, for future reference, the oil pan should be painted engine color instead of left chromed. An hour or two (at most) in some bleach in a sealed jar would remove that. I've found the undercoat used for the plating makes a pretty good "primer" coat. I do agree a little foiling and detail-painting would go a long way to bringing out the best in an otherwise nicely-executed model. Charlie LArkin

Correct. Most American convertibles up until the early-mid 1950s used Haartz (with two "a"s) canvas. I believe the canvas top option on the present-production Chrysler 200 (in place of the vinyl) is also made by Haartz. Charlie Larkin