charlie8575

Hmmm....take a nice, good-looking car with room, ride and power and turn it into a cramped, little front-driver with no style or ride. Although, knowing you, Bruce, this will have style! And good style at that. Charlie Larkin

This reminds me, for a slight change of topic. I had Jo-Han's new Internet site bookmarked prior to my harddrive going bad. Do you happen to have the new one, as the Yahoo! group (at least last I checked) didn't. Charlie Larkin

Very, very nice, Curt. Charlie Larkin

When you can't hold a blasted thing, either manually or with the assistance of a mechanical device...while painting...with a wet part going under the sofa. Oh joy, oh joy...tra la tra la tra la... Fortunately, I was able to get enough of the schmutz off that I didn't have to strip it. Just primer anyway. Charlie Larkin

I was wondering about that myself; how'd you like building his kit? It looks nice when it's done, but how's getting there? Charlie Larkin

If you can find the Gelly Roll pens anywhere still, they have almost every color you can imagine. Charlie Larkin

You're on the right track, the 273/1966-up 318/340/360 are the same block. I hadn't thought about Ross Gibson. I'm not sure if Dad'll go for spending more for an engine than he did for the kit, though. Perhaps I should clarify; I was thinking more like finding a kit that I can pick up cheap someplace with a good engine and pirating the engine out of that. For a lot of those cars with small-blocks, I can either cast one out of resin or just chuck a \6 in it. Charlie Larkin

Is it just me or have you noticed that sometimes cleaning either aggrevates the problem, or doesn't cure it? Charlie Larkin

Interesting technique. The results are quite spectacular. Charlie Larkin

My father has decided he'd like to build a model of his first new car, a 1968 Dodge Charger. He has the Revell kit (very nice,) and will be making the few small mods he needs to make it a base Charger. Can anyone recommend a really nice nice LA-Block Chrysler to replicate the 318, and preferably one with a 2-bbl intake and carb? Charlie Larkin

New England will overrun the board...and we're bringing all our snow with us! Well, yours....it appears to have forgotten we were supposed to get four inches down here in New Bedford. I'm not complaining, trust me. That's coming out very nicely. My dad picked up the standard '68 Charger, he wants to build a model of his first new car, and is now looking for a good LA-Block (his was a 318.) Charlie Larkin

The parts are washed and dried. I've glued the rear end and the bucket seat cushions and shells to each other. Right now, I'm trying to determine the painting strategy I'm going to employ, especially given the weather this weekend (cold and rain/snow,) and that my apartment doesn't have great air circulation. The other problem I'm dealing with is the weather itself, which has now become quite chilly. I'm hoping with some degree of luck that things will break for a little tomorrow so I can at least prime. If I can get parts primed, I can get the brush-painting done, and possibly do a little airbrushing for some parts as I've found that the airbrush, when done near the window with a fan pointing out, doesn't generate too many fumes with enamels, anyway. Charlie Larkin

I have many friends who are of Scandanavian descent, and I understand your concerns for your own safety. The women especially can add new dimension to "going Viking on your a--." I grew up around Armenians and dated a Jewish girl for nearly a year....I also understand from first-hand experience. Bachelordom does have its plusses sometimes. Charlie Larkin

Warning: car cannot be driven in New England, the potholes will rip the undercarriage out. Looks great, though! Charlie Larkin

I like the '60. That's one kit we don't see built too much. I always thought the 1960s were nice-looking cars and I've seen a few customs based on AMT (or Modelhaus) kits, and they look nice with that. I'd put the engine from the '62 Cat in it, I remember reading in more than a few places that the Trumpeter engine is a real lump. Nice work on all of them. Charlie Larkin

Coming out very nicely. Charlie Larkin

Who made those wire wheels? I can think of a few cars I might use them on. The overall build looks very good. Charlie Larkin

I was toying with doing a 4-4-2, but decided I wanted to get my Pontiac done. If I still have time for this, I might do build #2. I voted for a spring date, it'll give the weather a chance to become nice enough again to paint. Charlie Larkin

Finish or rebuild at least five models. Charlie Larkin

Mine's going a little backwards. I glued the engine together and then...washed off all the parts. Weather right now is making much progress difficult as it's cold and rainy, so I can't really paint too much. Once the parts trees dry, I'm going to do at least some of the subassemblies, and perhaps a little painting, as the Tamyia semigloss black seems to cover fairly well and I have a bottle of acrylic primer that I can brush on (everything else is spray-can.) I'm still also trying to decide on the color. I'm starting to like Cameo Ivory/Parchment with black more and more. I have the paints except the body color (right now, working capital is very tight,) and it'd be something a little different. I might also do Cameo Ivory with a red or blue interior (Model Master Chrysler Engine Blue is pretty close to GM blue interiors of the vintage.) Charlie Larkin

At the very least in a clear display case with nothing on the bottom. Showing the car upside down would require messing up the body work to simulate accident damage, and that's bad. Charlie Larkin

Almost any smooth or traditional jazz music is what I like. I also like funk, big-band, and doo-wop. A little '70s, a little '80s, very little '90s-21st Century. Classical, country, oldies. For me, picking a favorite song is like picking a favorite child, it can't, and shouldn't be, done. One of my favorite stations when I was living out in western Massachusetts was Smooth FM. WEIB FM, 106.3, Northampton, Ma. Check it out sometime for something a little different. I still listen to it periodically on the Internet. Charlie Larkin

Great idea, Mike, and I plan on giving it a whirl. I had picked up a white gel pen at Michael's, but neither they nor A.C. Moore are carrying them any longer, they both claim to have received too many complaints of these pens drying out. Now I just need to find my white pen again.... I've been looking to see if a white technical (liquid) pen is made by anyone, as I'm wondering if that might be an acceptable substitute. Charlie Larkin

Remember, that kit was tooled originally by Pyro in the mid-1950s, when the manufacturers were still trying to figure out how to work with injection-molded plastic for mass-produced consumer items. It (along with the Cord and Lincoln) will have some..."issues" to work out. I have an original-issue (I think, or not too far removed,) Pyro. The body was glued together, I just have to paint it and assemble the rest. Painting that red plastic, especially red plastic that old, will be pure joy. Think of it this way: you're learning new skills and how to cope with a sub-optimal product, plus making it more to your liking. A little more work, yes, but I don't see a downside. And yes, the new Lindberg (why does everyone spell it with a "u"?) are very nice. I'd put any of their 90s-issue kits up against anything from AMT or Revell-Monogram from that era, and even some of the Japanese kits for quality. A lot of the Lindberg kits from the 1960s are nice kits, too, especially their ships and airplanes, which I've built a few of. Charlie Larkin

MTH is making a Hiawatha? Ooohhh...one of my favorite streamliners. I have the Model Railroader from 1984 with the plans for it. I'd love to try scratchbuilding one sometime. I myself have a real hankering for one of the Broadway Limited New Haven I-5s. My grandmother worked for the New Haven as a bookkeeper and freight agent during the war, and the New Haven is one of my favorite roads (along with anything else New England.) Charlie Larkin