Dr. Cranky

Thanks, everybody, here's the video update on SNIPER.

Lane, when I found this thread I thought someone had finally taken me up on the idea of building the best SCRAPPLE sandwich this side of the Mississippi, and then I realized that you are wanting to extend a definition of what scrapple is into model building, which is gutsy and brave, and it does sound like a great challenge. So, it's a vehicle cobbled together using whatever parts you have at your disposal? Sounds to me like you are longing to play Dr. Frankensthtein! LOL, I like it.

Great job, Erik. It's all in the little details and the beautiful two tone. Congratulations.

LONG LIVE SHINY, Jim, that's all I'm going to say to you. Oh, and a great job on the paint!

Rene, welcome to the forum. And thank you for sharing your wonderful 41 Willys with us. This is a great kit, and you've already done some interesting things with it, including that engine. Keep up the good work.

It looks like it did a thorough job, Gregg. In terms of the price though, I have to agree with Rob and Jim, it's a bit too expensive.

Thanks, Sam. Yes, I think in person the colors are even brighter. I definitely have to take better pictures of this one. Stay tuned in for the video.

My first reaction is to always say no, it doesn't look good. But I think the members of the club do have all the right in the world to show off their models, but not for the competition. I think for the sake of eye candy on the tables, you bet. But it DOES NOT look good when member compete and win. Donn is absolutely right, all it does is dwindle the number of attendees down from one year to the next.

Well, folks, I finished the SNIPER today, although I still have a few details to add, most of the build is finished. I will upload a progress video up tomorrow morning, but tonight I can share a couple of pictures of it. It's finished because of YOU GUYS and all the inspiration and energy you are dishing out on a daily basis here. Thank you. I took these pictures with my iPhone camera, but tomorrow I will shoot it with my Canon Powershot and hope for a better round of pictures. Thank you for staying tuned in. Cheers, DC

Lordy, I get back from work and all this amazing eye candy is here waiting for my eyes to keep on popping out. Thanks, everyone, for the amazing energy to bring to this thread. Jason, welcome to the best model car forum on the planet, buddy. I hope you will stick around and share more of your eye candy with us. Sam, I copied a couple of these photographs for the next UPDATE build. A few of you with some of these blurry pictures, I am waiting for better pics. Get that model into a stronger light and put that camera on a tripod . . . trust me, you'll see the difference with the next few shots. Keep up the great work, folks. Cheers, DC

Mike, well, it's never too late to do one. I think it's a great idea to archive it on the record so that others see the beauty of such builds . . . and give everyone more ideas beyond the normal garage scenes . . . in my book, the more variety, the better.

Another convert at the Church of Donn Yost! You are in for many great treats and new styrene journeys.

Chuck, I've never seen anything that drastic before but all I can think about is the model sitting near a heat source . . . I've stumbled up imperfections in tires, but nothing like that.

Rob, shiny doesn't happen over night. Don't get discouraged, buddy. But it's important that you keep growing as a builder. It's important to keep trying, and learning. Help yourself out by learning from folks here like Donn Yost (and many others) who've clocked in decades perfect their craft. Take it from me, every build, shiny or rusty, is a learning experience, and both types of builds always get my utmost respect. Don't be hard on yourself, and don't get discouraged. Here's a model I built about 15 years ago, after literally ruining dozens of models (thank heavens I could pick them up dirt cheap back when Wal Mart sold kits) and it's a poorly painted and even more poorly photographed model, which I have kept in my collection only to remind myself of the journey all these years. Shiny takes time, patience, and you are going to give up a lot of hair over them, but it's important to do it and learn from your mistakes. If many of us have learned to do it over time, so can you. I don't think I'm the only one here who would tell you this. Hang in there, and HANG TOUGH! Note: the shine that comes through in this picture is all the light working to hide the orange peel, and other mistakes.

Andy, you are going to grow up into a fine builder, and your learning curve is going to keep going up with every year your put into this amazing hobby. Rest assured you have lots of friends here. Just keep your cool and remember to have fun and keep sharing your work with us. You also have to keep an open heart knowing that sooner or later you are going to develop other real life intereste (speaking from experience when I was a few years older than you are now--you know, girls, school, work, etc . . . ) and eventually you will have to put the hobby aside because you'll grow into other responsibilities, etc . . . so keep that in mind and don't feel bad. The hobby will always be here, and we'll be much older farts when you make your return. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not telling you to stop building models or anything of the sort, I'm just telling you to keep an open mind about it all. Best wishes for more happy and an endless styrene journey to ya.

Jairus, I meant parts for the early Fords, 29, 30-38, etc . . . those parts are hard to find. I know it takes some search and if you find them what I meant was that they'd be pretty expensive. It took me half a year to track down the hood to my 55 Chevy and when it arrived it needed considerable work, and you don't want to know what I paid for it. In retrospect, I'm glad I found an original part instead of going with an after market hood, which back in the 1990s they were still not being made. It was one of the few parts that could not be had in the aftermarket/replica production. You are lucky you can find parts for that sweet ride of yours. And clearly, you are taking your time nursing this one back.

These are wonderful photos, and it looks like once you had the plan, the photo op went up pretty fast. Have you considered doing a how-to on this type of back drop, Mike? Maybe you have one already and I haven't seen it.

I have to admit I'm a sucker for the visuals and the temptation. I just get all riled up about wanting to build these . . . you look at stuff like this all day and where are you going to go, but run to the bench? You look at this next one and then you think oh REVELL London Bus potential.

Dave, your point is well taken, given the fact that there are lots of horrible examples out there, but I think what is backing up the rat rod movement or craze is the fact that most of these folks who build them in real life can't really afford the price of either a full-out restoration, or having one built by the Brizzio's of the hot rod world. Having said that, I think there are plenty of examples of well done rat rods that I would not mind driving and or owning. Someone told me recently at a show that right after the motorcycle craze started to die down, Hollywood types (with loads of money) started coming into the scene and buying up a lot of these rat rods just to show off in. If anything, it's added an explosive element to model photography (and by model I mean all those tattooed ladies that appear in ever so many magazines and shows!)

Drew H's article in the next to last MCM agrees with your point, Roger. It's something I have never paid any attention to, but I will definitely will start looking at carefully now.

J, I would imagine most "vintage" parts are either gone or too expensive, but for us scale builders, we can go as crazy as we want, which is the beauty of it. But you are right, the real car builders have a tougher time, and I think often the spirit is to scratch-build what they don't have or can't buy cheap.

Those of you with great examples of rat rods in scale, feel free to share them. I remember the first round of builders who got be excited about building a rat rod were folks like Jairus Watson, Dave Roehrle, Jim "Hollywood" Fernandez, Ken Hamilton, and Andy Johnson, although I don't know if any of these folks were among the first to start building rat rods. I know they've built some cool ones . . . The very first I build was this one: And between, a few years have passed. I like to build one or two new ones every year just because sometimes and idea just POPs into the old noggin' and I can't help it but execute it . . . Speaking of Jairus Watson, here's one of my favorite rat rods in scale of all time, a model I am happy to say Mr. Watson was generous enough to allow me to add it to my collection: And this model (Jairus can chime in about all the facts behind it), if I remember what he told me about it, had its debut at the GSL a few years back and according Jairus it didn't get the attention it clearly deserves. I know when I first saw it, it flipped my lid!

Those of you with great examples of rat rods in scale, feel free to share them. I remember the first round of builders who got be excited about building a rat rod were folks like Jairus Watson, Dave Roehrle, Jim "Hollywood" Fernandez, Ken Hamilton, and Andy Johnson, although I don't know if any of these folks were among the first to start building rat rods. I know they've built some cool ones . . . The very first I build was this one: And between, a few years have passed. I like to build one or two new ones every year just because sometimes and idea just POPs into the old noggin' and I can't help it but execute it . . .

LOL, you have a point. A lot of these vehicles are just flat out hideous, but there's something about them that just grabs the imagination. I know I harp on this all the time, but looking at the real stuff sure is a way of getting excited about building another model. Case in point, I just received this link from a fellow builder in France, who is just as crazy about this sort of eye candy. http://rusttee.tumblr.com/

Mike, that looks fantastic! And the beauty of this is that you can shoot indoors and get very good results over and over . . . I'm also assuming that you can bring in all the props you need to vary up the scene. These kinds of backdrops are an indication of your level of addiction not only to styrene, but also to photos.