Dr. Cranky

Her father was Mexican, I believe, Gregg. I have her CDs of her father's favorite songs. Excellent.

Thanks, Ron, I copied it. Perfect.

Donn, I know you discuss the issue of having the right colors and colors that work well together at length in your videos. For example, i know you like to have the engine color work in conjunction with the body color. I think it's an effective way of making the viewer look at the vehicle in its entirety and get a satisfying feel for it. And you've also judged contests which helps apply your aesthetics to whatever build you happen to judge.

Rick, great to see have you sharing your build here, buddy. Okay, I am copying a couple of these photos to my Fotki archive to be used this week in the YOUTUBE Video I'm going to make. Great model, buddy.

Rich, wow, that's as "clean" a definition as it gets. And wow, since you mention the rusty weathered subject, I wonder what those of you who build such vehicles would consider a "clean" build. LOL! I always put a fingerprint somewhere on my models in case I ever need to find it if it gets stolen! :lol:

Harry, I like the sound of this so much, I'm quoting it on the first page!

Many of you use "clean build" to signify a model that what? Looks good, is well put together, well painted. Are there specific traits in your mind as to what makes a model a "clean" build? And does anyone know where the term was first used. I know the youngsters here will use terms like "sick," "smooth," and even "cool" to describe a model they like. Feel free to post a picture or two of the best example you can think of, whether it's from your own collection or someone else's that you've seen. Those of you who have judged model contest, are there other terms that come to your mind to describe such a model?

Bill, that's quite a collection you have there. Absolutely wonderful. And of course, I immediately found you have a picture of one of my many model building heroes: Mr. Jim "Hollywood" Fernandez..

Dave, EXACTLY the kind of thing I am hoping happens, that folks start chiming in and start clarifying terminology and such, that's I think the spirit behind this thread.

Richard, thanks for extending the definition. That's part of those blurring lines between "customizing" and "scratch-building." Example, you first come upon customizing when opening doors or a trunk lid and then you realize that scratch-building of the hinges (which, you are right, don't exist) will have to be performed.

Also, if you are interested in WEATHERING/RUSTING your vehicles, there are lots of books and magazines that deal with military subject matter where you can pick up all sorts of BREAK-THROUGH techniques.

Great pictures, Steve, thanks for sharing.

Alex, welcome to the forum and thanks for joining the TZH Squad Caravan. Hope you stick around and soak up all the inspiration these folks are dishing out every day as they work on their builds, and please don't hesitate to share your eye candy with us. Cheers, Doctor Cranky & Gen. EYEGORE.

Skip & Harry, I also went back an put in a note on my first post to alert people NOT to post extensive how-tos or SBS here.

Skip, as I have said before, I have no interest ( or any sort of "aching") in starting my own forum or going anywhere else. This is home for me. You know I always think quite a bit and hard about how to title my topics so that they receive some attention. I also pay attention to the titles because I am thinking hard about where they belong, and since I meant for this one to stay at a general level, I posted it here in GENERAL and not in HOW DO I . . . My intent always is to include, not isolate. Also, with all due respect, I think you are over-scrutinizing my posts in terms of what my intentions are and what I mean, etc . . . I've been around long enough to know exactly what I am doing and what I mean when I say something. My recommendation to the folks who are or will post extensive how-tos here is to post them separately in the Tutorial section and then discuss those special challenges and/or joys they've felt in doing. In other words, this post is mostly, really, about personal philosophies behind scratch-building.

You've got lots of time, Joe. You've been modeling long enough to know these things happen. Take it easy and regroup.

Walt, you are going to like that kit!

LOL, Dave, I think the punch is spiked!

Skip and Harry, the guiding idea for this thread was not to have specific SBS or HOW-Tos in detail, but simply to talk in general about the art, frustrations, obstacles, tools, materials (whatever else) of scratch building. I know I am guilty of starting it by showing that Jack Stand how-to (which I think had posted a while back to the HOW-TO section, and several others.

The billboard is done, now all I have left to do is break out the AB and add some unifying colors to the whole thing . . . and some burnouts on the road. One burnt out vehicle pushed to the side would probably finish this sucker up. Thank you all your great comments and support.

Thanks, Paul, we've done a couple of articles for the magazine. I'm always trying to look for something different that hasn't been covered to often before and those are hard to come by, maybe once or twice a year. I just finished writing an article for a book that's going to come out on WEATHERING MODEL CARS & TRUCKS early next year. I will keep you posted.

Wow, everyone, you are really digging through your archives for some gems. Bill, those GSL meetings of the late 90s and early 00s are legendary, so many great builders coming together, the late great Mr. Hiscano. THANK YOU EVERYONE for sharing these!

So that's what you do, Danno, every time the Big Kahuna sends you to your room, you sit there paging through your scrap book, reliving the memories!

Jamie, that's a great idea if we all put all the builds together and sold them and then donated the money to a worthy Veteran's of War cause. I'd be happy about that. Maybe to buy supplies for the troops out there still . . . something like that, yes.

Here are all the folks I have so far in the Fotki archive with builds. Please make sure you post your best picture of your progress so far here so that I can add it to the first TZH SQUAD WIP VIDEO! Thank you. http://public.fotki.com/vsuarez666/voodoo-customs-chop-shop/misc/toothless-zombie-hu/