Dr. Cranky

This one is a beauty, and I hope you have not seen it already, but I post it here so you can enjoy it again perhaps if you have: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=av_Sm1sZwZA

LOL, my parents were factory workers their entire lives. I still feel ashamed that I harangued my father into buying me a train set one fine Sunday when I was twelve because I saw it at the store and wanted one. All these years that moment still haunts me.

Harry, I didn't have an allowance, but I remember finding money under the couch cushions and saving it up to go buy kits at Thrifty's. Once the bug hit me, I was a regular buyer of kits. I had the split my money though between my two passions at the time: kits and comic books.

LOL

I think it is healthy for this conversation to continue among all the parties involved, but long ago I settled the issue for myself by believing that I am willing to pay whatever I need to pay to continue to feed my own styrene addiction. It's the cost of staying active in the hobby. That simple. Having said that I've also stopped buying kits that I know I will never build. I have over 400 kits in my current collection and most of those I use simply to rob parts from. When a new kit comes out I normally evaluated on a NEED-TO-HAVE-NOW-OR-NEVER basis. Some of it is quite compulsive on my part. But we all establish our own reasons for our wants and needs. Besides, buying styrene is still cheaper that some of the other hobbies and or habits (good or bad).

Thanks for another look at this one, Paul. Beautiful work and subtle detailing throughout.

Beautiful. Clean and classy. Gorgeous color.

Nice, I am liking this project. Keep it going.

Beautiful, Mr. Kren.

Thanks, Joe and James. Hope to have a blast providing some interesting videos and ideas this season. Do stay tuned in.

A new season of THE CRANKY SHOW premieres TONIGHT. Get your popcorn ready and tune in for some styrene fun and builds. This one is going to be the best season yet! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fawy8DE9Yw

O MY, some wonderful projects completed recently and in the works. Great job and thank you for sharing them. Amazing.

Love it, Harry, such realism. Wow.

I'm sure I am repeating this by now, but sanding those tires is very important, killing that new tire look.

What I would love to find out is the budget for running such an operation. It must be in the six figures to keep such an operation running. If you have the money, why not?

I watch it all the time, very cool stuff. A lot better than the Tonight Show.

Welcome to the board, Paul. You will find we have an amazing gathering of builders here with varied tastes. Also, we look forward to seeing pictures of your old, current, and future builds here. Have fun and enjoy the eye-candy exchange.

A wonderful and inspirational look at the style: I hope you enjoy it.

Of course, we are keeping this conversation to the topic at hand and model car related, but we also don't have conversations in a historical/political vacuum. We must remember that China's form of government DOES NOT provide its citizens with the kinds of freedoms some Western nations enjoy. For example in China (and this is why they have such an explosive economy) a worker can't simple opt to NOT work, right? And that worker's salary is not really dictated by his skills or market worth, but what the government decides for the worker. CHEAP LABOR is always guaranteed by such a government and therefore it attracts these insatiable greedy corporations to go over and get lots of NEXT TO FREE CHEAP LABOR (where do you think McDonald Happy Meal toys come from?). A Chinese worker and his family cannot decide to have more than one child, etc . . . you get my point. China has done a wonderful PR job of making the West feel like CHINA is this new century is reforming without changing its form of government. Not everyone can be blind to the fact that the Communist Party is in charge and they decided long ago that within the boundaries of the People's Revolution ALL IS FAIR including bringing to market (from books and movies to cars!) their own products (made with cheap/free labor) in order to compete and market the global economy. Even Hollywood (which is really run by these huge corporations) have begun to cave under China's pressure (and consumption) to change the plot of movies critical of current Chinese politics. And they do so as long as they have China agreeing to stop piracy and the proliferation of copied CDs/DVDs, you name it. They not only provide the world with the largest consumer base but they also guarantee the world some of the cheapest production. So they win time and again. Nobody can compete with such formula.

James, I still like the GPK.

Silvester, every country in the world KNOWS that China DOES NOT respect copyright law. Whatever the formal COMMUNIST PARTY PROPAGANDA/LINE is CHINA DOES NOT RESPECT copyright law.

Looking good.

Perhaps every time we bail out the car manufacturers we should get them to turn over some of those licenses to the kit manufacturers so that at least we (as children) can play with the toys we normally can't afford. LOL.

Amazing work. This is a great thread to keep returning to for inspiration. And thank you all for the aftermarket mesh information.

I think the big American automobile manufacturers--the ones left--guard the old designs because in essence that's all they have left. I bet you if you asked any current executive or mid-management person how they did such beautiful, long-lasting, long-running work, they'd tell you they haven't a clue, but they do have their archives and vaults and they know they have gold. They had gold which turned into pure (what does the French call that foul-smelling substance: oh yes, Merde!) and now they guard it because it's all they've got. Every once in a while they make a commercial say of the new Cadillac and they stand it next to a 1959 and they go LOOK at our tradition in beauty and design and your eyes immediately POP OUT with the 59 but with the NEW, your eyes begin to water and hurt. Your mind recoils in agony . . . WHAT IS THAT? Then they go: LUXURY, SAFETY, FUEL EFFICIENCY . . . blah blah blah . . . Having said that COPYRIGHTS and TRADEMARKS and PATENTS must be honored or else it's a free-for-all which is what China engages in. They use to spend valuable time and lives reverse engineering everything and then now they just copy (they can do this in less than a month depending on what it is) and put it out on the market, profit from it without ever having to worry about legal repercussions. And most of the time, there's nothing anyone can do about it.