Dr. Cranky

Beautiful job on those flames, and perfect build just in time for Holloween! Congrats.

Haven't gotten my copy yet, but the Big 10 is quite an accomplishment!!! Hip hip hooray. May MCM live to be 50!!!

Great pictures, wonderful base, and perfect build. Congrats.

Have never met Bill in person, but I'm a big fan of his work. I think we can all agree we know an immaculate, pristine model when we see it, wether in person or in pictures!

It's great you've returned to building. It's a great hobby and you'll continue to get a lot out of it. This is a nice way to grow a collection of trucks. Congrats.

I love it. And the pictures are fabulous. Did you do THE Mad Max vehicle a few years ago?

Looks pretty fabulous so far. I hope you keep it going. It DOES look like a lot of fun!

Great topic. I have to say that I get lots of inspiration from magazine the likes of OLD SCHOOL RODZ, AMUSIN' KRUISIN', ROD & CUSTOMS and a few others . . . But nothing serves up a hotter plate of inspiration than this build Pat Covert and Ken Hamilton put together a few years ago . . . THE CAMP MULE--I will let the pictures do their good work on your creative spirit!!! For more great pictures of this build, you can check them out here: http://public.fotki.com/khamilton/models/t.../junkyard_mule/

Clean work so far . . . these kinds of things will pay off big in the long run.

Oh yeah! I think Plastic Freak hit it right on the head with some rust spots showing through, of course! It's a wonderful, imaginative build . . . it's going to be a great model!

WOWOWOW!!!! This thing is looking wild and wicked. Great work on the exhaust . . . it's all coming together nicely. You are obviously enjoying building the heck out of this one!!!

Super cool. Great details and work so far.

Great info and tips all around. Cool, keep it going.

That's looking good, buddy. Keep it going. Can't wait to see that toothy grin painted.

Those are looking great, buddy, keep 'em going. I can't wait to see more.

Ooooh, I likes it! Very nice. Hope you keep it going.

Oh, man, that is ultra unique. Love the boattail rear . . . very cool. Keep it going . . . and that engine is just perfect too!!!

Thanks, Curt . . . yeah, it's easy to create a reference library for fire if you have one of those open bbqs laying around . . . next time you bbq, do it at night and just take pictures of the flames . . . this way you get to eat AND enjoy a small fire. The best results come from a small bonfire . . . .

Thanks, folks, I appreciate the comments . . . Hey, Big Gary, I'm a little confused by your comment . . . any kind of airbrushing is time consuming. I mean, any type of graphics on a car body takes time to get it just right . . . if that is what you mean . . . A model ends up being the time you put into it.

Thanks, George, actually this kind of stuff is not hard at all once you get the hang of working with the airbrush and House of Kolor paints, getting the right consistency to the paint/reducer mixture . . . Here are the steps I took: 1) Plastikote gray primer--for the primer I always rattle can it although I can see how you can get great results with the airbrush . . . 2) Black base coat (HOK)--Using this airbrush: 3) Then using my IWATA Micron C Plus, I put a few drops of white (HOK) into the cup--you really don't need that much, and you certainly want to put the lid on it so none of it spills are you are working with the templates . . . One of our members here JayVee has a much better tutorial on how to use and make these templates . . . but I can't remember or know where that thread would be . . . Anyway, I'm using a variety of templates here, including these NANO TRUE FIRE templates from Mike Levalle's shop: www.killerpaint.com, but you can also get all your painting supplies from www.coastairbrush.com, that's Craig Fraser's outfit out West . . . they have EVERYTHING you'd ever need. The snake skin template comes from this great place: http://www.istencils.com/ They have a variety of templates, and they are almost small enough to be used for 1/24th scale . . . 4) You work out all your patterns with the white paint, then . . . 5) I used both green and blue candies (HOK) to go over the white, each time trying to get more depth . . . I think I did three rounds of candies after each round of white coats . . . Like everything else in this hobby: Practice makes perfect. The one thing is you CANNOT be afraid of the airbrush!!!

Just fooling around with the airbrush again . . . and I had been wanting to build a couple of these Revell 2009 Challengers. Used House of Kolor bases and candies . . . and right now they also have a fine coat of sparkling flakes . . . clear coats are coming up next . . . enjoy . . .

Mr. Bill, we're getting anxious for the next installment!

You did a great job. Love the color, and it sure is shiny. Congrats.

Gee, now more reasons to stockpile papertowels!!!

Keep it going, chap, so far so good.