VW Dave

I love everything about Tamiya sprays, except the fact that CSC hardly touches it. Bug - On the broken windshield surround: It's hard to see it in your pic, but if glue is reacting poorly with the paint I'd say worry about repairing it until after you strip the paint. If you're careful applying it, a small amount of 5-minute epoxy on the inside can do a great job(if there's room, you can add a small strip of paper towel/napkin and 'lay it up' just like fiberglass).

I'm not sure if this thread will get deleted or not, but I've listed my small collection of Cady 60's-70's drag car decals on that auction site. Search for user ID 'maximus_manx.' Thanks for looking

I agree the cracking might have been caused by the paint being too thick; the one and only set of whitewalls I ever did was with Polly S/Floquil acrylic, and that was 11 years ago....they still look good today IMO.

Happy birthday indeed, mister Bill.....trying to sneak past us. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Read the manual for your camera and see how to set it on 'macro;' make sure the camera and the subject are on solid surfaces, to minimize movement(and blurry pics). I use a mini tripod on my camera, which was about 7 bucks shipped from an Ebay seller. If you're trying to strip Tamiya sprays, I've had decent luck with 91% rubbing alcohol. Some folks say brake fluid works well too, but I refuse to bring that into the house. As long as your sanding/re-priming/repainting routine hasn't messed the plastic parts up to badly already, you should probably be fine.

A big wow from here as well; great job on both, Peter. I really like the color combo on 'hers.'

Although a little smaller than previous meetings I've been to, this one was still a good time and chock full of good ideas and progress reports from other builders. TNMCC October 2007

I said 'real' this time, but I'm having doubts....real or model, it's a cool pic.

Bob - If the resin body is based on the old Monogram A, the Revell '32 frame will look fine under it....especially if you channel the body over it. My in-progress Monogram A is settling down over an AMT 'Phantom Vickie' '32 frame when I finally get to that point. No Z action here, but about 6" of channel in scale:

Took the words right outta my mouse. I love your wiring & line work, Bill; that little car is a real gem now that you've put your hands to it.

Dwayne - I'm a pretty 'frequent flier' at our closest store; as my wife is a scrapbooker, we both have good reasons to shop there.....and those 40-50% off coupons in our Sunday paper don't hurt either. If you need just a couple, email me your snail-mail address off the board and I'll send 'em out gratis. If you need the full 23-pack, I'm sure we can work something out.

Thanks for the kudos; here's the bead cones I got at Michaels.

Andy - The low-low stance of that one really looks the business....it would be cool if you got it that low after adding the chassis. Very cool!

Got a few more little bits done over the past couple of days; this one's in the home stretch now. Scratchbuilt header(and bead cone 'stinger' from Michaels ): I also added a little of my own special 'grime' mix to the swamp cooler, as it was way too shiny for this one: All that's left now is the possible addition of VW mudflaps from a Tamiya '66, some vintage luggage for the rack, and either waterskis or a surfboard...and a few touch-ups, of course. As always, thanks to everyone who posted comments; this has been a very fun, albeit completely unplanned, project.

Thanks for the positives, all. Looks like my barndoors are on the back burner again for the moment, Bill(I still have a few things to work out in my head on them anyway before progressing any further). At this point, the rear of the oval is as low as it will get...it's lower now than the earlier pics, as I trimmed those silly rubber interior panels in order to let the body 'settle' better on its mounts - I kinda like the raked look, and I'm trying to avoid the 'broken axle' negative camber look on this one. The original set of metal ones I have came right from Dennis about 5 or 6 years ago, as he was selling them on Ebay; I agree they are a little 'flat' compared to the real ones, Bill, but they are pretty nice overall. They do measure out to 17.1" in 1/24th-scale, but I'm plenty OK with it. After a few years of agonizing over which one of my VW models would get those über-cool wheels, I tried my hand at casting a few spares......and I found out in the process that I pretty much suck at casting wheels. I made about 30 copies, and wound up with only about 12 or 13 usable ones.

I agree on the report covers; the material works great, and it's inexpensive; best of all, the material is very thin and more 'to scale' than kit glass(you can also cut it with scissors). I used smoke-tinted cover material on my Rabbit limo 10 years ago, including the partially-open rear door glass, and it still looks good today: Gluing it in is also very simple. I'd use either epoxy, clear enamel or Micro Krystal Kleer adhesive.

New pics added to my Fotki today....I've been a busy little bee over the rainy weekend. The little guy now has a 'swamp cooler' A/C unit and a mildly weathered vintage-style wood slat roof rack: 'Paint'/rust touch-ups will be done once the whole car is done, and I'm not handling it so frequently.

Thanks again for the kind words; this one was a spur-of-the-moment quickie build, but it's proving to be a lot of fun. No 'flower power' on any of my VWs, big or small....I'm at the other end of the spectrum, I guess. Marc - If you have a set of pro touring wheels that would work on my Revellogram '71 Cuda, I'll gladly trade you a set of BRMs.

A local guy picked up a 'barn fresh' oval-windowed Beetle in June of this year, and within a few weeks he had it on the road; a few tasteful(and not at all irreversible) suspension mods put it right where he wanted it, and he's been driving it almost daily ever since. I saw it for the first time last month, and I knew right away what I had to do with one of my 'spare' Gunze '56 kits. While not an exact replica of the real one pictured above, I can safely say it was the major inspiration for this 'quickie' build. I'm scratchbuilding a wood slat roof rack and merged header for it, and a modified 'swamp cooler' A/C unit from a Homie Rollerz diecast lowrider is headed into the right side door window before I'm through. There's a few more pics at the link, and surely more to come: RustoRide VW

Hemmings' Muscle Machines magazine's semi-annual "Musclepalooza" show was held this past weekend at our local dragstrip, and I couldn't pass up riding shotgun in my buddy's Cuda to get there. Lots to see at the link....about 250 pics, in fact. MUSCLEPALOOZA VI I'm a little behind on my usual comments and captions, but I'll do my best to get caught up this week. Here's one of my favorites from the show, a clean and understated late-model Cuda:

Thought of you right away when I saw this one on Sunday, Marc: Green is a very good color choice for it, although I'm sure you knew that already.

It's already been said above, but it bears repeating.....the color and stance really make it pop, and the lack of sidepipes is a good thing. Very nice job, Randy!

Randy - As a matter of fact, that is Gary Busey in there....good eye. Marc - It's 'The Gumball Rally,' which is an old favorite; I got it on DVD earlier this year, and I watch it every few weeks. GUMBALL RALLY

Marc, you've really got the pro touring 'look' down pat.....another slick ride in the works. That Tamiya green oughta really look good on it as well; if you use gunmetal for the base color, you could mask off the Dale Jr.-style stripes before shooting the top color . You're a pretty bad influence with these cars you build - you got me started searching for my AMT Camaro kit. It's going to be yellow, and here's the only other hint as to my plan :

That car obviously was never meant to be blue, Ken.....the green looks 'far awesomer' anyway.