Brian Fishburn

Oh man, I love all y'all!!! Ollie, it's good to hear that the police down there have things right. As soon as we can sell our house, I'm returning to my heritage: My grandfather moved our family from TN to Indiana, and I'm taking it back!!!! Zeb, when you study the ballistics, the .45 ACP is a vastly superior self defense round over the 9mm. It's also much safer too- the 9mm has a reputation as an overpenetrator. Never forget that my guns have killed one less person than Ted Kennedy's car. Anyone up for rolling some cans?

I'm still going with Steve Miller's version. At your urging (because some of the best music in the world is stuff out of the mainstream that your friends point you to), I did find the El Rayo X version, and it's good. I just still prefer Steve Miller's. A former co-worker brought me in some CD's he burned of some obscure Rockabilly/Psychobilly music. There's some great car songs there, but he didn't label the discs with the artists, and he no longer is a co-worker. So, I have some great car songs that I don't know the artist, and have only educated guesses as to the song titles.

Do not forget that the last song on the soundtrack for the movie "Beverly Hillbillies" is Hot Rod Lincoln, done by none other than Jim Varney. (knowhutImean?) As for my favorites: Mercury Blues (The REAL version. Rarely have I ever hated a song as much as I hate Alan Jackson's murdering of this song) 49 Mercury Blues- Brian Setzer Cadillac Ranch - Springsteen Silver Thunderbird- Marc Cohn Many more, but most of my favorites have been named several times

Let me start by saying that I'm a fan of Danica. I really am. And if you watch the replays of the incident, you'll see that EVERYTHING Briscoe says is complete BS. Danica was in the faster line, and she even moved over what little she could to try to avoid him. If there had been more room, she would have even missed getting taken out by his stupidity. While she was in the car, she couldn't have handled herself any better. And then, she joined the ranks of stupid as soon as she got out of the car. Tony Stewart got blasted in the media for doing the same sort of thing. Why is it bad when he did it, but OK when she does? There's NOTHING brave in her for confronting a male driver. Ever. If she confronts a male driver, it's a no-lose situation for her. Either male driver backs away and looks like a wimp, or male driver knocks her on her butt and looks like a monster. She wins either way. And, let's not forget exactly how dangerous her little third grade act really was. She was stalking down an ACTIVE pit lane, under a yellow flag no less, with her back to any potential oncoming traffic. She could have gotten herself or someone else injured or killed with her little temper tantrum. She was wronged twice during that race, and the second time was entirely self-inflicted. I still am a fan, but I lost a lot of respect. A much better way of handling it would have been to call out the stupidity of the other driver ( and not mince words) when she had a bunch of microphones in front of her face.

More like his new Kevin Cogan

That truck isn't even squatting! Built Ford Tough!

Doug, Nice work on the Camaro. I'll let you in on a little secret- You won. You enjoyed building it, and while you were working on it, you didn't think about work, bills or snow. Congratulations, that is the whole point! I know people who take modeling too seriously, turn out gorgeous work, but get so wrapped up in turning out something that will win on a contest table that they forget to have fun with it. As you build more and more, you will find yourself being more and more pleased with the final results. Just don't ever forget to keep having FUN with it. My models aren't bad, and they usually get a bit of attention at contests. On occasion, I'll win an award. But I dare ANYONE to enjoy themselves building more than me. I'ts a hobby, it's fun. You've got a great grasp on that fact right now. Always work to improve your skills (that's part of the fun) but don't ever lose sight of the fun of building.

Casey, the 1:1 looks great, and the model is coming slong nicely. I have a long stalled project of building a replica of my daily driver- a 96 F150 Eddie Bauer 4X4 However, do NOT waste your time duplicating the emblems for the auto locking front hubs. The auto locking front hubs are absolute junk. It's not a question of whether or not they'll let you down, only when.

Katie busted it hard to get this one finished for the SCIMA contest tomorrow. This build was inspired by a very cool 1:1 car and owner that I was fortunate to meet up with at the Indy Goodguys show back in June Dennis's '50 was an in progress car that was a driver. I wanted to reflect that in my build. While there's no mistaking that this model was inspired by his car, It is by no means a replica. I left in some kit touches, and added several of my own. I don't care for either of the kit options for taillights, so I did '59 caddy tails MY way. Also frenched in a couple of antennae, Bill Hines style (yeah, Katie can paddle lead!) I don't know what sort of engine Dennis has in his Merc, as I never saw under the hood. I also don't know if his engine bay is this dirty or not, but it fits the style I was looking for And I got a shot of the interior before I put the body on, so it can actually be seen. That's an issue of Car Kulture Deluxe on the seat, and a KDog stripe on the dash. For reference, here's the 1:1 inspiration that the build is based on

I got a can of Duplicolor Metalflecks red paint for the trim on the Mercury. I also got time to try it out- it laid down great, and it's going to look perfect!

Revell most definitely hit one out of the park with this one. I'd even call this a walk off grand slam. What would be interesting would be to know exactly how many OTB projects went into "stalled" status why we all pause to build this great new kit. I know you can count Distinctive motors in for a newly stalled Custom caddy, Enzo, and resin 70 Charger as stalled by the Merc.

Lizardlust, The original 68 Parklane Brougham that was used in Hawaii Five O has been restored ,which was no small feat considering it crashed and burned (literally) in it's last episode. The guy who owns it is also a farily avid modeler. Jackie, you just keep chugging on the Marauder when you can. Youmay consider me (and the guy who owns Mcgarrett's real merc) sure customers when it's ready. until then, i won't run out of things to build.

Mr Moto- In the future, please do NOT hesitate to post pics of your builds. That Stude ROCKS. We need to see MORE of what you're building! Thanks!!

I picked up a couple on Saturday, and I'm very impressed, too. he body looks very well proportioned, and the parting lines look to be easily dealt with. Lots of nice parts in the kit, and I'm sure plenty of parts from these kits will migrate to other cutoms. I LOVE the DeDoto grille and the beehive oil filter. The only negatives to the kit in my opinion are the engine and taillights, and they're neither one a big deal to me. I don't like the Lincoln taillights flush mounted. They could eaily be frenched, and would look nice. Then, there's all of the custom possibilities (I'm leaning toward frenched 59 Caddy bullets.) The engine is OK, but it looks a little too much like a small block Chevy to me. Still, engine swaps are easy. For some reason I keep seeing it with a 66 Riviera nailhead in it. Maybe a hemi from the '57 300C kit. Right now, I want to build both of them, and build an AMT merc, too. I have to discipline myself to get a current project or two done first. This is an excellent kit. Very much worth the wait, and the hassle of finding one. If you have any interest in custom Merc at all, I doubt you'll be disappointed.

I've been a bit absent from building the past few months. Summer life has been insane, and I've been racking my brain trying to come up with a nose treatment for Coupe Devil. Originally, it was going to be a simple stock front end with a drawer pullgrille, but by the time I was done with the roof, fins, and pancaking the hood, I knew that the original idea would ruin the car- I had to some up with something radical. After more than a dozen ideas, I finally decided that plastic surgery on the nose of paula Jones would be easier than on the nose of a 59 Caddy. I brought in other builders and 1:1 car guys for ideas. Every idea was good, some were great, and all of them had a fatal flaw- mostly just that they wouldn't work on a 59 Cad. The last thing I wanted to do was just dive in without a well thought out plan. I had too much work in the roof, fins and hood to botch it at this point. But, last night, I just dove in and started "designing in 3-d," so to speak. Halfway through doing a couple of things I KNEW would work, the last piece of it came to me. I called Katie in to work on Saturday to get the idea roughed in. She beat, banged and welded all day, and then shot some primer to see where the finishing touches need to be. I'm very happy with the result, even if it still a bit rough around the edges. I wanted to pay homage to one of my favorite oldskool 1:1 car customizers with this build in a different area, but the nose gives him some love, too. Is it obvious? if not, it will be when the car is done. The hood needs some more reprofiling, but the whole thing is just roughed in at this point. I was just wanting to show the concept to those who have followed the build, and esp those who have helped with ideas. I hated making Katie work on Saturday, but at least I let her leave in time to go enjoy some of the beautiful weather we've been having today.

As a kid growing up during the CB craze (10-4 good buddy!) I always preferred models that advertised that the kit came with a CB radio! Now keep your nose between the ditches and the smokey out of your britches

That one sure looks great!!! NICE color.

Wait a second! MJ built something that wasn't a previously built basket case? What's going on, here!?!?!?!?! Nice build!

Yes, they are. I'm working on one these days as well. I'm using the AMT Rice and the Ridiculous '70, and the R-M '69 for donor kits. Dirty j, if yours is still in progress, you might want to contact Jeff about getting the correct interior. Knowing the kind of guy he is, he'd probably be willing to work something out with you. I have several TMR transkits and parts- for those of you who are wondering, the quality is always very good, and the prices always quite reasonable. The turnaround time is always good, too. We hear so much bashing of resin casters for not getting stuff to people fast enough, but Jeff is always good with service. Now, I'm certainly pumping up TMR, and as you read what I'm saying, you should know that I consider Jeff to be a personal friend. BUT, also know this- I formed these opinions as a customer, before we became friends.

Fantastic work, sir- it's seeming to me like you're going to new levels with each build.

You know, when the rest of us get a new kit, we open it up, eyeball the parts for a while, maybe glue the engine halves together, then put it back in the box for another day. When MJ gets a new kit, he opens it, breaks a few parts, loses a few, then glues some lousy custom junk on crooked. When the glue is dry, he steps back and says "NOW- I can build it!" You know I love watching what you do, man. Having saved a couple of goners myself, I also know the satisfaction you get. Think about the fact that a lot of the models you finish would end up at the bottom of someone's box, if not the trash can- restro on!

Munchkin modeling is the best!!! My six year old daughter is working on her first glue kit, and has been doing snappers (with varying degrees of help) for about two years. I love it when I hear "Daddy, can we go downstairs and work on my glue kit?"

Since Zed posted the progress shots of his '58 Caddy, I thought it might be time to post pics of the latest progress on Coupe Devil, and the inside of the DM shop. Most of the paint is done on this room of the shop, just need to paint the door and the threshhold trim for the opening to the other room Once the paintwork and wiring is done, it will be time to start adding the equipment for the shop. I'm already working on some of it. Here's the lathe. It's the SEL lathe kit, with scratchbuilt work light and quick release toolpost. Gonna need a torch set (or two) This one has reworked shutoff valves and regulators. Still not done, but, like the lathe, I'm trying to make the equipment look used. As for Coupe Devil, most of the recent work had been on the mechanicals and interior. The body is stalled until the interior is done, as there is a bit of engineering left to do. The engine is close The rear suspension is almost ready to drop in The full-on custom interior has turned out to be a lot more work than expected. It took 8-10 tried on the console before I got something close to what I envisioned. It's finally coming togther, though.

Ok, here at DM in '07, we want to: Finish the interior diorama Redo the exterior dio Finish Coupe Devil, Finish the surf wagon Start and finish a special Mustang project (maybe two) And, I've been looking hard at recreating the Bill hines '59 El Camino for the last week or so- since the latest issue of CKD came.

I finally came to a (almost) final decision for rolling stock on Coupe Devil, and started the suspension mods today. Here's a mockup of what I have. I wanted wheels and tires that look good, but don't overpower the whole car. so- rolling stock and stance- does it work? does it need tweaked or overhauled? How?