SSNJim

I've seen it at Hobby Works in Laurel. I've seen it somewhere else, too - maybe GPA Hobbies in Crofton?

I've got feelings in my teeth, too. That's why the dentist uses Novocaine before he gives me the fillings..

I've been looking for the rear window to a 1961 Falcon with no luck. The Falcon has a very complex rear window with few flat areas. Most cars have rear and side windows that are mostly, or can be adequately replicated with, a sheet of flat clear plastic. For the Falcon, I took a block of pine wood, a Dremel, and some files and sandpaper, and am creating a "buck" to vacuform a new rear window. It is a pretty good fit now, but I need to finish the surface of the wood block so I don't end up with woodgrain in the window. Vacuforming is pretty easy for modeling if you have a vacuum cleaner, stove, and a Radio Shack nearby.

I like. You did a nice job on it. It's amazing how much smaller the Thunder looks than the Expedition. I have one in progress that is sitting in some boxes upstairs, probably never to be finished. I didn't know about this one before I started. Another one I've had in mind for a while is a Supercab version. There was a now-defunct company in CA called Full Effect that produced around 15 of the first generation Lightning Supercabs. Now all I need to do is dig out my Harley Davidson F-150 and my 2nd gen Lightning, and get busy.

Nice looking car. Few kits from American manufacturers have side windows. Seems like most foreign kits do. They're easy enough to make with some thin clear plastic, a pair of scissors, and some Elmer's glue to glue them in place.

I thought Revell was supposed to issue a Fox Mustang coupe this year. I remember seeing some talk about it, then nothing. I hope it's not cancelled - that's one of the few kits I'm looking forward to.

No, all the blocks in my example weigh exactly the same - 1 ounce. Each cube has exactly the same density. No molecular trickery involved. If you cut two cubes out of the same chunk of steel, a cube measuring 2" will weigh 8 times more than a 1" cube. A 25" cube will weigh 15,625 times more than the 1" cube of the same material.

Sorry. It's not wrong. When you reduce an item to a scale of 1/25, you reduce it in all three dimensions for a total of 25x25X25, meaning you have to reduce the weight by that much. To get the scale weight of any replica, you would take the weight of the prototype and divide it by the cube of the scale. Imagine a 1" square block that weighs 1 oz. Now, how many blocks will it take to make a replica that is a 2" cube? The answer is 8 (2x2x2 or 2^3), and it will weigh 8 ounces. If you want to carry it out to 25", it will take 25x25x25 (25^3) blocks to make a cube 25 times bigger. You will need 15,265 blocks weighing 1 oz each, or 976.5625 pounds. Each of the 25 layers will weigh 625 ounces, or 39.0625 pounds. If you consider the larger cube to be the prototype, and the 1" cube to be the model, it works backwards too. So what's wrong with the math?

Plastic model cars aren't that far off - a 3400 pound car in 1/25 would weigh 3.48 ounces. Armor is way off - a 1/35 M4 Sherman should weigh 24.92 ounces.

Here is one of my favorites, based on a yellow full size one I've seen. I looked again for the yellow one online with no luck. The full size one had widened rear fenders, wider rear tires, the running boards were a little more graceful than mine, and sat lower. This is the Revell SnapFast kit; I used both chassis for this car. I cut the fendered one to where the running boards ended (using the rear part) and the highboy one for the front. I bobbed the rear fenders and rolled the rear pan. The front fenders are Prowler fenders. The rest of the kit is box stock, except for the slightly lowered front end, and the upside down radius arms.

The scale printed on the box is for entertainment value only. Many kits are over- or under-sized, or both. The Arii 72 Thunderbird and AMT 69 Mustang are two that pop immediately to mind. I also remember the Revell/Monogram 78ish El Camino kits being issued in both scales over the years. The only way to know for certain that you are building in any particular scale is to properly measure each part and correct it as you go. Otherwise, you don't know what scale your building. Also, many diorama builders mix scales. Foreground objects are larger scales, background objects are smaller scales. This helps in increasing the sense of distance, and is very common in model railroading and other scenic dioramas.

Of course I did. I was quite upset that none of the submarines I served on had a Flying Sub!

Thanks, I think I might dig out my Cameo kit. I don't mind the trimming, and I like the Caddy grille idea. I've got a few ideas now. Nice start on the car.

Neat idea with the 47 Caddy grill. I've got a custom 51 in the works, and the grill is my big problem now. I need a 48-49 Chevy grill. I bought the 48 Ford hoping the Olds grill would work, but the Olds grill is too small. The body is mostly painted and done, so I don't want to do a lot of mods to get the Olds to fit. I may try your idea.

Which one? Is that the AMT 49 Mercury?

Pretty cool. Where'd you find the hood and front end?

True enough, but what gets me is that it is there at all. Maybe I'm wrong about it all together; most boats that size don't have one.

I agree with that. What gets me is the capstan mounted in the bow. It's the vertical cylinder with 6 spokes on top. I'm assuming that a horizontal line comes off the front, through a pulley under the stem, and up through the hook looking thing on the stem. I would think that it is anchor handling gear, but it seems kind of overkill for a boat that size.

The monkey.

Google is your friend. Go to google, and search for anagram solver. There's a few online solvers out there. I tried one, and it gave quite a few options. I would imagine different sites give different results.

If you use a Dremel at the highest speed, it will melt the plastic. With a variable speed Dremel set at low speed and a little care, you can do some decent work. I don't know how intricate or fine you can get with it, but it will work pretty well for initial shaping and excess material removal.

I am a member and do show up to the meetings occasionally. I haven't been in a while.

This is the one in particular.

Interesting. It looks a lot like a Datsun 240Z from the high rear quarter views. Looking forward to seeing more.