SSNJim

I'm the same way; I've got many 20+ year old projects laying about in addition to the newer ones. I tend to do a lot of customizing/body work, and when it gets close to what I expect (or not) and looking good in primer, I move on to the next. I tend to look at them more as recognition models than finished projects. Recognition models were model airplanes used by the military to train forward observers and pilots to visually identify airplanes. They were 1/72 scale, and painted solid black so the person could get a feel for the different aircraft. Part of it is that I'm not as good at bodywork/painting as I would like to be, and part of it is that I've got a lot of cool ideas. I do finish some with paint, wheels, and everything, but the ones I do are curbside. On the bright side, with all the reissues coming out, I am working through my stash, not buying any more models and finishing up some projects. I've got almost everything that interests me that is out now, and have for a while. I will buy most new issues of 80s and later cars, though. Anything earlier has to be really special.

Let me be the first to say it's a self-portrait. Now that that's out of the way, I just thought it would be a little different and fun. I use it as my login picture on my computer at work, too.

Very cool. I'm not big into the zombie hunter/rat rod/post apocolyptic look, but the concept and execution is great. I've considered doing a mouse car, but never quite figured out how to pull it off. "Back to the drawing board", he says while eyeballing his mouse.... Nice job!

Look at post #2: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=39870&st=0&p=412291&hl=+84%20+longbed&#entry412291

Family legend has it that one of my uncles once hauled a pony from Atlanta, GA to Louisville, KY in the rear seat of a convertible in the '50s or '60s. No pictures or confirmation, but it's a good story.

I actually like the three spokes. It's the steps and the unusual style I like. Everyone does nice, smooth round spokes - those would stand out and be noticed. I would use them just as they are (after paint/chrome) on a slammed pickup or modern custom.

Model Masters/Testors did that particular body style in resin. I think it was called the Screechasaurus or something similar. It was curbside and strictly custom, and to my understanding, was probably the biggest chunk of resin ever molded for a model car. I believe it was solid, with only the wheel wells cut out. The windows needed to be painted. That's the only one of that body style I've seen.

Models are where you find them. I'm always looking in the toy department for cars to provide tires, bodies, or both, or to use as a starting point. I've seen several pressed steel toys turned into nice replicas.

You could just multiply the measurement in inches by 1.5875 to get the measurement in mm. 120 X 1.5875 = 190.5. That eliminates a little wear and tear on the calculator keys. If you take 25.4 and divide it by the scale, it will give you the conversion factor for real inches to mm in your scale. 25.4/25=1.016 (see previous example). 25.4/16=1.5875. Here's a list for common automotive scales: 8 - 3.175 12 - 2.1166 16 - 1.5875 20 - 1.27 24 - 1.0583 25 - 1.016 32 - 0.7937 43 - 0.5906 64 - 0.3968 The number in the right column is the length (in mm) of one scale inch. Multiply that by the full size measurement in inches, and you will have the size of your model part in mm. A 7" headlight in 1/16 scale will be 11.1125mm (7 X 1.5875); a 5-3/4" headlight will be 9.1281mm (5.75 X 1.5875). Sorry to get so long-winded, but I hope that it will help someone.

My local Sherwin Williams store has a sign on the window saying that they will fill any automotive color in a spray can in 5 minutes. Now how much it costs, and how many you have to buy, I don't know. The store is only open 9-5 Monday - Friday so I never got any details. Besides, I located the color I was looking for (Ford G2 Redfire Metallic) in a Duplicolor spray can before I got around to calling.

Or, you could just multiply the measurement in inches by 1.016 to get the measurement in mm. 120 X 1.016 = 121.92. That eliminates a little wear and tear on the calculator keys.

It just turned out that way because of Harry (If you don't use Windows or Mac, what do you use?). What the OP was trying to say is that when he sees a useful tip on the internet, he copies it and saves it to a file in a directory on his computer. That way, it is easy for him to find again. Non-computer/OS specific. People do it with index cards and paper notebooks, too.

Not to split hairs, but that is Veterans Day on November 11. Memorial Day is to honor the members of the Armed Forces who have died fighting for our country, so we can enjoy our freedom. A minor distinction, but one that shouldn't be lost and is important to many veterans. Having said that, I hope that everyone has a good weekend, and that you can take a few minutes to remember those being honored.

A tool box came in the Ranchero kit (at least the most recent reissue), along with an assembled bumper jack and a wall mount display stand.The bed cover was in the kit, and I believe the radio antenna was an optional piece. Since the kit was labeled a custom, there weren't many stock pieces in there. The interior, body, and chassis were factory stock. The kit came with what was labeled a Big Block Chevy in the assembly steps. In the "intro" to the instructions, it says a 'monster 427 Chevy V8 RAT motor.' The kit also had chrome 3 spoke wheels with low profile tires. It's not that I'm a Ranchero expert, but I am restoring a glue bomb 61 Falcon using the Ranchero as a donor kit so all the info is at hand. You did a great job on the restoration! Love the red.

Both Revell and Round 2 publish their current instruction sheets on-line. Revell's are available through the support tab, while Round 2's seem to require a search. I'm totally with Gregg on the use of URL shorteners like tinyurl and bit.ly. There is zero chance that I would ever intentionally go to a link that uses them. Way too much risk, in my opinion.

I took the liberty of figuring out what the size of your chair would be in 1/25 versus your model. First I divided 1 by 25, and came up with .04. I multiplied that times the length of your 1:1 chairs leg (16"), and multiplied that times 25.4 to get the size in mm: 16" = 16.25mm 32" = 32.5mm 15.5" = 15.75mm Looks like it is fairly close, but I would be interested in seeing the results of the second chair just for comparison's sake.

Close enough for small work - say, less than 6 inches or so. After that, you're no longer building in 1/25, you're building in 1/25.4 scale. There's nothing wrong with doing it; you just need to know that the quite small difference in measuring out a scale 2" becomes noticeable at 20", and glaring at 200". A 20" piece in 1/25 is .8" long; in 1mm=1" it is .7874". That's a difference of .0126" - in 1/25, that's around 1/3". Is that a problem? Probably not for chair legs, but if you're building a roll cage, or something intricate or repetitive, it could be a big one. A 100" wheelbase would be short by an inch and a half if you use 100mm to measure it instead of the proper 4". Cutting/marking errors do play a big part too; I usually cut items long and file them to fit/measurement. I'm the type to measure with a micrometer, mark with a crayon, and cut with an ax.

Nice looking car. The 67-69 T-Birds are my favorites (weird, I know), and I was looking at this one. I've been wanting a Fordor for a while, and have been considering kitbashing one using AMT's Allison Thunderland kit, which has a pretty decent 69 Tudor coupe body in it (except it doesn't have the T-Bird logo on on the C pillar, nor the red plastic taillights). Looking forward to seeing this one built.

Nice. I'm looking forward to this - the LP400 (and the prototype LP500) are my favorite Countaches. That is one seriously braced body. I like the TS-56 color the best of your choices. IIRC, the colors ran towards the more flamboyant shades. I remember seeing a lime green one on the cover of Car & Driver or Road&Track back in the seventies. I've got a Fujimi LP400 I haven't gotten the nerve to start, and a Tamiya LP400 I'm trying to convert to a prototype LP500. Both are stalled at the moment.

Darn! I thought it might be the anniversary of the original Star Wars release date (which was May 25, 1977). I stood in line for hours to see it a week or two after it came out. What an incredible movie it was.

The Impala is pretty dramatic - I like it quite a bit. The Chevelle, as has been mentioned once or twice, is too dark. I think that with a little more work/development/testing/whatever you want to call it, there's some pretty good photos waiting to be taken. The background is usually the worst part of most model pictures for me - either too cluttered or out of scale. This spotlights the car a little more.

Thanks. I've seen the brush bottles there so I know they make it, but most around here don't carry it. I know I can order it, but would much rather just walk in and pick it up. I'll keep up the search, knowing that it's not impossible to find.

Where did you find that? I've been looking all over town for that color so I could replicate my Mustang. Good job on the truck. The two tone is very striking.

I think I'd probably fill the top recess above the tail lights, and leave the one between. Since the truck is basically a shaved stock truck, a lot of mods to the tailgate wouldn't really fit the look. A blank filled tailgate will leave a big area of nothing there, and end up looking like a generic truck. Almost all modern pickup trucks have a smooth tailgate with little character. If I did fill the tailgate, I'd probably carry the character line that runs around the wheel wells and under the tail lights around to and across the tailgate. Maybe add an angled sunken license plate to the tailgate, just to make it interestinger. I would definitely not go with any 15s; they look undersized. These trucks have good size wheel wells, and need large modern wheels to fill them. Just my two cents. Nice job so far. I really like the look of the truck in your first post. I'm looking forward to seeing it done, however you do it.

How can you expect new tools of today's cars when the model manufacturers are busy retooling either bizarre "showrods" or subjects that have been done a thousand times already?